My favorite books of suspense with a splash of paranormal to make you wonder who’s watching you

Why am I passionate about this?

My love for reading suspense helped me develop the desire to write novels. It is as if I always have a movie in my head, so why not write them out. I have dyslexia, and reading along with learning is a challenge, but both have become my escape. I’ve always been fascinated by how a good suspense plays out and the relief that comes with the resolution. I added the paranormal world because I had a NDE (near death experience) in the 80s and became open to the paranormal. I became unafraid and see the paranormal as good. 


I wrote...

Do I Know You

By CJ Vermote,

Book cover of Do I Know You

What is my book about?

Sara lives in Washington State and as a young woman knows the meaning of tragedy. With an inheritance most of us can only dream of, she ventures to Seaside, Oregon for a vacation and finds herself face-to-face with Rob, a childhood boyfriend. 

What appears to be a chance meeting with Rob is anything but that. Still Sara ignores messages that are revealed in her dreams and allows the fast-paced romance with Rob, a man she should not trust, lead to marriage. Sara loves her new life until tragedy strikes, leaving her to fight for her life.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Enemy Among Us

CJ Vermote Why did I love this book?

I related to the bonds the young people have in this book because children have secrets, but sometimes secrets come back to haunt us that only friends understand.  

Natalie K. French brings to life the innocence of youth. They needed each other as they gained their footing in the world. Even though these friends drifted apart, something from their past that they had unleashed, is back and has taken a life of a friend with it.

Chloe thought she was safe. She had hoped it was buried for good, but soon finds herself gathering her friends together to bring an end to the evil they unleashed as children. This book is full of emotions, terror, and the need to survive what had been innocently brought into their reality. 

Anytime I am reading a book with supernatural elements my attention is at full alert. I love a book that keeps me turning the pages long after I should have stopped for the night. 

This debut novel had me captivated by the unknown element and kept me riveted to the pages.

By Natalie K French,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Enemy Among Us as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The summer Chloe Moore turned fourteen, she was for once, actually happy. She’d finally outgrown her training bras. She was in love. And, for the first time in her life, she was surrounded by true and honest friends. Back then, they were The Seven, so close they wore their affection like an old pair of jeans. Back then, they were just kids who couldn’t begin to grasp the consequences of the thing they unleashed. Back then, innocence was their salvation. Even so, the horror of what they had done nearly broke them. They fled from it. From each other. For…


Book cover of The Bad Place

CJ Vermote Why did I love this book?

This was the first book by this author, and I’ve been a fan ever since. 

Dean Knootz takes terror to a new level in this book. If you remember being afraid of the boogieman at night as a child or have ever had a nightmare you will connect with this book. Fear of going to sleep becomes so real, it brings the fear of what sleep will bring.

For Frank, the nights bring a different terror every time he opens his eyes. Sometimes it felt like he had just closed his eyes for a few minutes, but what he woke up to made him hope he could close his eyes and wake up in a normal bed, in a normal room. Detectives are watching him, hoping for answers, but it takes one boy with Downs Syndrome to unlock the mysteries. 

I am more aware of my dreams after reading this book. I find myself dissecting every aspect and holding on to the details, while hoping it was just a dream. 

By Dean Koontz,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Bad Place as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Frank Pollard awakens in an alley, knowing nothing but his name and that he is in danger. Over the next few days he develops a fear of sleep because when he wakes he finds blood on his hands and bizarre and terrifying objects in his pockets. Distraught and desperate, Frank begs husband-and wife detective team Bobby and Julie Dakota to get to the bottom of his mysterious, amnesiac fugues. It seems a simple job, but they are drawn into ever-darkening realms where they encounter the nightmare, hate-filled figure stalking Frank. And their lives are threatened, as is that of Julie's…


Book cover of The Last Mrs. Parrish

CJ Vermote Why did I love this book?

I have been subjected to the control of a narcissist and reading this book was something I felt deep. 

Liv Constantine brought forth the reality of what the outside world sees in a marriage, compared to what goes on behind closed doors. The control a spouse can have on a loved one puts a different spin on love.

I couldn’t help but feel the love grow and wonder what could go wrong when two people are so happy together. Having another woman setting up a plan to steal a husband made her despicable, but in the end, it became an amazing escape for one Mrs. Parrish. 

I felt so connected to the character in this book, not as a victim but as a woman who regained her strength and escaped.

By Liv Constantine,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Last Mrs. Parrish as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Deliciously duplicitous. . . . equally as twisty, spellbinding, and addictive as Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl or Paula Hawkins's The Girl on the Train."-Library Journal (starred review)The mesmerizing debut about a coolly manipulative woman and a wealthy "golden couple," from a stunning new voice in psychological suspense.Some women get everything. Some women get everything they deserve.Amber Patterson is fed up. She's tired of being a nobody: a plain, invisible woman who blends into the background. She deserves more-a life of money and power like the one blond-haired, blue-eyed goddess Daphne Parrish takes for granted. To everyone in the exclusive town…


Book cover of We Were Liars

CJ Vermote Why did I love this book?

I found this book interesting because life was so different from anything I had ever experienced. 

E. Lockhart spun a tale of how bonds are built among children. How to a child it is the parents who build the social walls. How it doesn’t matter what material your clothes are woven from, lies are lies. Privilege doesn’t mean anything when a crime is committed, or a marriage is destroyed.

Children are dragged around the dirt of the secrets and soon become their own secrets and lies. Every turn was a building block of different social aspects and the lives it took with it. 

I found this book to be a page turning, not for the suspense as much as for the characters themselves.

By E. Lockhart,

Why should I read it?

11 authors picked We Were Liars 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?

The TikTok phenomenon and #1 New York Times bestseller.

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.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from New York Times bestselling author, National Book Award finalist, and Printz Award honouree E. Lockhart.

Read it.

And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

Don't miss FAMILY OF LIARS, the thrilling prequel to We Were Liars, published in May 2022.


Book cover of The Secret Life of Bees

CJ Vermote Why did I love this book?

This book is such a wonderful story of strength in women.

It starts in the 50s which is the start of my era, and opens the truth about fighting racism, the fear of escape, and strength in loving bonds. I felt the pain of her not knowing her mother because my mother died before I was able to know her as a person.

I understand bonds and how love becomes strength. It was as if I was that little girl and I went on the journey with her. 

By Sue Monk Kidd,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked The Secret Life of Bees as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The multi-million bestselling novel about a young girl's journey towards healing and the transforming power of love, from the award-winning author of The Invention of Wings and The Book of Longings

Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted Black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina-a town that holds the secret to her mother's…


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Book cover of This Animal Body

Meredith Walters

New book alert!

What is my book about?

Neuroscience PhD student Frankie Conner has finally gotten her life together—she’s determined to discover the cause of her depression and find a cure for herself and everyone like her. But the first day of her program, she meets a group of talking animals who have an urgent message they refuse to share. And while the animals may not have Frankie’s exalted human brain, they know things she doesn’t, like what happened before she was adopted.

To prove she’s sane, Frankie investigates her forgotten past and conducts clandestine experiments. But just when she uncovers the truth, she has to make an impossible choice: betray the animals she’s fallen in love with—or give up her last chance at success and everything she thought she knew.

By Meredith Walters,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked This Animal Body as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Frankie Conner, first-year graduate student at UC Berkeley, is finally getting her life together. After multiple failures and several false starts, she's found her calling: become a neuroscientist, discover the cause of her depression and anxiety, and hopefully find a cure for herself and everyone like her.

But her first day of the program, Frankie meets a mysterious group of talking animals who claim to have an urgent message for her. The problem is, they're not willing to share it. Not yet. Not until she's ready.

While Frankie's new friends may not have her highly evolved, state-of-the-art, exalted human brain,…


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