By Mia Wilson 
One thing’s clear in 2025: thrillers are hotter than ever. Whether in book clubs, on Amazon charts, or blowing up on TikTok, suspense stories are dominating shelves and screens.
And since we at Suspenser Reader are proudly obsessed with psychological twists and dark mysteries, we dug into the books that are topping sales this year.
Below, you’ll find the most popular thrillers of 2025 so far, the ones everyone’s talking about, binge-reading, and recommending left and right.
If you haven’t read some of these yet… well, it’s probably time to move them to the top of your TBR.
📘 The Housemaid Is Watching – Freida McFadden
She’s back and she’s still killing it (figuratively, of course). If you enjoyed reading The Housemaid, you need to put this book on your shelf to continue following this story.
This direct sequel to The Housemaid took readers by storm with more twists, psychological tension, and another jaw-dropping ending.
Freida proves once again that she knows how to keep readers hooked, this one landed in the top 3 bestselling thrillers of the year.
This one is on my list to read this month.
📕 First Lie Wins – Ashley Elston
This was the thriller of early 2025.
It follows a mysterious woman with multiple identities and a very shady assignment.
With well-paced twists and addicting writing, it quickly became a BookTok favorite and honestly, it lives up to the hype.
📗 None of This Is True – Lisa Jewell
Lisa Jewell is no stranger to bestseller lists, and she delivered again this year.
This psychological thriller follows a woman who realizes she’s being watched by someone who seems to know too much about her life. It’s slippery, tense, and totally addictive.
If you like unreliable narrators, this one’s for you.
📘 Murder Road – Simone St. James
The perfect mix of suspense and the supernatural.
A couple offers a ride to the wrong person and suddenly finds themselves caught in a series of murders, rural legends, and chilling secrets.
Atmospheric and gripping, it’s a page-turner from start to finish.
📙 Middle of the Night – Riley Sager
It wouldn’t be a bestseller roundup without Riley.
His newest thriller plays with suburban nightmares: missing kids, shady neighbors, and a main character who’s slowly losing his grip on reality.
With just enough horror and plenty of theories to build, it’s no wonder readers can’t stop talking about it.
📕 The Teacher – Freida McFadden
Yep, she made the list again and honestly, she owns 2025. With each new book, Freida outdoes herself with plot twists we’d never see coming!
Set in a high school with dark secrets, this one features a not-so-trustworthy teacher and a mystery that unravels fast.
If you love twisty psychological thrillers with morally gray characters, you’ll devour this.
I’ve already read it and it’s by far one of my favorites this year!
📗 The Fury – Alex Michaelides
After The Silent Patient, expectations were sky-high and Michaelides delivered.
Set on a secluded Greek island, The Fury follows a group of friends, one murder, and a narrator who might not be telling us everything.
Part mystery, part character study, it’s theatrical, layered, and totally unsettling.
What Are Readers Craving in 2025?
We’re loving quick, creative, and psychologically rich thrillers.
Gone are the days of obvious villains and one-dimensional detectives.
Now, we want to be tricked, challenged, and totally thrown off course and these authors are giving us exactly that.
Have You Read Any of These?
If so, let us know which one hooked you the hardest.
If not, consider this your sign: these books are topping the charts for a reason and one of them might just be your next obsession.
📚🔪 Because in the world of suspense, if you snooze, you miss the twist.