What Makes a Killer Thriller?

The New York Times Book Review recently released its list of the 50 best thrillers of the 21st century.

To put it together, the team asked almost 300 authors and other experts to vote for the best heart-thumping, page-turning, white knuckle reads published since 2000.

In this episode of “The Sunday Daily,” Natalie Kitroeff talks with the Times thrillers columnist, Sarah Lyall, about how the list came together. Then, Natalie speaks with one of the greatest thriller writers of this century — with four books featured on the list — the author Tana French.

On Today’s Episode:

Sarah Lyall writes a monthly thrillers column for The New York Times.

Tana Frenchis the author of many best-selling books, including “In the Woods,” “The Searcher,” “The Likeness” and “The Witch Elm.”

Background Reading:

The 50 Best Thrillers of the 21st Century

Photo credit: Naila Ruechel

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.