Written by Elizabeth Smith
For those within the northern hemisphere, it is summertime and summer to me means reading thrillers. There is something to be said about reading the darkness that literature has to offer when everything is bright and sunny. I just can’t get enough of the foreboding, edge-of-your-seat feeling that a great thriller can give. So, here are some thrillers that are worth binging this summer, or really anytime that you need to read a great book!
You by Caroline Kepnes
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This book is dark, deliciously twisted, and completely un-put-downable! Joe meets Guinevere Beck when she walks into his bookstore. They share some flirtatious conversation as he rings her up and she leaves. But that isn’t enough for Joe. He needs to know more about her, so he searches her name on Google. Soon he finds everything he needs to know through her Facebook and Twitter accounts and creates a way to run into her again. He quickly becomes obsessed and begins taking over Beck’s life. Kepnes does an amazing job of keeping you on the edge of your seat and unable to decide if you’re on Joe’s side or completely horrified by what he’s doing.
Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier
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This is the type of thriller that will hook you instantly. Jar of Hearts is told in alternating perspectives. Geo and Kaiser who were part of a best friend trio when they were teenagers, now Kaiser is a cop and Geo is going to prison. Their third, Angela, disappeared when they were sixteen and her body has been found years later in the woods behind Geo’s childhood home.
Calvin is the boy Geo was in love with when she was sixteen. He noticed her the way no one else did, but their relationship was dangerous. And one night it exploded when Calvin killed her best friend Angela. Now Geo is in prison for keeping the secret all these years. The narrative goes back and forth between past and present and it keeps you guessing about what really happened that night and what is still happening as more bodies are turning up.
Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman
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This is the kind of thriller that gives you that foreboding feeling from page one. You know there is something lurking, just beyond your grasp, but you just can’t quite seem to figure out what it is.
The story follows a couple—Erin is a documentary film maker and Mark has just lost his job. However, they’re getting married and going on the perfect honeymoon to Bora Bora. While they are out diving and enjoying the beautiful ocean, they come across tons of paper floating in the ocean, a plane wreck, and a bag. The contents of this bag send the couple on a dark and dangerous journey.
Much of the book is spent in Erin’s head and there are times when as a reader you can tell there are things that Erin is missing, not seeing fully, but you aren’t quite sure what is happening either. It leads to the perfect ominous, thriller reading experience.
Our House by Louise Candlish
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A brand new domestic thriller and it’s one that keeps throwing twists even after I thought I knew what was going on.
The story begins with Fiona, Fi, coming home after a weekend away to find someone else moving into her home. She cannot figure out what is happening, this must be a mistake or some sick joke. She and her husband Bram have separated, but still share the home in an effort to make the separation easier on their children. But it is this separation that has started the downward spiral that led to Fi’s current situation.
This story is told in multiple different viewpoints. We get things unfolding in real-time, from both Fi and Bram’s points of view, but also Fi’s story as told through a podcast and Bram’s story told through a final letter. It is such a clever story and one that left me slightly terrified as a fellow home-owner.
Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris
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This was a wild-ride of a thriller. So much happens and it is completely addictive. This is the story of Layla and Finn who were seemingly happy and in love. They were on vacation when Finn stopped to use the restroom and when he came back to the car Layla was gone. It’s been ten years since Layla’s disappearance and Finn is now engaged to a woman who happens to be Layla’s sister, Ellen. But just when they’re about to get married, strange things start happening. Someone reports spotting Layla. Then Finn begins finding items from Layla’s past; things that only he and Layla know about. Is she still alive somewhere?
Bring Me Back was one of those thrillers that begs you to pick it back up every time you set it down. And you won’t be able to stop thinking about it until you turn the last page.
All of these thrillers are fantastic for any time you need a quick and enjoyable read!
