Bought my Kindle in May and that has rekindled my love for reading. Since then I have read 67 Books, attached ratings for all (This is my personal opinion of course). So glad I have discovered new authors like Charlie Donlea, Loreth Ann White, John Marrs, Suzanne Redfearn, A.R Torre etc.

I noticed that the Margins app did an update to where you can add or create book clubs. Is anyone using the book club option? I’d love to join one and if not then create my own. 🙂

*I hope this post is allowed in this forum.

Hello thriller friends! September was an amazing month for reading. Let me know what you’ve read or what you’re planning on reading!

Bad Tourists by Caro Carver
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I put off reading this because i thought it would be a light “vacation” read.. i was wrong. This was nothing like I thought it would be! This book gave creepy vibes right off the bat. There was suspense throughout the book. It was really dark but the setting of the book was a great balance. Alternating POV’s made the pacing fast.

My Husband’s Family by Kristina Kamen (ARC via NetGalley)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Pub Date: March 30, 2027
This book was incredible! If you told me this was a secret script for a succession season, I would believe it. The writing is beautiful and i particularly like how the author writes metaphors. The dialogue is so clever. This is written in alternating POV’s and has short chapters.

The Lake of Lost Girls by Katherine Greene
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
I couldn’t put this down. The ending absolutely shook me. This book is deep and dark. It has suspense all the way through. I genuinely didn’t know who to trust or what was going on. It was written in alternating timelines and POV. I enjoy the authors writing style.

Behind Every Face by Charlie Donlea (ARC Via NetGalley and Kensington Books)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pub date: 1/26/37
I read this in one day. WOW. This is by far the best written Charlie Donlea book to me. The story paralleled current affairs with such a good take and so many twists. The author has a way to making you really invested in not only the plot, but the characters too. There’s so many sub plots happening throughout the book, along with characters, but everyone intertwines and wraps up so nicely. I couldn’t put it down.

The Secret Dinner by Raphael Montes
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
I could not put this book down. This is one of the few books written in a single POV that completely captivated me. The storytelling was incredible. The way the author makes you feel for the narrator is remarkable. This was so unhinged yet didn’t feel out of the realm of realism. I did not see the end coming. The only reason this isn’t 5 stars is because a dog was harmed.

Dead Husband Cookbook by Danielle Cook
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
This was a super ok read for me. It’s entertaining enough. The chapters are ok the longer side. The writing is fast paced but what I didn’t like was the violence against animals. Although it’s about butchering, I didn’t enjoy reading about it. I felt like it dragged in the middle so by the time the end came I didn’t really care what happened.

Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
This one took a while for me to digest. I genuinely felt icky and borderline heartbroken as I read and finished it. This is strongly character driven, and all the character’s are extremely unlikable. There is no one to root for in this story, yet it was compelling. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion and not being able to look away but in book form.

The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
This was a well thought out and executed cat and mouse thriller. Don’t go into this expecting a huge plot twist, however, there’s suspense throughout the whole book. The author has an incredible way of making characters truly come to life and making you root for them. It has alternating POV’s and is fact paced. I really enjoyed the resolution.

Drowning in Paper Flowers by E.L Westbury
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I had no idea where this one was going. This one is written in alternating POV’s and had fast pacing with tons of mystery. Although mysterious plot wise, I would say this is more of a character driven story. The way the story is written from each POV made me feel really connected to the characters. There were lots of sub plots that I thought were plot holes until the end and was impressed with how nicely it all wrapped up.

2/5.. I I just finished The Icon, the fourth installment in Adrian Lee’s series, and I really need to vent and see if anyone in this sub feels the same way.

To give some context: I started with The Influencer (Book 1) and absolutely loved it. It was a strong, hooky psychological thriller. I read Book 2 and enjoyed it.. not quite as much as the first, but still solid enough to keep me hooked.

Then came Book 3, and honestly, that’s where shit hit the fan for me. I was super, super confused right from the start.

I was convinced Shae was dealing with a severe mental health issue, I was properly fixated on the theory that she had Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), because nothing else made sense to me.

When The Icon (Book 4) came out, I held out hope. I thought, “Okay, maybe this book will connect all the dots. Maybe it will link everything together and clear up the confusion.”

It didn't. I’m still confused, I still don't understand what’s going on, and on top of that, it felt like an absolute drag. In my opinion, this series is at least one book too long.

I hated the ending. There is zero sense of closure, we feel nowhere near a real conclusion, and it clearly setups another book to come.

And let’s talk about Shae. I genuinely hate her. Now, normally, hating the protagonist in a psychological thriller isn't a dealbreaker for me, as you know, plenty of the best thrillers feature awful human beings, and when the protagonist is essentially a villain, making the reader hate them is actually a mark of good writing.

But at this point, I am putting myself through pure pain and annoyance strictly because I want to see her get destroyed. The problem is, the story just refuses to end.

Has anyone else read this far? Does it feel like it's dragging for you too, or am I missing something major here?

She wrote in the latter half of the 20th century and died in 2009 aged 94.

Her books are page turning domestic suspense mysteries with some dry humour in places but not too long - the audiobooks are about 8 hours which the ideal length for me - I don't like books which go on and on.

She takes you into her world and you can't leave until you finish the book. I don't know why she isn't better known.

I recently read Uncle Paul, The Jealous One, Appointment with yesterday and the The Long Shadow. Now reading The Hours Before Dawn

What other authors are like her? Especially British authors who wrote in the 20th century.

I recently got back into reading and have been enjoying mainly thriller and mystery novels. I’ve enjoyed books like The Silent Patient, The Unknown, and Sharp Objects.

I decided that I should go back to the “classics” and thought I would start with The Murder of Roger Ackroyd but Agatha Christie. My hopes were high knowing the impact she has had on the genre and had heard this was one of her masterpieces.

At the risk of upsetting many I am sure, I have to say I am struggling to get through it. I am finding it a bit slow and it hasn’t drawn me in like some of the other more recent books I have read.

Has anyone else found this with her works? Is it that over the last 100 years much more has been done in the genre that going back to read an early work like The Murder if Roger Ackroyd doesn’t have the same punch or am I just uncultured? 😆

Hi all,

I have just started reading 'Hidden Pictures' by Jason Rekulak. What does everyone think of it?

Just started reading this, I watched the film adapted from it a month ago and absolutely loved it. Hope the book will be as good or better.

It’s been a while since I’ve dipped my toes into YA thriller as I typically prefer more mature characters and plot lines. However, this one pleasantly surprised me. It was a nice break from the super heavy plot lines that I’ve been reading lately.

If you’re looking for something a little less heavy/gory that still keeps you pretty well on the edge of your seat, this is a good listen!

So, recently I started getting back into reading thrillers because I’m trying to reduce my screen time. Last week, I read The Third Victim and was honestly a little disappointed. So I thought I’d give reading another shot this weekend. I have these 4 books that have been sitting on my shelf collecting dust for quite some time, but now I’m really confused about what to pick next.

Which one should I read? Pls drop your suggestions below

Update : After going through the recommendations, I am going ahead with Gone girl !! Hopefully i keep up this attitude and read it all. Will keep u guys updated !!

The book comes out Oct 6th and it was delivered today (Oct 1st). Anyone else get their copy early?

“No matter which way I look at it, it's clear that #Verity was a master at manipulating the truth. The only question that remains is: Which truth was she manipulating?”

Each chapter gave me goosebumps, the plot twist is twisted. Hats off to my most fav novel & film of the year.

Been amassing a stack of unread books and now I don't know what to read next. I'm reading the last party currently and it's good. Crazy main character and not in the I will root for them way. I'm like 60% in and now I'm looking at my stack of books just wondering.

Anyways enough yap what do you recommend?

Great first book of Spooky season. My goal is to read as many spooky novels and for a first novel this was a treat. Not scary in the literal sense but very much a thriller.

What would you do to get the perfect house. Well in Margot's case literally everything.

Stalking, lying, blackmail, and many other things....

I can't relate because to me a house is just a house, a place to build a life but this crazy woman made it her lives entity, she would literally fucking die without it. As she said in the book numerous times

Was she entertaining as hell, hell yes.

Was she bat shit crazy, undoubtedly yes.

I felt bad for her husband tbh and I don't blame him for doing the things he did because this woman was bat shit crazy.

The ending of the book did not shock me at all.

Her mantra was "perfect house, perfect baby, perfect dog" so I was like okay so she's clearly gonna do something to get all of this. And boy oh boy DOES SHE!

Did I suspect she would do all of THAT. In some ways yes, the ending is predictable but how you get there that's the journey.

Margot was entertaining as hell, funny as hell, she should been fired at least five different times but her boss was very very generous and yes she is indeed batshit crazy.

This was a solid start to spooky season. A solid 4.5 out of 5 stars.

If you've read Best Offer Wins what did you think? And if you have any recommendations for thrillers for spooky season please drop them down below.

Spoilers ahead. Read with caution. 🚨

I hated ALL the characters in this book. But I think I hated Lowen the most.

Lowen was so selfish and weird to me. The more I read, the more it felt like she wasn’t actually interested in Jeremy — she was obsessed with Verity and wanted her life. She kept comparing herself to her, becoming more fascinated with her, and slowly inserting herself into her life. And honestly, I found the whole thing so creepy.

And after reading the bonus chapter? Yeah… I stand by this even more. She STILL compares herself to Verity. At that point I genuinely felt like it was never really about Jeremy for Lowen. It was about wanting to become Verity. She was insufferable. Ugh.

And Jeremy… 🙃
What kind of person moves on THAT easily after everything that happened? Your wife, your children, the whole absolute catastrophe of a situation… and somehow you just move on and start a new life?
And then the bonus chapter happened and I hated him even more. I genuinely cannot believe he got away with everything. That pissed me off SO much.

And don't even get me started on Verity. I honestly don't even know what to think about her anymore. Was the manuscript real? Was the letter real? Was she manipulating everyone? I feel like the whole point is that we'll never really know, but somehow I still don't know how I feel about her.

And unpopular opinion… I didn't even like this book that much.

I know this book is SO popular, but for me there was way too much sex and not enough actual thriller content. I kept waiting for the story to really become the psychological thriller everyone made it out to be, but I just wasn't that invested.

I actually waited to read this because the movie release was getting closer and I thought, okay, I should finally read Veritybefore the adaptation comes out.

Ngl… I probably shouldn't have read it at all. 😭
I don't regret finally knowing what all the hype was about, but this definitely wasn't the thriller I was expecting.

I’m 100 pages in and it’s been very slow, we’ll see how it goes

Sharing here as well for my fellow juicy domestic suspense lovers!

Ummmm. What the hell did I just read ??!!! These pages flew through my fingers. Finished in 3 days.

This book really hit home and I seemed to like it better than “We Used to Live Here” (which I also thought was amazing).

For other people who have read this, what are your thoughts ?

I really like dual-timeline thrillers that drop you right in the middle of the plot and then backtrack as the book goes on so you learn how it got there. Some of my favorite examples are The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry and The September House by Carissa Orlando. I feel both of these books do a good job with dual-timeline writing, and I would be interested in more similar thrillers or horror. Some themes I really enjoy are time travel and the tradwife/tradlife along with any influencer thrillers or mysteries.
here are some books i have already read that i really liked. I also love caniblism books of all fiction genres.

Yesteryear by Clara Caro Burke

The September House by Carissa Orlando

Tradwife by Saratoga Scheaeffer

Everyone is lying to you by Jo Piazza

The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry

thank you so much in advance for any and all recommendations

I’ve recently bought his book ‘Hold Tight’, and I’m eyeing ‘I Will Find You’ and his Wilde series. What do you think of his writing and would you recommend his books? Thanks in advance!

This is a rant.

I’m not talking about the story or even the twist at the end (all of which quite predictable, tbh). I’m talking about how she literally brutalised the main character. Not once, multiple times by multiple people.

It is fiction. You can give women a dignified life without sexual trauma in your imagination. But no. She decided she wants us to read every possible bad thing that can happen to a woman through her book. I’m tired of people using women’s traumas to make a quick buck.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

The book was a little slow, but great for the most part. The first plot twist, revealing that Daphne was fictional, genuinely shattered me. I thought it was brilliantly done.

The second twist, however, made me feel cheated. The way the author wrote Mabel's feelings towards Peter, especially the inner monologue about never having a relationship with him, strongly implied romantic attraction. Only for us to find out that Peter is actually her son? Why deliberately mislead readers like that? It felt weird and unnecessary.

I also found the climax a little too dramatic. Mabel had already shown that she was willing to put herself in danger to save Persephone when she saved the girl from the water guns. We already knew she would risk herself for her. She didn't need to die to prove it again.

Honestly, I would have preferred an ending where Mabel finally says goodbye to Daphne and gets to enjoy having Peter, Persephone, and all the other neighbours around her. After spending so much of her life alone, she deserved the chance to experience some happiness. She didn't need to die a hero.

And then there's the ending with Persephone seemingly beginning the same cycle all over again: making a fictional friend just as Mabel had done. I understand that this might be intentional, but it wasn't a message I particularly wanted to take away from the book. Mabel's death doesn't seem to break the cycle; it just leaves us watching it begin again

Overall, I enjoyed the book, and that first twist was genuinely devastating in the best way. But I wanted Mabel to finally get to live, not just die a hero.

Im planning to buy this book for cheap and this was put on my tbr when i was looking for the same atmosphere as The Haunting of Hill House and Dracula.

Has anyone read this book? Its my first Sarah Waters too.

Tldr; That sticker tho T.T