Books
11 Books To Read If You Love Thrillers
When you mention to someone that you like reading, and that you enjoy reading thrillers in particular, that person will almost inevitably ask, "Oh, so have you read Gone Girl?" To which you will politely say yes. Leaving out the fact that you read it in 2012, when it came out, long before it was A Thing. The same happens more recently with Paula Hawkins' The Girl on the Train . Instantly called this year's Gone Girl, Hawkins' debut is still at the top of the bestseller list, and no one can stop talking about it.
But, if you're sick of hearing about the same books time and time again, especially when it comes to thrillers, chances are, you're (more than) ready for something new to grab you and pull you in the same way Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train did. Plus, there's nothing like reading a good murder mystery or psychological thriller just as fall sets in. The cool temperatures and the fact that Halloween is right around the corner makes for a perfect, heart-pounding reading experience. Now, if only you could find your next favorite thriller!
No matter what amazing thriller you loved once upon a time, here are 11 more that you just have to add to your reading list.
Night Film by Marisha Pessl
Night Film has been called the perfect read for fans of Gillian Flynn, Stephen King, and Stieg Larsson, meaning that it will be a suspenseful page-turner that readers will not be able to put down, or stop talking about once they finish. Night Film features murder, suspense, a conflicted investigator: so, basically everything that makes for the perfect read for fans of the thrillers they've already come to know and love.
The Night Guest by Fiona McFarlane
The Night Guest isn't a thriller per se, but it's full of suspense, will keep you guessing, and of course double checking that your doors are locked at night. Ruth is a widow, her children have moved out, and she lives in an isolated town. When a mysterious traveler knocks on her door one night, Ruth lets her in. But there is more to the woman than meets the eye, and when Ruth begins hearing strange noises and recounting memories from her past, she wonders if it might have been a mistake.
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Recommended by thriller-master Stephen King, you almost can't go wrong with this hilarious thriller from Liane Moriarty. The novel focuses on three women and their families: Madeline, Jane, and Celeste. The three women takes on the tumultuous first year of Kindergarten together with their children in tow, along for the wild ride this book takes you on. Things go from hilarious to very dark incredibly quickly, and it will keep you turning pages as fast as you can as the climactic Trivia Night comes ever closer.
The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh
Set in the Ozark Mountains, The Weight of Blood focuses on two disappearances, occurring generations apart, but shaking one small town to its core. 16 year-old Lucy Dane's mother disappeared years ago, and the town still hasn't stopped whispering about it. So when Lucy's friend Cheri disappears in the same mysterious way, the search begins anew. As Lucy determinedly searches for answers, she realizes that the two disappearance could be connected, and begins to question everything she thought she knew. It's a page-turner, it will keep you guessing, and it's the perfect read for thriller-lovers.
The Dinner by Herman Koch
If you like your thrillers more psychological than plot based, The Dinner is perfect for you. Told, as the title suggests, over the course of one dinner, a crime is revealed. The ways that crime impacts the two families involved is revealed slowly, and the novel itself reads like a long, leisurely meal, saving its big reveal, the best part, for last. It's a book that will leave you thinking about it long after you flip that last page, something all great thrillers tend to do.
Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto
If you're missing your beloved True Detective , and, OK, still just a tad let down by that second season, give Galveston a read. Written by an author whose name will leap out at True Detective fans (Pizzolatto is the show's writer and producer), Galveston is a mystery-thriller with all of the Southern grit that you loved about season one. Drinking, darkness, messy crime — all that good stuff from True Detective is here for your reading pleasure.
Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum
Hausfrau is less a thriller in the traditional sense, but it will get your heart pounding and your mind racing, for sure, which is typical for all good thrillers. Anna was a good wife, mostly. If that first line, that lingering "mostly" doesn't draw you in immediately, the rest of the book will definitely do it. Anna engages in affairs in order to escape her mundane life, but the slow unraveling of her past will make this one appealing for thriller and literary fiction lovers alike.
Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter
A young college professor is found brutally murdered; a local woman is found crucified. A small Georgia town is horrified and terrified as a string of violent crimes strikes their typically quiet town. Sara Linton, the county coroner, becomes entangled in the mystery, unable to shake the feeling that it's up to her to find the killer. Karin Slaughter lives up to her name with Blindsighted, and readers won't be able to put it down.
Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart
If fictional accounts of real women are your thing, then settle in with Girl Waits With Gun and you won't be let down. Amy Stewart recreates one of the world's first female deputy sheriffs, set in the early 1900s, and you will be cheering Constance Kopp on through every page. The race to catch a murderer is thrilling in itself, but the powerful woman driving the book is what will really keep readers turning pages!
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
No list of thrillers would be complete without a little Donna Tartt. Her debut novel reveals the crime, and who did it, right on the first few pages. What follows is the why. The motivation for murder comes last in this backwards mystery, and it's another one that will keep you thinking about it long after you've finished — and, of course, longing for more Donna Tartt in your life.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
The original mystery queen, Agatha Christie can write thrillers like no other. And Then There Were None is a slow building mystery and thriller that will have readers guessing all the way through, and once they finish, wondering How did she do that? It's a can't miss per thriller fans, and the perfect book to revisit as fall makes it appearance.
Image: 20th Century Fox
