Are you a fan of characters hiding sinister, twists that are impossible to guess, precarious situation,? If YES, then you’ll have plenty of enthralling books to look forward to. What follows are ten of our favourite thriller reads that are often overlooked but are freely available in the pub domain.
The Man Who Was Thursday a Nightmare
by Gilbert Keith Chesterton
The Man Who Was Thursday: a Nightmare is regarded as a metaphysical thriller, first published in 1908 and written by G.K Chesterton. This metaphysical thriller centers on seven anarchists who call themselves by the names of the days of the week, however, it is not an exploration or rebuttal of anarchist thought: G.K Chesterton’s ad hoc construction of “Philosophical anarchism” is distinguished from ordinary anarchism
The Czar’s Spy
by William Le Queux
On the Meloria about 10 miles out, an English steam yacht ran aground and was discovered by a fishing-boat who brought the news to the harbour. Two torpedo-boats was sent by the Admiral which manages to bring in the yacht safely after a lot of difficulties, but the Captain has a suspicion that the crew were trying to make away with the vessel.
The Woman in White
by Wilkie Collins
Published in book form in 1860, “The woman in white” is an epistolary novel by Wilkie Collins. It was Serialized in 1859-1860, and the first episode appeared on 29, November, following Charles Dicken’s own “A Tale of Two Cities in Dickens’s magazine All the Year Round in England, and Harper’s Magazine in America.
The International Spy
by Allen Upward
This story by Allen Upward is regarded as the secret history of the Russo-Japanese War. In this story, Allen Upward makes clear the sinking of the English sailing ship by the Baltic fleet of Russia and features kinds of events that seemed hallucinating when the story appeared serially.
The Riddle of the Sands
by Erskine Childers
The Riddle of the Sands is a novel that owes a lot to the wonderful adventure novels such as those from writers like Rider Haggard, that were a staple of Victorian Britain. The novel is a spy novel that established a formula that included a mass of verifiable detail and many others called it “the first modern thriller.”
The Thirty-Nine Steps
by John Buchan
The story is about an expatriated Scot, “Hannay”, who returns home from a long stay in South Africa. An American who appears to know if the anarchist plot to destabilize Europe buttonholed him one night, he claims to be in fear of his life. Hannay hides the American in his flat only to find another man shot dead in the same building.
What’s Bred in the Bone
by Grant Allen
What’s Bred in the Bone is a sensational thriller written by Grant Allen to order at top speed – it secures the writer one of the largest literary prizes ever awarded in Britain. Published serially in 1890 and 1891, nothing demonstrates better the writer’s cold-blooded judgement in analyzing and meeting the popular taste.
The Pit: A Story of Chicago
by Frank Norris
According to Norris, The Pit is described as a fictitious narrative of a “deal” in the Chicago wheat pit – a nickname given to the trading floor of the Chicago Board of Trade where commodities are traded like bonds and stocks. This business story deals with love and the lack of love in a relationship, power, the financial power of men, selfishness, greed, and lack of power to control events that are shaped by nature.
Desperate Remedies
by Thomas Hardy
Desperate Remedies is described by the writer as a tale of “entanglement, surprise, moral obliquity, and mystery”. The tale relates the story of the maid, “Cytherea” to “Miss Alclyfee” the eccentric arch-intriguer, and Edward Sprinrove – the man she loves. Cytherea comes under the influence of Mis Aldclyfee’s fascinating, manipulative steward, Manston as she discovers that Edward is already engaged.
The After House
by Mary Roberts Rinehart
The After House is set on a millionaire’s yacht in the Atlantic. Young Ralph Leslie’s dream voyage turned into a nightmare of terror and blood, after he boards the luxury yacht with the thought that his job was smooth sailing. To stop the killer, only one hand on board seemed strong and to do that he had to stay alive!
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