My top 6 books of 2020

I’m a slow reader. I wish I was quicker, but the three stacks of books that comprise my to-be-read piles are proof that my eyes are always bigger than my stomach when it comes to buying/receiving/asking for new books.

That said, my tally for this year is above 30 (so far), and I wanted to highlight some of the books that I’ve enjoyed the most, the thrillers that grabbed onto me and held tight until the last page. I’m a big fan of audiobooks too and have a monthly subscription with Audible, so I’m going to throw those into the mix as I look back at my six overall favourites from 2020.

Some are debuts, some are from well-established authors, some came out this year and others are not quite as recent. It goes without saying that it was tricky to put these five-star reads in any kind of rank order.

What they have in common is that they’re all excellent, in their own ways.

#6 Remain Silent by Susie Steiner

Razor-sharp crime writing that shines a light on modern Britain. DI Manon Bradshaw is such a wonderful creation – smart, flawed, acerbically funny and completely real. The third in a series, but they work equally well as standalones.

#5 One White Lie by Leah Konen

An intense, addictive debut novel about a woman on the run from an abusive relationship, with a small cast of characters and a thoroughly unpredictable storyline about small lies that have tragic consequences.

#4 Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh

A premise that makes you wish you’d thought of it first: the serial killer isn’t on trial, he’s on the jury. A memorable protagonist, a propulsive plot, and a great execution. Eddie Flynn, the conman turned New York lawyer, is a brilliant creation.

#3 Seven Lies by Elizabeth Kay

The other debut book among my top six, I devoured this darkly compelling thriller in a single weekend. An increasingly toxic relationship between two friends takes a very dark turn as the fractures between them start to multiply.

#2 The Lying Room by Nicci French

Starts off with a fascinating moral dilemma – prolong a falsehood or suffer the truth? – and keeps the twists coming as the protagonist struggles to find out who murdered her lover while covering up her own double life. Gripping, claustrophobic and highly entertaining.

#1 Blacktop Wasteland by SA Cosby

It was a tough call but this full-throttle US thriller is top of the list for me in 2020 - the story of Beauregard ‘Bug’ Montage, a reformed outlaw doing his best to lead an honest life. Vivid storytelling, fantastic dialogue, authentic characters and impossible choices: modern American noir at its very best. I can’t wait to see what he writes next.

So those are my favourites of 2020. What are yours? Let me know in the comments below - or you can find me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

By the way, my new thriller Trust Me is available to pre-order from Amazon and Waterstones: I can't wait to share more of it with you in the months leading up to publication in March 2021. Until then, stay safe!

Tim (TM Logan)