9 Thriller Novels which will give you adrenaline rush from the first page itself

There are many of us who seek everyday thrill. There is a separate category of people altogether who seek adventures more than anything in this world.

Their day wouldn’t pass properly unless they did something which sends chill down the spine. People indulge in bungee-jumping, skydiving, paragliding, deep sea-diving and many more in order to get into thrill zone that stays tantamount to breathing for them.

However, sometimes there is more fun in thrill which builds up or adds up gradually over time.

So, where to get this thrill?

There are many options but my favorite is to simply pick up a thriller novel and the fun simply starts because from the first page on wards you start visualizing and if it’s a good thriller then the visualization becomes more apparent and there you go ! You get thrill with excitement in your life.

So, if you are looking for the next adventure seeking thrill then why not try few books of good mysteries and with every page you achieve the motive of attaining adrenaline rush.

In case, you are not a reader then this may be your opportunity to explore the world of reading and if you are a voracious reader or a moderate reader then it’s the time to taste an entirely different genre of thriller novels.

Since, I have raised the subject of achieving thrill through reading, hence it would be better, if I introduced you with best thriller novels to read.

So let the fun begin.

The Krishna Key

The Krishna Key is the third novel of Ashwin Sanghi. The novel is about a history professor who is accused with the charges of murder of his own friend.

The thing that makes this thriller exciting is that it revolves around the character of Lord Krishna. The author travels from Dwarka, where Lord Krishna reigned as a King, to Vrindavan, where he grew up to prove his innocence and catch the killer who is on a killing spree.

Readers who have an interest in Indian ancient history, particularly Mahabharata must read this thriller as it is one of the best historical thriller books I have ever read.

It is neither a modern-version of the Mahabharata nor the story runs synonymous with that of the Mahabharata, however, the novel describes the post Mahabharata period which has been known to very less people in the world.

The Krishna key has all those things which a good thriller must have, a major felony, obnoxious motive, an innocent victim, a story very much connected with the ancient history, and a key to the treasure of Lord Krishna which can be found by putting together four pieces of a seal.

The Rozabel Line

The plot of the Rozabel Line runs on the same lines as ‘The Da Vinci Code’. Like in ‘The Da Vinci Code’, there is a secret society which would do anything to keep a secret from getting unrevealed to the world.

A major catastrophe is impending, the key to its stoppage lies in the riddle which originates in Jerusalem and ends in the Shrine of Vaishno Devi in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Novel includes characters from different continents and religions. It is based on the controversial subject of Jesus living in India and buried in the Rozabel shrine of Srinagar.  

This subject was first touched in the books ‘Jesus lived in India’ by Holger Kersten and ‘The 

Unknown Life of Jesus’ by Nicolas Notovich.

The magnitude of the success of the novel can be determined by the fact that the tomb of Rozabel in Kashmir got more popular after it was published. Visitors from around the world kept coming to India to visit the shrine.

If are fond of novels like 'The Da Vinci Code' and by any chance if you have read it already then you must read ‘The Rozabel Line’, you will definitely find it more intriguing and thrilling.

Killing Floor – Lee Child

Killing floor is the first novel of the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child. I would put this novel in the must read thriller novels category.

Published in 1997, it is about a homicide that takes place in a small town and how an ex-army man with a vagabond lifestyle is dragged into it and is made a victim.

Jack Reacher gets involved in the murder and is imprisoned until he finds himself an alibi. He steps forward to solve the mystery behind the killings happening in the town during which he comes across the terrifying and obnoxious motive of the people who are behind those killings.

The most beautiful trait of this novel is that you won’t see a downfall in the confidence of the protagonist even once in the entire novel. His mental strength stays the same throughout.

The thrill in the novel increases with each page and when the mystery unravels itself, it surely sends a chill down the spine . However, you don’t have to wait till the end for the thrill because the novel is capable of giving you shocks at regular intervals.

Zero Day – David Baldacci

This is one of the best of the David Baldacci novels. It bears resemblance with the Lee Child’s Killing Floor, however, it doesn’t mean that you skip reading it because it is original in its own way.

The suspense in this novel arises from the murders which are happening in a small town of West Virginia in the United States. To find the reason behind the surging dead bodies in the town, an ex-army man is called.

A local police officer, who knows about the town and its people from tip to toe, helps the protagonist find the brutal motive behind the murders. 

The narrative by the author is intriguing enough to keep you in a thrill zone every moment during reading. It helps make the visualization of the town and every incidence happening in the novel more conspicuous.

So, if you are looking for a novel to read in a train or a bus journey then I would recommend it to you.

Why? All the small and deserted town stations, the train or the bus stops at are definitely going to give you a kick, giving you a thrilling fun that the story is running in one of those towns. 

Night without end – Alistair Maclean

This is the first novel of Alistair Maclean which I picked up from a Chennai book store. As, it was recommended to me that he has written very good thrillers on the subjects of government services like navy and scientific research.

I don’t recommend anyone to read a book in a particular weather but I would definitely recommend you to read this thriller in either monsoon or in a winter night with a cup of tea in hand.  Why?

The reason is that the stage in the novel is set in the arctic region where the temperature goes as low as 70 degrees below 0.

An aero plane crashes near a research station in the snow. After the protagonist and his accomplices reaches the crash site, they find survivors in the wrecked plane with the pilot dead.

What makes the novel more thrilling is the fact that pilot was shot at a point blank range and the killer is alive and is among the survivors. Now, there is a challenge for the passengers to survive the cold with the clothing they are carrying and also, with the killer around.

Although, the plot itself is thrilling enough to send a chill down the spine but while reading it you will have to be extremely patient as the language used is of a level more above than the usual one.

Inferno – Dan Brown

Inferno is the fourth novel of Dan Brown in the Robert Landon series which got published in 2013. The theme of Inferno is population control.

A genius eccentric scientist creates a virus which is a fatal threat to the people of the world.

The protagonist Robert Langdon along with his lady accomplice goes in search of the virus to stop it from spreading. Again, in inferno, Robert Langdon uses his knowledge of symbolism and history to find out the location of the virus.

Most of the novel runs in Florence, Italy and Istanbul, Turkey. The masterpieces, iconic sights and architecture of all the places like Palazzo Vecchio and Hagia Sophia have been beautifully described by Dan Brown in Inferno.

I have never been to Florence or Istanbul but, if in the future I get a chance to visit either of the two, I will definitely explore all the secret passages and the doors in the monuments and sights described in this great thriller novel.

The beautiful thing about Dan Brown’s novels is that every time he introduces you to a great character from the history like Leonardo Da Vinci in ‘The Da Vinci Code’ .Well, this time it’s Dante Alighieri and the chart of Hell. 

One Shot – Lee Child

This is the ninth novel in the Jack Reacher series.

The plot of the novel is pure adrenaline like Killing floor. An ex-army sniper is convicted for a crime which he has not committed. He calls for Jack Reacher, the protagonist, to come and prove his innocence.

Jack Reacher living his nomadic life miles away from the town, where the crime took place, arrives to untangle the entangled. He has to use his skills to reveal the truth behind the crime.

One of the good mysteries which will make you stick till the end, the highlight is the modus operandi of the crime committed and the original motive behind it. Six shots are fired from a parking space at point-blank range and five people have been massacred. The sniper killer fired the last shot on purpose. What is the reason behind it?

The novel has also been made into a movie named ‘Jack Reacher’, released in 2012, featuring Tom Cruise.

The Scarecrow – Michael Connelly

I consider ‘The Scarecrow’ as one of my good picks. The author has done a fantastic job in storytelling and keeping the level of the thrill unchanged.

If you engross yourself in it, I promise, you will get goose bumps.

This is the story of a journalist who is forced to leave his job because of cost cuts and finds himself in a mystery when his replacement goes missing. Solving this mystery can win him the highest honor in the journalism – the Pulitzer’s prize.

The antagonist happens to be a serial killer; a person who sits in a data farm using his technical skills to leverage his killing spree.

Though the antagonist is revealed in the beginning of the novel even then the novel is capable of holding you to its pages unmoved.

Beware! If you try to take a break from this novel for some other work, you won’t be able to concentrate much over there; you will be forced  by your own self to pick it up again and read.

The Girl who played with Fire – Stieg Larsson

‘The Girl who played with Fire’ has been written by the author of ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ and features many characters from it including the main character Lisbeth Salander who is a hacker and doesn’t get along well with the society.

The plot depicts three murders and Lisbeth Salander has been charged for them because her fingerprints have found on the gun near the victims but she is an expert hacker and will do anything to catch the murderer because of whom she is in trouble.

The novel was originally published in Swedish in 2006 and was later translated in English in 2009.

 Wrap Up

Seeking thrill through books is a kind of fun in itself. If you are not a reader then initially, you might find it a bit difficult to extract this thrilling fun from the novels but when you get addicted to it then this thrill will seem synonymous to sky-diving.

Also, as a reader if your genre is self-help books, or business & management or romantic novels, give yourself a break with mystery thrillers. The point here is that mystery thriller novels, apart from giving you an adrenaline rush, can act as refreshments.

And suppose you are planning to start reading or develop a reading habit, thriller novels are the best books to pick. There won’t be any case of discontinuity, commonly seen among new readers, because you won’t lose the interest at any point of time if your pick is from the 9 best thriller novels mentioned above.

So which is the first thriller you will start reading?

Have you read any of the thrillers mentioned above?

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