7 Victorian Books More Addictive Than Modern Thrillers

Seven Fast-Moving Victorian Classics

The presenter argues that Victorian books can be just as gripping as modern thrillers, then recommends seven classics:

1. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde — Robert Louis Stevenson A London lawyer uncovers the unsettling link between a respected doctor and the violent Mr. Hyde. Short chapters and steadily mounting dread make it hard to put down.

2. The Sign of Four — Arthur Conan Doyle Holmes’s deductions meet a missing-person mystery, strange gifts, hidden treasure, and a pursuit that stretches beyond London.

3. King Solomon’s Mines — H. Rider Haggard Allan Quatermain leads an expedition into Africa in search of a missing man and legendary diamond mines. The presenter’s personal favorite, it keeps the adventure rolling through one dangerous situation after another. Haggard reportedly wrote it after betting his brother he could match Treasure Island.

4. Around the World in Eighty Days — Jules Verne Phileas Fogg bets he can circle the globe in 80 days. The deadline turns every delay into a race-against-the-clock obstacle. The presenter adds that Fogg is an “awesome name.”

5. The War of the Worlds — H. G. Wells An unnamed narrator tries to survive a Martian invasion of Victorian England. Escalating attacks and desperate escapes make familiar places frightening. The presenter praises Wells’s pace while cautioning that some ideas from his era, including eugenics, should be treated critically rather than endorsed.

6. A Tale of Two Cities — Charles Dickens Set in London and Paris around the French Revolution, the novel combines personal mysteries, courtroom tension, and looming revolutionary violence. The presenter calls it urgent and profound, and reflects on its warnings about inequality and the abuses that can accompany revolution.

7. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn — Mark Twain Huck flees his abusive father and travels down the Mississippi with Jim, an escaped enslaved man seeking freedom. The adventure’s humor and unpredictability are matched by Huck’s moral struggle. The presenter says it’s a deeper, more compelling book than Tom Sawyer, while warning that Twain’s dialect takes getting used to and that historical context helps with the ending. He especially loves the early stretch of the novel.

Honorable Mentions

The presenter also mentions:

• The Count of Monte Cristo
• The Three Musketeers
• The Turn of the Screw
• Early ghost stories by M. R. James
• Ghost stories by Dickens, Wilde, and Twain
• Moby-Dick

The presenter jokes that Moby-Dick “makes a splash” once it gets going, despite its philosophical and whaling digressions.

Presenter

Benjamin Laird