I’ll be honest; I hated reading up until my sophomore year of high school. My sophomore year was right before The Fault in Our Stars hit theatres and all of my friends were reading the book. I felt super left out so I decided to just read it as well to keep up in conversations. It took me four days to read the entire thing, and I actually really enjoyed myself. I thought to myself, ‘Why stop?’ So then I started reading books like crazy. I dabbled in all types of genres, romance, historical, thrillers, sci-fi/magical, everything. I would ask for suggestions for new books from people and they always replied with, “What genre do you like?” I never had a solid answer until this summer. A few months ago I found my favorite genre: domestic thrillers. Essentially, this is the type of book where the woman has a perfect life, perfect husband, until tragedy strikes. Though obviously, this seems dark and I don’t wish any of those things to happen to anyone or myself, they do make a good read. So forgive me the list is a little short, but here are my top favorite domestic thrillers; perfect for a chilly fall day in preparation for Halloween.
1. Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn
Gillian Flynn is awesome; her books are suspenseful and utterly entertaining. Gone Girl tells the story of Nick and Amy Dunne. Amy lives in the shadows of her parent’s ideal version of herself. Authors of the Amazing Amy book series, Amy’s parents always wrote about what happened in Amy’s life but changing the details just enough to make her life perfect. When Amy didn’t make the team, Amazing Amy did. When Amy got a D on her test, Amazing Amy got an A. The whole country vicariously lives in this fake world of Amazing Amy’s perfect life. Imagine the mystery and worry stricken to the country and to Nick when he returns home to see that their home has been broken into and Amy is nowhere to be found. The police and press assume Nick is to blame but to prove his innocence, Amy must be found.
2. The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins
The Girl on the Train gives us a glimpse into Rachel Watson’s broken life. Every day, her train stops right by her old house, the house that she and Tom shared together. Tom and Rachel got divorced a few years back, but Tom still lives in the house with his new wife, Anna, and their little baby daughter. Much nicer than looking at that house, Rachel always watches a few houses down to the house of Jess and Jason. Jess and Jason moved in after Rachel moved out, and she’s never actually met them; those are just her own made up names for them. Every morning, Jess sits on her terrace drinking her coffee, and Jason will come out to kiss her and refill her coffee. Rachel can just see how in love they are, and how they are everything that Rachel wishes to still have with Tom. One day on her train, watching Jess, she sees something…something wrong, something that can’t be true. The next day, Rachel learns that Megan Hipwell, aka Jess, is missing. Should Rachel go to the police? Are Jess and Jason not who Rachel thinks they are? What else does Rachel not know, and is she ready to find out?
3. Sharp Objects, by Gillian Flynn
The lady lead does not go missing in this one. Rather, Camille Preaker is forced to find some shocking discoveries. Having finally left Wind Gap, the place that did her so much damage growing up, Camille is now a journalist living in Chicago. When the second murder of a little girl in Wind Gap occurs, her editor sends Camille back home to get the story. Staying with her mother, stepfather, and half-sister who is about ten years younger than her, Camille is forced to relive some childhood traumas and make insights about her childhood as well as what happened to the little girls.
4. Watch Me Disappear, by Janelle Brown
It’s been almost a year since Billie Flanagan’s death during a hiking accident. A rebel and wild child, she seems to have teamed her craziness when she married Jonathon Flanagan and had their daughter, Olive. With the anniversary of her death approaching, Jonathon and 15-year-old Olive are having a rough time, but then Olive starts having visions of her mother, alive, and trying to ask Olive to find her. Could they be true? Is Billie not dead after all? Jonathon thinks Olive is just having a difficult time coping until he finds some rather disturbing evidence supporting Olive’s claim. If Billie is alive, she’s either in danger or doesn’t want to be found at all.
All of these books were fast reads for me because they keep you on the edge of your seat. I just started another domestic thriller, The Couple Next Door, by Shari Lapena; a new author for me but I have high hopes. Hopefully, we have more chilly days to stay inside with a thrilling book and a warm cup of coffee, happy reading!