Almost everyone enjoys a good enigma.
There’s a certain allure to the challenge of trying to find a solution to an issue with no feasible answer. Enjoy the role of detective as you scour the narrative for hints.
Even so, there is a certain quality to the best Psychological Thriller Books. You get the suspense of a good mystery, but the author also totally throws you for a loop.
If you can’t believe the narrator, who can you believe? When everyone around you is dishonest or has a skewed view of the world, how can you possibly know what the truth is?
These 20 Best Psychological Thriller Books are a safe bet if you’re looking to immerse yourself in a thrilling read.
1) I Know Where She Is by S.B. Caves
Lots of readers just want the next Gone Girl, I imagine. No need to keep looking. Francine’s daughter went missing, and ten years later, she receives a mystery note with only five words: I know where she is. Now that her life has been flipped upside down again, she is determined to discover the truth about her abduction. Towards the end of S.B. Caves’ debut novel, things become dark, and you may find yourself feigning illness so that you may stay at home and read it in peace.
2) The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Rachel is attracted by a lady who lives near her regular train stop on the way to work. Rachel is able to observe this supposedly “perfect” woman’s life on a daily basis. Then one day, Rachel sees something that completely changes her life. A good page-turner has an unreliable narrator, like Rachel, so the reader is never sure what to believe. One of the most divisive and widely discussed psychological thriller books of the past decade is The Girl on the Train.
3) Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
This book has also inspired a TV show that is available on Netflix if that is more your pace. But when Margaret Atwood is in charge, it’s unacceptable to skip the reading assignment. The true story of gentle maid Grace Marks and the double murder she is accused of is told in Alias Grace. The story is recounted from the perspective of a doctor who is trying to make sense of criminal behavior and figure out how to put together the pieces of Grace’s character that make up her crime. Like The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, but set in an authentic historical era, this novel is sure to please readers of the genre.
4) The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Alicia Berenson, a great painter, shoots her husband five times in the face one night and then doesn’t speak to him again. While Theo Faber’s personal life is crumbling, he is desperate to uncover the truth from his mute patient. The twist was executed effectively, but overall I found this to be an overblown bestseller. Nonetheless, after more than fifty weeks on the list, most readers would disagree.
5) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
As with Netflix’s resurgence of Alias Grace, this is a fantastic period piece by an all-time great female author. However, there is where the parallels stop. Dr. Montague, a want-to-be ghostbuster, and three of his friends, all of whom have had paranormal experiences, spend the summer in a notoriously haunted house. Things turn scary, as expected.
Even though Shirley Jackson’s 1959 classic has echoes of gothic horror from the eighteenth century, the story ultimately shifts into the realm of the psychological thriller as Jackson constructs ghosts whose anguish mirrors that of her damaged humans.
6) The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn
This psychological thriller, set to be adapted into a film, offers a glimpse into the life of Anna Fox, a loner living in New York City. Anna overhears a disturbing event while eavesdropping on the household next door, but no one believes her. The Woman in the Window’s secretive layers and the erratic narrator will keep you guessing until the very end.
7) The Snowman by Jo Nesbø
The first Norwegian serial murderer has a very particular method of operation: he targets only married mothers and always leaves a snowman behind. Fans of Thomas Harris will enjoy following Nesb’s Detective Harry Hole as he attempts to solve this unusual case and put a stop to the murderer.
Do not be put off by the fact that Michael Fassbender’s latest film adaptation of The Snowman was a critical and commercial failure. Nesb’s over 33 million copy sales can be attributed to the quality of his writing.
8) Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
A story of deceit and deception involving the three sisters, Maddie, Celeste, and Jane, and their respective parents. The paths of these three women inevitably converge, culminating in a (tragic?) death. Big Little Lies is a masterful blend of comedy and suspense that manages to keep viewers hooked despite its dark subject matter (such as domestic abuse).
9) Misery by Stephen King
As a result of this best-selling book and its subsequent blockbuster film adaptation, the phrase “I’m your number-one fan” has been permanently branded as the creepiest thing a reader can say to a writer. You can thank Annie Wilkes, the nurse who helped Paul Sheldon recover from injuries sustained in a car tragedy in rural Colorado, for this. I wonder how she’ll feel when she finds out that Misery Chastain dies in his latest book, because she’s become fascinated with the character.
It’s no secret that Stephen King is best renowned for his horror novels, and there’s no denying that this landmark piece about the shadowy side of fandom is terrifying. Misery is a story about obsession, lunacy, and isolation, which is a potent combination that will leave you on the edge of your seat.
10) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Harriet Vanger, the teenage daughter of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families, has been missing for 40 years, and journalist Mikael Blomkvist decides to investigate. He joins forces with a pierced and tattooed hacker named Lisbeth Slander, whose turbulent history has given her a propensity for brutality. It’s a page-turner, but there is a lot of harsh languages and graphic violence in it.
11) Into The Water by Paula Hawkins
Fans of psychological thrillers may already be aware of Paula Hawkins’ debut novel, The Girl in the Window, but her sophomore attempt, the highly anticipated follow-up to her first New York Times bestseller, spins a convoluted plot from the perspectives of eleven (count ’em!) unique people. After her sister’s strange death, Jules Abbott takes her orphaned niece back to her hometown.
For readers who like the cinematic style and Hitchcockian overtones of Hawkins’s first novel, they won’t be disappointed by her second effort.
12) The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
The travel reporter Lo Blacklock is on assignment to chronicle a lavish cruise through the Norwegian fjords. Lo becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to the woman in Cabin 10 after she thinks she sees a murderer. The short, entertaining chapters of this psychological thriller will leave you wanting more. Luckily, Ruth Ware is a fantastic author with a tonne of thrilling books perfect for a marathon reading session.
13) We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
We Need to Talk About Kevin is as grim as it gets in a genre that specializes in dark subject matter like murder and psychosis. After her son is imprisoned for the murder of nine of his classmates, Eva Khatchadourian reflects on his upbringing to see whether there were any red flags she should have noticed. As mass shootings in schools have become all too prevalent, a tale published in 2003 has taken on new significance. This vivid portrayal of a sociopath’s mind, as well as a broken mother’s struggle to accept it, is anything but typical.
14) A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
Six young women vanished from Chloe Davis’s small Louisiana village when she was just 12 years old, and her father was later jailed as a serial killer. Chloe worries that history may repeat itself as she plans her wedding and teenage girls go missing. Is she only making connections between her present and her history, or is her past actually catching up with her?
15) Room by Emma Donoghue
In reality, many successful psychological thrillers, including Lionel Shriver’s, get their ideas from current events. A perfect example of this is the mind-blowing Room, which offers a fresh perspective on the Fritzl abduction case. The life of the person we know as “Ma” has been horrible for the past seven years because she has been held captive in the basement of her kidnapper. However, her son Jack (whose point of view the story is narrated from) has never known anything but that one room. This suspenseful story is also a wrenching coming-of-age tale about maturing and learning to view things differently (and is now an Academy Award-winning movie to boot).
16) The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman
Up-and-coming After a traumatic split, British actress Mia Eliot jets off to Hollywood to recover. Mia helps out another actress at an audition but ends up with way more work than she bargained for. Mia claims that Emily has changed into a different person since they last saw each other, but no one believes her.
17) We Were Never Here By Andera Bartz
Emily and Kristen are in Chile on their yearly ladies’ trip and are enjoying the time of their lives. On the final evening, Emily returns to the hotel and discovers Kristen in possession of a body. According to Kristen, she killed him in an act of self-defense. Except that this exact same thing occurred to Emily a year ago. When Emily’s remorse over the cover-ups boils over, Kristen unexpectedly pays her a visit, and Emily begins to question whether or not she can trust her anymore.
18) The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
When it comes to the wealthy people of Bishops Harbor, Connecticut, nobody notices Amber Patterson because of her humble beginnings. While observing her neighbor Daphne Parrish, she becomes envious of her seemingly flawless marriage and high-class lifestyle. Did you ever wish there was a book like The Talented Mr. Ripley, but updated, more relevant, and scarier? If so, you’ll love this sophisticated thriller that pays homage to a female classic from 1955.
19) Rock Paper Scissors By Alice Feeney
Adam and Amelia try to salvage their relationship by taking a weekend trip to a secluded Scottish retreat they won in a contest. Both Amelia and Adam are tired of the other’s constant preoccupation with their respective careers as screenwriters. Somebody isn’t telling the truth and they don’t want them to have a happily ever after, as you learn via Adam’s unread anniversary notes that things aren’t as they seem.
20) Sin by Josephine Hart
No doubt, psych thrillers are trending at the moment, but back in the ’90s, they were impossible to avoid. Sin, written by the late Josephine Hart, is the ultimate ’90s thriller: after her family is killed in a car accident, Elizabeth is adopted by her aunt and uncle, but her cousin Ruth has other intentions for her life.
This story is ideal for viewers of any film in which Sharon Stone appears, as it features prominent roles for lust, envy, and every other vice.
Please share your thoughts on the best psychological thrillers ever written.
How do you feel about that? To what extent do you agree or disagree with my selection of psychological suspense novels? What more suspense novels oughta be on my reading list? Can you tell me which of my recommended psychological thrillers you found to be the most overrated? Please share your thoughts below.