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I love reading thrillers because they are fast-paced, and they usually have a twisted but intriguing plot. And they expose you to a side of human nature that, thankfully, we rarely see in our everyday lives.

The Silent Patient was unique because it was a psychological thriller by a debut author, Alex Michaelides, and was a standalone book-An added thrillers' benefit. They don’t come in series. So with one book, you’re done. I also loved the cover of the book. It's clinical and chilling. 

If you haven’t read The Silent Patient  yet, go check out my review and read it soon. If you’re looking for recommendations like these books, you’ve come to the right place.

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

“If I can’t move heaven, then I shall raise hell.”

A wedding party. A remote island. 150 guests. Each with a secret. Each with a motive to murder. A storm. A killer among the guests. 

Jules, the bride, is the director of an online fashion magazine. Will, the groom, is a TV actor in a popular show on survival in the wild. They are a match made in heaven. But does everyone think so? The exotic island has a past, and so does its guests. Is there coming together at the island a coincidence or a cruel twist of fate? The wedding cake is cut, but so is the lifeline of a person. The fury of the storm brings the realization that a killer also roams among them.

The Woman In The Window by A. J. Finn

Dark. Twisted. Shocking.

Anna Fox, a psychiatrist herself, hasn’t stepped out of her house for ten months. It is her habit to watch her neighbors from her window facing the park. Russell’s, her new neighbors have just moved in. Anna sees her own once happy but now separated family in the Russells. Until one day, she hears a scream and watches something happen that nobody was supposed to see. But being a loner and a wine addict that she is, no one is ready to believe her.  Circumstances reach a point where Anna begins to doubt herself.

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

Haunting. Bone-chilling.

A house with dark secrets. Three families are living in the house entangled in those secrets.

In the past, a baby was found crying in the house with three dead bodies lying around. In the present, Libby Jones inherits a fashionable mansion in London on her twenty-fifth birthday. It’s like she was waiting for this day all along. But were so were the others.

The Turn of the Key Ruth Ware

Cleverly written. Compelling.

A job that sounds perfect. A live-in nanny, with a more than a good salary.

But Rowan is about to get more than what she bargained for. Life in jail. For murdering the baby, she was supposed to be caring for. But she maintains she is innocent. Then who is the killer? And what is Rowan hiding in her closets? It’s grippingly unputdownable.

Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Thought-provoking and yet a Guessing game that will keep you hooked.

Kya is the weird ‘Marsh Girl’ who tried to fit into polite society but was deemed unfit. A murder of someone famous takes place, and Kya is the natural suspect owing to being wild.

But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist, she takes life's lessons from the land, learning the world's real ways from the surprising dishonest signals of insects like fireflies. But while she has the born-skills to live in alone forever, the time comes when she longs to be touched and loved. Attracted to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world–until the unthinkable happens.

Behind Closed Doors by B.A.Paris

Fast-paced. It will play with your emotions.

What is a perfect marriage? A marriage like the one Jack and Grace have. They have everything wealth, charm, looks, and elegance. And they are always seen together. Aren’t they perfect? Or maybe not. If they’re so perfect, why does Grace’s bedroom window have bars? Why does she never answer her phone? Why does she never join friends for coffee? Is everything really as perfect as it looks?

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Stories of psych hospitals are my favorite. Because the variety of grey shades of human nature that you get to see in this kind of locale beats every other atmosphere, it's sinister, spooky, cold, and has so many stories. Camille Preaker, a reporter, has to visit her hometown for a new case to uncover the murder of a young girl. Chased by her own demons, she must first solve the puzzle of her own past to get to the girl's mystery.

The Girl on The Train by Paula Hawkins

Alcoholics. How can you ever trust them? Because it is hard to discern whether what they’re saying is in a state of clear, rational thinking or the figment of a lucid imagination when inebriated.

On her everyday commute on a train, Rachel witnesses something shocking she wasn’t supposed to. Now Rachel has a chance to become live a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar. Now she 'd do anything to show; she’s much more than just the girl on the train.

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My Dark Vanessa by Elizabeth Russell

Powerful. Explosive.

What if I told you a fiction story about a love relationship between a teacher and his 15-year-old student, Vanessa? Would you be interested? Jump to 17 years later, and another student files a sexual abuse complaint against the same teacher. What would you think about what happened 17 years back? Thought-provoking and impossible to put down, this is a masterful portrayal of troubled adolescence and its aftermath that raises critical questions about agency, consent, complicity, and victimhood.

Verity by Colleen Hoover

Romantic thriller.

Lowen Ashleigh is hired to ghostwrite the incomplete manuscripts for Verity, a famous writer and a victim of an accident. Her husband Jeremy makes the hire. Thrilled about the opportunity, Lowen is excited about the job but what she doesn’t realize is that her life is about to change to stuff of nightmares when she discovers Verity’s autobiography meant to be read by nobody.

Lowen’s secret about the autobiography contents and her growing fondness for Jeremy will make a fascinating read that’ll keep your nerves twisted until the very end.

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks

Dangerous and spooky.

I loved the spooky cover of this book. What do we look for in a book? I love real-life fading into the background while succumbing to the manipulation the author creates. This story will help you achieve just that.

An ad for a psychology study being conducted on women that will get them a generous compensation takes Jessica to the mysterious Dr.Shields. Her life is never the same again. This book will break your reading slump off to a fabulous start.

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

The classic of all Thrillers.

The beauty of this book is you might love it or hate it. But you will read it till the end.

The novel begins in Monte Carlo, where the heroine is swept off her feet by the charming widower Maxim de Winter and his sudden marriage proposal. An Orphan and working as a lady's maid, she cannot believe her luck. It is when they arrive at his massive country estate that she realizes how large a shadow his late wife, Rebecca, casts over their lives--presenting her with a shadowy evil that resolves to ruin their marriage from beyond the grave.

I’ve listed 12 books of all different authors so that you can explore newer writing styles and newer contemporary authors, and even if you read at a leisurely pace of one book every month, you should be set for at least a year. But I can guarantee you the books' plot and pace will have you finishing them in no time, and you’ll be back asking for more. And I’ll be ready with a new list by newer authors and better plots.

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Happy Reading!