The most recommended psychological thriller books

The primary setting is a hunting club in New York’s Adirondack Mountains that caters to rich and powerful men who secretly call themselves the Lost Boys.

Evie grew up nearby, and now, as an art restorer living in Paris, is remembering traumatic experiences involving club members. She returns to her childhood home to settle the matter and the action begins. The plot is multi-layered and the true nature of the characters is often a mystery, all of which appeals to me.

I also like the accuracy of the Adirondack setting (it’s where I grew up) and how the club itself captures the spirit of the areas Great Camps. But a favorite aspect is the fact that the author, a man like myself, so obviously detests the toxic masculinity of the Lost Boys. I applaud that.

Rich boarding school meets murder mystery in Jesse Q. Sutanto’s The New Girl—except main character Lia Setiawan is anything but wealthy, and we already know she’s the killer.

It was an accident, but that doesn’t stop her from worrying about going to prison for her teacher’s murder as the detectives circle the drain. I laughed out loud so many times while I flew through this book, the question of whether she’d get caught ripping me to shreds in anticipation.

There are no spoilers here, but I’ll tell you it’s worth the wild ride.

There’s nothing scarier than answering personal ads to a complete stranger in my opinion. Women in Loves Music, Loves to Dance who answers a personal ad find themselves the next victim of a serial killer. What makes this particularly frightening is that the situation actually happens in real life. This book might make you rethink answering that personal ad in the newspaper or online. That’s what makes this book a nail-biter and keeps you up until all hours of the night. It is a fun read, and I highly recommend it. 

Similar in vein, a more opaque story than Frankenstein, and with a more indeterminate morality surrounding the main character, who is, after all, a crackpot murderer, but eliciting perhaps the same complex reactions toward him and the other characters at the book’s tragic ending. 

I grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. As an adult I struggled to raise my children and keep a roof over our heads. Homelessness is not always for the reason one assumes. 

How Juno wound up where she is in her struggles doesn’t make you want to disrespect her, but to understand her heart. I laughed, cried, and panic ripped through me as pages turned. The rich family in the story carry an air that is deceiving, but Juno sees it clearly. 
The twists and turns created the need to read veraciously. More than once my heart was racing or hurting in agony. As soon as I thought I had it figured out I was thrown for a loop. 

How does one capture and transmit what the mixture of boredom and abject terror that is often a soldier’s life does to the psyche most effectively?

I had read a number of fictionalized reportages and Slaughterhouse-Five by Vonnegut, which added science fiction. Still, it wasn’t until I powered through this book that I felt I could know how difficult it is for young men to try and make sense of it. The book was a puzzle with pieces that were hard to place next to each other into a coherent picture, and that felt to me like what Vietnam did to those in my generation who fought there.

Book one in the Lacey Flint series, Now You See Me, got me hooked on the author and British mysteries. The writing style is evocative and deeply atmospheric, reminding me of gothic novels with a modern aspect.

I liked Lacey as a character, but what I found most compelling was the plot, which was a literary spider web. Although it was too graphic for my taste in places, the story was riveting enough to keep me engrossed until the very last page. I could barely keep track of all the twists and turns. By the time I finished reading, I had applauded the mind that could come up with such a complex story. 

I was intrigued by the twists and turns in this story. The writing is matter-of-fact, describing everyday events that culminate in a wonderfully unexpected ending.

I love the characters and, even though the main character is really not nice, I was drawn to him, realising that the influence of your parents, your upbringing, can affect who you are.

I was drawn to the main character’s reaction to his own paranoia. Anything the man did, even something mundane as pouring a drink, he made himself appear more and more suspicious.

What really sparked my interest, though, were moments when, in conversation with another character, the man believed that underneath the surface of the discussion, the other was trying to imply or deliver a different message. Again, this prompts him to respond or react suspiciously, even to a person who would have no clue. He was making himself crazy all on his own.

It reminded me of the character from Dostoevsky’s Crime & Punishment. I love Highsmith’s work, especially the great cringe moments in many of her stories, including Strangers on the Train and the Tom Ripley series.

Are we doomed to meet the same fate as our ancestors? That’s the threat looming over failed baseball player and self-destructive alcoholic Stephan Detals, whose father and grandfather died by suicide on their 39th birthdays.

With Stephan’s 39th birthday coming in a few days, he returns to his hometown to learn the truth about his father and grandfather’s deaths in hope of avoiding their fatal destinies. Sojka creates a twisty mystery with fascinating characters and Texas gothic. He also keeps up the tension as the fateful date approaches.

I felt Sojka did a wonderful job evoking the Texas landscape and the experience of a professional baseball player, which made me feel more engaged to the story and characters. This book kept me turning pages to its climax.