Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers reunite for a relentless chase in Lethal Prey—where
secrets kill and the past won’t stay buried. #1 New York Times bestselling author John
Sandford delivers another pulse-pounding thriller, narrated by Robert Petkoff. Available
now everywhere audiobooks are sold.
My spouse Sam and I fell in love as creative writing majors arguing over novels in our literature classes. He loved American Literature; I loved British Literature. He loved Mark Twain, and I loved Virginia Woolf. Even now, 15 years into our relationship, we still love arguing over the books we read. While our reading doesn’t overlap very often anymore, they do in one area: we both love an attention-grabbing thriller.
We both listen to audiobooks more than anything else. Sam has a bit of a commute, so he’s always in the car driving from one thing to another. I work from home, but you can find me cleaning, cooking, walking the Corgis, and really anything else to give me more time to listen to whatever story is going on at the time. So If we’re going to read a book, it’s going to be through our ears.
A great thriller narrator keeps a listener’s attention with their ability to create tension. Through their performance, each plot twist becomes a sitting-at-the-edge-of-your-seat experience. Whether we’re following a slick-talking villain or vulnerable yet resilient Final Girl, the audiobook narrator also needs to be able to make us believe in these characters. We must feel connected to them in some way.
I’ve collected some of the most engrossing thrillers that I’ve listened to in the last several years. Whether you are looking for a character-driven story or you are just looking for a listen with lots of twists and turns, there is sure to be something here for you.
Blue Monday by Nicci French, Performed by Beth Chalmers
In Blue Monday we meet Frieda, a psychotherapist who realizes that a dream one of her patients is having matches up with the story of a missing boy recently in the news. Frieda decides to investigate the coincidence herself, starting her off on a multi-book arc. Beth Chalmers performs the entire series, and her narration of Frieda’s story is just as thrilling as it is heartfelt.
I Have Some Question for You by Rebecca Makkai, Performed by Julia Whelan and JD Jackson
Bodie Kane returns to her prestigious high school to teach a class on podcasting. Returning to her old haunts dredges up memories of murder of her roommate Thalia Keith. It’s something Bodie long wished to forget. Julia Whelan and JD Jackson are all-star narrators perfect for this twisty novel. They both bring so much emotional depth and tension to their performances.
Miracle Creek by Angie Kim, Performed by Jennifer Lim
Young and Pak Yoo run a pressurized oxygen chamber that’s supposed to promote the health and wellness for their clients with a range of conditions. But when the chamber explodes killing two people and injuring even more, a young mother is blamed for the incident. Jennifer Lim rises to the challenge of performing this character-driven thriller. She captures the emotional range and complexities of these characters as they face some of the most difficult times of their lives.
Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby, Performed by Adam Lazarre-White
Two ex-cons, Ike and Buddy Lee, are the fathers of two sons who fell in love and got married. After their sons are murdered, they both team up to find the culprit and deal out their own version of justice. I will listen to just about anything that Adam Lazarre-White performs, and he is perfectly paired with this emotional thriller full of complex family relationships.
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite, Performed by Adepero Oduye
Korede’s sister Ayoola is a serial killer, and she’s tired of, quite literally, cleaning up her sister’s messes. Ayoola has a bad habit of killing her boyfriends. But when Ayoola sets her eyes on Korede’s crush, Korede decides to try to run interference. This novel is a short whirlwind of a book, which could be incredibly challenging for an audiobook narrator. But Adepero Oduye rises to the challenges, maintaining the constant tension throughout the novel.
Long Bright River by Liz Moore, Performed by Allyson Ryan
Mickey is a police officer in Philadelphia. Her city is in the throes of the opioid crisis, and when several girls show up dead, her supervisors assume it’s because of overdoses. But Mickey suspects that they’ve been murdered. In every dead girl, Mickey sees her sister Kacey, an opioid addict Mickey hasn’t talked to in months. Now, Mickey is determined to discover what is really happening to all of these murdered girls. Allyson Ryan performs Mickey’s character so well. As the story unfolds, Ryan captures the bleak atmosphere of a city facing such difficult times.
Are you ready for even MORE thrillers? Check out these upcoming summer thrillers and mysteries and 6 queer thrillers to enjoy this springtime.