Rating: 3 stars

Thrillers: 100 Must Reads presents as a summer reading list on steroids. Chosen for the impact each book had on the thriller genre, various authors were invited to write essays analyzing the importance of the work.

From Homer’s The Illiad and the Odyssey and standard classics like Beowulf and Robinson Crusoe, Thrillers: 100 Must Reads takes you from Lee Child’s Theseus and the Minotaur circa 1500 B.C. to Dan Brown’s 2003 mega-hit The Da Vinci Code.

The essays highlight the essence of each book in regards to such matters as: influence, ground-breaking subject matter and enduring appeal--such as Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, which is just as relevant now as it was in 1938.

Most of the essays were well-done, succeeding in extolling the virtues of the represented works. However, a few didn’t quite manage to capture the spirit of the book, nor pique my interest enough to read it—in theory.

Although I shamefully admit to only reading 12 of the 100 chosen titles (so far), the Thriller collection is the perfect opportunity to re-visit some old favorites, remember ones you forgot and perhaps make a few new discoveries.
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Hardcover: 408 pages
Publisher: Oceanview Publishing (July 5, 2010)
ISBN-13: 978-1933515564