So, I searched this on the sub before and sure enough, found some posts. From those, I read Sharp Objects, Never Lie(Frieda Mcfadden), and Before she knew him(Peter Swanson)
I loved, LOVED, Sharp Objects.
But the other two…
I didn't really like Never Lie, the "twist" was poorly done; >! the unreliable narrator angle doesn't really work when the narrator's pre-twist thoughts and actions completely contradict the reveal of their true nature. !<
Before she knew him was also meh. >! I mean, it was a decent twist but split personality/dissociative personality disorder has been done to death now.!<
Please suggest some books where I won't see the twist coming, but it'd make sense when it happens.
Thanks!
by PostKnutClarity
5 Comments
more psychological than thriller but My Husband by maud ventura is very delicious in the mindset of this person. The Dinner by Herman Koch is also a slow building twisty ride, though not actiony. I’m assuming you already read Gone Girl? A Novel Obsession is also more anti-heroine psychological but very juicy with some twists in there.
Lexicon by Max Barry isn’t quite in line with the other books you’ve mentioned, but it’s incredibly original, fast paced, and has some really great twists
More in line with what you’ve already read:
Sundial by Catriona Ward (very bleak and emotionally taxing, but it’s a phenomenal book)
Come With Me by Ronald Malfi
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Shutter Island – Dennis Lehane (a psychological puzzle on a mysterious island)
The Woman in the Window – A.J. Finn (Hitchcockian suspense, unreliable narrator)
If you read Sharp Objects I’m assuming you read **Dark Places** and **Gone Girl** as well? Same author and **Gone Girl** is pretty much the gold standard for thriller with a twist.
I think **Woman in the Window** by AJ Finn is really good too. A psychiatrist with agoraphobia and a worsening alcohol problem believes she’s seen a terrible act through the window of her new neighbors. She tries to investigate further but is obviously limited by not being able to leave her house.
Also **The Silent Patient** by Alex Michaels is good. A well-known, beautiful artist murders her husband one night, seemingly with no motive. She then almost immediately goes comatose and hasn’t spoken since. She was found not guilty by reason of insanity and now lives at a longterm psychiatric hospital, presumably the rest of her life. But when a new psychiatrist joins the hospital, he becomes convinced that he can help her process her trauma and reckon with what’s she’s done, in the hopes she can be free if she’s cured.
If you haven’t read The Fury by Alex Michaelides that had a good twist. However I recommend reading his books in order (or at least read The Silent Patient first) because there was a comment in The Fury that spoiled The Silent Patient which I was not thrilled about