There’s something about late summer — the sticky heat, the long shadows, the sense that time is running out — that makes it the perfect backdrop for a good thriller. As the season winds down, I’m craving books that keep me up too late, flipping pages a little too fast, and may or may not leave me sleeping with the light on. Before the summer sun sets for good, these are the five twisty, chilling, and unputdownable thrillers I’m determined to devour.
Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson
Jet Mason has seven days to live. After a brutal Halloween attack leaves her with a fatal brain injury, she refuses surgery to buy herself one final week. As her body fails, Jet turns detective — digging into her past, her family, and her enemies. With help from a childhood friend, she sets out to solve her own murder. I’m a huge fan of Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, and this one is looking right up my alley! Small-town secrets, a ticking clock, and a sharp, determined heroine investigating her own death. I’m hooked by the urgency, the emotional stakes, and the promise of twists hiding in plain sight. It’s a dark, clever, one-week-to-solve-it thriller.
Jill Is Not Happy by Kaira Rouda
Jack and Jill seem like the perfect couple — until a road trip to Utah reveals just how far from perfect they really are. He’s planning to file for divorce. She’s hiding something even bigger. What starts as a chance to reconnect spirals into a darkly clever cat-and-mouse game between a wife who won’t let go … and a husband who has no idea what’s coming. I love a domestic thriller with bite, and this one literally promises a wild ride. A road trip, a crumbling marriage, and a wife who’ll do anything to keep her husband? I’m all in. It’s giving darkly funny, twisted, and tense in all the best ways — perfect for late-summer binge reading.
Mean Moms by Emma Rosenblum
Frost, Morgan, and Belle rule Manhattan’s elite mom scene — until Sofia, a glamorous newcomer, disrupts their tight circle. As strange and sinister events unfold, suspicion spreads. Is Sofia just ambitious … or something more dangerous? Mean Moms is a sharp, satirical mystery that asks: what if the mom next to you at pickup was actually a sociopath? I’m obsessed with thrillers that blend suspense and satire, especially when they skewer performative perfection. Mean Moms promises biting social commentary, dark humor, and twisted secrets behind designer handbags and themed school parties. As someone who writes about image, power, and hidden agendas, this one hits all my sweet spots.
She Didn’t See It Coming by Shari Lapena
When a devoted wife and mother vanishes from her luxury condo without a trace, her family’s perfect life begins to unravel. With her phone, keys, and car left behind, it’s as if she disappeared into thin air. As the investigation deepens, secrets surface — and everyone in the building becomes a suspect. I’m drawn to this one for its locked-room mystery vibes and the slow unraveling of a seemingly perfect life. I love thrillers that explore what’s hidden behind closed doors — especially in polished, high-end settings where appearances matter most. Every neighbor’s a suspect, and the tension feels deliciously claustrophobic.
You Belong Here by Megan Miranda
Memories may fade, but secrets don’t — especially in a town like Wyatt Valley. When Beckett Bowery’s daughter enrolls at the college she fled decades ago after a deadly senior-year scandal, Beckett is forced to confront a past that’s far from buried. In this gripping new thriller, old tragedies resurface, and the legacy of betrayal proves hard to outrun. I’m excited to read this one, because I love campus thrillers with long-buried secrets. As an author who writes about the dark side of college life, I’m intrigued by the generational tension, academic setting, and how the past resurfaces just as a new chapter begins for the next generation.
