Have a Thrilling Little Christmas—Thriller Book Holiday Gift Recommendations
- carolyntillery
- Dec 18, 2025
- 5 min read
It’s that time of year when everyone’s stumped about what gifts to buy for those last folks on the Christmas list, the ones for whom the usual just won’t do. Well, considering gift certificates for a helicopter ride with MI5, being embedded with the CIA during a drug op, or a stint on a royal security detail probably aren’t an option, I think I have the next best thing for you. Thrillers. And these authors deliver!
The Hawk Is Dead
By Peter James
After 22 novels, Peter James’ Roy Grace series never fails to meet fans’ expectations and thrill new readers alike. In his new case, Grace finds himself in a place he never dreamed: in conflict with Buckingham Palace.
Her Majesty, Queen Camilla, is aboard the Royal Train en route to a charity event in Sussex when the train derails and a sniper kills a trusted aide. While everyone—the police and palace officials—is convinced that The Queen was the intended target, Grace isn’t convinced.
Although his suspicions quickly pit him against his colleagues and the Palace, he presses ahead with his own investigation. A second murder raises the stakes even higher, not only risking embroiling Grace in a very public disaster but also placing him in danger.
The Proving Ground: A Lincoln Lawyer Novel
The Lincoln Lawyer, Mickey Haller, is back, now turning his talents to public-interest litigation by filing a civil lawsuit against an AI company whose chatbot told a teenager that it was okay for him to kill his disloyal girlfriend.
Representing the victim’s family, Haller’s case explores the largely unregulated and rapidly expanding AI industry and the lack of training guardrails. He teams up with journalist Jack McEvoy, who wants to be a fly on the wall during the trial to write a book about it. But Haller seizes the scribe’s investigative talents and puts him to work sorting through the mountain of printed discovery materials in the case. McEvoy’s digging ultimately delivers the critical witness, a whistleblower who has been too afraid to speak up.
With lives and billions at stake, Haller must make the gamble of a lifetime to defeat the massive forces of the AI industry that are gunning for him and his clients.
The Proving Ground is the eighth novel in the popular Lincoln Lawyer series by New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly. Although the Lincoln Lawyer series is great, I was thrilled to see that Connelly included one of my favorite characters from another of his series in this story: journalist Jack McEvoy. Connelly began his career as a newspaper reporter, and that experience shows through McEvoy.
COME AND GET HER
By Bruce Conord
Come and Get Her by Bruce Conord is the sole debut novel on my thriller recommendation list this year. This tale of a soldier’s unwavering determination and the risks he’s willing to take to save his child is told through excellent writing.
Former Special Forces soldier Jesse Arroyo believed he’d left danger behind when his unit was finally flown out of Iraq and he re-entered civilian life. But a desperate late-night phone call from his teenage daughter, saying she’s missing, drags him back into a world of violence, and he realizes his past has never fully left him.
As he navigates treacherous territory controlled by a Mexican cartel to rescue his daughter, he encounters ruthless killers who show little regard for innocent lives. Arroyo must use his combat skills and instincts to survive and bring his daughter home.
Aided by a widowed journalist fueled by her own revenge, he races the clock to track down the woman who lured his daughter to Mexico and the evil cartel boss holding her captive. As Arroyo delves deeper into the cruel drug underworld, the lines between hunter and hunted blur. He discovers that this is much more than a kidnapping—it’s a conspiracy far deadlier than he could have ever imagined.
It’s always a joy to read about a Texas character who makes you feel like you’re riding shotgun in the midst of danger. Fans of Brad Thor or Lee Child will enjoy Come and Get Her, a heart-pounding thriller packed with action, suspense, and a father’s unwavering determination to save his daughter.
Clown Town
By Mick Herron
From one of my favorite series, New York Times bestselling author Mick Herron delivers Clown Town, the ninth novel in his Slough House spy series.
Jackson Lamb and the agents of Slough House, MI5’s outpost for demoted and disgraced spies, are caught in a deadly battle between the agency’s secret past and its murky future in this gripping, hilarious, and heartbreaking thriller.
David Cartwright, the long-buried former head of MI5, has left his library to the “Spooks’ College” in Oxford. Now one of the books is missing, if it ever existed. River Cartwright, once a “slow horse” at Slough House, has some time to kill while awaiting medical clearance to return to work and starts investigating the secrets of his late grandfather’s library.
MI5 First Desk Diana Taverner is in a tricky spot. A recent operation exposed the ugly side of state security, and those involved are threatening to reveal details. Taverner must devise a plan to turn the threats into opportunities. All she needs is the right fall guy.
Jackson Lamb, the enigmatic and odiferous head of Slough House, has no plans to send in the clowns. However, if the clowns ignore his instructions, any screw-ups are their fault. The problem is that, for Lamb, they’re his clowns. And if they don’t all make it home, he’ll see to it that there’s a reckoning.
With a Vengeance
By Riley Sager
With a Vengeance was one of my most anticipated thrillers of the year. With shades of Murder on the Orient Express,Riley Sager delivers a taut page-turner about a haunted past, a non-stop train, and a 13-hour reckoning that exposes a hard truth.
In 1954, Anna Matheson boards a luxury overnight train bound for Chicago that she’s commissioned, along with a list of names and a heart hardened by loss. Years earlier, her six fellow passengers shattered her life. Now, Anna has orchestrated a terrifying reunion—trapping each of them aboard.
She’s plotted her revenge to the letter. She’ll confront the ghosts of her past, unearth long-buried truths, and ensure justice awaits at the station when they arrive. But then everything goes wrong: One of the passengers is found murdered, and Anna realizes she isn’t the only one harboring secrets or seeking revenge.
“As the train hurtles into the icy night, she must navigate layers of deception, reckon with the cost of vengeance, and protect the very people she came to condemn. Because someone on board is determined that none of them—Anna included—reach the final stop alive.”
Comments