Many authors’ journeys into success are marked by their debut novels and often, first books are the best. For the 2019 Nerd Daily Reading Challenge prompt, a debut novel, I compiled a list of six debut novels. These books are certainly not recent, but they are books that have been long published but still loved as the best books by their authors.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

One of my favourite books ever and the first book published by the Pulitzer Prize winner Donna Tartt, The Secret History tells the story of six students of Greek Classics, under the professor Julian Morrow. The protagonist is one of the students, Richard Papen, who is sucked into the lives of the other students in the class. The story is a whirlwind of mystery and has unprecedented plots and ending.

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

Helene Wecker’s debut novel, The Golem and the Jinni is a tale of the unlikely connection between Chava, a golem, and Ahmad, a jinni, and their journey. The story is phenomenal in the way it joins the roots of Yiddish and Middle Eastern literature, and creates an epic tale of romance between two completely different creatures.

Before I Go To Sleep by S. J. Watson

Before I Go to Sleep is an unforgettable first novel of mystery and suspense. The main character, Christine, wakes up with no memory of the last two decades. The man next to her says that he is Ben, her husband from before the accident. But Christine slowly becomes unsure and tries to recombine the memories of her past, and we ask the question: Is the sweet Ben really who he claims to be?

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

This exceptional book had to be on this list. Thirteen Reasons Why follows the aftermath of the suicide of the teenager, Hannah Baker, who before her death, records thirteen tapes for thirteen people in her life who she claims are the ‘thirteen reasons why’ she killed herself. The story starts with Clay Jensen receiving the cassette tapes and starting to listen to them. Read Thirteen Reasons Why, if you haven’t already, and if you want to read about modern day issues like suicides and rapes among young people.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

In 1991, Diana Gabaldon published her first book, Outlander, the first in the series of the same name. The book is about Claire Randall, former war nurse, who goes on a second honeymoon with her husband after returning from the war, in 1945, to rekindle their relationship. Whilst on the journey, she steps into an ancient circle that marks the British Isles, taking her two hundred years back to a Scotland torn by war. Outlander has also been adapted as a television show that piloted in 2014.

The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins

The first book by Paula Hawkins, The Girl on the Train, published in 2015, blew the charts by selling nearly 20 million copies in just a year. The story is a psychological thriller, from the perspectives of three women, Rachel, Anna and Megan. Rachel is an alcoholic reeling from the divorce form her husband Tom. She idealises a couple she notices and thinks have a good life, christening them “Jess and Jason.” Megan is the person Rachel dubs Jess. She has a troubled past and a dark secret. Anna is Tom’s new wife, boasting that Tom chose her over Rachel. But over time, the three women’s stories become intertwined uncharacteristically.

Are there any memorable debut novels that you would recommend? Tell us in the comments below!

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Who doesn’t love reading a book that has the author’s hand snaking into their body with a knife and twisting it into their organs? If you do, then here are a list of few mystery/thriller books with plot twists that will make your jaw drop with shock!

Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson

Memories define us.
So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep?
Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love—all forgotten overnight.
And the one person you trust may be telling you only half the story.
Welcome to Christine’s life.

When Christine wakes up, she wakes up with the memory of her younger self and realises she had a one-night stand with a much older married man. And she is even more shocked when he –Ben, reveals that she cannot remember him and their life because almost twenty years ago, she had an accident that left her with hopeless brain damage. But a call from Dr. Nash, who claims she’s been seeing him for a few weeks and informs her about her journal that she’s been writing –and reading- each day makes her wonder about whether or not her husband is being completely truthful. With a very compelling writing style, Watson has the reader completely engulfed in the book and makes one wonder, who is Ben?

The Bourbon Thief by Tiffany Reisz

When Cooper McQueen wakes up from a night with a beautiful stranger, it’s to discover he’s been robbed. The only item stolen—a million-dollar bottle of bourbon. The thief, a mysterious woman named Paris, claims the bottle is rightfully hers. After all, the label itself says it’s property of the Maddox family who owned and operated Red Thread Bourbon distillery since the last days of the Civil War until the company went out of business for reasons no one knows… No one except Paris. 

In the small hours of a Louisville morning, Paris unspools the lurid tale of Tamara Maddox, heiress to the distillery that became an empire. But the family tree is rooted in tainted soil and has borne rotten fruit. Theirs is a legacy of wealth and power, but also of lies, secrets and sins of omission. The Maddoxes have bourbon in their blood—and blood in their bourbon. Why Paris wants the bottle of Red Thread remains a secret until the truth of her identity is at last revealed, and the century-old vengeance Tamara vowed against her family can finally be completed.

On her sixteenth birthday, Tamara Maddox, heir to the Red Thread asks Levi Shelby for a kiss. When her mother catches the stable boy and her daughter kissing, she is horrified and sends Levi away. Then, Tamara’s grandfather trying to force himself on her leads her to kill him and discover a letter from her late father stating that she is not a Maddox, but Levi is. With this shocking revelation, Tamara makes a plan. She was going to take revenge on the Maddoxes. Tiffany Reisz has produced an amazing tale revolving around racism, powerful family scandals and the deadliest secrets. The twists in this book are many and unexpected, that you will not see coming.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

Cadence Sinclair goes to Beachwood, an island owned by her grandfather, each summer, along with two cousins and Gat, a family friend. These vacations usually involve family troubles among parents of these ‘Liars’ as they are called, which makes them unhappy. During summer fifteen, an accident happens rendering a fifteen-year-old Cady mentally unstable. Summer sixteen comes by and she doesn’t go to Beachwood because her mother wanted her to spend time with her father, and during this summer, she emails the three other ‘liars’ but is ignored. The next summer, Cady goes to Beachwood determined to find why her closest friends ignored her and what exactly happened there two years ago. We Were Liars has the most unexpected twist by the end of the novel that you will not see coming.

My Sister’s Secret by Tracy Buchanan

Willow’s memories of her parents are sun-drenched and full of smiles, love and laughter. But a mysterious invitation to a photographic exhibition exposes a secret that’s been buried since a tragic accident years ago. Willow is forced to question everything she knew about Charity, her late mother, and Hope, the aunt she’s lived with since she was a child.

How was the enigmatic photographer connected to Willow’s parents? Why will Hope not break her silence? Willow cannot move forward in her life without answers. But who can she really trust? Because no one has been telling the truth for a very long time.

My sister’s secret is narrated by two point of views, Willow and her late mother, Charity some decades ago. When Willow discovers Niall Lane, twenty years after her parents’ death, she is determined to find out why her mother was carrying a necklace with his and her initials carved on it at the time of her death. This story is a gripping and emotional one and along with suffering the most unexpected plot twists, the reader is engulfed into the lives of the characters.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy’s diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

Flynn did an amazing job in producing a masterful psychological thriller with great depth into each of the two main characters, Nick and his wife, Amy. When nick finds his wife missing, he does not know what went wrong in their relationship. Amy’s diary shows the story of her meeting nick and how his actions became detestable as their relationship progressed. Nick swears that it isn’t true, but the increasing evidence arising against him says otherwise. Maybe the perfect wife isn’t so perfect and the hated husband isn’t so lurid!

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

Anne and Marco Conti seem to have it all–a loving relationship, a wonderful home, and their beautiful baby, Cora. But one night when they are at a dinner party next door, a terrible crime is committed. Suspicion immediately focuses on the parents. But the truth is a much more complicated story.

Inside the curtained house, an unsettling account of what actually happened unfolds. Detective Rasbach knows that the panicked couple is hiding something. Both Anne and Marco soon discover that the other is keeping secrets, secrets they’ve kept for years. What follows is the nerve-racking unraveling of a family–a chilling tale of deception, duplicity, and unfaithfulness that will keep you breathless until the final shocking twist.

One mistake. One mistake from Anne and Marco’s stead has their six-month-old daughter, Cora missing. To attend their neighbors’ party, they leave her at home. Sometime after midnight, Cora is taken. Detective Rasbach suspects the parents but what loving parents would kidnap or murder their own child? That leaves them wondering, who would take their lovely Cora? Don’t try to guess. You’ll be wrong!

Any other mystery or thrillers books you would add? Tell us in the comments below!

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