International Thriller Writers wrapped up its 20th ThrillerFest, held over six days at Manhattan's New York Hilton Midtown, on June 21 with their annual awards banquet, honoring authors, editors, publishers, booksellers, and fans of the big-tent genre. The event was marked by evident warmth between the attendees and the easygoing attitude of its organizers.
After sharing the impressive statistic that ITW member authors had more than 3.6 billion books in print, ITW co-president Gregg Hurwitz joked that 3.5 billion of them had been written by James Patterson—this year's recipient of the organization’s Silver Bullet Award for his philanthropic efforts. That philanthropy includes Patterson's donation of millions of books to under-served schools and youth, as well as members of the military. He has also donated millions of dollars to school libraries and independent bookstores and their employees, and funded more than 400 scholarships for teacher and writers.
Nonetheless, ITW board member Lisa Gardner, who introduced the award, continued poking fun at Patterson for his prolific output. After detailing his track record of altruism, Gardner punctuated her remarks frequently with refrains of "James Patterson writes too many books," inviting the crowd to join in.
Patterson's own remarks were in the same spirit. He shared an "outline" of his day, which began, he said, with a 5.30 a.m. cup of coffee before he headed up to his office, "James Patterson's Factory Central." There, he planned to work on five different novels that morning—two of them romantasies—but decided to work on 10 instead, given that it was a "special day." That took him, he joked, to the basement "sweatshop" in his home where his "cowriters work and live," where he unlocked the padlocks on the basement door before exhorting his minions to begin work on the next Alex Cross and his award acceptance speech, which he'd decreed should be both "eloquent and humble."
Conceding, with considerably more seriousness, that he does "write too many books," Patterson concluded with remarks that everyone today needs a Silver Bullet Award today "not just as protection against werewolves, but against the worse things that are happening right now." Throughout the remainder of the evening, those "worse things" were practically omnipresent in acceptance speeches.
Kellye Garrett, a cofounder of the Edgar Award–winning association Crime Writers of Color, became the first-ever winner of the Best Standalone Mystery Novel Award, which was newly introduced this year along with the Best Standalone Thriller Novel category. Garrett won for Missing White Woman, an innovative exploration of a familiar genre trope. In accepting that award, Garrett shared how difficult the months since the 2024 election had been for her—and that escaping into books, including thrillers, had been vital in helping her cope.
John Grisham, the 2025 ThrillerMaster, suggested that his novels could supply such escapism, and that he and his fellow authors wanted to provide stories that could entertain their readers and take them away from their daily realities. Grisham was introduced by one of ITW's cofounders, David Morrell, who noted that the bestselling author’s path to success had been anything but guaranteed; his first novel, 1989's A Time To Kill, was rejected by 30 publishers before it landed at a small press, and Grisham tried to give away copies from the book’s 5,000-copy first print run to clients of his law practice.
Morrell had a different take on the impact of Grisham's work, arguing that the dozens of legal thrillers that Grisham produced were more than a means for escape in tough times. Some, he noted, were aimed at children, and sought to inform them about the need for a rule of law in a democracy. Morrell added that understanding that need "applies to adult readers as well," and that Grisham's work had societal value for explicating "how the American criminal justice system works—and doesn't work."
20 Years of Thrills
After the show, Morrell and fellow ITW cofounder Gayle Lynds spoke with PW about ITW's humble beginnings and two-decade journey. Lynds credited Barbara Peters, of the Poisoned Pen bookstore and press, with first putting together the conference of thriller writers two decades ago. The conference, along with Lynds and Morrell, featured the authors Lee Child, Clive Cussler, Vince Flynn, and Kathy Reichs.
"It was a wonderful writing conference, with outstanding authors teaching," Lynds said. "Interestingly, instead of the attendees being dominantly aspiring writers, which all of us had expected, readers came, too—and outnumbered the writers." That, for Lynds, was the "ah-ha moment. For the first time, we had evidence that readers wanted thriller gatherings, as did we writers. Those of us there talked seriously about starting an organization, which David and I agreed to honcho, and we became co-presidents." She recalled it as "a wonderful, fascinating, busy time."
Asked about the role ITW and ThrillerFest play in the business, Lynds responded that, when it began, "although thriller novels often filled bestseller lists, panels about thriller writing were seldom offered at writing conferences, and writing organizations seldom honored thriller novels with awards. So, from their beginning, ITW worked to integrate thrillers into conferences and to draw attention to our field as worthy to receive awards." To date, Lynds said, "ITW’s growth has been amazing, and inspiring. Any time you start something, you can never be sure how it will turn out I’m proud of all the writers we’ve helped better their craft; the opportunities we’ve given writers to talk face-to-face with agents, publishers, and media people; and the writers who have worked so hard to write top-notch novels and can say ITW helped them in many ways."
Morrell also recalled that initial gathering in Scottsdale, at the famed Arizona Biltmore hotel."It occurred to everyone that we were mostly thriller authors at a mystery store event," he told PW. "Gayle and I began to wonder about an organization for thriller writers. After a year of phone calls and help from many, many people, International Thriller Writers was born."
Morrell admitted that he is surprised at what ThrillerFest has evolved into in 2025: "Membership and attendance have grown amazingly, as ITW provides a community for thriller writers, encourages new authors, and explores the possibilities of what thrillers can be." He credited "the generous support of ITW’s members, their officers, committees, event volunteers, and anthology contributors. A lot of people give their time and enthusiasm to help one another and the thriller-author community. Our books may be filled with mayhem, but at ThrillerFest, there are a lot of smiles."
2025 Thriller Award Winners
Best Short Story
“Jackrabbit Skin” by Ivy Pochoda (Amazon Original Stories)
Best First Novel
Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney (Holt)
Best Young Adult Novel
Darkly by Marisha Pessl (Delacorte)
Best Audiobook
No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall, narrated by Karissa Vacker (Macmillan Audio)
Best Standalone Mystery Novel
Missing White Woman by Kellye Garrett (Mulholland)
Best Standalone Thriller Novel
The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak (Flatiron)
Best Series Novel
To Die For by David Baldacci (Grand Central)
Special Recognitions
- 2025 ThrillerMaster, John Grisham
- 2025 Silver Bullet Award, James Patterson
- 2025 Spotlight Guest, Oyinkan Braithwaite
- 2025 Spotlight Guest, Jennifer Hillier
- 2025 Thriller Legend, Neil Nyren
- 2025 ThrillerFan, McKenna Jordan
