Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
What we're reading

Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

Original poster

Suggestions for my book group please - 'thrillers' have been requested and they aren't really my thing [hmm]

44 replies

TheHonEnid · 21/02/2008 08:03

and 'page turners'

I think what they mean is that they have had enough gentle emotional drama (chesil beach, history of love, a spot of bother) and want something meaty.

OP posts:
fishie · 21/02/2008 08:34

i'm just about to finish this
it is very readable. or her first book, the cutting room if nobody in teh group has read it. not ilke other stuff.

or christopher fowler's bryant and may series, full dark house is the first one i think.

TotalChaos · 21/02/2008 20:30

In the Woods by Tana French.

Or for the polar opposite to gentle, something by Ken Bruen, say The Dramatist, or A White Arrest.

moondog · 21/02/2008 20:31

Stephen King 'The Stand'

Unbelievably gripping

lilibet · 21/02/2008 20:36

Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - my book group absolutely loved it, check it out on all the 'best loved book' threads

Tis wonderful!!

funnyhaha · 21/02/2008 20:40

Woman in white is wonderful - or if you want something more contemporary, how about The Wasp Factory (our book club choice this month) It's thriller/horror - in the top 100 contemporary books in the Independent. Very, very odd but defn unputdownable, and NOT gentle emotional drama

mrsmike · 21/02/2008 20:54

What about a Sarah Paretsky book - female detective stories, very well written and meaty though my book group did not like her recent one. Think the older ones are better.

Dottydot · 21/02/2008 20:57

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer - I've just discovered it and it's fab.

midnightexpress · 21/02/2008 20:58

Woman in White is fab, as is The Moonstone, also Wilkie Collins. Or for someting more contemporary, how about The Secret History by Donna Tartt? A great read.

oops · 21/02/2008 21:01

Message withdrawn

bran · 21/02/2008 21:09

Something by Harlan Coban? All of his are quite gripping.

No1ErmaBombeckfan · 21/02/2008 21:18

Agree with bran - or what about Douglas Kennedy - the Big Picture - oldie but goody

Madlentileater · 21/02/2008 21:31

yes, we had The Secret History, I enjoyed it though I don't really like 'thrillers'- also Woman in White- it's whatI like about book groups, the impetus to read something I normally wouldn't

bran · 21/02/2008 22:18

Ohh yes, Douglas Kennedy is good. The Dead Heart is better than The Big Picture though IMO. There is one Douglas Kennedy that was deeply depressing and I was a bit sorry I'd read it, I can't remember the name off-hand though.

missConStrude · 21/02/2008 22:20

Harlan Coben and Tess Gerritson write great thrillers.

Pillow · 21/02/2008 22:40

Another vote for Douglas Kennedy, although not the latest one, The Woman on the Fifth, which I thought was v odd. The Pursuit of Happiness is v good, or The Job. And I can't say enough about Harlan Coben (anything of his) or Dennis Lehane (although he hasn't written anything new in a while, Mystic River is excellent), or even Lee Child (who seems a bit Gerald Seymour by the book jackets but is actually HUGELY good).

bran · 21/02/2008 22:48

Aren't book club books supposed to be a bit of a pain in the neck though? Harlan Coben/Lee Child/Douglas Kennedy/Tess Gerritson just seem too much like fun. When I belonged to a book club we read stuff like The Shipping Forecast, The Catcher in the Rye and Douglas Coupland.

choosyfloosy · 21/02/2008 22:50

Our book group recently read The Broken Shore by Peter Temple which was interesting. The first page and a half is utterly pants, but if you can get through that it's good stuff.

Also we've just read No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. Certainly makes a contrast with On Chesil Beach.

littlelapin · 21/02/2008 22:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mybabysinthegarden · 21/02/2008 22:56

Under the Skin by Michel Faber is a really gripping, creepy read, lots to talk about for a book club. Also Case Histories by Kate Atkinson is a page-turning mystery with brilliant characters but probably enough gentle emotional drama to keep you happy, too!

Habbibu · 21/02/2008 22:59

Any of the Arkady Renko books by Martin Cruz Smith. Not sure if they're thrillers, possibly more crime, but very good. Gorky Park the first one.

Pillow · 21/02/2008 23:00

I don't think they are meant to be a pain, more to get people to read stuff they wouldn't otherwise. DP went to our local book group and it was mostly women and he read a lot of books he'd never have chosen otherwise. Entirely not worthy, and some chick lit stuff. I found it very funny, actually.

march29 · 22/02/2008 16:52

hi, how abt 'count to ten' by karen rose.quite a page turner and suspence.

Buckets · 23/02/2008 09:34

Phil Rickman - about a single mum vicar/ exorcist - much better than they sound!

wheelybug · 23/02/2008 19:51

maybe more a mystery than a real thriller but my mum has lent me the thirteenth tale. She hadn't wante dto read it and made herself as it was a present and apparently it is a real page turner. Has notes for book groups in the back too. I think I might use it for my book club choice this year !

ahundredtimes · 23/02/2008 19:53

Give them Patricia Highsmith.

It's mean and dirty.