What Makes a Killer Thriller?

About this episode

<p>The New York Times Book Review recently released its list of the 50 best thrillers of the 21st century.</p> <p>To put it together, the team asked almost 300 authors and other experts to vote for the best heart-thumping, page-turning, white knuckle reads published since 2000.</p> <p>In this episode of “The Sunday Daily,” Natalie Kitroeff talks with the Times thrillers columnist, Sarah Lyall, about how the list came together. Then, Natalie speaks with one of the greatest thriller writers of this century — with four books featured on the list — the author Tana French.</p> <p><strong>On Today’s Episode:</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/sarah-lyall" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Sarah Lyall</strong></a> writes a monthly thrillers column for The New York Times.</p> <p><a href="https://tanafrench.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Tana French</strong></a><strong> </strong>is the author of many best-selling books, including “In the Woods,” “The Searcher,” “The Likeness” and “The Witch Elm.”</p> <p><strong>Background Reading:</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/books/best-thriller-books-21st-century.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The 50 Best Thrillers of the 21st Century</a></p> <p>Photo credit: Naila Ruechel</p> <p><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily"><strong>nytimes.com/thedaily</strong></a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p><p> </p><p>Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.</p></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>