• General Recommendations
  • Staff-Created List

Suspenseful and Unputdownable

Never a dull moment! You'll want to keep reading these well into the night. - February 2025, April S.

Toledo Library

30 items

  • Winifred might be the smartest, wittiest and most brutal psychopath to grace the pages of a comedy of manners that turns into a horror show -- all in an age rife with repression. --Bethanne Patrick "Los Angeles Times"
    BookNew York, NY : Liveright Publishing Corporation, [2025] — Fiction
  • "A brilliantly written, spellbinding, and timeless tale spanning decades and centuries." — Rochelle Alers, national bestselling author of Hideaway
    BookNew York, NY : Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2024] — Science Fiction
  • "Readers who love puzzles, locked-room mysteries, and Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None will enjoy this inaugural effort by Pliego, with its chilling conclusion." --Library Journal
    BookNew York : Bantam, [2025] — Mystery
  • “Another stellar novel from Hendrix, a perfectly constructed story that has a strong emotional core, compelling plot, unforgettable characters, and 360 degrees of terror.” – Booklist (starred review)
    BookNew York : Berkley, [2025] — Fiction
  • “Deliciously twisty . . . Aurelia’s urgent first-person narration bestows the narrative with plenty of tension, which Short supplements with well-drawn supporting characters and several devilish reversals. Readers will have little trouble…
    BookNew York : Minotaur Books, 2024. — Mystery
  • A powerful Nigeria-set horror tale of possession, malevolent ghosts, family tensions, secrets and murder from the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement and ‘Queen of African Horror’. For readers of Octavia Butler, Ben…
    PaperbackLondon : Titan Books, 2024. — Fiction
  • "Smart and layered... Layden finds a fresh angle on the price of fame and spins a stay-up-all-night mystery to boot." -- Publishers Weekly
    BookNew York : Mariner Books, [2024] — Fiction
  • "A cosmopolitan, thrilling tale ... This riveting, fast-paced novel, with its seamless balance of fantasy and realism, explores contemporary issues through an otherworldly lens." -- Booklist
    BookNew York, NY : Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2024. — Fiction
  • "Nerve-shredding . . . Mejia maintains breathless suspense as she fleshes out the combative dynamic between her captivating leads. For crime fiction fans, it’s a must-read."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
    BookNew York : Atlantic Monthly Press, [2024] — Fiction
  • “Garner’s engrossing latest succeeds thanks to some well-executed sleight of hand…. This is stay-up-all-night reading.” —Publishers Weekly
    eAudiobookHarlequin Audio, 2025
  • “Brainy, sexy, funny, heartbreaking, and hopeful, this is literary speculative fiction at its best. This romantic thriller is also a real look at the impact of genetic screening on privacy and belonging in a time just a heartbeat away.”…
    eAudiobookTantor Media, Inc, 2024
  • “The Ghosts of Rome is a deeply affecting read with an ending that’s sad yet life affirming… Mesmerising, tragic, horrifying, utterly unputdownable... An outstanding read for fans of WWII fiction and of writers like Anthony Doerr.”—Emily…
    eAudiobookDreamscape Media, 2025
  • “Fans of dark domestic thrillers like “Gone Girl” will find much to obsess over in this twisty novel about a wife who is immediately suspected of murder when her widely beloved husband, a pediatric surgeon, dies after a nasty fall down a…
    BookNew York, NY : William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, [2024] — Fiction
  • “The very definition of a page-turner! This smart, original, twisty story had me gripped from the first to the last page.” —Liane Moriarty, New York Times bestselling author
    BookNew York : Scout Press, 2025. — Fiction
  • “Lapena is a master of suspense, and she doesn’t disappoint here. Her many fans and those who enjoy domestic suspense, small-town crimes, and twisty thrillers will flock to this one. Very highly recommended.” —Library Journal (starred…
    BookNew York : Pamela Dorman Books/Viking, 2024. — Fiction
  • “A topsy-turvy story that speeds toward its grim destination. The author’s devoted fans will not be disappointed by this tale of karmic comeuppance.” — Wall Street Journal
    BookNew York : William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2024. — Fiction
  • “Bear is the kind of story that keeps readers up late into the night, gulping down the last pages with urgency . . . a fast-moving river—smooth on the surface but churning underneath.”—Shelf Awareness
    BookNew York : Hogarth, [2024] — Fiction
  • “This novel rewards readers who pay close attention to the clues. A fun, fast-paced thriller that keeps secrets until the very last page.” ―Library Journal
    BookSeattle : Thomas & Mercer, [2024] — Fiction
  • "Commanding, heart-pounding, and haunting...Caffall has thought through every detail, matching adrenaline―raising action with profound insights into nature, science, museums, justice, family, and compassion." -- Booklist, starred review
    BookNew York : St. Martin's Press, 2025. — Fiction
  • "Peers down the dark tunnel of our unsettling present and catches a glimmer of what may save us on the other side ... with tender and urgent prose." ―Chicago Review of Books
    BookNew York : St. Martin's Press, 2024. — Fiction