August Mystery & Thriller Books You Won’t Want to Miss

From New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown comes an exciting new thriller about a former football star and an ambitious state prosecutor in a fight for their lives. In Overkill, Zach Bridger is a former NFL quarterback who hasn’t seen his ex-wife Rebecca Pratt for years. So, when he receives a call that Rebecca has been placed on life support after a violent assault, he’s surprised. Especially when he discovers that—despite their divorce—he has medical power of attorney. Only four years later, Rebecca's attacker, Eban, is released from prison. Rebecca has remained on life support all these years, but now, if she were to die, Eban could be retried for the murder.

Related: Read The Excerpt Overkill by Sandra Brown

Chuck Hogan, acclaimed author of The Town, is back with Gangland, an epic thriller novel that follows the right‑hand man of one of the most infamous unprosecuted mob bosses in American history. Based on the true story of Tony Accardo, the longest-reigning mob boss in history, this book is set in the 1970s and follows Nicky Passero, one of Accardo’s loyal soldiers. After Accardo’s Christmas gift for his wife is stolen, along with other items in a jewelry heist, Nicky is tasked with tracking down and returning the items—by whatever means necessary.

Gillian McAllister’s Wrong Place, Wrong Time is a thriller about a parent who finds herself in a terrible situation. One night, Jen Brotherhood witnesses her son Todd murder a man in the street. Soon, her teenage son is taken into custody. But then Jen wakes up the next morning, and it’s a day earlier, and the murder hasn’t happened yet. Now, Jen finds herself in a time loop, waking up a day earlier, a day before a murder. Now she’ll have to find out if there’s any way to prevent a murder before it happens.

Gabino Iglesias is a Bram Stoker, Anthony, and Locus award-nominated author, and his latest novel The Devil Takes You Home is an enthralling and genre-bending thriller. Mario is buried in debt due to his daughter’s illness. Desperate to make money, he reluctantly takes a job as a hitman and discovers he has a real knack for it. Now Mario has agreed to one final job before quitting the business for good. This one last mission will require him to hijack a cartel’s cash shipment before it reaches Mexico. After all is said and done, Mario will either walk away with $200,000 or he’ll end up dead. 

Related: Read an Excerpt from The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias

Ashley Winstead, the author of the bestselling novel In My Dreams I Hold A Knife, has got a cult thriller for readers this August. While in college in New York, Shay Evans and her friends got involved in a cult. By her senior year, Shay and her friend Laurel were the only ones who were able to get out. Now eight years have passed, and Shay is trying to live a normal domestic life in a Texas suburb. But when news reaches her that Laurel has died, Shay begins to suspect that she hasn’t been able to leave the cult behind entirely.

The Couple at Number 9 is a tense, twisty thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat. When Saffron Cutler and her boyfriend Tom move in to 9 Skelton Place and start renovating, the last thing they expect to find is the remains of two human bodies. Forensics indicate the bodies have been dead for thirty years… back when Saffy’s grandmother Rose owned the house. Now Rose is in a nursing home and suffering from memory loss. But does she know the secrets to what happened to at her house thirty years ago? And could she be a murderer?

The Liar is an exciting new nonfiction book that reads like a page-turning thriller. In the mid-1970s at the height of the Cold War, Karel Koecher was a double agent posing as a Czechoslovak asylum seeker. Unlike many operatives, Karel decided against keeping a low profile, instead embracing Manhattan’s high life. Karel and his wife Hana lived a life of excess and hedonism. But it was too good to last. Using newly declassified documents, interrogation tapes and first-hand accounts from the Koechers themselves, The Liar reveals the secret lives of Karel and Hana Koecher like never before.

Amina Ahktar’s Kismet is a funny and suspense-filled thriller that takes down the wellness industry. Ronnie Khan was a lifelong New Yorker who thought she’d never leave Queens. But then she met wellness guru Marley Dewhurst. Chasing Marley and hoping to find her best self, Ronnie moves to the desert mountains of Sedona, Arizona. But then something strange begins happening. All the influencers and lifestyle gurus around town begin getting murdered, and Ronnie starts to fear for her life. Please note: The cover for this book has changed. To see an updated cover visit here.

In Please Join Us, thirty-nine-year-old Nicole Mueller’s life is falling apart. Her law career is seemingly at an end, and she and her husband are about to be kicked out of the apartment they love. When she receives an invitation from an exclusive women’s networking group, Panthera Leo, Nicole thinks this might be an opportunity to turn things around. So despite her husband’s warnings that the whole thing sounds like a cult, Nicole eagerly signs up for a retreat in Colorado. Right away, Nicole sees a difference in her life. Her network quickly connects her with clients who help her revive her career, and they also help her find a new apartment. Everything seems too good to be true, and then she’s called upon to help one of her cohorts cover up a crime.

Traitors Dance is an exciting new thriller that follows undercover agent Sam Capra in a hunt for the last American traitor. Sam Capra is living a quiet life in Austin, Texas with his son Daniel. It’s been quite a while since he’s heard from his former partner, Mila, and he’s working for America's most secret espionage agency, known as Section K—all while trying to be a good suburban dad. But Sam’s life is turned upside down when he’s approached by a fellow spy with an incredible revelation: Markus Bolt, the last American traitor, has gone missing. Now the Americans must find him before the Russians do. But as Sam searches for Bolt, the mission becomes dangerous, threatening the life he’s built for his family.

Related: 8 Espionage Thrillers to Check Out this Summer

New thrillers are starting to look at was life was like during the pandemic lockdowns, and Cat Holahan’s The Darkness of Others is one of those thrillers. Psychiatrist Imani Banks and her restauranteur husband Philip are living in a posh townhouse in Brooklyn Heights. Meanwhile, Tonya Sayre moves to Manhattan with dreams of becoming a Broadway star, but instead she’s working in a restaurant and struggling to support her teen daughter Layla. After Philip’s restaurant closes due to the pandemic lockdown, he and Imani decide to let Tonya and Layla rent their extra rooms. But Tonya begins skipping payments, and Imani becomes concerned that Tonya may be responsible for the death of their neighbors. Evicting someone during a lockdown is tricky, though, even when you think that person might be a murderer.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell’s latest novel The Family Remains is a thriller filled with family drama, twisted marriages, and deadly obsessions. The Family Remains is an unforgettable standalone sequel to The Family Upstairs. The story follows three characters and their connection to a thirty-year-old cold case where three people were found dead on the kitchen floor in a Chelsea mansion.

Alice Feeney’s Daisy Darker is an atmospheric mystery thriller perfect for readers who loved And Then There Were None. Daisy Darker’s family hasn’t seen each other in years. But now the whole family has agreed to come together for Nana’s 80th birthday party in Nana’s house on a tiny island. But when the tide comes in, the Darkers become cut off from the rest of the world for several hours. And then Nana is found dead. And an hour later, another family member follows.