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The Best Psychological Thriller Books and Novels

If there’s one thing thriller lovers know, it’s that danger is lurking around every corner—or at least at the end of every chapter. If you adore twisty thrillers that let you take a peek behind closed doors, we have endless recommendations for you.

Perhaps you enjoy domestic thrillers that prove white picket fences can hide horrendous crimes, or modern thrillers that will make you rethink social media. You can even work your way through the masters of the genre, from Joyce Carol Oates to Jack Higgins.

From psychological thrillers to books with jaw-dropping plot twists, there's nothing like a novel designed to send chills down your spine. Discover books from classic authors like Patricia Highsmith to modern writers like Lucy Foley and Liane Moriarty. And whatever you do, remember that not everything is as it seems.

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Silence
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The People Next Door
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I Know Where She Is
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by S. B. Caves
In the Lake of the Woods
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by Tim O'Brien
Every Little Breath
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Be Afraid
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by Umberto Eco
Sweet Baby
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by Sharon Sala
Come Closer
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by Sara Gran
The Two Faces of January
The Two Faces of January
by Patricia Highsmith
The Tenth Commandment
The Tenth Commandment
by Lawrence Sanders
Death in the Castle
Death in the Castle
by Pearl S. Buck
Song of Kali
Song of Kali
by Dan Simmons
The Death of Sweet Mister
The Death of Sweet Mister
by Daniel Woodrell, Dennis Lehane
All the Beautiful Sinners
All the Beautiful Sinners
by Stephen Graham Jones
Comes the Dark Stranger
Comes the Dark Stranger
by Jack Higgins
The Tremor of Forgery
The Tremor of Forgery
by Patricia Highsmith, Francine Prose
Usher's Passing
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by Robert McCammon
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Almost
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by Elizabeth Benedict
Melmoth
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by Sarah Perry
A Simple Lie
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by Mary Bush
The Perfect Stranger
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by Wendy Corsi Staub
Just What Kind of Mother Are You?
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by Paula Daly
Shadow of the Lions
Shadow of the Lions
by Christopher Swann
Make No Bones
Make No Bones
by Aaron Elkins
Angels Weep
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by CJ Lyons
Mine
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by Robert McCammon
An Awfully Big Adventure
An Awfully Big Adventure
by Beryl Bainbridge
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
by Mitch Douglas, Henry Farrell
The Optician's Wife
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by Betsy Reavley
Three Novels
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by Katherine Neville
A Perfect Wife and Mother
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by Peter Israel
The Retribution
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As Long as We Both Shall Live
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What the Dead Know
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by Laura Lippman
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by Joyce Carol Oates
A Station on the Path to Somewhere Better
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by Benjamin Wood
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Some say that Agatha Christie invented the psychological thriller with And Then There Were None while others credit James Fenimore Cooper’s The Spy from 1821 with being the earliest example of the genre. Some contemporary writers that have furthered the genre are Dennis Lehane with Shutter Island, Colleen Hoover’s Verity, and a spread of books by Frieda McFadden. 

A thriller in itself is typically an action-packed story emphasizing tension, anxiety, and fear. A psychological thriller is simply a thriller that is more focused on the inner life and thoughts of the protagonist.