One of the things I love most about thrillers is that the stakes are always so high—never more so than when the mystery or conflict threatens a supposedly sturdy relationship that’s central to the protagonist’s identity. Often, in domestic suspense, that relationship is a marriage, but perhaps there’s even more on the line when it’s a friendship that’s jeopardized. After all, love comes and goes, but friendship is forever. Right?
In my latest thriller, Thicker Than Water, Julia and Sienna are not only sisters-in-law, but best friends and business partners, too. They believe that theirs is a perfect, unbreakable bond—until, that is, the man who connects them (husband to one, brother to the other) is accused of a brutal crime, and the two women find themselves on opposite sides for the very first time. Writing this book allowed me to explore what we hide from each other—and ourselves—in order to keep a friendship alive, as well as the possibility that our closest bonds might actually be our most fragile.
Here are seven other thrillers where friendships are tested—by old secrets, dark truths, and a few dead bodies.
Andrea Bartz, We Were Never Here
Emily and Kristen are having the time of their life in Chile when Emily returns to their hotel to find that Kristen has killed a backpacker in self-defense—an act that’s eerily similar to what happened on their trip the previous year in Cambodia. Now, as they return to their homes on opposite sides of the world, Emily gets to work trying to process the horror of their latest trip. But when Kristen shows up unexpectedly, inserting herself into every corner of Emily’s life, Emily wonders what really happened in Chile—and who Kristen really is. While this book is a ton of page-turning fun from start to finish, it’s also a deeply sobering look at gaslighting and toxic relationships, imbued with Bartz’s trademark vivid writing that powerfully examines complicated female friendships.
Kate Alice Marshall, What Lies in the Woods
When Naomi, Cassidy, and Olivia were only eleven, they put away a serial killer with their testimony after one of them was viciously attacked—but they also lied, and now, decades later, the truth about that night is threatening them again. This book delves deep into the dark secrets we keep, even from those we claim are our closest friends, as well as the struggle to maintain friendships in which there is shared trauma. Is what bonds us to someone else the same thing that will break us? Kate Alice Marshall deftly explores this question in a story with enough twists and turns to give you whiplash.
Leah Konen, The Perfect Escape
This is a book about a girls trip gone very wrong, and to say much more than that risks spoiling the fun of finding out exactly how wrong it goes—and how all the story’s strange events and coincidences are connected. Each chapter leads you to a new question, or a new surprise, or a new twist, and all the while, Leah Konen investigates how delicate and unknowable new friendships can actually be, especially those that feel fated from the start. And as the women in this book learn, it can be a treacherous thing, trusting someone too soon.
Kimberly McCreight, Friends Like These
When five friends from college plan a weekend getaway in the Catskills, old secrets come back to haunt them in devastating, and deadly, ways. Kimberly McCreight’s intricately plotted multi-POV narrative makes for a layered, compelling story where literally everyone has something major to hide. After reading this one, you might think twice about planning a vacation with your favorite former classmates, but you won’t be able to resist this fun, juicy look at the darker side of friendship.
Bethany C. Morrow, Cherish Farrah
Seventeen-year-old Cherish and Farrah are best friends, and the only two Black girls in a country club community. Cherish, who was raised by white parents, seemingly has everything, but when Farrah manipulates her way into Cherish’s home and family, she discovers disturbing secrets about her best friend’s life. This is a tantalizingly slow burn that rewards its reader with a fiery ending. Bethany C. Morrow increases the tension with precision, until it’s nearly boiling over, all the while proving that, when it comes to co-dependent friendships, there’s a razor-fine line between devotion and danger.
Megan Miranda, The Only Survivors
While the characters in this book have known each other since high school, calling them friends might be a bit of a stretch. Still, every year, they gather for a weeklong trip at a house on the Outer Banks, intent on feigning closeness as they remember the tragic event that keeps them tied to each other. But on their tenth anniversary trip, it’s clear that someone is intent on exposing the truth of what happened in the past—a truth they were so sure they’d buried. Brimming with surprises, beautiful prose, and emotional insight, this book is a chilling reminder that nothing bonds people together better than a secret.
Anna Pitoniak, Necessary People
Stella and Violet are best friends with wildly different backgrounds; Stella is from a rich, well-connected family, while Violet had to cut ties with her parents upon entering adulthood. But when Stella wants a piece of Violet’s new life as a producer at a TV news program, the two realize that their friendship cannot carry on as before; only one of them can be on top. This book is a darkly intelligent exploration of ambition and toxic relationships, as well as a tense, startling look at what we’re willing to do—and who we’re willing to destroy—to get what we want.
***
