Top ten teen thrillers

Sophie McKenzie is the award-winning author of a range of teen thrillers, including the Missing series (Girl, Missing, Sister, Missing, and Missing Me), Blood Ties and Blood Ransom and the Medusa Project series.

One of her top ten teen thrillers, as told to the Guardian:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I was fascinated to read that Suzanne Collins came up with the idea for The Hunger Games series when she was flicking between TV channels – one showing war footage and the other a reality TV talent contest. The Hunger Games has a fantastic premise, brilliantly realised, as teenagers fight each other to the death on live TV. The first chapter of the first book is an absolute masterclass in creating the world of the story (vital and particularly challenging when you're setting your story in a fantasy future), establishing the main character and her core relationships and – most importantly – setting out a massive challenge for that character and making the reader care about her achieving it.

Read about the other books on the list.

The Hunger Games also appears on Gregg Olsen's top ten list of deadly YA books, Annalee Newitz's list of ten great American dystopias, Philip Webb's top ten list of pulse-racing adventure books, Charlie Higson's top ten list of fantasy books for children, and Megan Wasson's list of five fantasy series geared towards teens that adults will love too.

--Marshal Zeringue