Books
Tony Parsons: My 10 favourite thrillers of all time
What makes a good thriller? We’d say a unique premise, flawed but fascinating characters, and a fast-paced plot that never lets up. But such books can be difficult to find, which is why we’ve asked some of our favourite crime authors – from Lee Child to Lisa Jewell – to suggest their all-time favourite reads.
Now, bestselling author Tony Parsons joins the conversation. The creator of the DCI Max Wolfe series – whose latest book, Murder for Busy People, is out now – reveals his all-time favourite thrillers below…
The Odessa File by Frederick Forsyth
The Odessa File by Frederick Forsyth
After the suicide of a Holocaust survivor, a young investigative reporter in West Germany searches for an old Nazi who escaped punishment for his crimes. Published in 1972 – the year after Forsyth’s debut, The Day of The Jackal – this was an age when the Second World War was still close enough for the reader to believe that there were still plenty of old Nazis out there who had escaped the law. Forsyth is good at endings you don’t see coming – and The Odessa File features the best.
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
A family murder mystery with a twist in the tail that still stuns me every time I think about it. I will read anything with Gillian Flynn’s name on it but Dark Places features her most brilliantly conceived characters – Libby, the girl who survived a massacre by hiding in a closet, and her brother Ben, who was put away for a crime he may not have committed. The fictional equivalent of In Cold Blood.
Not a Drill by Lee Child
Not a Drill by Lee Child
It’s Jack Reacher’s finest moment. In this short story – featured in the collection No Middle Name – Child’s masterful creation goes for a quiet walk by himself in a National Park. What follows is classic Jack Reacher heroics but with a central mystery that is so brilliantly conceived, that whenever I think of Jack Reacher and Lee Child, I first think of this incredible short story.
Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith
Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith
It’s an idea of real genius. Two unhappy strangers meet on a train and decide: you do my murder, and I’ll do your murder. What could possibly go wrong? Everything. The darker the material, the more Patricia Highsmith seems to be enjoying herself. There is something cold and misanthropic at the heart of Highsmith’s work but nobody was better on the essential messiness of murder.
Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household
Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household
It features one of the greatest opening paragraphs of all time: a British huntsman and crack shot has Adolf Hitler in his rifle sights. Then he begins to pull the trigger…Published in 1939, Rogue Male has got a high-concept plot where you already know the outcome – you know he doesn’t actually assassinate Hitler, just as you know Charles de Gaulle does not die in The Day of the Jackal. The thrill – and the tension that never lets up – is all in the chase.
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty
A wonderful set-up: a wife finds an old envelope in the attic saying that it should only be opened in the event of his death. Her husband is still very much alive but, after thinking about it for a while, she decides to open it anyway. A terrible, long-buried secret is brought into the light, and her world, family and marriage can never be the same again.
Misery by Stephen King
Misery by Stephen King
This always feels like the most personal of King’s books – the beloved author who falls into the hands of his biggest, and maddest, fan. There’s a lot of stuff about the mechanics, and the slog, of the writing life. The humour comes from the fact the author is a romantic novelist, rather than a grand master of the dark arts. Annie Wilkes is King’s greatest female character since Carrie White.
Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin
Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
It’s difficult to choose one Ira Levin books when so many of them – The Boys From Brazil, The Stepford Wives, Sliver – are classics. But Rosemary’s Baby is Levin’s masterpiece. A young couple move into an apartment in uptown Manhattan in the swinging, increasingly secular Sixties and discover it is a hive of Satan worship. As the husband is seduced by the dark side, the wife unwittingly has a baby with the devil. And the weird thing is, Ira Levin is such a great storyteller that you believe every word.
Double Indemnity by James M. Cain
Double Indemnity by James M. Cain
James M. Cain’s main theme was sexual obsession. Both The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity are built around some poor working sap having his head turned by some sultry siren who is inconveniently married. In Double Indemnity, his finest moment, it is an insurance salesman who meets the girl of his dreams only to find his life turning into a nightmare. Cain was the grand master of the murdered husband, and what even the most placid of men will do for love, money and the right femme fatale.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
It moves at an undeniably stately pace, and Tartt is undoubtedly a writer with literary aspirations but The Secret History is still one of the great modern thrillers. A snooty pack of privileged students at an elite university kill a total stranger for fun. Their crime, and the efforts they make to keep it a secret, echo through the rest of their lives.
Don’t miss Tony Parson’s latest novel, Murder for Busy People
In the latest book in the Max Wolfe series, Emma Moon is out of prison after serving 16 years for armed robbery. But she has been betrayed – by her family, her peers, and her unfaithful husband. After so many years in prison, protecting her co-conspirators, she has powerful allies who owe her big time. And now it’s time to call in some favours…
Have you read any of Tony Parsons’ favourite books? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…
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