A good thriller is the perfect pool companion. Not only does it keep your brain working so you don’t have to feel guilty about lying around doing nothing, but it provides excitement, escapism and lots of “aha!” moments all from the comfort of a lounge chair.
Although I don’t have the stomach for horror, I can’t get enough of psychological, domestic and legal thrillers. I love trying to solve mysteries and predict endings and I especially love a WTF plot twist that ensures I won’t.
As someone who reads two or three thrillers a week, I never travel without one (or, thanks to the Kindle app on my phone, more like one hundred). Their chapters are often short and it’s easy to finish “just one more” before the plane lands or it’s time for my next activity. I’ve even sometimes skipped my plans because I just had to see what happened next.
Here are five unputdownable thrillers that may turn out to be the highlight of your vacation.
In this article
“Dear Debbie” by Freida McFadden
You can’t talk about thrillers without mentioning Freida McFadden. The popular author of “The Housemaid” is so prolific, you could pack one of her bestsellers for each day of your vacation even if you’re going for a month.
And, trust me, that’s how fast you’ll read them. “Dear Debbie” is one of her latest novels and one of her most unhinged (and that’s saying a lot!). In this psychological thriller, a brilliant MIT drop-out turned housewife and homey newspaper advice columnist ends up seeking revenge on everyone who’s ever wronged her. The dark humor is sometimes so hilarious, I accidentally spit out my smoothie while reading this by the pool at Canyon Ranch and ended up talking books with the guest lying on the chaise next to mine.
“Culpability” by Bruce Holsinger
This legal thriller is a must-read and a defining story for our times. A family riding in their self-driving mini van to their son’s lacrosse game ends up in an accident that kills the couple in the other car.
Who’s to blame? The son at the wheel? The father riding shotgun? The mother and daughters on their devices in the back seat? The people who programmed the car? “Culpability” is a fascinating, thought-provoking thriller that raises important ethical questions about AI and accountability.
It’s also a family drama, with much of the aftermath taking place at Chesapeake Bay, and it’s riveting. I went back and forth so many times about whose fault the accident was, especially with every new revelation, and I drove my husband crazy with theories while we were relaxing on the beach in Carlsbad. He finally escaped to the ocean and I’m still thinking about this book weeks later.
“Falling” by T. J. Newman
A modern classic, “Falling” is the ultimate travel thriller because it takes place on a plane. A plane you hope never to be flying on because the pilot has just been informed that his family has been taken hostage and will be killed unless he crashes the plane with everyone on it.
Written by a former flight attendant, it’s a nail biter right from the beginning and it never lets up. Thankfully I read it after I had landed in Maui and was safely stretched out in a cabana at The Grand Wailea, which I considered never leaving.
“Too Close to Home” by Seraphina Nova Glass
The pace of this suburban thriller is so frenetic, I found myself ripping through it, unable to put it down.
“Too Close to Home” literally starts with a bang as a car explodes during the annual Labor Day party in a wealthy Connecticut community. The book focuses on three friends whose seemingly perfect lives then start to unravel, threatening to expose the secrets they’re keeping even from each other.
I was absolutely engrossed in this “Desperate Housewives” meets “Big Little Lies” page turner to the point that, when I finally looked up from my cruise ship lounger in Norway, I realized we had already sailed halfway through a stunning fjord.
“Her One Regret” by Donna Freitas
I was glad I was reading this Rhode Island-based thriller by the Caesars Palace pool in the desert of Las Vegas when I came upon this paragraph: “But while it’s a tiny state, it also has four hundred miles of coast. Four hundred is a lot. So many nooks and coves good for snatching someone and hiding a body afterward. The churn of ocean waves loud enough to cover someone’s screams.”
I shivered despite the desert heat. “Her One Regret” starts with a mother mysteriously disappearing from a grocery store parking lot, leaving her baby alone in a shopping cart. Was she abducted? Did she run away? There’s so much to uncover in this raw roller coaster of a story about women and motherhood, making it a great choice to pack for your travels.
The Shortcut
Because the setting is often important to the story, a thriller can make you feel like you’re traveling even if you’re just at your local beach.
Freida McFadden has so many bestselling thrillers, even the most voracious reader wouldn't get through her catalog on one trip.
"Falling" was written by a former flight attendant and takes place entirely on a plane. Save it for after you land.
Thriller chapters tend to be short, which makes them easy to read in transit or in short bursts between activities.
