Stephen King Recommends

Stephen King: “My favorite book: there are so many that I would be afraid to say. Probably if I had to pick anything I’d say Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.” 

The 40th anniversary edition of the Pulitzer Prize–winning classic of the American West, with a new foreword by Yellowstone cocreator Taylor Sheridan. An epic of the frontier, Lonesome Dove is the grandest novel ever written about the last defiant wilderness.

STEPHEN KING: "You're in for a treat. The Reformatory is one of those books you can't put down. Tananarive Due hit it out of the park."

*Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner * New York Times Notable Book * Locus Award Finalist * Winner of the Bram Stoker Award and the Shirley Jackson Award *

A gripping, page-turning “masterpiece” (Joe Hill, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman) set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he’s sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead.

Stephen King: “This book is, simply put, a modern classic. If you read it, you'll never forget it. Prophetic, terrifying, uplifting.” 

From the bestselling author of Ohio, a masterful American epic charting a near future approaching collapse and a nascent but strengthening solidarity.

STEPHEN KING: “Becoming the Boogeyman is a worthy and frightening sequel to Chizmar’s Chasing the Boogeyman. Terrific storytelling. You won’t be disappointed.” 

A riveting, haunting sequel to the New York Times bestselling thriller Chasing the Boogeyman, this is a tale of obsession and the adulation of evil, exploring modern society’s true crime infatuation with unflinching honesty, sparing no one from the glare of the spotlight. Will those involved walk away from the story of a lifetime in order to keep their loved ones safe? Or will they once again be drawn into a killer’s web? As the story draws to its shattering conclusion, only one person holds all the answers—and he just may be the most terrifying monster of them all.

STEPHEN KING: “Chasing the Boogeyman is genuinely chilling and something brand new and exciting. Compulsive reading and scary…I thought often of I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, but never to the story’s detriment. Ray Bradbury’s influence is all over it, but he never could’ve written that ending. Chasing the Boogeyman does what true crime so often cannot: it offers both chills and a satisfying conclusion.”

A clever, terrifying, and heartrending work of metafiction, Chasing the Boogeyman is the ultimate marriage between horror fiction and true crime. Chizmar’s “dazzling work of fresh imagination and psychological insight” (Caroline Kepnes, New York Times bestselling author of You) is on full display in this truly unique novel that will haunt you long after you turn the final page.

STEPHEN KING: “A small-town nightmare straight out of Ray Bradbury country...with a dark dash of Thomas Harris’s The Silence of the Lambs.”

The terrifying conclusion to the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling trilogy that includes Chasing the Boogeyman and Becoming the Boogeyman!

Notorious serial killer Joshua Gallagher—dubbed “the Boogeyman” by the media—has vanished from prison. One moment, he was locked inside a maximum-security cell; the next, he was gone, leaving behind on the wall a crude hangman puzzle and two chilling words: IT’S TIME.

STEPHEN KING: “Creepy as hell and totally original. Once I started reading WIDOW’S POINT, I couldn’t put it down. The perfect scary story for a dark and stormy night…as long as the lights don’t go out.”

New York Times bestselling author Richard Chizmar, “one of horror’s indispensable writers” (Paste), and his son W.H. Chizmar, critically acclaimed author of Them (hailed by New York Times bestselling author Josh Malerman as “one of the best debuts I’ve ever read”) present a riveting found footage narrative about doomed thrill-seekers trapped in a haunted lighthouse.

STEPHEN KING: “Scary and hard to put down. You might be advised not to read it at night.”

The New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller about a group of college students encountering supernatural terror while on a road trip through Appalachia—an unforgettable, chilling novel.

STEPHEN KING: “Thrilling, literate, scary, immersive. Bonus: The most terrifying one-on-one basketball contest ever. Makes that kid and the devil fighting for a golden fiddle look tame.”

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones comes a “masterpiece” (Locus Magazine) of a novel about revenge, cultural identity, and the cost of breaking from tradition. This is a remarkable horror story that “will give you nightmares—the good kind of course” (BuzzFeed).

Stephen King: "This is one beautiful book. I was wowed by Keane’s writing and narrative skill—and by what she knows about trouble."

Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope, rookie NYPD cops, are neighbors in the suburbs. What happens behind closed doors in both houses—the loneliness of Francis’s wife, Lena, and the instability of Brian’s wife, Anne, sets the stage for the explosive events to come. How much can a family forgive?

STEPHEN KING: “If you loved The Twilight Zone, this is for you. It's a mind-blower.”

Forgotten Cold War mysteries make a terrifying reappearance in this “totally unique and utterly enthralling” (Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author) thriller.

Stephen King: “Wow! This is one terrific horror/suspense/disaster novel. Characters you root for and a story that grips from the first page.”

In this terrifying thriller, a supernatural force—set in motion a century ago—threatens to devastate New York City.

Stephen King: "I was immediately immersed in The Invisible Hour. It’s a wonderful story of love and growth, but it’s also a narrative engine of great power. Alice Hoffman is wonderful on stories and writing."

From the beloved New York Times bestselling author of The Marriage of Opposites and the Practical Magic series comes an enchanting novel about love, heartbreak, self-discovery, and the enduring magic of books. 

Stephen King: "Most literary fiction doesn't last very long. This is going to be around. It's the real deal. Jarring, horrible, compassionate, funny. BTW, Kushner reads the audio, and knocks it out of the park."

From twice National Book Award–nominated Rachel Kushner, whose Flamethrowers was called “the best, most brazen, most interesting book of the year” (Kathryn Schulz, New York magazine), comes a spectacularly compelling, heart-stopping novel about a life gone off the rails in contemporary America.

Stephen King: “The Return of Ellie Black is a page-turning suspense novel, a shrewd character study, and a captivating mystery, all at the same time. The last fifty pages are magnetic. I couldn’t put it down until I’d experienced every last twist and turn.”

A USA TODAY Bestseller | An NPR Best Book of 2024 | A Goodreads Best Thriller of 2024

Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s life is turned upside down when she gets the call that Ellie Black, a girl who disappeared years earlier, has resurfaced in the woods of Washington state—but her reappearance leaves Chelsey with more questions than answers.

Stephen King: "Two terrific female characters, both with secrets. Add Michael Robotham's clean prose and whipcrack pacing. The result? A book you won't be able to put down, although you may occasionally want to hide your eyes.”

From the bestselling author of The Secrets She Keeps, a fiendishly clever suspense novel about a dangerous young woman with a special ability to know when someone is lying—and the criminal psychologist who must outwit her to survive.

Stephen King: “Two terrific female characters, both with secrets. Add Michael Robotham’s clean prose and whipcrack pacing. The result? A book you won’t be able to put down, although you may occasionally want to hide your eyes."

In the bestselling tradition of The Girl on the Train and In a Dark, Dark Wood, from the internationally bestselling author whom Stephen King called “an absolute master” of the psychological thriller, comes a riveting suspense novel about the unlikely friendship between two pregnant women that asks: how far would you go to create the perfect family?

Stephen King: “Brilliant. Deeply felt, but totally under control. I loved it.”

In this riveting new novel by the New York Times bestselling author of the Chet and Bernie mystery series, a deeply damaged female soldier home from the war in Afghanistan becomes obsessed with finding a missing girl, gains an unlikely ally in a stray dog, and encounters new perils beyond the combat zone.

Stephen King: “Every aspect of Ruth Rendell’s dark art is splendidly showcased in Dark Corners. One can’t say she saved the best for last, because a great many books by Ms. Rendell and her alter ego Barbara Vine are so splendid, but it’s among the best. You won’t put it down. I loved it.”

“A spectacularly creepy and macabre tale” (Entertainment Weekly) of blackmail, murders both accidental and opportunistic, and of one life’s fateful unraveling—from Ruth Rendell, “one of the most remarkable novelists of her generation” (People), writing at her most mesmerizing. Rendell completed Dark Corners shortly before her death in 2015.

Stephen King: "A brilliant blending of crime, mystery, and American history (Atlanta, just after WWII). Terrific entertainment."

Award-winning author Thomas Mullen is a “wonderful architect of intersecting plotlines and unexpected answers” (The Washington Post) in this timely and provocative mystery and brilliant exploration of race, law enforcement, and justice in 1940s Atlanta.

Stephen King: “Picoult writes with unassuming brilliance.”

Every expectant parent will tell you that they don't want a perfect baby, just a healthy one. Charlotte and Sean O'Keefe would have asked for a healthy baby, too, if they'd been given the choice. Instead, their lives are made up of sleepless nights, mounting bills, the pitying stares of "luckier" parents, and maybe worst of all, the what-ifs.

STEPHEN KING: “Terrifying, gripping, all true. I couldn’t put it down.”

A “deeply compelling” (Booklist) chronicle of the rise and fall of a woman-led cult—and the enduring allure of extremism across America’s turbulent religious history.

STEPHEN KING: “Probably the best novel I’ll read this year. It’s about work and love and characters who ring true.” 

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

Named a Best Book of the Year by Newsweek, San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times

A stunning novel about love, work, and marriage that asks how far one family and one community will go to protect their future.

STEPHEN KING: "I loved Mirrorland. It’s dark and devious, a neo-gothic featuring twin sisters and a deeply frightening old dark house. Beautifully written and plotted with a watchmaker’s precision."

Mirrorland is a thrilling psychological suspense novel about twin sisters, the man they both love, the house that has always haunted them, and the childhood stories they can’t leave behind.

STEPHEN KING: “An excellent mystery/suspense novel that will remind you of Dame Agatha at her best.” 

This instant New York Times bestseller and “claustrophobic spine-tingler” (People) from Ruth Ware follows a group of employees trapped on a snow-covered mountain.

Stephen King: “The Troop scared the hell out of me, and I couldn’t put it down. This is old-school horror at its best."

Once every year, Scoutmaster Tim Riggs leads a troop of boys into the Canadian wilderness for a weekend camping trip—a tradition as comforting and reliable as a good ghost story around a roaring bonfire. But when an unexpected intruder stumbles upon their campsite—shockingly thin, disturbingly pale, and voraciously hungry—Tim and the boys are exposed to something far more frightening than any tale of terror.

Stephen King: "Hypnotic and scary.”

A terrifying exploration of how vulnerable we all are to stalking and manipulation, debut author Caroline Kepnes delivers a razor-sharp novel for our hyper-connected digital age. You is a compulsively readable page-turner, one compared to the likes of Gone Girl, American Psycho, and Stephen King’s Misery.

Stephen King: "Every now and then––rarely!––a book casts a little light on the creative development of a gifted artist. Paul Simon: The Life is one of those few. Read it if you like Simon; read it if you want to discover how talent unfolds itself."

A publishing event from music legend Paul Simon: an intimate, candid, and definitive biography written with Simon’s full participation—but without his editorial control—by acclaimed biographer and music writer Robert Hilburn.

Stephen King: “A revelation…This is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid on autoload."

Ben, Chon, and O are twentysomething best friends living the dream in Southern California. Together they have made a small fortune producing premium grade marijuana, a product so potent that the Mexican Baja Cartel demands a cut. When Ben and Chon refuse to back down, the cartel kidnaps O, igniting a dizzying array of high-octane negotiations and stunning plot twists as they risk everything to free her. The result is a provocative, sexy, and darkly engrossing thrill ride, an ultracontemporary love story that will leave you breathless.

Stephen King: “A brilliant fusion of fact and fiction, Jayne Anne Phillips has written the novel of the year.”

A spectacularly riveting novel based on a real life crime by a con man who preyed on widows, Quiet Dell is both a tragedy and a love story.It is an overall tour de force of obsession by one of America's most celebrated writers, Jayne Anne Phillips.

Stephen King: "Abigail Thomas is the Emily Dickinson of memoirists, and so much of this book's wisdom is between the lines and in the white spaces. It may only take you two days to read, but the impact will stay with you for a long, long time. Abigail Thomas fills memory with living breath."

In her bestselling memoir A Three Dog Life, Abigail Thomas wrote about the devastating loss of her husband. In What Comes Next and How to Like It, “a keenly observed memoir…Thomas writes of the changes aging brings us all and of coping through love: of family, dogs, a well-turned phrase. She is superb company” (People).

Stephen King: "The Lie is what great fiction is all about.”

A provocative thriller about a dynamic Israeli lawyer—famous for defending accused Palestinians—whose views are tested when her own son is taken captive by Hezbollah, The Lie is an unforgettable story of human beings on both sides of the terror equation whose lives turn out to share more in common than they ever could have imagined.

STEPHEN KING: "An irresistible mixture of mythic horror and nuts-and-bolts police procedural. Long-time Connolly protagonist Charlie Parker searches for a dangerous and otherworldly book called The Fractured Atlas. The Parker books are loosely connected, but this is a fine place to start."

Private Investigator Charlie Parker returns in this heart-pounding thriller as he seeks revenge against the darkest forces in the world, from “one of the best thriller writers we have” (Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author) and the internationally bestselling author of the acclaimed The Woman in the Woods.

Stephen King: “An eye-opening dazzler.”

An exuberant, provocative debut novel from one of the world’s leading film directors about a pair of globetrotting, gore-obsessed journalists whose entanglement in a French philosopher’s death becomes a surreal journey into global conspiracy from legendary filmmaker David Cronenberg.

Stephen King: “Entertaining and enlightening.”

An authentic and always honest look at the people who reinvented rock music, Punk Rock Blitzkrieg gives the final word on the genius and mischief of the Ramones, told by the man who created the beat behind their iconic music and lived to tell about it.

Stephen King: "To my mind, there have been two great American novels in the past fifty years. Catch-22 is one of them."

Now a Hulu limited series starring Christopher Abbott, George Clooney, Kyle Chandler, and Hugh Laurie.

This fiftieth-anniversary edition commemorates Joseph Heller’s masterpiece with a new introduction; critical essays and reviews by Norman Mailer, Alfred Kazin, Anthony Burgess, and others; rare papers and photos; and much more.

Stephen King: "A darkly poetic tale...it is probably Bradbury's best work."

For those who still dream and remember, for those yet to experience the hypnotic power of its dark poetry, step inside. The show is about to begin. Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois, to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery. The carnival rolls in sometime after midnight, ushering in Halloween a week early. A calliope’s shrill siren song beckons to all with a seductive promise of dreams and youth regained. Two boys will discover the secret of its smoke, mazes, and mirrors; two friends who will soon know all too well the heavy cost of wishes…and the stuff of nightmares.

STEPHEN KING: "One of the best horror novels in the last twenty years.”

From Martin Cruz Smith, the internationally bestselling author of Gorky Park, comes a reissue of Nightwing, the million-copy bestseller.

Stephen King: “The great time-travel story.”

When advertising artist Si Morley is recruited to join a covert government operation exploring the possibility of time travel, he jumps at the chance to leave his 20th-century existence and step into New York City in January 1882. Aside from his thirst for adventure, he has good reason to return to the past—his friend Kate has discovered a mysterious, half-burned letter dated from that year, and Si has good reasons to want to trace its origins.

Stephen King : A story "to be read and savored for its own satisfactions."

First published in 1955, this classic science fiction thriller about the ultimate alien invasion and the triumph of the human spirit over an invisible enemy has inspired multiple film adaptations and entertained readers for decades. This repackaged edition features a new cover by Hugo award–winning illustrator, John Picacio and a foreword by New York Times bestselling author, Dean Koontz.

Stephen King: "Dry, by Neal and Jarrod Shusterman: Terrific, well-written novel about California running out of water. Couldn't put it down."

When the California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, one teen is forced to make life and death decisions for her family in this harrowing story of survival from New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman.