November’s Top Picks in Thrillers

The Crossing, by Michael Connelly
Connelly’s new novel serves as both the 20th Harry Bosch novel and the 6th Mickey Haller novel, as the half-brothers team up to prove a former gang leader is innocent of murder. For Bosch, the team-up is reluctant, as he dislikes the idea of working against his former colleagues on the police force and the prosecutor’s office, but Haller, the Lincoln Lawyer, promises that if Bosch’s investigation proves his client is guilty, he will follow the rules of discovery and turn the evidence over to the prosecution. In a twisting case involving Internet pornography and prostitution, Bosch’s investigation soon leads him back to the police themselves, and as he follows the clues he begins to realize that someone is also following him. The combination of two beloved, dogged protagonists makes this one the perfect November thriller.

Tricky Twenty-Two, by Janet Evanovich
Everyone’s favorite bumbling bounty hunter is back! Stephanie Plum returns for another caper involving colorful criminals, wacky family antics, and the “will they or won’t they?” love triangle between Stephanie and potential beaux Ranger and Joe Morelli that has kept us riveted for more than two decades.

Cross Justice, by James Patterson
The 23rd Alex Cross book roars onto our list with all of the energy, crackling tension, and expertly rendered pacing that has made Patterson’s series a mainstay. Alex Cross is called back to his hometown in North Carolina—a town he’s avoided for three decades—in order to defend his cousin, who has been accused of a terrible crime. Cross’ investigation embroils him in an investigation of a serial killer targeting rich local women and reveals a dark secret that changes everything he thought he knew about his family and himself. All of these spinning plot points converge in typically taut Patterson style, making this the sort of book you read in one marathon sitting.

The Guilty, by David Baldacci
The fourth book in Baldacci’s Will Robie series finds the government’s most effective assassin struggling professionally and personally. When his father, the respected attorney and judge Dan Robie, is accused of murder and refuses to mount any sort of defense, everyone in Will’s hometown of Cantrell, Mississippi assumes the elder Robie is guilty. Will’s attempts to investigate and exonerate his father are met with violent resistance, and he slowly begins to dig into a dark underbelly of the town he never realized existed. Baldacci has never been better, and Will Robie continues to be an electrifying character.

All Dressed in White, by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke
A series of novels about a television producer whose show is all about investigating cold cases is brilliant, and Clark and Burke second book in their Under Suspicion series with a wonderful mystery for Laurie Moran and and her crack TV team to solve. Five years ago, a bride disappeared on the day of her wedding, and Moran thinks it’s the perfect case to jolt her show’s ratings. Digging into a juicy mystery that slowly teases out the dark secrets of the bride, groom, and everybody on the guest list else makes for a fast-paced thriller that’s a lot more interesting than just about anything on TV.

Crimson Shore, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Number 15 in the Aloysius Pendergast series, Crimson Shore is a slow-burning story that starts with an intriguing crime—intriguing enough to convince FBI Agent Pendergast to take on a rare private case—and slowly builds the tension as he digs into the facts. When the wine cellar of a celebrated sculptor is robbed, a case of extremely rare wine is seemingly deliberately left behind. Pendergast discovers a hidden chamber in the cellar housing human remains from a long-ago crime. Lincoln and Preston throwing one dark detail after another into the mystery as Pendergast—one of the most unique characters in modern thrillers—discovers clues that point to a truly horrifying conclusion.

The Pharaoh’s Secret, by Clive Cussler and Graham Brown
Cussler is back with a new Kurt Austin adventure that delivers the breathless pacing and wide-open imagination we’ve come to expect. This time, he dreams up not only a secret aquifer beneath the Sahara Desert that could tip the balance of power in the world, but also a secret plant-based substance discovered in the City of the Dead that is apparently able to take life from the living and transfer it to the dead. One thing is always true with Cussler: you’ll never be able to predict where the story goes, and you’ll never be bored. It’s as true as ever in this new book, which sees Austin and NUMA once again risking everything in order to get to the truth behind the legends—before it’s too late.