The approaching summer has us all thinking about traveling, moving, changing, wanting…all dangerous desires in the world of psychological thrillers, and all well represented on the list below. Enjoy these delightful entries in a consistently stunning subgenre, with a higher-than-usual number of crossovers into horror, gothics, and some general fiction (by which I mean, emotional powerhouses and pathways to empathy—take that, lit heads. I’m trying to get that to catch on as an insult for those who disdain the concept of general in favor of literary. But I digress…).
As always, all blurbs are by me unless otherwise stated.
Leslie Baird, Salome
(Putnam)
Leslie Baird’s debut is a sultry summer thriller sure to thrill and seduce, even as it destroys (what I’m saying is, it lives up to the title). Salome’s dissaffected expat is dreading a visit to her roommate-turned-influencer, whose attention-grabbing antics and constant filming are sure to ruin her beloved Paris. A chance encounter on the plan ride to France leads to a stay in countryside with a new friend, one whose strange family grows increasingly sinister as the oppressive heat and isolated setting slowly turn stifling. Give this one to your niece before she heads off on gap year, or prepare to pull a Liam Neeson. I kid, I kid…but this book is still downright disturbing.
Vincent Yu, Seek Immediate Shelter
(Flatiron)
Another multi-POV drama, Seek Immediate Shelter takes us into the heart of a close-knit Asian-American suburb, where an emergency alert sparks a wide variety of reactions, upending each character’s expectations of their own behavior. Yu has crafted a thoughtful, fast-paced thriller that also works a deep character study and a crystalline portrait of a community in flux.
Camilla Bruce, The Temptation of Charlotte North
(Del Rey)
In this moody gothic historical, set on a remote and windswept island with a tragic past, a loosed spirit becomes a sinister ally to a repressed teenage girl as she yearns for her melancholy preacher. Camilla Bruce is one of the most consistent and insightful authors of psychological thrillers writing today, and The Temptation of Charlotte North easily lives up to that reputation. What draws me most to Bruce’s work is the skillful blending of setting and character, how the two feed off each other to reveal a stranger, darker picture, on full display in this latest.
Sam Beckbessinger, Femme Feral
(Penguin Books)
In Sam Beckbessinger’s Femme Feral, “the Change” of perimenopause turns out to be obscuring a far stranger transformation, as the main character finds herself going from woman to werewolf. A dark comedy of epic proportions and sly symbolism ensues, in which the central joke is clear—we know about as much about menopause as we know about werewolves. I decided to include this one on the list because, well, menopause is basically a psychological thriller. So much medical gaslighting!
Ilona Bannister, Five
(Crown)
The Five is a deeply emotional novel with a thriller’s bones. Here’s the set-up: five people are waiting for a train in the London Underground. By the time the train arrives, one will be dead. Bannister ratchets up the tension through interactions between characters, pausing to tease out each backstory, and dropping small reveals of the near future, for a surprisingly sweet puzzler of a novel that feels a bit like George Elliott took on a Reacher novel (in the best way). For those who return to this list after finishing the novel: so glad the woman in the girdle eventually managed to get out of her restrictive underwear and embrace a new life of freedom and easily climbing stairs.
Bindu Bansinath, Men Like Ours
(Bloomsbury)
Men Like Ours is a wonderful debut, a witty narrative following an amateur murder investigation in a South Asian enclave in New Jersey. On Willow Road, a group of women band together to solve the murder of a friend, and wade into a world of generational feuds, friendly backstabbings, and, possibly, an even deeper sense of community. Possibly. –Olivia Rutigliano, CrimeReads editor
Mary Berman, Until Death
(Mulholland Books)
The wedding industry is, obviously, the perfect venue for horror, and this tongue-in-cheek take on the nightmare of planning a memorable union makes the most of this natural affinity. I won’t spoil the novel’s many delicious surprises, but rest assured, this one makes for incredibly satisfying reading.
