Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been fascinated with the paranormal since I was a little girl and used to talk to the old lady on the edge of my bed. That old lady turned out to be my grandma, who had passed when I was in my mother’s womb. My entire family is touched by the curiosity and love that comes with the paranormal, so much so my mother is a working psychic medium. For years, I have spent every birthday attending haunted houses with a paranormal team to “investigate.” For some strange reason, I love to be terrified, and I fear I will never stop chasing the thrill. 


I wrote...

Deadly Occupants

By Mads Rafferty,

Book cover of Deadly Occupants

What is my book about?

Pretty Little Liars meets Paranormal Activity. My book brings the thrill, friendship, mystery, and terror that we all loved from…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The books I picked & why

Book cover of Home Before Dark

Mads Rafferty Why did I love this book?

This was my first peek into the world of paranormal ghost stories through books. Before this spooky thriller, truth be told, I didn’t know there was such a genre as ghost thrillers. 

I will forever be grateful to Riley Sager for not only opening me up to such a captivating genre but for writing such an amazing story.

This book gives you the present perspective of a woman returning to a haunted house that ran her family away 25 years ago, alongside the perspective of what happened 25 years ago when she was a child from the lens of a “NYT-selling novel” written by her father. 

The twists are jaw-dropping.

By Riley Sager,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Home Before Dark as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the latest thriller from New York Times bestseller Riley Sager, a woman returns to the house made famous by her father’s bestselling horror memoir. Is the place really haunted by evil forces, as her father claimed? Or are there more earthbound—and dangerous—secrets hidden within its walls?

What was it like? Living in that house.

Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later…


Book cover of Ask for Andrea

Mads Rafferty Why did I love this book?

I read this within 12 hours; no one could pry this book from my hands.

There is something so truly shocking and morbid about how as women we love to read books on true crime, I personally believe it’s because we know that the possibility for this terror to become our reality is a possibility. 

And with Noelle’s brilliant writing, I truly couldn’t put the book down. Three women are brutally murdered by the same serial killer, and the story follows their perspectives as they haunt their killer and become ghosts.

Book cover of Pretty Girls

Mads Rafferty Why did I love this book?

This book is not for the faint of heart, there are trigger warnings a mile long and it is one of the most gruesome books I have ever read and yet like a car crash, I couldn’t peel my eyes away from the book.

I listened to it on audiobook and the narration of the story added to the thrill and terror of it all. 

By Karin Slaughter,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Pretty Girls as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'One of the boldest thriller writers working today' TESS GERRITSEN
'Her characters, plot, and pacing are unrivalled' MICHAEL CONNELLY
_________________________________________
AS RECOMMENDED ON HIT CRIME PODCAST MY FAVOURITE MURDER
A heart-racing thriller from the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author

Sisters. Strangers. Survivors.

More than twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia's teenage sister Julia vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. Claire is the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire. Lydia, a single mother, dates an ex-con and struggles to make ends meet. But neither has…


Book cover of Someone Is Always Watching

Mads Rafferty Why did I love this book?

I felt like I was on the Truman Show reading this book. With every page turned I knew something was wrong, that something odd was happening but I couldn’t have ever thought in my wildest dreams that what was occurring was the plot twist.

As I found out what was happening along with the main characters, I was shocked.

This book truly made me feel like I was reading a YA version of Don’t Worry Darling, the movie. 

By Kelley Armstrong,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Someone Is Always Watching as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

Their lives are a lie. Their memories may not be real. A new young adult psychological thriller by #1 NYT bestselling author, Kelley Armstrong.

Blythe and her friends — Gabrielle, and brother and sister Tucker and Tanya — have always been a tight friend group, attending a local high school and falling in and out of love with each other. But an act of violence has caused a rift between Blythe and Tucker . . . and unexpected bursts of aggression and disturbing nightmares have started to become more frequent in their lives. 

The strange happenings culminate in a shocking…


Book cover of The Haunting

Mads Rafferty Why did I love this book?

Natasha Preston got me into reading and I am no stranger to her books or her crazy endings. As much as I have a love-hate relationship with the ending of this book….it has been a year since I picked this book up, and I still think about it to this day. Constantly.

It gives slasher/scream movie vibes set during Halloween and I could not for the life of me put it down when I read it.

I will, in fact, be doing a re-read this spooky season because it truly sets the tone for Halloween.

By Natasha Preston,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Haunting as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

#1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Natasha Preston is back with another pulse-pounding, twisty read!

Haunted by the past . . . terrified of the present.

Penny knows she must forget about her ex, Nash. Ever since his father was revealed as the brutal serial killer who traumatized their small town last Halloween, Penny’s parents have forbidden her to have anything to do with Nash or his family. It’s hard not to think of him—but she’s trying.

That stops when she goes shopping with friends for a costume. What she finds instead is ripped from a horror…


Explore my book 😀

Deadly Occupants

By Mads Rafferty,

Book cover of Deadly Occupants

What is my book about?

Pretty Little Liars meets Paranormal Activity. My book brings the thrill, friendship, mystery, and terror that we all loved from watching Pretty Little Liars, along with the thrill of the paranormal. 

Set during Halloween, Deadly Occupants is the perfect book to sit down and binge this spooky season. Full of plot twists, and scream-worthy paranormal scenes it is not a book that can be easily put down. It follows four college girls as they go on a ghost tour on Halloween night, only to move into their new house and discover that something followed them home from the tour.   

You might also like...

Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

By Mimi Zieman,

Book cover of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

Mimi Zieman Author Of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an OB/GYN, passionate about adventuring beyond what’s expected. This has led me to pivot multiple times in my career, now focusing on writing. I’ve written a play, The Post-Roe Monologues, to elevate women’s stories. I cherish the curiosity that drives outer and inner exploration, and I love memoirs that skillfully weave the two. The books on this list feature extraordinary women who took risks, left comfort and safety, and battled vulnerability to step into the unknown. These authors moved beyond the stories they’d believed about themselves–or that others told about them. They invite you to think about living fuller and bigger lives. 

Mimi's book list on women exploring the world and self

What is my book about?

Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.

The team attempts a new route up the East Face without the use of supplemental oxygen, Sherpa support, or chance for rescue. When three climbers disappear during their summit attempt, Zieman reaches the knife edge of her limits and digs deeply to fight for the climbers’ lives and to find her voice.


Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

By Mimi Zieman,

What is this book about?

The plan was outrageous: A small team of four climbers would attempt a new route on the East Face of Mt. Everest, considered the most remote and dangerous side of the mountain, which had only been successfully climbed once before. Unlike the first large team, Mimi Zieman and her team would climb without using supplemental oxygen or porter support. While the unpredictable weather and high altitude of 29,035 feet make climbing Everest perilous in any condition, attempting a new route, with no idea of what obstacles lay ahead, was especially audacious. Team members were expected to push themselves to their…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in murder, murder mystery, and family secrets?

Murder 1,032 books
Murder Mystery 542 books
Family Secrets 198 books