It’s said that setting can make or break suspense. Just think about the eerie locations of any good nail-biting story — an abandoned farmhouse, a quiet cemetery, a boat at sea, an old asylum, a haunted forest.
One thing many of these settings have in common is that they’re isolated, leaving the characters in unfamiliar terrain with no way to call for help. This raises the stakes and leaves readers white-knuckling their books wondering, What’s going to happen?!
So in this spirit, here are 7 nail-biting thrillers set in remote locations that will have readers on the edge of their seats.
The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian
Tanzania, 1964. When Katie Barstow, A-list actress, and her new husband, David Hill, decide to bring their Hollywood friends to the Serengeti for their honeymoon, they expect civilized adventure. They don’t expect a kidnapping gone wrong, their guides bleeding out in the dirt, and a team of Russian mercenaries herding their hostages into Land Rovers, guns to their heads. As the powerful sun gives way to night, the gunmen shove them into abandoned huts and Katie prays for a simple thing: to see the sun rise one more time. (Check out The Big Thrill’s interview with the author here.)
Wolf’s Head Bay: The Race for Home by Jeffery Allen Boyd
In the sequel to the action/adventure thriller, Journey of the Courageous Eleven, the frightened yet determined group led by Jeremy makes a harrowing escape, taking with them a flash drive of incriminating evidence. Alone in the remote northern Michigan wilderness, unable to communicate with the outside world — on the run for their lives from Spear, a lethal enforcer within the human trafficking Network and the Colonel’s trained assassin — what will save these courageous teenagers? Jeremy’s resourcefulness and dogged determination, or younger brother Travis’ faith — and will it be enough?
The Instructor by T. R. Hendricks
Derek Harrington, retired Marine Force Recon and SERE instructor, is barely scraping by teaching the basics of wilderness survival. When one of his students presents him with an opportunity too good to be true, Derek reluctantly takes the job. Reaching out to an FBI contact to sound his concerns, Derek soon finds himself in deep cover, deep in the woods — and in a race against time to stop what could very well be the first attack by the domestic terrorist cell. (Check out the BookTrib review here.)
The Big Dark Sky by Dean Koontz
As a girl, Joanna Chase thrived on Rustling Willows Ranch until tragedy upended her life. Now, she begins to receive pleas ― by phone, through her TV, in her dreams — that compel her to return to the Montana ranch. And she isn’t the only one. People from all walks of life have converged at the remote ranch — haunted, on the run, obsessed, and seeking answers. All the while, on the outskirts of Rustling Willows, a madman lurks with a vision to save the future. And mass murder is the only way to see his frightening manifesto come to pass.
Going Zero by Anthony McCarten
Ten Americans have been selected to Beta test a ground-breaking piece of spyware that is said to track anyone on Earth. The participants have two hours to disappear — to vanish and remain off-grid for thirty days and elude capture. The prize at stake: three million dollars. But for unassuming Boston librarian Kaitlyn Day, the stakes are far higher than money, and her reasons for entering the test are more personal than anyone imagines. When the timer hits zero, there will only be one winner. (Check out the BookTrib review here.)
Stranded by Beverley Scherberger
After a tragic scuba diving accident claims the life of one member of their group and strands the others far out at sea, Lissy and her friends find themselves in a struggle for survival on an inhospitable deserted island in the middle of nowhere. The group must face some of humanity’s oldest innate fears in addition to human depravity within their own troop — and as they face daily menace from the island’s nonhuman denizens, will Lissy’s own panic make their worst nightmares come true?
A Blizzard of Polar Bears by Alice Henderson
Fresh off her wolverine study in Montana, wildlife biologist Alex Carter lands a job studying a threatened population of polar bears in the Canadian Arctic. But things quickly go awry. Equipment going missing and a late-night break-in lead Alex to believe that someone doesn’t want her to complete her study — and then their helicopter catches fire. Surviving on the frozen landscape is difficult enough, but as armed assailants close in on snowmobiles, Alex must rely on her skills and tenacity to survive this onslaught and carry out her mission. (Check out the BookTrib review here.)
