If the colder months are making you want to curl up with a good thriller book and a cup of tea, these recommendations are for you. These are some of my favorite page-turners from the past few years. (The best thing about older books is that they’re often available from your library without much of a wait!).
If you’re looking for a good domestic thriller, a young adult thriller or a psychological mystery, look no further! There’s something for everyone on this book list.
The Last Flight
About the Book
The Last Flight by Julie Clark
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Book Review
“People on the run only look behind them. Never ahead. I listen, and wait for my opening.”
Claire’s been planning to leave her wealthy, powerful, abusive husband for months. Now, on the eave of his run for Senate, everything has fallen into place. Now she’s counting down the hours until she’s a free woman. But then he sends her to Puerto Rico at the last minute, instead of Detroit, shattering all her plans.
Eva needs to run, and she sees Claire as an opportunity. Who would think that two people would exchange boarding passes after they made it through security? She just needs to spin a web of lies convincing enough for Claire to hand over her phone and ID.
This book goes back and forth between the past and the present, bringing both women to life. Though they have very different backgrounds, both Claire and Eva are sympathetic and have a tenacious will to survive. I found this book impossible to put down as I needed to see how each woman’s story turns out.
I Killed Zoe Spanos
About the Book
I Killed Zoe Spanos by Kit Frick
Genre: YA Thriller
Book Review
Who killed Zoe Spanos? Angsty boyfriend Caden? Anna, who confessed but her story may not quite add up? After her disappearance on New Year’s Eve, Zoe leaves a shocked village in the Hamptons behind. Podcaster Marissa Green knows one thing: she still hasn’t discovered the truth yet, but she’s going to keep digging until she does.
Anna doesn’t know it, but she gets her great summer nannying job in the Hamptons because of her uncanny resemblance to Zoe. The child she’s nannying, Paisley, adored Zoe, so makes sure Anna gets hired. Anna just knows she’s determined to leave her hard-partying friends behind and turn over a new leaf.
But when Anna arrives in the Hamptons, places and people start to seem familiar, even though she’s never been there before. And her past history of getting blackout drunk makes her question whether it’s an overactive imagination or memories resurfacing. Somehow, her and Zoe’s lives are more intertwined than she ever dreamed.
This story had great twists and turns, and I kept changing my mind about what I thought happened. I never saw the ending coming!
This is a thriller you won’t want to put down! Plus, the first edition has blue-sprayed edges, which I adore!
Thank you to publicist Megan Beatie and McElderry Books for this gifted copy.
The Other Black Girl
About the Book
The Other Black Girl
Genre: Thriller
Book Review
This is sharp-witted, slow burn thriller about what it means to be Black in the American workplace. This book is part horror, part satire, and as a white person, it really made me think.
Nella is a Black woman struggling to make her mark in the white publishing industry. When her firm hires another Black assistant, she expects to find solidarity and comfort. But Nella quickly begins to suspect that Hazel may be sabotaging her. She’s beginning to think there’s only space for one Black girl at the company, and Hazel is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure it’s Hazel.
Things go wrong very slowly in this one, but once it gets started, boy, do they go wrong! This was a fascinating read with a mind-blowing twist at the end.
The Project
About the Book
The Project by Courtney Summers
Genre: YA Thriller
Book Review
Have you ever wondered how people get pulled in by cult leaders? This book is the story of how two different sisters react when they get entangled in a cult by its charismatic leader.
Lo’s struggling to prove herself and find her big break at the magazine where she works as an assistant. So when she sees a boy throw himself in front of a train, then his father claims The Project killed him, Lo thinks she might have her big break. Her sister disappeared into The Project years earlier, and Lo is determined to find out all the dirt, because she’s convinced there has to be dirt.
Years earlier, Bea’s pleading in the hospital chapel for her little sister, Lo, to survive the accident that killed their parents, when the leader of The Project approaches her. When her sister survives, she gives him the credit. Willing to follow him anywhere, she even gives up contact with Lo on the promise that she’ll find her way to The Project in her own time. The leader, Lev, saw it in a vision, and Bea has unflinching faith.
The closer Lo gets to The Project, the more she learns, but the less she knows. This is the devastatingly brutal tale of how two girls – one sweet and vulnerable, one tough-as-nails, can get embroiled with the same cult leader. This tale draws you along with Lo into The Project right up until the shocking end.
Who is Maude Dixon?
About the Book
Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews
Genre: Thriller
Book Review
First of all, I absolutely love books about authors, especially when it includes a good mystery.
After she’s fired from a publishing job, Florence gets a chance at another life when a mysterious author known only by her pen name chooses Florence to move into her house and be her assistant.
Florence can’t believe her luck, and she begins to mirror everything about her employer, Helen – how she speaks, dresses and acts. But then Helen takes Florence on a research trip to Morocco, and their relationship takes a turn into disaster.
I enjoyed the twists and turns in this one. It’s hard to know who to root for until the very end. This book is perfect when you want to escape into someone else’s glamorous life.
Need more reading material? Find all of my thriller reviews here.
