5 Black Thriller Books to Read This Weekend (If You Dare)
3 min read
1. Discipline by Marc Avery (2025)
New Release | Crime Thriller Set in Philly
Serial killers don’t usually come with monikers like “Discipline,” but Giuseppe Cain is no ordinary murderer. In Marc Avery’s latest, Philly becomes the killing floor as Cain stages murders at historic landmarks, daring the city to stop him.
Detectives Aaden Bravo and Christian Bennett are opposites—one methodical, one wild—but they’re both outmatched by a killer who’s organized, philosophical, and cold as ice. This is the kind of book that punches like a thriller but thinks like a manifesto.
Why Read It: Marc Avery turns the City of Brotherly Love into a battleground of blood and morality. It’s as cinematic as it is sinister.
2. Black Godfather by K’wan (2025)
New Release | Urban Fiction Royalty Returns
K’wan isn’t just an author—he’s a blueprint. And Black Godfather is his coronation. Set in the seedy underworld of organized crime, this novel follows a seasoned boss torn between old codes and new enemies. With backstabbing protégés, crooked politicians, and an empire on shaky ground, this isn’t just a thriller—it’s a legacy war.
The streets talk in this one, and every whisper sounds like betrayal. K’wan builds his characters like war generals—flawed, loyal, and always dangerous.
Why Read It: Because K’wan never misses. Black Godfather is The Wire meets The Godfather, filtered through that raw K’wan lens.
3. The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
Historical Horror Meets Social Thriller
Set in Jim Crow-era Florida, this haunting novel follows a young boy imprisoned in a brutal reformatory school with secrets darker than its segregationist foundation. Tananarive Due infuses the real-life horrors of systemic racism with a supernatural terror that feels all too close to home.
Why Read It: It’s not just scary—it’s necessary. A thriller that forces you to feel, remember, and reckon.
4. When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole
Brooklyn Gentrification Gets Deadly
Alyssa Cole’s neighborhood thriller is the very definition of slow-burn paranoia. As Sydney watches Black families disappear from her rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn block, the horror creeps in subtly—until it explodes in a twist you will NOT see coming.
Why Read It: It’s gripping, politically sharp, and wildly entertaining. A thriller for the woke and the wary.
5. My5. Should Have Thought Twice by Tanisha Stewart
Book 1 of 6 | Psychological Thriller Series
Shatina’s the quiet one. The one who blends in. The one nobody expects to bite back. But after living in the shadow of her flawless twin sister, seductive best friend, and intimidating cousin—she’s learned how to strike from the dark.
When someone threatens her future, they have no idea they’re challenging someone who’s already buried her enemies. But this new threat might be more than even Shatina can outwit—or survive.
Why Read It: It’s smart, sinister, and savage in all the right ways. If you love messy female leads with hidden rage, this one’s for you.
Black thriller writers spin suspense and flip the genre on its head and make it bleed truth. This weekend, pick up one of these books and prepare to lose sleep for all the right reasons.
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