There’s nothing like a thriller to have you flipping pages well into the night. In recent years, we’ve had some excellent LGBTQ thrillers come out, including a cyber-erotic romantic thriller about gender outlaws in love, a spy thriller about gay secret agents, an “eat-the-rich” thriller with a slowburn romance between rival conwomen, and a queer thriller set at a casino on a reservation. Here are eight new LGBTQ thrillers that deserve a spot on your TBR.
Nearly Roadkill: Queer Love on the Run by Kate Bornstein and Caitlin Sullivan
Kate Bornstein is best known for her nonfiction, like Gender Outlaw, but in the 1990s, she wrote a “cyber-erotic romantic thriller” alongside co-writer Caitlin Sullivan. Now, it’s been reissued in a 30th anniversary reboot. It follows gender outlaws Scratch and Winc as they fall in love, fight back against a tyrannical government, and try to combat the capitalist takeover of the Web—without becoming roadkill on the internet superhighway. It’s part queer love story, part gender theory, part ’90s cyberthriller.
Make Sure You Die Screaming by Zee Carlstrom
The nameless nonbinary narrator of Make Sure You Die Screaming has just been fired from their corporate job and narrowly escaped an abusive relationship. When they get a call that their right-wing conspiracy theorist father has gone missing, they decide to steal a car and track him down. They’re joined by their “garbage goth” new best friend, who has her own reasons to be on the run. I have to include Torrey Peters’s review of this one: “It’s Fear and Loathing for the generation devastated by the generation that brought us Fear and Loathing.”
Monster in the Mirror by Janasha Prabhu
As a queer Brown woman, Jiah was already an outcast in her small white community. To make matters worse, her uncle is a convicted serial killer. So when she was found holding her girlfriend’s dead body at the bottom of the cliffs, everyone suspected her—they just couldn’t prove it. Years later, she’s being framed for another murder, done in a copycat style to her uncle’s kills. Now, she’ll have to find the killer before they strike again… but does she really want to save their next victim?
You’ll Never Forget Me by Isha Raya
Killing Eve fans, take note. This is a sapphic cat-and-mouse thriller about an actress, Dimple, who accidentally killed her rival, Irene, at a party. Years later, she has put it behind her and is enjoying her newfound success with Irene out of the way. But Irene’s parents have hired a private investigator, Saffi, who invites Dimple to help her on the case. Dimple knows Saffi suspects her, but she plays along, and the two of them keep raising the stakes. Dimple needs Saffi dead, and Saffi needs Dimple behind bars—which makes the sparks flying between them even more dangerous.
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The Tuxedo Society by Paul Rudnick
Thrillers don’t have to be dark! This spy thriller promises to be “if Guy Ritchie directed a James Bond caper starring a queer 007.” Andrew is a struggling actor working at a candle shop when he’s approached to join a society of gay secret agents. Bring on the gadgets, death-defying stunts, and exotic locales.
Passing Through a Prairie Country by Dennis E. Staples
This is the newest thriller from the author of This Town Sleeps. A mysterious deadly force known as the sandman haunts Hidden Atlantis Lake Resort and Casino. Queer aspiring documentarian Glenn Nielan hopes to capture the many sides of this Ojibwe community, including the thrills of the casino, but he doesn’t realize he’s being pulled into the sandman’s orbit. Meanwhile, cousins Marion, Alana, and Cherie prepare for a battle with the sandman that will determine the future of the reservation’s residents.
The Long Con by Jenna Voris
Chloe has a good racket going: as a hotel caterer, she sneaks into wealthy people’s rooms, pockets an item or two, and pawns them to pay off her family’s medical debts. When the hotel owner catches her, he has a proposal. If she infiltrates his rival’s isolated island hotel and steals back his trophy, he’ll pay off all her family’s debts, plus more to play with. But it will mean teaming up with her rival, Harper, a conwoman who has been getting in the way all year. It’s an “eat-the-rich” thriller with a slowburn romance between rival conwomen: what more do you need?
Happily Ever After the Murders by Rae Wilde (November 3)
Decades ago, Ida and Jean killed their husbands. They’ve been very happy together ever since. But now, the electrical lines in their backyard are being replaced, which means the bodies are going to be discovered. Their attempts to dissuade the electrical company accidentally add another body to their count. So, Ida and Jean set off on a road trip with their cat, hoping to outrun the detective tracking them and start over in San Francisco. It’s The Golden Girls meets Bonnie and Clyde and Thelma and Louise.
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