Books
The summer may be winding down, but there is still plenty of time left to squeeze in a few more days of marathon-reading at the beach. If you are in search for that perfect something, may I suggest one of the many excellent summer thrillers you may have missed this year? With so many new and addictive books hitting the shelves, you can’t be blamed for overlooking a few.
I have always been a big fan of mysteries, crime fiction, and thrillers, but this year, my love has reached a whole new level. I cannot tell you how many nights I have stayed up far past my bedtime reading about missing children, broken marriages, hidden identities, and murder most foul. Summer has always brought with it plenty of compulsively readable books, but when it comes to addictive thrillers, 2018 is really bringing the heat.
There are, of course, the thriller novels that readers have not been able to stop talking about all summer, and the titles that every bookstagrammer seems to be posting photos of, including Providence by Caroline Kepnes, Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton, and The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll. But there are also plenty of other addictive new page-turners that have been flying just below your radar, and I am here to tell you that they too deserve a spot on your summer reading list.
If you’re looking for a few titles to wrap up your seasonal reading, then try one of these eight summer thrillers you may have missed before, but definitely should know about now.
'With You Always' by Rena Olson
In this daring thriller from the author of The Girl Before, a heartbroken young woman finds solace and the chance for a happy ending in the arms of a new man — one who is as handsome and charming as he is grounded and secure. But the more she gets to know him and understand the faith that guides him, and the further she gets involved with the church that increasingly controls her life, the clearer it becomes that she needs to find a way out, before it’s too late. A searing novel of psychological suspense, With You Always is a true page-turner you won’t be able to put down.
'An Unwanted Guest' by Shari Lepena
Nestled in the picturesque Catskill Mountains, Mitchell’s Inn seems like the perfect setting for a relaxing weekend away. Visitors flock there to get away from marital troubles, work troubles, personal trauma, and more. What they find, however, is pure terror when a guest turns up dead and a blizzard cuts off not only the electricity but any ability to make contact with the outside world. Snowed in and suspicious of one another, all the Inn’s occupants can do is hunker down and hope to survive the storm. An utterly chilling tale about a dream vacation turned nightmare, An Unwanted Guest will keep you up at night.
'The Last Time I Lied' by Riley Sager
For most people, summer camp is the source of happy childhood memories, but for Emma Davis, it's the stuff nightmares. Years ago, an innocent game of Two Truths and a Lie ended in the disappearance of her friends. Now, an adult and a successful painter whose work is heavily influenced by her past, Emma returns to Camp Nightingale as an art teacher at the request of its wealthy owner, but she has motives of her own: She wants to find out what really happened all of those years ago. The deeper she digs into the past, though, the clearer it becomes that there is still plenty of danger lurking in the present. Dark, twisty, and suspenseful, The Last Time I Lied is the perfect summer thriller.
'The Banker's Wife' by Cristina Alger
In this layered suspense novel, a mysterious plane crash in the Alps leaves two women searching for answers. Now a widow, Annabel is convinced the accident that claimed her banker husband’s life was no accident at all, and that the truth will be found somewhere in his encrypted laptop and his shady client list. Newly engaged to the wealthy man of her dreams, Marina thought her days of writing about powerful families was over, but following the death of her mentor in the crash, she decides to dig for one more story. What she finds will change everything, in her own life and in Annabel’s. A heart-thumping thriller set in the intriguing world of finance, The Banker’s Wife is one of this-summer’s must reads.
'The Family Tabor' by Cherise Wolas
In this slow-burning thriller, the powerful Tabor family gathers to celebrate its patriarch, Harry, who is about to be named Man of the Decade. But it doesn’t take long for the facade of perfection to begin to show cracks as personal secrets start to seep out over the course of a tense weekend that will change everything. A fascinating story about family, faith, and loyalty, The Family Tabor is not to be missed.
'In the Vines' by Shannon Kirk
A member of one of the wealthiest families in the country, Mary Olivia Pentecost — otherwise known as Mop — is still grieving the loss of her mother. That is why she returns to the seaside estate of her Aunty Liv — to get closure and to find out the truth about her family history. But the more secrets she unearths, the clearer it becomes she might not know her loved ones at all. A tense and atmospheric story of psychological suspense, In the Vines is the definition of marathon-worthy.
'All These Beautiful Strangers' by Elizabeth Klehforth
Ten years after the mysterious disappearance of her mother at their family’s lake house, Charlie is still struggling with the dark legacy of her past, but her new life at the prestigious school she attends — and the “it” crowd she’s find herself in — is a fitting distraction. That is, until Charlie is selected by the school’s secret society to become a member and is thrown into a sinister semester-long scavenger hunt that brings the darkness of her past crashing into the present. A gripping novel brimming with mystery, All These Beautiful Strangers is utterly unputdownable.
'Believe Me' by J.P. Delaney
Desperate for money and a green card, struggling actress Claire lands a role she could have never imagined: playing a decoy for a firm of divorce lawyers who hire her to entrap straying husbands. When the wife of one of her marks turns up dead, everything changes, and Claire finds herself caught up in a dangerous game of murder and manipulation where it isn’t clear who exactly is being fooled by who. A fast-paced and exciting thriller with plenty of unexpected twists, Believe Me will keep you guessing until the very end.
