Ever since I read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, I've been on a mystery/suspense novel kick. I'm not the type to read romance novels and cry for weeks about the ending. I'm more into the "can't sleep because the twist ending was so surprising" kind of books. Here's a list of the 7 books you should read if you're up for a thriller similar to Gone Girl.
1. The Luckiest Girl Alive
I'm putting this at the top of the list because this was the most messed up book I have ever read... In a good way! I read this in one day because I simply could not put it down without finding out the ending. This twist will leave your jaw dropped and have you stirring over it even days after you've finished reading it.
2. Before I go to Sleep
This is one of my all-time favorite mystery novels. Every page leaves you with a cliffhanger making you turn to the next one. This is a story about a woman who wakes up every morning with no memory of who she is or what her past holds.
All she can go off of is a journal that she has been keeping and the word of a doctor she has been seeing. She soon realizes that not everything she is being told is the truth and it's up to her to figure out who she really is.
3. In a Dark, Dark Wood
Leonora, a crime writer in London, gets an unexpected invitation from a friend she hasn't seen or spoken to in 10 years. She reluctantly accepts the invitation for a weekend away in the English countryside only to wake up 48 hours later in a hospital wondering what happened and with the knowledge that someone was dead. This book will soon become a major motion picture adapted by Reese Witherspoon!
4. Sharp Objects
As you already know if you read Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn is a mystery genius. She knows exactly how to draw in the reader and keep them hooked until the very end of the book. This story is about a journalist from a small town who is trying to create a better life for herself in Chicago.
When her editor asks her to cover a story in her hometown of Wind Gap, Missouri on a murder of a young girl and a disappearance of another, she is forced to relive her painful childhood and the secrets her family holds.
5. 13 Reasons Why
A high school student, Hannah Baker, recently committed suicide. Before taking her own life, she put together a series of tapes for the classmates she claims contributed to her death. The tapes specifically indicate that they should be passed along amongst the 13 people who drove her to her final days.
This is another "read in one day" type of book as you find yourself craving to find out the reason behind how each person impacted Hannah Baker so negatively. Netflix is coming out with a series based on this book in March of this year.
6. Under the Harrow
When two sisters were supposed to be reunited in the countryside of London, Nora finds her sister murdered in her home instead. This novel follows Nora's determination and struggles to find the person or people who killed her sister, which raises questions even the police couldn't uncover.
7. Dark Places
I had to include another Gillian Flynn book because she is such a captivating mystery writer and definitely does not fall short with this novel. This book takes place in Kinnakee, Kansas and follows the life of the sole survivor of her family's massacre, Libby Day.
Libby testified against her older brother, Ben who was in the house during the murder of their two sisters and mother. A group of young investigators track down Libby years later to try and get her to recant her testimony because they are convinced Ben is innocent. This novel was turned into a movie in 2015 starring Charlize Theron.
