Thrillers | Prepub Alert, May 2025 Titles

Big books out this month include titles from Carl Hiaasen, Chris Pavone, Nora Roberts, and Brendan Slocumb.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finlay, Alex. Parents Weekend. Minotaur. May 2025. ISBN 9781250360724. 320p. $28. THRILLER

Finlay (If Something Happens to Me) returns with a thriller set in Northern California at a small private college, where families are visiting for parents’ weekend. When five students inexplicably go missing, the police are called in. FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller from Every Last Fear, which is in development for a TV series, makes a cameo. With a 100K-copy first printing.

Flowers, Ashley & Alex Kiester. The Missing Half. Bantam. May 2025. ISBN 9780593726983. 272p. $30. THRILLER

Bestselling Flowers (All Good People Here), host of the true crime podcast Crime Junkie, and Kiester tell the story of two women whose sisters have vanished without a trace. Nicole feels stuck in her hometown since her sister disappeared, but when the sister of another missing woman shows up offering hope, the two band together to find their siblings.

Hiaasen, Carl. Fever Beach. Knopf. May 2025. ISBN 9780593320945. 384p. $30. THRILLER

Bestselling Hiaasen (Squeeze Me), whose novel Bad Monkey was recently adapted as an Apple TV+ series, sets his latest against the backdrop of politically fraught Florida. Incompetent right-wing extremist Dale Figgo is on an errand that leads him into the depths of greed and corruption, and his life is about to become even more complicated by feisty adversaries Viva and Tilly.

North, Alex. The Man Made of Smoke. Celadon. May 2025. ISBN 9781250757890. 320p. $27.99. THRILLER

This new serial-killer thriller from bestselling North (The Angel Maker) receives a 100K-copy first printing. Dan Garvie witnessed a crime as a child and narrowly escaped an encounter with a serial killer, prompting him to become a criminal profiler. When his father dies suspiciously, Dan returns home to find the truth about his death.

Pavone, Chris. The Doorman. MCD. May 2025. ISBN 9780374604790. 400p. $29. THRILLER

Award-winning and bestselling Pavone (Two Nights in Lisbon) offers a new thriller set in New York City. Chicky Diaz is a doorman at the ritzy Bohemia Apartments, home to the rich and famous. On a night when chaos and protests erupt in the streets, Chicky becomes drawn into a web of intrigue—and murder. With a 150K-copy first printing.

Roberts, Nora. Hidden Nature. St. Martin’s. May 2025. ISBN 9781250370853. 448p. $30. THRILLER

While Natural Resources police officer Sloan Cooper is recovering from being shot, a woman vanishes from a parking lot, and Sloan begins searching online for similar cases. She finds several more, spread across three states, and is determined to stop the perpetrators. The latest from #1 New York Times–bestselling Roberts receives a million-copy first printing.

Slocumb, Brendan. The Dark Maestro. Doubleday. May 2025. ISBN 9780593687611. 416p. $29. THRILLER

Slocumb (The Violin Conspiracy, a GMA book club pick) pens another musical thriller. Cello prodigy Curtis Wilson has succeeded in the classical music world, despite growing up with a drug dealer for a father. When his father implicates his old bosses to the FBI, the family must enter the witness protection program, and they’ll have to take on the cartel themselves to survive.

Zhang, Liann. Julie Chan Is Dead. S&S. May 2025. ISBN 9781668079867. pbk. 336p. $17.99. THRILLER

Zhang debuts with a psychological thriller. Julie Chan is a supermarket cashier, while her twin sister Chloe VanHuusen is a glamorous influencer. They’re identical twins who were separated at a young age and rarely speak. When Chloe dies, Julie steps into her luxurious life, but it turns out Chloe’s world wasn’t actually so picture-perfect, and Julie may be in danger.

Forthcoming Series Titles

Abrams, Stacey. Coded Justice. (Avery Keene, bk. 3). Doubleday. May 2025. ISBN 9780385548342. 384p. $28. THRILLER

Du Brul, Jack. Cussler Untitled Isaac Bell 15. (An Isaac Bell Adventure, bk. 15). Putnam. May 2025. ISBN 9780593853566. 400p. $32. THRILLER

Connolly, John. The Children of Eve. (Charlie Parker, bk. 22). Atria/Emily Bestler. May 2025. ISBN 9781668083949. 512p. $29.99. THRILLER

Deaver, Jeffery. South of Nowhere. (Colter Shaw, bk. 5). Putnam. May 2025. ISBN 9780593717493. 432p. $30. THRILLER

Lawton, John. Smoke and Embers. (Inspector Troy, bk. 9). Atlantic Monthly. May 2025. ISBN 9780802164896. 416p. $28. THRILLER

Woodward, M. P. Tom Clancy Line of Demarcation. (Jack Ryan Jr., bk. 13). Putnam. May 2025. ISBN 9780593718001. 432p. $32. THRILLER

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