the International Thriller Writers Awards

Every year we eagerly await the annual International Thriller Writers Awards shortlists, which seek to spotlight the very best new writing in the genre. The 2026 finalists up for the title of 'best standalone thriller' include a breathless psychological novel about an obsessive relationship and a fast-paced suspense book centred on a medieval manuscript that has been likened to the Da Vinci Code.

Every summer, judges for the ITW Awards highlight the very best new thrillers published in the previous year. In 2025, they shortlisted five books for the title of ‘best standalone thriller novel,’ including a vivid narrative of a disastrous plane crash and a high pressure locked-room mystery set in a hyperbaric chamber.