Top 5 Thriller Books To Be Released On October 2025

October always feels like the perfect month for books that make your heart beat fast. The weather starts cooling, nights get longer, and everything feels a bit more mysterious like there’s a secret just around the corner. I don’t know about you, but I love that tension. The thrill of turning each page, wondering who to trust, or what’s really going on behind closed doors. That’s what makes a great thriller for me.

This year, there are a few novels dropping in October 2025 that caught my eye hard. Not because they’re just scary or dark, but because they have tension, secrets, weird strangers, storms, cabins, legal mysteries, all of those ingredients that, when done right, mean I’m up reading when I should be sleeping. I want to share 5 that seem solid picks. Some are pure psychological suspense, others legal twists, some weird creepy-stranger-at-your-door vibes. If you like thrillers, these are books I’ll be looking forward for.

1. The Intruder by Freida McFadden 

Freida McFadden’s next one, coming this October 7, The Intruder, really leans into the creepy, isolated-cabin feeling. Casey is in a cabin during a storm, and then a strange girl shows up: alone, bloody, holding a knife, and won’t explain anything. The roof shakes, lights flicker, and something in the night makes Casey’s world feel unsafe in a way you can almost see. This promises to be a suspenseful read, one where fear isn’t just about what’s outside, but what might be hiding close by. The reaction of Casey, how she handles the unknown, and the secret the girl holds which she’ll kill to protect are the big pulls. 

2. All of Us Murderers by KJ Charles 

Another one here is coming this October 7, this one is a bit different. It’s gothic mystery crossed with family tensions. The setting is a remote goth-style house, Lackaday House, and Zeb is dragged in by relatives, secrets, and even his ex-lover. There’s a wealthy ward, a family fortune up for grabs, locked rooms, mists, suspicion everywhere. It feels like “who can you trust” is the big question, and the house itself becomes a character, shadows, locked gates, jealousy, family lies. If you like psychological tension + closed settings with oppressive atmospheres, this looks like it could grip you.

3. The Widow by John Grisham

John Grisham is known for legal thrillers, but this one says it’s his first real whodunit coming this October 21. The protagonist, Simon Latch, is a small-town lawyer in rural Virginia, struggling, married life falling apart. Then comes Eleanor Barnett, an elderly widow, needing a new will. She claims her late husband left her a fortune nobody else knows about. Simon thinks this might be his lucky break, but events spiral. A car accident, cracked stories, suspicious people, and then Simon ends up being accused of murder for a crime he’s sure he didn’t commit. Now he needs to uncover what’s real, who’s lying, and find the truth to clear his name. Classic Grisham tension + mystery, so should be good if you like courtroom or legal suspense mixed with “is she telling the full story?” vibes.

4. The Water Lies by Amy Meyerson

Coming this October 28, a pregnant woman, weird noises or things happening, her toddler screaming a name she doesn’t know (“Gigi”), and someone drowns overnight. So much of the tension comes from not knowing what’s real, what’s danger, and what is possibly something more uncanny. It feels like mysterious events piling up, creating unease. If you're a fan of psychological dread rather than overt horror, this seems like a good bet.

5. Gone Before Goodbye by Reese Witherspoon & Harlan Coben

This one’s more of a “mystery meets betrayal” kind of thriller and will be released on October 14. The setup: a surgeon, her career in trouble, taking a job caring for someone, patient disappears, she becomes suspect. All the “trust me? maybe not” tension, with personal stakes. I expect twists and reveals—who said what, who’s involved behind the scenes, and how much she can uncover while people are looking at her like she’s guilty. If you like that kind of suspense where your heart is racing because you know someone’s lying, this should hit.

If you ask me, each of these has something different: some are psychological, some are legal, some are gothic. So depending on your mood (creepy, courtroom, or family secrets), there’s something here.