Fans pick 61 books like Trust Me

By Hank Phillippi Ryan,

Here are 61 books that Trust Me fans have personally recommended if you like Trust Me. 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 11/22/63

Irving Belateche Author Of The Origin of Dracula

From my list on refresh legends, myths, and historical events.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always loved novels that reinvent and refresh history and legends. They take these building blocks of culture and make them personal and emotional. These novels breathe new life into ancient tales and historical events, so they resonate with relevance. They reveal hidden depths and connections within familiar stories, transforming them into vibrant tales. This genre makes legend and history feel personal by taking me on one character’s unique journey, transforming the exploration of the past into a deeply engaging experience.

Irving's book list on refresh legends, myths, and historical events

Irving Belateche Why did Irving love this book?

I’ve read countless stories about the JFK assassination, but this novel completely refreshed and reframed this part of history for me. By blending the omniscient knowledge of time travel with the perspective of an ordinary person thrown into one of the greatest moments in American history, this novel created a deeply personal journey.

This intimate journey made the time period, the politics, and the culture resonate with life. The vivid portrayal of the late 1950s and early 1960s immersed me in this era, and the novel’s intricate plot, combined with the emotional depth of the main character’s journey, kept me hooked from start to finish. This novel brilliantly refreshes history, offering a thought-provoking exploration of how the past shapes the future.

By Stephen King,

Why should I read it?

17 authors picked 11/22/63 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Now a major TV series from JJ Abrams and Stephen King, starring James Franco (Hulu US, Fox UK and Europe, Stan Australia, SKY New Zealand).

WHAT IF you could go back in time and change the course of history? WHAT IF the watershed moment you could change was the JFK assassination? 11.22.63, the date that Kennedy was shot - unless . . .

King takes his protagonist Jake Epping, a high school English teacher from Lisbon Falls, Maine, 2011, on a fascinating journey back to 1958 - from a world of mobile phones and iPods to a new world of…


Book cover of Gone Girl

Mary Cantell Author Of The Fragile Things

From my list on fragility of life in mystery, romance, intrigue.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m passionate about the theme of mystery/romance novels because they lend so much to the human condition and hit a soft spot, as I’ve liked them since I was a child. When a story is relatable—such as a genuine real-life situation having the potential to become one’s own, that’s where the intrigue kicks in, and I’m knocked into another world as I feel their emotions so poignantly. It’s the perfect escape. Unlike science fiction where reality must be suspended, a classic mystery story—especially ones with a touch of romance—are the ones that really suck me in and won’t let go until the last page is turned.

Mary's book list on fragility of life in mystery, romance, intrigue

Mary Cantell Why did Mary love this book?

A story of someone going missing is always something that affects me viscerally. I was drawn into the intrigue of a woman who is apparently happily married one minute, and then blood stains are found on the floor of the couple’s kitchen the next.

I loved this book because it was a who-dun-it with great descriptive scenes. It was well-written and left me hungry for it when I was forced to put it down to do my chores. A taut, gripping saga about real-life people in real settings is always something I find fascinating.

By Gillian Flynn,

Why should I read it?

31 authors picked Gone Girl as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE ADDICTIVE No.1 BESTSELLER AND INTERNATIONAL PHENOMENON
OVER 20 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE
THE BOOK THAT DEFINES PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER

Who are you?
What have we done to each other?

These are the questions Nick Dunne finds himself asking on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn't true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they weren't made by him. And then there are the persistent calls on…


Book cover of The Only One Left

Marlee Bush Author Of When She Was Me

From my list on books with untrustworthy sibling relationships.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been absolutely entranced by complicated family dynamics and sibling relationships as long as I can remember. Particularly as they exist within the thriller space. I graduated with a degree in criminal justice which only fueled that fire as I learned so much more about psychology, the human mind, and the depths of human depravity. It was so natural for me to start exploring it in my own reading and writing. 

Marlee's book list on books with untrustworthy sibling relationships

Marlee Bush Why did Marlee love this book?

I loved this book for so many reasons. The biggest reason is that setting! I loved how Sager truly used this gothic, cliffside crumbling manor to help tell the creepiest and twistiest tale.

Also I couldn’t have guessed that plot twist in a million years either and that’s always a plus when reading a thriller!

By Riley Sager,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Only One Left as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE BRAND NEW HEART-POUNDING GOTHIC THRILLER FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

Everyone believes that Lenora Hope is a mass murderer.

When the Hope family was massacred decades ago, she was the only one left after that tragic night.

Mute, paralysed and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora has never been able to tell her side of the story.

Until her new live-in caregiver Kit brings her a typewriter.

And with one working finger Lenora begins to type:

I want to tell you everything.

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Book cover of Make Her Pay

Make Her Pay By Miranda Rijks,

A twisty psychological thriller about beautiful, successful Leonie who has just met Markus, the man of her dreams. But Leonie has a secret. Ten years ago, she was involved in an accident in which another driver died. Leonie shouldn’t have been behind the wheel that night – so she fled…

Book cover of To Die For

Dana Perry Author Of The Nowhere Girls

From my list on books that are ripped from the headlines by a headline writing journalist.

Why am I passionate about this?

I know a lot about “ripped from the headlines” news stories because I’ve been around a lot of news stories and headlines most of my life. I’m a longtime New York City journalist who has worked as a top editor at both the NY Post and the NY Daily News. Believe me, I’ve seen a lot of wild headlines in these places (e.g., Headless Body in Topless Bar!). So you can understand why I now like ripping from news headlines for fiction books as an author. 

Dana's book list on books that are ripped from the headlines by a headline writing journalist

Dana Perry Why did Dana love this book?

I loved the movie with Nicole Kidman, and I loved the book by Joyce Maynard, too!

It’s not exactly a true factual account of how New Hampshire school teacher Pamela Smart got her teenage lover to murder her husband in 1990. But the book is clearly inspired by that sensational news event. Sex, murder, betrayal, adultery–this book has it all.

It's an even better fictional story than the real story it came from.  

By Joyce Maynard,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

"A seductive page-turner" about a murderously ambitious cable-news star by the New York Times-bestselling author of Labor Day (The New York Times Book Review).

Local weather reporter Suzanne Maretto craves nothing more than to transcend life at her suburban cable television news station and follow in the footsteps of her idol: Barbara Walters. When she concludes that her unglamorous husband is getting in the way of her dream of stardom, the solution seems obvious: Get rid of him. She seduces a fifteen-year-old admirer, Jimmy, and persuades him to do her dirty work. Mission accomplished, Suzanne takes to the airwaves in…


Book cover of Whiskey Beach

Marie Jones Author Of Those We Trust

From my list on leave you breathless with love, danger, and suspense.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love romance, a true romantic from the day I was born. I also love crime/thriller/twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat and wanting to turn the page. As a writer, it was the most natural choice to combine all of these to bring to you as a reader love, passion, danger, shady criminal underworld, and jaw-dropping cliffhangers mixed in with twists you never saw coming. A love story that has you hopelessly entwined with them. A beautiful backdrop of the highlands of Scotland that creates its own unique story –mystical, mighty, and carrying its own hidden dangers.

Marie's book list on leave you breathless with love, danger, and suspense

Marie Jones Why did Marie love this book?

Eli is a broken man, running from his own demons and past and looking for a safe haven at Whiskey Beach (just like the character from my book, Sophia). 

He believes he has nothing to give, certainly not as a writer... until Abra comes into his life. Yet dangers are lurking near and they are both being watched. Love, danger, and a beautiful setting. 

By Nora Roberts,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Eli Landon seems to have the perfect life. A beautiful wife, a wonderful house, a dazzling legal career. But when his wife is brutally murdered after confessing to an affair, Eli is named prime suspect. After a year-long ordeal the case is dropped for lack of evidence, but Eli's world is in tatters.

Abandoned by his friends, hounded by the media and a detective with a grudge, Eli retreats to the small-town sanctuary of Whiskey Beach. Camping out in his grandmother's atmospheric house by the sea he meets Abra Walsh - compassionate, courageous and hiding secrets of her own.

But…


Book cover of Hold Me Down

Caroline Leavitt Author Of With or Without You

From my list on hidden gems that won’t stay hidden for long.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a voracious reader, an author, and also a book critic, so hundreds of books cross my desk. What I love the most is the feeling of discovery—reading a book whose likes I haven’t seen on any bestseller list or on a front display in a bookstore. There are so many, many hidden gems—books that have stayed with me long after the publication day, and I always want others to have the same devotion to them that I do!

Caroline's book list on hidden gems that won’t stay hidden for long

Caroline Leavitt Why did Caroline love this book?

A dark, suspenseful, page-turner from acclaimed novelist Clea Simon.

Middle-aged rocker Gal must grapple with memories of the past as she investigates a murder—and as she does so, she has to reexamine her own darker-than-dark past and the mistakes she made. Love. Music. Murder. What more could any lucky reader want? Simon is known for her cozy mysteries about cats—but make no mistake, this isn’t cozy! Instead, you’ll be gripping the pages so hard, they might tear!

By Clea Simon,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A riveting work of dark suspense from acclaimed author Clea Simon

Gal, a middle-aged musician, is back in Boston to play a memorial for her late drummer/best friend, when she finds herself freezing on stage at the sight of a face in the crowd. The next day, she learns that the man she saw has been killed - beaten to death behind the venue - and her friend's widower is being charged in connection with his death. When the friend refuses to defend himself, Gal wonders why and, as the memories of begin to flood back, she starts her own…


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Book cover of Deadly Sommer

Deadly Sommer By Nicholas Harvey,

Readers who enjoy police procedurals with an offbeat main character and fascinating locations will love this thriller.

One missing girl. Two lives on the line. Four treacherous challenges.

Nora Sommer's first case for the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service is one she'll never forget... if she survives. When the daughter…

Book cover of The Kind Worth Killing

Hy Conrad Author Of Sins of the Family: A Callie McFee Mystery

From my list on mystery plots that both surprise and delight.

Why am I passionate about this?

At an early age, I became a fan of tightly plotted mysteries that play fair with the reader. This led to my career in mystery games and videos and a dozen books of short mysteries. It also led to my TV career.  When the creator of Monk realized he needed some twisty plots, he visited a bookstore, found my books, and tracked me down. Since then, I’ve been plying my trade on the small screen as well, working with some very talented people, like Steve Martin, who needed a mystery guy to come in and add some structure to their ideas.   

Hy's book list on mystery plots that both surprise and delight

Hy Conrad Why did Hy love this book?

Although a suspense novel rather than a mystery, this one utilizes plenty of tricks to keep you enthralled and guessing. It starts with a “Strangers on a Train” kind of premise, the exchanging of murders by people who just met. Then it takes off, morphing into unexpected incarnations, each one exciting and satisfying.  If you become a fan, and I’m betting you will, be warned. Swanson uses similar plot developments in his other books. This is by far his best one.

By Peter Swanson,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

You should never talk to strangers...Gone Girl meets Strangers on a Train in this year's must-read psychological thriller. "Extremely hard to put down". (Sophie Hannah). "Chilling and hypnotically suspenseful". (Lee Child). 'Hello there.' I looked at the pale, freckled hand on the back of the empty bar seat next to me in the business class lounge of Heathrow airport, then up into the stranger's face. 'Do I know you?' Delayed in London, Ted Severson meets a woman at the airport bar. Over cocktails they tell each other rather more than they should, and a dark plan is hatched - but…


Book cover of Joy Street

Phyllis Entis Author Of The Green Pearl Caper

From my list on the setting woven into the story.

Why am I passionate about this?

In my own writing, the setting always is an important backdrop to the novel. Sometimes, it is the element that drives the plot forward. The seedy nature of Atlantic City, where most of my first mystery takes place, is essential to the story. I want my readers to be able to feel that they are witnessing a scene first-hand, whether on the Boardwalk, in a pawn shop on Atlantic Avenue, or in Damien’s favourite hangout. I also want them to identify with the characters. To root for the good guy in spite of his flaws–or for the bad guy if that is their preference.

Phyllis' book list on the setting woven into the story

Phyllis Entis Why did Phyllis love this book?

Keyes was a journalist (she died in 1970), and her background informed every novel she wrote. 

Joy Street is set primarily in Boston in the 1930s and 1940s. At the time I read this book, I had never been to Boston. When I finally visited that city several years later, her descriptions of the area in and around Beacon Hill still were so vivid in my mind that I felt as though I already knew the neighbourhood intimately.

Keyes had an equally deft hand with character development and plot. Joy Street is a book populated with characters that seem real and a story that moves forward at a satisfying pace.

It is a joy to read.

By Frances Parkinson Keyes,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A young woman brought up in a Brahmin family on Beacon Hill falls in love with a man from a very different background.


Book cover of Find Her

Melinda Colt Author Of Dare Game

From my list on mysteries and thrillers to challenge your mind and grip your heart.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a writer and avid reader of crime fiction. Since I was four, my parents instilled in me a love for books, which has become a part of who I am. Before I became a bestselling and award-winning author, I was a reader, and I’ve always wanted to create stories that I love to read. I’m passionate about plots that stimulate my mind and characters that sneak into my heart and stay there. When I’m not writing, I work as a graphic designer. In my spare time, I watch crime shows and true crime documentaries. And when my mind needs a break from crime, I switch to my alter ego and write romantic comedies.

Melinda's book list on mysteries and thrillers to challenge your mind and grip your heart

Melinda Colt Why did Melinda love this book?

Find Her was my introduction to the D.D. Warren series and a book I couldn’t put down. While the primary protagonist, Detective Warren, played a typical character often seen in crime fiction, Flora Dane completely stole the show. After being the victim of a long, torturous kidnapping, she evolves into a fascinating vigilante.

Flora Dane is such a complex and powerful character that it’s no wonder she appears in more books in this series. The author did her research, and her insight into human psychology and victims’ pathology helped build exceptional characters. The plot is excellent, tense, and full of twists. I found myself thinking about the story even when I wasn’t reading. I think Find Her is a must-read for mystery, suspense, and thriller lovers.  

By Lisa Gardner,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

AN ESCAPED KIDNAPPING VICTIM BECOMES AN AVENGER OF INNOCENTS. CAN SHE ESCAPE WHEN SHE'S TARGETED AGAIN? The eighth novel in Sunday Times bestseller Lisa Gardner's Detective D. D. Warren series. Harlan Coben says FIND HER is 'taut psychological suspense' which 'should not be missed'.

A LOST GIRL FOUND

472 days locked in a pine box, at the mercy of a madman.

Flora Dane survived her hell with only one goal:
develop all the deadly skills necessary to make sure she's never caught again.

ANOTHER GIRL MISSING

Detective D.D. Warren believes that Flora may be the key to finding missing college…


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Book cover of Medical Hostages

Medical Hostages By Shawn Jennings,

Duke, the leader of a bike gang, is in custody for murder. He plans an escape by feigning illness and hospitalization. But an unexpected turn of events results in two gang members and Duke holding a medical floor of patients hostage. Patients will die if the police don't meet their…

Book cover of Living Lies

Jaime Jo Wright Author Of The Souls of Lost Lake

From my list on to mix crime and romance.

Why am I passionate about this?

I adore suspense, mystery, and romance, but more so, I love books that inspire me and also aren’t necessarily easy to figure out. I’m a published and Christy award-winning author in this genre myself, but I have been reading this genre for over thirty-three years. I would definitely have to say my qualifications as a reader of suspense and mystery far outweigh those of an author. When I read suspense and romance, I look for two key elements: hard-to-figure out suspense and believable romance. I’m not out for bells and whistles as a reader, but instead look for well-crafted stories that are more like a puzzle that must be solved. 

Jaime's book list on to mix crime and romance

Jaime Jo Wright Why did Jaime love this book?

This was the first book I read from Natalie Walters and it was fabulous! She is an auto-buy for me with a riveting story that is not only crime-centric but with relatable and real characters! Her romance is light and expertly woven through a story that will keep you guessing, biting your fingernails, and skipping dinner!

By Natalie Walters,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In the little town of Walton, Georgia, everybody knows your name--but no one knows your secret. At least that's what Lane Kent is counting on when she returns to her hometown with her five-year-old son. Dangerously depressed after the death of her husband, Lane is looking for hope. What she finds instead is a dead body.

Lane must work with Walton's newest deputy, Charlie Lynch, to uncover the truth behind the murder. But when that truth hits too close to home, she'll have to decide if saving the life of another is worth the cost of revealing her darkest secret.…


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