Why do I love psychological thrillers?

I’m a sucker for psychological thrillers- be it books, movies, or series. Psychological thrillers, I feel, explore the deepest and darkest forms of human emotions and how the characters act with these in real-life scenarios. They actually allow us to examine how their decisions propel the plot ahead into the extremes of human ethics and morality. The suspense and the thrill that gives that burst of adrenaline is something to crave for.

I’ve read numerous psychological thrillers and although making this list was difficult, I’d like to recommend my top 5 psychological thrillers that you must definitely read!

The Silent Patient- Alex Michaelides

“You become increasingly comfortable with madness – and not just the madness of others, but your own. We’re all crazy, I believe, just in different ways.”

The Silent Patient- Alex Michaelides

The Silent Patient is the debut work of Alex Michaelides that received the Goodreads Choice Awards for best mystery and thriller (2019).

As someone who’s a sucker for psychological thrillers, I had to pick this up as a lot of buzz was created around it. When I read the book in one go, I realized that the hype was actually worth it because it is actually unputdownable once you’ve read the first part. I love the fast pace, the way the story unfolds, and the little surprises that I got almost at the end of every chapter, not to mention the plot twist that made me turn the pages all over again and think “what exactly did I miss” and then I was like “ah I should have seen this coming”.

The characters are solid and the use of dialogues is strong. I love the references to Alcestis and Greek mythology. The end of the book is again a cliffhanger that leaves you with a lot of unsettling questions. While I would love it if we get a second part to the book, I don’t really mind an end like this. I’m glad I picked this book up and totally loved it and highly recommend it to the lovers of psychological thrillers.

Gone Girl- Gillian Flynn

“I’m just tired of people judging me because I fit into a certain mold.”

Gone Girl-Gillian Flynn

Gone Girl is a crime and psychological thriller novel by Gillian Flynn that made its way to the New York Times Bestseller List in 2012.

This is one of the best thrillers I read. Period. Honestly, I happened to watch the movie first and I felt like I was missing out on a lot of details (every bookworm feels that way) so I picked up the book almost after a year after I watched the movie.

Gone Girl is an absorbing and enthralling read. The character of Amy is so strong and dark, and her unpredictability and manipulativeness are what make the book so thrilling.

The way Amy and Nick met, fell in love, got married, and later their fights and hatred for each other almost feels real because relationships that look too good to be true on the surface have the most to hide from the world.

Gone Girl digs deeper into modern-day victimization, gender politics and exposes the irrational side of our fear of coupledom.

Gillian Flynn has found a creepy, confused, and troubling part of us, and expressed it vividly in Gone Girl. Her psychological insights, sharp-edged wit, and chilling use of prose makes it an addictive read. A must-read for all psychological thriller lovers out there.

The Good Daughter- Karin Slaughter

“Nothing ever truly faded. Time only dulled the edges.”

The Good Daughter- Karin Slaughter

The Good Daughter is a psychological thriller by Karin Slaughter that was nominated for Goodreads Choice Award for Mystery and Thriller in 2017.

The Good Daughter is my first Karin Slaughter book and it kept me hooked that I was looking for more books by her as soon as I finished reading this. The Good Daughter is a deep, dark, emotional, character-driven psychological and crime thriller.

The two crimes around which the story revolves- I honestly don’t know which one to consider more gripping and compelling. The way the plot unfolds and the story advances is truly appreciable. The twisted pace and the details in the story are intriguing. I just love the characters of Sam (Samantha Quinn) and Charlotte Quinn.

The dialogues are a bit extensive at some places which I feel was a drag but it was the plot that kept me going. There are a few scenes that are really disturbing and violent so I should already warn the readers about them.

Karin Slaughter has maintained the balance of drama, suspense and the revelation so perfectly that it makes me recommend this to every psychological thriller lover!

The Friend- Teresa Driscoll

“The ‘problem’ with having a conscience is you expect other people to have one too, so you analyse and evaluate their behaviour according to your own standards. But true sociopaths have no understanding why we all worry about rules or laws . . . or the lives and feelings of others.”

The Friend- Teresa Driscoll

The Friend by Teresa Driscoll is a “psychological thriller with an emotional twist”, published in 2018. It deals with apprehensive and manipulative characters which make the story a gripping one!

“She thought she could trust ‘The Friend’” was enough for me to pick this book up. I eventually got so hooked to ‘The Friend” that I used to read it in my class (usually during the boring lectures :p).

I liked the epilogue and the way the story advances. I’d say the plot is well thought of. It is the suspense that makes it an absolute page-turner. Since it’s a psychological thriller, the author has focused on every tiny detail. The pace is really slow but it also makes you want to read faster to catch up with what the end is like.

The emotional twist and the climax almost took my breath away because I didn’t really see it coming and it engulfed me all of a sudden with these mixed bag emotions.

However, I feel the narration is heightened unnecessarily in some places. The characters are strong and manipulative, and the climax keeps you hooked till you reach the last page.

The Girl On The Train- Paula Hawkins

“Hollowness: that I understand. I’m starting to believe that there isn’t anything you can do to fix it. That’s what I’ve taken from the therapy sessions: the holes in your life are permanent. You have to grow around them, like tree roots around concrete; you mold yourself through the gaps”

The Girl on the Train- Paula Hawkins

“The girl on the train” is the first thriller by Paula Hawkins, published in January 2015, by Riverhead Books in the US and Doubleday in the UK. It’s a top-notch thriller and an undoubtedly compulsive read.

The girl on the train was adapted into a film by DreamWorks Pictures, released in September 2016, starring Emily Blunt as Rachel Watson, Haley Bennett as Megan, and Justin Theroux as Tom; directed by Tate Taylor.

Recently, in Feb’2021, Bollywood released a film based on the novel “The Girl on the Train” by Paula Hawkins, on Netflix, which received mixed reviews from critics.

It’s thrilling with its situation, plot twists, suspense, and the dark secrets of the characters. Though the other writers of this genre have set the bar already high enough, this is still one of its kind. Once you start reading it, you’d want to binge-read it just to know what really happens ultimately.

You might find that all the characters in some way or other are a bit insane, but this insanity does bring lots of twists in the play. After I finished reading the book at 1 a.m., it kept me up most of the night. The story is wildly unpredictable. Looking out of the window when on a train will never be the same for me again- it will always remind me of this book, and its characters!