Love Hit List? Readers share 100 books like Hit List...

By Lawrence Block,

Here are 100 books that Hit List fans have personally recommended if you like Hit List. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Philip Henry Author Of Method

From my list on told from the villainā€™s POV.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was about 8 years old, I read a book called Tom and the Two Handles by Russell Hoban. Itā€™s a childrenā€™s book designed to teach that every story has two sides. This book stuck with me for some reason. So, when I started writing novels, I always made sure my villains had pure motives. Remember, no well-written bad guy THINKS heā€™s a bad guy. He thinks heā€™s doing the right thing. This is true of all the classic Bond villains right up to Thanos in the MCU. Plus, and Iā€™m sure most writers would agree, the bad guys are always more fun to write.

Philip's book list on told from the villainā€™s POV

Philip Henry Why did Philip love this book?

I first became aware of Dexter through the TV show. I fell in love with the whole mythology behind the character and wanted a deeper dive into his life and the upbringing that led him to where he was when we first met him, and I got that from this book.

This first novel in the series shares a lot of DNA with the show's first season, but it also has enough extra content that the TV show either didnā€™t include or rewrote to make this fanboy enjoy every blood-soaked page. 

By Jeff Lindsay,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Darkly Dreaming Dexter as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Meet Dexter Morgan, a polite wolf in sheepā€™s clothing. Heā€™s handsome and charming, but something in his past has made him abide by a different set of rules. Heā€™s a serial killer whose one golden rule makes him immensely likeable: he only kills bad people. ā€¢ The Killer Character That Inspired the Hit Showtime Series Dexter

And his job as a blood splatter expert for the Miami police department puts him in the perfect position to identify his victims. But when a series of brutal murders bearing a striking similarity to his own style start turning up, Dexter is caughtā€¦


Book cover of I Kill Killers

Why am I passionate about this?

When I decided to write about psychopathic killers, I studied real stories and facts about these people. I also read about 80 novels a year as well as writing crime thriller novels. Iā€™ve won more than a few awards and keep studying my craft. Makes me feel young. I love stories with action that make you think and are a little different and unique. I want to make a reader cry and laugh, which is what I look for in a good novel. So, when I write about serial killers, I try to keep it real. I love it!

Mike's book list on serial killer novels that are unique, thought-provoking, action-filled, and that you won't forget

Mike Slavin Why did Mike love this book?

I love this book! A famous female pianist in Boston who kills bad people, and she has quirks. She also changes boy toys during the story; that whole dynamic is sexy and unusual. 

One of my new favorite books. I hate heavy procedural books, and this is not one. The FBI is involved, but not how you think. The railroad killer was also very creative. She does have the FBI chasing her and has friends in the FBI, which is unique, too. The beginning is good, with lots of action and intrigue, and the middle holds up with a bang for an ending.

There are a few surprises here and there, but it is just a solid story.

By S. T. Ashman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked I Kill Killers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Queen's Gambit meets Kill Bill in one of Goodreads' best thrillers of the year.

When a genius pianist turned hunter of serial killers finds herself connected to her latest victim by an eerie twist of fate, her world spirals into dark chaos. Caught in a relentless game of cat-and-mouse with a tenacious FBI agent, she is also thrust into a dangerous face-off with a serial killer whose lethal cunning could rival her own.

"I Kill Killers" is a pulse-pounding journey into moral ambiguity, blurring the slippery line between heroes and villains.

Trigger warning: This book contains sensitive content, includingā€¦


Book cover of Ask for Andrea

Mads Rafferty Author Of Deadly Occupants

From my list on spooky books for the season.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™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 motherā€™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 ā€œinvestigate.ā€ For some strange reason, I love to be terrified, and I fear I will never stop chasing the thrill. 

Mads' book list on spooky books for the season

Mads Rafferty Why did Mads 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 itā€™s because we know that the possibility for this terror to become our reality is a possibility. 

And with Noelleā€™s brilliant writing, I truly couldnā€™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.

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Book cover of Cardiac Arrest

Cardiac Arrest by Elizabeth Amber Love,

Farrah Wethers struggles with her new midlife career as a massage therapist. Her wealthy client is murdered on her table making her suspect number one. Can Farrah and her best friend, June Cho, sort through the suspects to find the real killer?

If you love the hijinks of Only Murdersā€¦

Book cover of Coming of Winter

Why am I passionate about this?

When I decided to write about psychopathic killers, I studied real stories and facts about these people. I also read about 80 novels a year as well as writing crime thriller novels. Iā€™ve won more than a few awards and keep studying my craft. Makes me feel young. I love stories with action that make you think and are a little different and unique. I want to make a reader cry and laugh, which is what I look for in a good novel. So, when I write about serial killers, I try to keep it real. I love it!

Mike's book list on serial killer novels that are unique, thought-provoking, action-filled, and that you won't forget

Mike Slavin Why did Mike love this book?

The Halloween Maze was great, and I like how the serial killer family revolves around it. It's a solid story that holds together and has a good, satisfying ending.

FBI agent Winter used to chase serial killers, then got sidelined into white-collar crime, but stumbles into finding another possible serial killer, leaving bodies at National parks. The chase is on.

I really enjoyed the development of the serial killer. The flesh-eating bugs did their job too. And there was a nice flashback of Winter. Great story.

By Tom Threadgill,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Coming of Winter as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Catherine Mae Blackston is missing. She is not the first.

While investigating Blackstonā€™s recent activities, FBI Agent Jeremy Winter stumbles upon a string of missing persons within state parks. Unable to convince his boss that Blackstonā€™s disappearance is anything other than a lost hiker, Winter joins forces with a local police officer to continue the search. 

As the clues mount, a dark figure from Jeremyā€™s past emerges with an ultimatum - one that could force him out of the bureau. Afraid that his girlfriend, fellow agent Maggie Keeley, will be dragged into a high-stakes political game, he delays his decision.ā€¦


Book cover of Nice

B.G. Harlen Author Of Break Her

From my list on featuring villains you canā€™t stop thinking about.

Why am I passionate about this?

If only they made good guys as complicated and fascinating as the baddies, maybe I wouldnā€™t be so drawn to the dark side. I mean, I liked Luke, and Leia, and Han, and I even wanted them to win, but Darth Vaderā€”now, that was an interesting dude. Perhaps because they do and are what most of us canā€™t and arenā€™t, these antagonists benefit from writers who, consciously or not, do their best work when they create singular villains. What makes the ā€œbad guyā€ tick? Is it circumstances, or choices? Are they someone you cannot even imagine being, or someone you can? And what does that say about us?

B.G.'s book list on featuring villains you canā€™t stop thinking about

B.G. Harlen Why did B.G. love this book?

Now these two main characters, both ā€œvillains,ā€ are refreshingly human. When the evil archeologist in Raiders of the Lost Ark tells Indy that it would only take a small push to move him out of the light, this is the kind of thing he meant. For the woman in the story, being bad is an almost understandable way to cope with the particular situation she faces (that weā€™ve all faced). For the man, heā€™s been in the dark for a long time, but it doesnā€™t mean he doesnā€™t need love. A serial killer/black comedy/love story about a hired killer and an inspired killer. Is it a match made in Heaven, or Hell?

By Jen Sacks,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Grace is a nice girl. She can't stand the thought of hurting anyone's feelings. The problem is she usually wants out of her relationships first. So rather than break up with her boyfriend, she murders them. But one man is just like Grace. What happens when two murderers fall in love?


Book cover of My Sister, the Serial Killer

Barbara Copperthwaite Author Of The Perfect Friend

From my list on books told by liars.

Why am I passionate about this?

In my early twenties, I worked in a maximum security, Category A menā€™s prison. I got to know the prisoners, who were usually polite, funny, and, for want of a better word, ā€˜normal,ā€™ even if guilty of terrible crimes. It made me realize you canā€™t simply tell if someone is ā€˜goodā€™ or ā€˜badā€™ by looking at them. It left an indelible mark on me: a fascination with people who lie easily and fool the world. My fascination grew when I became a journalist, but writing fiction has given me the freedom to truly explore liars of all types and try to understand them.

Barbara's book list on books told by liars

Barbara Copperthwaite Why did Barbara love this book?

Why people lie is often as interesting as the lie itself for me. This book lays this out as Korede finds herself being a protective big sister to the beautiful Ayoola, a woman with an unfortunate hobby of bumping off men she dates. Despite the darkness of the subject matter, itā€™s a story full of humor as Korede finds herself telling lie after lie and getting in way over her head to cover up her sisterā€™s murders.

Iā€™ve got two sisters (none of us serial killers!), and itā€™s funny how much of this tale is relatable! Itā€™s fresh and sharp, with a rich vein of humor that had me chuckling through much of it.

By Oyinkan Braithwaite,

Why should I read it?

13 authors picked My Sister, the Serial Killer as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Sunday Times bestseller and The Times #1 bestseller

Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2019
Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2019
Winner of the 2019 LA Times Award for Best Crime Thriller
Capital Crime Debut Author of the Year 2019
__________

'A literary sensation'
Guardian

'A bombshell of a book... Sharp, explosive, hilarious'
New York Times

'Glittering and funny... A stiletto slipped between the ribs and through the left ventricle of the heart' Financial Times
__________

When Korede's dinner is interrupted one night by a distress call from her sister, Ayoola, she knows what's expected of her: bleach, rubberā€¦


Book cover of Jane Steele

Erica Wright Author Of Hollow Bones

From my list on retelling classic stories.

Why am I passionate about this?

Before fan fiction was popular, I would often daydream about the lives of my favorite book characters. Did Jane Eyre gain more confidence from her inheritance? Did Ponyboy find a way to survive his tragic childhood? Decades later, I gravitate toward retellings, often picking them up simply because I like the source material. Still, when I started working on this list, I realized what a daunting task Iā€™d set myself. There are so many! And I havenā€™t even read two recently lauded titles: Barbara Kingsolverā€™s Demon Copperhead and Percival Everettā€™s James. So hat in my hand, I present these favorites ranging from serious to light-hearted. 

Erica's book list on retelling classic stories

Erica Wright Why did Erica love this book?

Jane Eyre but sheā€™s a serial killer? Thatā€™s a must-read book for me. And this one lives up to its creative premise. Like her namesake, this Jane lives in Victorian England, but she takes a decidedly more direct approach to dealing with her oppressors.

As the body count rises, so do her qualms. I enjoyed the parallels of this romp to the original, including the inevitable love story, and appreciated the unexpected twists and turns. With many retellings, itā€™s easy to guess how the plot will unfoldā€”not so with this dagger of a book. 

By Lyndsay Faye,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Jane Steele as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Reader, I murdered him.' JANE STEELE is a brilliant Gothic retelling of JANE EYRE from Edgar-nominated Lyndsay Faye, for fans of LONGBOURN and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES.'I loved it' - Elly Griffiths

** JANE STEELE HAS BEEN NOMINATED FOR AN EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL 2017 **

Like the heroine of the novel she adores, Jane Steele suffers cruelly at the hands of her aunt and schoolmaster. And like Jane Eyre, they call her wicked - but in her case, she fears the accusation is true. When she flees, she leaves behind the corpses of her tormentors. A fugitiveā€¦


Book cover of The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead

Trebor Healey Author Of A Horse Named Sorrow

From my list on erotic themes that are imaginative and insightful.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™ve been writing stories and poems with erotic themes since I first entered the spoken word scene in 1980s San Francisco. As a young queer boy, raised in the highly eroticized Catholic Church, I was actually comfortable talking about and writing about sex and eros as Iā€™d been stigmatized by it, and it got me fascinated with what the big deal was and why writers were afraid to approach it or why they did so in a corny/predictable/idealized and/or often dishonest and clumsy way. Soon I was teaching erotic writing and have been integrating it into my writing in honest, fresh, and enlivening waysā€”and helping others do soā€”ever since.

Trebor's book list on erotic themes that are imaginative and insightful

Trebor Healey Why did Trebor love this book?

The Wild Boys is at once dystopian and utopian, featuring a band of boys whoā€™ve gone rogue and have perfected strange and poetically beautiful sex rites which allow them to ritually and meditatively conjure or reproduce more wild boy offspring. At once science fiction and fantastical in its imaginative scope, it is also, like all Burroughsā€™s work, a profound exploration of social control, the excesses and assumptions inherent in state and religious terror, and the sexual and erotic oppression and misunderstanding that is the real enemy of freedom. Fearless and experimental, Burroughs inspires me to be bold, blunt, and not afraid to disturb or offend in exploring the poetic and erotic relationships between all manner of ideas.

By William S. Burroughs,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Wild Boys as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this funny, nightmarish masterpiece of imaginative excess, grotesque characters engage in acts of violent one-upmanship, boundless riches mangle a corner of Africa into a Bacchanalian utopia, and technology, flesh and violence fuse with and undo each other. A fragmentary, freewheeling novel, it sees wild boys engage in vigorous, ritualistic sex and drug taking, as well as pranksterish guerrilla warfare and open combat with a confused and outmatched army. The Wild Boys shows why Burroughs is a writer unlike any other, able to make captivating the explicit and horrific.


Book cover of Victor in the Rubble

Susan Hasler Author Of Intelligence: A Tale of Terror and Uncivil Service

From my list on spot on spy novels by former intelligence officers.

Why am I passionate about this?

I spent 21 years in the Central Intelligence Agency as a linguist, analyst, and speechwriter. It was a love-hate relationship. I found the culture of the place fascinating and sometimes maddening. The intellectual challenge was addictive. I met some of the best people Iā€™ve ever known and a few of the worst. I learned about high stakes and moral ambiguity, intellectual integrity and bald careerism, selfless service, and rollicking arrogance. I discovered that the intelligence world is a world apart yet an eerily accurate reflection of broader society. Iā€™ve chosen books written by authors who spent time in intelligence work and crafted novels that define and sometimes defy the spy genre.

Susan's book list on spot on spy novels by former intelligence officers

Susan Hasler Why did Susan love this book?

I never met Alex Finley, but we worked for some of the same people, and her book triggered a flood of memories for me. Black humor thrives in counterterrorism workā€”partly because laughing is a more acceptable way to release tension in the workplace than crying or punching tech support.

This is broad satire but with a hefty dose of authenticity. Anyone who has worked in a bureaucracy will laugh at this novel, but if youā€™ve worked in an intelligence bureaucracy, youā€™ll be snorting coffee from your nose.

By Alex Finley,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Victor in the Rubble as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Victor Caro is a counterterrorism officer with the CYA, caught in a world where job security trumps national security. On assignment in West Africa in a post-9/11 world, he is tasked with hunting down the terrorist Omar al-Suqqit, who is looking to launch his group of ragtag militants onto the international jihadi stage. But chasing a terrorist proves an easier challenge than managing his agencyā€™s bureaucracy. Omar, meanwhile, faces his own bureaucratic struggles as he joins forces with a global terrorist group that begins micro-managing its franchises in an effort to streamline attacks. When Victor appears on his own countryā€™sā€¦


Book cover of Breathers: A Zombie's Lament

T.L. Bodine Author Of River of Souls

From my list on with zombie main characters.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a life-long horror lover and author of dark fiction. I've been reviewing films and video games for Ravenous Monster ezine for nearly a decade, and my Wattpad horror novel The Hound is currently being adapted for film. My favorite thing is the intersection of the horrifying and fantastic with the mundane, and that's what appeals to me so much about zombies: in all of their multitudinous representations, they've always held up a mirror to humanity. No monster can so easily reflect the many facets of humanity as a zombie. Because, after all, the dead were once just like us ā€“ and if we're not careful, we might end up just like them in the end.

T.L.'s book list on with zombie main characters

T.L. Bodine Why did T.L. love this book?

Imagine coming back from the dead only to realize the world doesn't want you: You move in with parents who are disgusted by you, random strangers on the street throw food or pull mean jokes on you and your friends, and being caught out past your curfew sends you to the dog pound. That's the life that Andy Warner reanimates into after a fatal accident. It's not all bad, though. At least he's got some friends at the Undead Anonymous support group, including the dead-sexy Rita, and Ray, a guy whose ā€œvenisonā€ seems to come with some miraculous healing abilities. This is a darkly comedic book filled with a colorful cast, and you can't help but delight in the tragic spiral of the characters as they become increasingly inhuman. After all, can you blame them? 

By S.G. Browne,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

For fans of Chuck Palahniuk and Christopher Moore, a hilarious debut novel about life (and love) after death.

Meet Andy Warner, a recently deceased everyman and newly minted zombie. Resented by his parents, abandoned by his friends, and reviled by a society that no longer considers him human, Andy is having a bit of trouble adjusting to his new existence.

But all that changes when he goes to an Undead Anonymous meeting and finds kindred souls in Rita, an impossibly sexy recent suicide with a taste for the formaldehyde in cosmetic products, and Jerry, a twenty-one-year-old car-crash victim with anā€¦


Book cover of Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Book cover of I Kill Killers
Book cover of Ask for Andrea

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