The best books of 2025

This list is part of the best books of 2025.

Join 1,210 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2025

Book cover of Whistleblower

Ian Coates ❤️ loved this book because...

Whistleblower is an exciting and very tense thriller, one of the best I’ve read in a long time. I felt as though I was right there with Victor and Cathy in every scene. In particular, I was kept up long into the night by the way their plans were so often thwarted at the very last moment. Everything that happens is totally believable, which is also a big plus. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough as I scrambled to keep up with the pair, desperate to know what would happen next.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Story/Plot 🥈 Immersion
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Tess Gerritsen ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Whistleblower as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'If you don't read this book, you will have forever missed out on the literary treasure of a lifetime! This was absolutely glorious in so many respects!' Reader review

'Tess Gerritsen writes a mean thriller. An action drama full of thrills, spills and twists and turns. Also, an unlikely romance that may or may not survive to the end of the novel. A must read page turner' Reader review

'The drama and romance was equally exciting and frustrating. Couldn't put down' Reader review

* * *

A deadly truth...

When Victor Holland comes flying out of the night, he runs…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of The Blood Divide

Ian Coates ❤️ loved this book because...

There's clearly a lot more to the main character, Jack Baxi, than we're told. I loved the way we get little hints all the way through the book that there is more to him and his background than we realise. What happened to his wife? Does he have a murky past? And what’s in his cellar? Every time we think we know him, another hint appears. It's only in the very final few pages that we learn the full truth.

This thriller is definitely full of the “must read on” factor, not only because I desperately wanted to work out why someone wants Jack dead, but also because of how the tension and excitement dragged me through the book at an incredible pace. The action and tension that starts one the first page continue almost unbroken until close to the end.

The second half of the thriller paints such a vivid picture of Delhi that you feel you’re there. The book also carries some strong emotional punches that almost had me in tears at one point. In summary, it's full of tension, fast action, and a strong emotional stranglehold, which make it virtually impossible to put down until the final page.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Emotions 🥈 Story/Plot
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By A. A. Dhand ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Blood Divide as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'A fireball of an opening chapter and it just gets better and better. A A Dhand is a gifted writer, and you should run, RUN, to buy The Blood Divide.' Steve Cavanagh, bestselling author of THIRTEEN

The last thing Jack Baxi expected when a detective rang his doorbell in the middle of the night was that he'd be tortured and left for dead, with a young woman he's never met before.

Now, running for their lives, Jack and Aisha frantically try to discover why the detective was so convinced they both have information on a missing person. Jack is a…


My 3rd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of The Handler

Ian Coates ❤️ loved this book because...

I was so glued to the action of this tense espionage thriller that I lost track of time. It’s a very exciting story that's full of realistic action, broken by only a few tiny lulls in the first half. It has an incredible momentum that will drive you frantically towards its exciting conclusion.

The thriller cuts between the viewpoints of the different characters involved in the chase, which adds to the tension. However, with so many people involved, I did sometimes get a little confused about who was who, so I did find myself referring to the two-page list of characters at the start of the book quite a few times. Overall, though, I absolutely loved this thriller because of its tension, excitement, and action.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Emotions 🥈 Story/Plot
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By M. P. Woodward ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Handler as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A disgraced former CIA operative must go back in the field with only his ex-wife as his handler in this electrifying thriller from a former intelligence officer.

Meredith Morris-Dale is a CIA case officer and a damn good one...even if this last mission did go terribly wrong. Now she has been summoned back to Langley where she expects to be fired. Instead, she is met by the Deputy Director with stunning news. 

A single well-placed CIA mole in Iran’s uranium enrichment program has kept the terrorist nation from building a bomb by sabotaging the performance of their covert centrifuge arrays.…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Backlash

By Ian Coates ,

Book cover of Backlash

What is my book about?

One mistake was all it took and now you’re being blackmailed. But it’s not your money they want. Instead, you’re coerced into passing the blackmailer’s demands to his more dangerous victims – those who might retaliate. And when an arms dealer decides he won’t pay, it’s you he comes after.

Young interior designer Trish McGowan’s life and career are thrown into chaos. After narrowly surviving a bomb blast that destroys her shop, she finds herself running for her life. She quickly realises tracking down the blackmailer, the mysterious Argus, and trying to get his help is the only way she’ll manage to stay alive. But an experienced criminal who wants to remain anonymous isn’t easy to find. And he might be hiding in plain sight right in front of her.

As the arms dealer’s noose closes round McGowan, she uncovers two more of Argus’ victims, and they form an uneasy alliance to stop the blackmail once and for all.

My book recommendation list

Book cover of Whistleblower
Book cover of The Blood Divide
Book cover of The Handler

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