Top 10 Thriller Books with Big Plot Twists and 5 Stars Reviews

Welcome back to our new book review article, today we are going to cover all things thriller. Thrillers are important to me now because when I started reading as an adult in 2017, thrillers were what I read. You know thrillers are fast-paced and want you to keep turning the page to find out what’s going to happen and the suspense makes you want to put the book down. And so anyone who came back into reading was super productive. And I’d say thrillers are the only thing I’ve read for a good three years. That’s why I am going to discuss about top 10 thriller books with big plot twists.

Did you know, I was not interested in trying any other genre as I was fascinated by thrillers. Now that I have started reading other genres, thrillers will always be close to my heart, as they are what made me fall back in love with reading. Now, let’s dive into the Top 10 thriller books with the greatest plot twists.

Top 10 Thriller Books with Big Plot Twists

So since I’ve read a fair share of thrillers I thought I’d share with you today my top 10 most favorite thrillers I’ve read. That is where they are most abundant. And hopefully, you’ll find some good recommendations if you’re looking for your next thriller.

1. I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

First, we have one of my favorite books that I read last year and that’s “I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid”. This is one of those books that I was saying doesn’t only fit into a thriller. I think it’s also a little bit of horror and suspense. But I’m putting it here because I’m freaking obsessed with this book. “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” follows a female protagonist who’s going on a road trip to see her new boyfriend’s parents. So they just started dating and so she’s going to go meet his parents for the very first time. And while she’s in the car going to meet her new boyfriend’s parents.

We’re inside her head and we can see that she’s starting to have some doubts about what she’s doing and she keeps saying to herself that she’s thinking of ending things. This book is super claustrophobic and makes you feel super uncomfortable.

I started reading this at night time. And I felt so creeped out that I had to put it down and wait until morning to pick it up again. Because right at the beginning the female protagonist is talking about how there’s this man outside her window looking in at her every night. And I was like yeah no, I cannot be reading this right now.

After I finished reading this book, I just set it down and stared at the wall for like five solid minutes. I’m not exaggerating, this book is so well done. You do not want to set it down well unless you get freaked out. But it makes you want to keep turning the pages to find out what the hell is going on.

Now maybe this isn’t the most well-written piece of literature that exists. But it is so good. And that’s what you go to a thriller for to keep turning the pages to find out what’s gonna happen next. I cannot recommend this book more I love “I’m Thinking of Ending Things”.

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2. The Push by Ashley Audrain

Next is another book that kind of bends genres. This was sold as a thriller but even when I finished it I kind of said to myself I don’t think that this should be marketed as a thriller, I think it’s more suspense. But despite that, I’m putting it on this list because I freaking love this book.

But just keep in mind that it’s more suspense than thriller but it’s very very good. And that’s “The Push by Ashley Audrain”. So the push follows Blythe who is a new mom to her daughter Violet. She’s so excited to be a new mom and her husband, Fox is just the most dedicated father.

But as Violet starts to grow up blight starts to think that something’s a little bit wrong with Violet, that she’s not having this mother-daughter connection that she was expecting to have. And when she talks to her husband Fox about it. He’s like oh no no no like it’s all in your head like she loves you so much and she’s just a normal little girl what are you talking about?

But blight continues to have these doubts about it. Something’s just not right with Violet but then Blyth and Fox go on to have a second child Sam, and Sam is exactly what Blyth was expecting to have with Violet.

Sam is super loving and cuddly and just obsessed with his mom. Whereas Violet was never like that. And this jumps back and forth in time between different timelines which is really interesting and well done.

But something happens in the present timeline that just changes everything. And I’m not going to say too much more than that but this book had me up until like 4 am. I could not put it down I had to find out what happened. Again this is one of the best books that I read last year could not recommend the Push more.

3. The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

Next is the book that I read a good few years ago and I still think about it and that’s “The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson”. I think I’m due for a reread because I just found out yesterday that Peter Swanson announced that there’s going to be a sequel to this book. And I’m so excited so I’m going to be rereading this soon.

This book opens with Ted at the airport going on a business trip. And Ted finds himself drinking at the airport bar where he meets the stranger Lily. So they’re getting pretty drunk talking about secrets and getting to know each other.

When Ted then tells Lily that his wife Miranda has cheated on him. He’s upset about it obviously and he even goes so far as to tell Lily that he could kill Miranda for what she’s done. And you know maybe it was hyperbole he gets so mad he just says offhand oh I could kill her for what she’s done to me. But then Lily’s response is I can help so just like that the two decide that they’re going to murder Ted’s wife.

So the book follows them planning how they’re going to kill Miranda. But I think the strongest point of this book is learning more about Lily. This random woman said she was going to help a stranger murder his wife, like why would she commit to that when she doesn’t even know this guy or their relationship or anything why would a stranger do this?

So it’s super interesting to learn about Lily’s past. And what would motivate her to do such a thing? Would recommend I still think about this book today I can’t wait to reread it.

4. Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

Next, we have “Lock Every Door by Riley Sager”. This book follows Jules who is a young woman who’s kind of down on her luck she lives in New York City. And one day she gets this really interesting job opportunity. There’s this luxurious apartment building in New York City, that hires apartment sitters when a tenant moves out and nobody is living there and they’re waiting for the next person to move in.

They don’t want any of the units sitting empty so they hire these apartment sitters to just take care of the space until the next person moves in. Now that’s interesting for Jules because like I said she’s kind of down on her luck. And so this will give her someplace really nice to live in the meantime.

So Jules has offered the position however she has to accept some really kind of bizarre rules. So one rule is that she can’t have any visitors over to the apartment. The other is that she has to spend every night in the apartment she can’t sleep somewhere else.

But she can’t pass up this opportunity to live in this beautiful apartment building and she accepts. While she’s living at this apartment building it’s called the Bartholomew. She meets a couple of other apartment sitters. And she gets to be kind of close friends with this other apartment sitter named Ingrid.

But then one day Ingrid completely falls off the map. She disappears she’s not returning any of Jules’s phone calls she does not enter the door when Jules goes to knock on the door. And the apartment manager said that she just moved out. But Jules feels like something’s just not right. And she doesn’t believe all the stories that she’s being told about Ingrid.

So she goes to investigate herself this is another book that’s just gonna make you keep turning the pages to find out what happens next.

There are so many twists and turns and there are multiple twists which are so good. And you will not be able to guess what the twists are I guarantee it. I love it because personally in thrillers I hate when I can guess the twist like I want the author to be smarter than me. And do a twist that shocks me, so I love to Lock Every Door twists are amazing, you will not guess what they are and you’ll appreciate the twist.

5. Pretty Girls: Thriller Novel by Karin Slaughter

Next, we have a book that I just read a couple of weeks ago, and that’s Pretty Girls by Karen Slaughter. This is a very serious thriller. This is one of the most graphic thrillers that I’ve ever read. So proceed with caution. If you’re beginning with thrillers I would not begin with this one, because it’s pretty intense.

So this book has two stories going on at the same time because, on the one hand, there’s this storyline of Claire and her sister Lydia who when they were younger their sister Julia went missing. And so they’re still grieving from this they never got any closure about what happened to her. And the event separated them and they hadn’t talked in a long time.

The other storyline follows Claire who at the very beginning of the book and her husband Paul get mugged in this alleyway and through the struggle Paul ends up getting murdered. So in this other storyline, we have Claire who’s grieving for her husband. 

Now you’ll remember that I said that this is one of the most graphic thrillers that I’ve ever read. And from what I just told you you might be wondering well how could that be graphic? Pick up the book and you’ll find out.

This was so good it’s quite long for a thriller. But it’s so good the twists and the turns and the storylines and everything oh my gosh. It’s so good would recommend it if you’re an experienced thriller reader. Again I would not start with this book if you’re just starting with thrillers.

6. The Good Girl by Mary Kubica

The next book that started it all and got me back into reading as an adult and that’s The Good Girl by Mary Kubica. So I had gone years I mean years without reading. Then in January 2017, I picked up the good girl, and the rest is history. I think that says how good this book is. Now I would like to reread this because obviously, I’ve read so much since I’ve read this that maybe my opinion would change. But this book holds such a special place in my heart because it turned me into the reader that I am today.

So this book follows Colin who’s been hired to kidnap Mia who’s a wealthy well-off young woman. And once he’s kidnapped Mia he’s been instructed to take her to his boss. So Colin spends the beginning of this book kind of staking out Mia following her seeing when is going to be the best time to kidnap her. And then he decides that he’s just going to have this chance encounter with her at a bar.

So the two meet at the bar and Mia thinks that she’s going home with Colin to have this one-night stand. But in reality, of course, Colin is going to kidnap her. Now Colin is in the process of kidnapping Mia and taking her to his boss. He has this complete change of heart he decides that he’s not going to take Mia to his boss. But take her to a cabin in the woods and keep her for himself.

And so things go from there. I’m excited to reread this book because like I said it’s been so long. And I’ve read so many thrillers since then. But obviously, I had to have this on the list because it made me the reader that I am today.

7. The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

Next is The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena. So this book follows the couple Ann and Marco and one night they decide that they’re going to go to a dinner party at their neighbor’s house. And they have a newborn baby named Cora.

But they have kind of a hard time finding somebody to take care of Cora while they go to the dinner party next door. So they decide you know what we’re just gonna be next door Cora is going to be sleeping, let’s just leave her in the crib. And we can go to our dinner party we’ll come back and check on her, she’s going to be fine, not a big deal.

But then of course it’s a thriller something happens to the baby and through the process of trying to figure out what happened. Marco and Ann find out things about each other that they never knew before. So this is a domestic thriller that I would recommend. 

8. Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

So the next book is another domestic thriller and that’s Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris. So this book is about the couple Grace and Jack. They appear to be the perfect couple. Their house is immaculate, they throw the most beautiful dinner parties.

Grace makes the most delicious food they have other couples come over for dinner parties all the time. And the wives of those couples are envious of what grace has. But as they get to know the couple more they start to realize a few weird things about Grace. Like she throws these extravagant dinner parties with all this delicious food. But she never gains any weight ever.

The other women and the other couples are questioning how she eats so much why she never puts on weight like her body is perfect and how she eats like that all the time. And so you know that just goes to feed into their jealousy of grace. And when she leaves the house, she never takes anything with her she doesn’t take a purse with her or anything.

So the other couples that go to their dinner party start to question these little things like are we overthinking this? Like okay yeah she can leave the house with nothing but is there something there like what’s going on?

So anyway this is a really good domestic thriller if you like those. And this is another one that’s kind of intense not as intense as pretty girls but it’s still pretty intense. So a fair warning on that one.

9. The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney

Next, we have The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney. This book follows two different women in two timelines. So we have Jane in the present and Emma in the past. And both of these women have lived in the same apartment one full gauge street.

And so Jane who we’re following in the current timeline just suffered a miscarriage. So she’s really upset grieving this loss and she wants to start over in this apartment that she found at one Full Gate Street. She’s interested in it’s like an architectural masterpiece that it’s famous. And when she goes to apply to live there the owner tells her that there are like 200 stipulations that she has to agree to.

So for example she’s not allowed to have books in the apartment. And she can’t have throw pillows, no blankets, and all these rules. Because he says it would ruin the architectural-like beauty of this apartment. And so obviously Jane thinks that this is weird but she agrees to it. Because she’s ready for this fresh start. Because she thinks that this apartment is going to transform her and give her a new lease on life.

Through some unexpected circumstances, Jane finds out about this woman who lived at one Full Gate Street before her. Whose name was Emma. So we jump back and forth in time between Jane and Emma and find out all the different reasons that Emma moved into this apartment. So Jane starts to learn more and more about Emma and her life at one full gauge street and she kind of starts the question is she safe at one full gauge stream?

This book makes you feel claustrophobic as you read it which is a plus when you’re reading a thriller. I would recommend this one.

10. You Series by Caroline Kepnes

Next is one that you’ve probably heard about. Because it was adapted into a Netflix series and just totally blew up everybody’s obsessed with the series. And That’s You by Caroline Kepnes. 

Now not to brag but I read this in 2017 way before the Netflix adaptation. But seriously I kind of can’t believe that I read this in 2017 way before the Netflix adaptation. Because I was reading so little at that time I read something that ended up being turned into an adaptation. I don’t know it just kind of blows my mind that that even happened. But I freaking love this book if by chance somehow you’ve never seen the Netflix adaptation would recommend reading the book first.

But if you don’t know what this is about this book follows Joe, who becomes obsessed with this woman named Beck. The way that he even found out about Beck is that he works at this bookstore. And one day she came in and bought this book and they had this smart witty banter together about the books.

And from there, Joe is obsessed with her. He does everything to find out as much as possible about Beck. And he’s stalking her friends and is completely obsessed with her. He even goes so far as to orchestrate things happening in Beck’s life, like she thinks it’s just like life happening it’s an accident or this just happens in life.

But in reality, Joe planned for it to happen and it just takes a lot of dark turns. And it’s captivating it makes you want to keep turning the pages to find out what Joe is going to do next.

Few Word on Hidden Bodies

So like I said I Loved You Series by Caroline Kepnes. I even went on to read the sequel Hidden Bodies. Now I know that this is a recommendations video. But I just want to say that I do not recommend Hidden Bodies this book is horrible really bad don’t bother.

And even though I did not like Hidden Bodies. I still did not give up on Caroline Kepnes that she could give me another Joe Goldberg book that I would love. And I bought You Love Me Again and would not recommend this was not good.

So if you read it and you love it just take my advice and don’t bother moving on to Hidden Bodies appreciate this book for what it is and love this book.

So those are the 10 best thrillers that I’ve ever read. But I did want to add one more little bonus book.

11. (Bonus) The Collector by John Fowles

Maybe you’ve already read You by Caroline Kepnes and you loved it and you want something similar. And since I told you not to move on to Hidden Bodies, maybe you’re looking for something else. I would recommend The Collector by John Fowles.

This book was published in 1963. So it’s kind of like a modern classic. And after reading it I think it’s like the prototype for you. This follows Frederick who’s a butterfly collector. He kills butterflies and like pins them to keep them and collect them.

And one day he becomes obsessed with a young woman named Miranda. Much like Joe becomes obsessed with Beck. And he decides that he wants to collect Miranda like he collects butterflies.

So if you enjoyed You by Caroline Kepnes and you want something similar would recommend the collector. Or if you love thrillers and you would like to get into reading classics I would recommend moving to this first. This is a great entry into classics and I think you would love it if you love thriller books. So this would be a good entryway into reading classics.

Conclusion

So those were the top 10 thriller books with big plot twists that I’ve ever read plus a little bonus book I hope you found some recommendations and maybe found the next thriller that you’re going to read. If you’ve already read some of these let me know down below in the comments what you think of them what was your star rating did you love them as much as I did?