You can also check out my reviews on Goodreads here. And if you like any of these books, you’re likely to enjoy my work too!
Stephen King – The Stand. Probably my favorite book in terms of good vs evil. Plus The Shining, Doctor Sleep and others by King that veer towards the supernatural, rather than the purely horror angle.
James Rollins – Sigma series for some kick-ass fun (love Seichan) and the Sanguines series with Rebecca Cantrell for that supernatural edge
Mo Hayder – Jack Caffrey series
John Connolly – The Charlie Parker series. A huge influence on my London Psychic books, because it blends a detective with a supernatural underworld.
J.A.Konrath – Origin. What do you expect if you keep Beelzebub in a bunker?
Jonathan Maberry – Joe Ledger series
Lisa Gardner – The DD Warren series
Matthew Reilly – Fantastic action/adventure Scarecrow series. It’s a bit like Spooks TV show, everybody dies.
Layton Green – The Summoner and Dominic Grey series
Val McDermid – Wire in the Blood and that series. Tony Hill & Carol Jordan series
Preston & Child – Pendergast series, particularly the early, more supernatural ones like The Cabinet of Curiosities
James Michener – The Source. An incredible epic about Israel that continues to inspire me.
Jen Blood – Erin Solomon series, particularly Southern Cross. Fast paced thriller about a cult survivor and a religious conspiracy.
Daniel Silva – Gabriel Allon series. Israeli secret agents, religious conspiracy and political thriller plots, plus art history and restoration.
Clive Barker – The Hellbound Heart
James Herbert – Dark , Ash
Gillian Flynn – Dark Places, Sharp Objects. These darker books are so much better than Gone Girl IMHO!
Barnaby Williams – Anno Domini. What if St Paul murdered Jesus? A particularly bloody retelling.
Lee Child – Jack Reacher series. I love a loner out for justice
Michael Wallace – The Righteous Series. Polygamous Mormons out in the Utah desert tackle mysteries, murder and the apocalypse.
Chuck Wendig – Blackbirds and the Miriam Black series. When Miriam touches someone, she can tell how and when they will die.
Jeremy Robinson – Jack Sigler series, SecondWorld. Non stop action with all kinds of monsters. Check out Island 731 and The Guardian.
Danielle Trussoni – Angelology. The Nephilim live among us.
Jonathan Holt – The Carnivia trilogy. Murder and mystery set in a darker Venice.
Daniel Suarez – Daemon, Freedom. Technothrillers with an edge of horror
Zoe Sharp – Charlie Fox thrillers. Kick ass female bodyguard solves mysteries and rights wrongs. Described as a female Jack Reacher.
Terry Hayes – I am Pilgrim. One of the best portrayals of a terrorist character and an enthralling thriller.
Marcus Sakey – Brilliance series. 1% are born with special talents. Kind of X Men but more realistic!
Laini Taylor – Daughter of Smoke and Bone series. What if a devil and an angel fell in love … and the angels were the enemy. Fantastic series!
Scott Sigler – Infected, Contagious, Pandemic. Michael Crichton-esque but with more horror as the world copes with an alien invasion that turns humans into all kinds of weird
Max Brooks – World War Z. I’m not usually one for zombie books, but this one is incredibly well written. Much better than the film!
Simon Toyne. Sanctus trilogy. What secret lies at the heart of Ruin?
Alan Baxter – Realmshift, MageSign. Dark fantasy with gods and demons and magic.
AJ Hartley & David Hewson – Macbeth, a novel. This fantastic retelling has beautiful language but really brings the story alive as a thriller.
Martin Lastrapes – Inside the Outside. One girl copes with leaving a cannibal cult.
Dan Brown – The Da Vinci Code. I have to include this as Brown changed the genre and religious thrillers took off after this book. It still stands as a great example of the genre, although the later ones haven’t been so good IMHO.
Erin Morgenstern – The Night Circus
Terry Brooks – Running with the Demon. I loved the early Shannara series too, but the demonic books are more my style.
Frank Peretti – This Present Darkness. I read this as a teenager and the unseen supernatural battle of angels and demons influenced my imagination heavily. I see demons everywhere!