Everybody loves lists, they’re so easy to pick at. Thus, NPR asked its listeners to pick their top 100 thriller stories.
Who is the NPR audience’s favorite thriller writer? It’s the King, of course — Stephen King, who landed six titles in the top 100. Lee Child comes next, with four winning books. And, at three titles each, Michael Crichton, Dennis Lehane, Dan Brown and Stieg Larsson tie for third.
Dan Brown? Dan Brown?!?
The top ten:
- The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
- Kiss the Girls, by James Patterson
- The Bourne Identity, by Robert Ludlum
- In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
- The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown
- The Shining, by Stephen King
- And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie
- The Hunt tor Red October, by Tom Clancy
- The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
I’ve read about half of these books, I figure. How about you?
I’ve read 7 and am about 100 pages into the 8th (Larsson). Although I did read Da Vinci Code, I too am ashamed to see it on this particular list. I’ve read several of Stephen King’s novels, but not The Shining, and I’ve never read the Capote book. I imagine they’re both better than Dan Brown’s oeuvre.
Wow. I think I’ve read them all.
Really, Scott? I thought my half was pretty good. I don’t think I’ve read more than one Lee Child, for example.