The 18 Best Thriller Novels of the 1980s

Cold War spy games, courtroom showdowns and serial-killer manhunts, from a decade when thrillers got slicker, smarter and impossible to put down. Which one wins?

1

The Silence of the Lambs

Thomas Harris's 1988 psychological thriller introducing Clarice Starling's pursuit of a killer with Hannibal Lecter's help.

1000pts

2

Red Dragon

Thomas Harris's 1981 thriller that first brought Hannibal Lecter to the page via FBI profiler Will Graham.

774pts

3

The Little Drummer Girl

John le Carré's 1983 espionage novel following an actress recruited into a Middle East intelligence operation.

706pts

4

Sphere

Michael Crichton's 1987 techno-thriller about scientists investigating a mysterious craft on the ocean floor.

611pts

5

The Bourne Identity

Robert Ludlum's 1980 thriller about an amnesiac assassin piecing together his lethal past.

611pts

6

The Name of the Rose

Umberto Eco's 1980 medieval murder mystery set in an Italian monastery.

611pts

7

Red Storm Rising

Tom Clancy's 1986 epic of a conventional NATO-Soviet war fought across land, sea, and air.

529pts

8

The Hunt for Red October

Tom Clancy's 1984 debut techno-thriller about a defecting Soviet submarine captain.

529pts

9

Patriot Games

Tom Clancy's 1987 thriller pitting analyst Jack Ryan against a splinter terrorist cell.

529pts

10

The Bourne Supremacy

Robert Ludlum's 1986 sequel that drags Jason Bourne back into a deadly Asian conspiracy.

529pts

11

Presumed Innocent

Scott Turow's 1987 courtroom thriller about a prosecutor accused of murdering a colleague.

433pts

12

The Russia House

John le Carré's 1989 thriller of a British publisher entangled in late-Cold War Moscow intrigue.

433pts

13

Lie Down with Lions

Ken Follett's 1986 espionage thriller set against the Soviet-Afghan war.

433pts

14

A Perfect Spy

John le Carré's 1986 semi-autobiographical masterwork tracing a British agent's double life.

317pts

15

Clear and Present Danger

Tom Clancy's 1989 thriller following a covert U.S. campaign against a Colombian drug cartel.

317pts

16

Misery

Stephen King's 1987 thriller about a novelist held captive by his self-proclaimed number-one fan.

176pts

17

The Cardinal of the Kremlin

Tom Clancy's 1988 Cold War thriller centered on a high-level Soviet spy and missile defense.

176pts

18

The Key to Rebecca

Ken Follett's 1980 WWII spy thriller set in wartime Cairo.

176pts