If you're looking for the best thriller books ever that aren't TOO scary, this is where you should start! If you're new to the thriller genre, and you're worried that they'll be too intense, we've got you covered.
Too often, people avoid the thriller genre because it can have a reputation of books that are emotionally disturbing or can give rise to nightmares.
That, however, isn't the goal of the genre, and most books might keep you at the edge of your seat but they don't do more than that.
I asked the members of the Peanut Blossom Book Club for their recommendations for the best thriller books ever. I wanted to find those that are a perfect introduction to the genre for newbies because I love nudging people to try something new.
If you have book club members who are reluctant to try a thriller, our book club members highly recommend that you start with these.
They just might be pleasantly surprised!
Best (Not too scary) Thriller Book Recommendations
Layla
When Leeds meets Layla, he’s convinced he’ll spend the rest of his life with her—until an unexpected attack leaves Layla fighting for her life.
After weeks in the hospital, Layla isn't the woman Leeds fell in love with. In order to put their relationship back on track, Leeds whisks Layla away to the bed-and-breakfast where they first met.
Once they arrive, Layla’s behavior takes a bizarre turn.
Deception Point
When a NASA satellite discovers an astonishingly rare object buried deep in the Arctic ice, the floundering space agency proclaims a much-needed victory with profound implications for NASA policy and the impending presidential election.
To verify the authenticity of the find, the White House calls upon the skills of intelligence analyst Rachel Sexton. Accompanied by a team of experts, Rachel travels to the Arctic and uncovers the unthinkable: evidence of scientific trickery -- a bold deception that threatens to plunge the world into controversy.
The Wives: A Novel
You’ve never met the other wives. None of you know each other, and because of this unconventional arrangement, you can see your husband only one day a week. But you love him so much you don’t care. Or at least that’s what you’ve told yourself.
But one day, while you’re doing laundry, you find a scrap of paper in his pocket—an appointment reminder for a woman named Hannah, and you just know it’s another of the wives.
Mexican Gothic
After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find—her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region.
She has no fear: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.
The Searcher: A Novel
Cal Hooper thought a fixer-upper in a bucolic Irish village would be the perfect escape. After twenty-five years in the Chicago police force and a bruising divorce, he just wants to build a new life in a pretty spot with a good pub where nothing much happens.
But when a local kid whose brother has gone missing arm-twists him into investigating, Cal uncovers layers of darkness beneath his picturesque retreat, and starts to realize that even small towns shelter dangerous secrets.
Verity
Lowen Ashleigh accepts the job offer of a lifetime from Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.
Lowen starts to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read.
Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of the night their family was forever altered.
The Sun Down Motel
Upstate New York, 1982. Viv Delaney wants to move to New York City, and to help pay for it she takes a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, New York. But something isnʼt right at the motel, something haunting and scary.
In 2017, her niece visits the motel to try to put her aunt's ghost to rest, and the same mystery ensnares her.
Maisie Dobbs
Maisie Dobbs had a plan. The outbreak of war changed everything. Maisie trained as a nurse, then left for France to serve at the Front, where she found—and lost—an important part of herself.
Ten years after the Armistice, in the spring of 1929, Maisie sets out on her own as a private investigator, one who has learned that coincidences are meaningful, and truth elusive. Her very first case involves suspected infidelity but reveals something very different.
Home Before Dark: A Novel
Twenty-five years ago, Maggie Holt and her parents moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors.
Today, Maggie is a restorer of old homes and too young to remember any of the events mentioned in her father's book. When Maggie inherits Baneberry Hall after her father's death, she returns to renovate the place to prepare it for sale, and nothing goes as planned.
The Winter People: A Novel
West Hall, Vermont, has always been a town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter, Gertie.
Now, in present day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara's farmhouse with her mother and her younger sister. Alice has always insisted that they live off the grid, a decision that suddenly proves perilous when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished without a trace.
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires: A Novel
Patricia Campbell’s life has never felt smaller. Her husband is a workaholic, her teenage kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she’s always a step behind on her endless to-do list. The only thing keeping her sane is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime.
One evening after book club, Patricia is viciously attacked by an elderly neighbor, bringing the neighbor's handsome nephew into her life. When children on the other side of town go missing, their deaths written off by local police, Patricia has reason to believe that nephew is more of a Bundy than a Brad Pitt.
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