I love thrillers. And when Dorchester asked me to write a brief article listing my five favorite thriller writers, I thought it would be a piece of cake. It never occurred to me that I'd wind up fighting with myself over which writers to choose and which to leave out, or that I'd spend an inordinate amount of time debating the question of whether these were really "thriller" writers as opposed to other sorts of writers.

I finally resolved the second question by simply deciding that if the writer in question wrote books that grabbed me by the throat on the first page and didn't let go until the last, that was a thriller writer in my book. I had much less success wrestling with the question of who to leave in and who to leave out. Like anyone else who reads a lot of thrillers, I'm addicted to the work of a lot of different authors, and trying to pare them down to five favorites is virtually impossible. Since I have no choice, these are the five I'm sticking with, but the truth is, if I were to write this piece again tomorrow, it might have three or four different names on it.

I'd be interested to know what you think: Are any of these writers on your list of favorites? Would you argue that some of these authors, as good as they are, should not be included in a list of thriller writers? What writers would make up your own list of five favorites? Here are mine, in no particular order:

Lawrence Block: Block's Matthew Scudder series is, hands down, my all-time favorite. The stories are always great, but I've loved watching the characters in these books evolve over the years. If I knew I were going to die tomorrow, the last book I'd want to read today would be The Devil Knows You're Dead.

Lee Child: Who doesn't love Jack Reacher? The guy is Shane incarnate: he rides into town--nobody knows where from--beats up the bad guys, cures all the town's problems, and then rides off into the sunset. It's the oldest story around, but Child makes it fresh and new every time.

Thomas Perry: Jane Whitefield doesn't ride into town and beat up the bad guys, but she's better than anyone else at helping you get away from them and establish a new identity in a place where they can't find you. And if they do try to follow you there, Jane will make them wish they hadn't.

John Lescroart: Lescroart writes legal thrillers better than anyone else. I love the work of Scott Turow, but his output has been fairly small. Lescroart, by comparison, has produced a number of excellent books featuring Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitzky. These are well-drawn, interesting characters and the stories invariably keep you up half the night and make you late for work the next day.

Peter Abrahams: Abrahams is not nearly as well known as these other guys, but he should be. He's an excellent writer with a number of books under his belt. If you don't know him, do yourself a favor and find him. Nerve Damage would be a particularly good introduction to his work.

As an added bonus, Dorchester is offering a FREE 6-month subscription to the Thriller Book Club (if you win and are already a member, your fees will be comped for 6 months)! Just by weighing in on the discussion and leaving a comment, you’ll be entered in the drawing, to be held Friday, July 30th. So how about it—who are your top thriller authors?

Sneak Peek at No Place to Die by James L. Thane
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