Welcome back to Book Break!
This video is all about psychological thrillers.
So that is why I have come to Goldsboro Books to film this video, because they have the
best collection of crime and thriller books that I've ever seen.
Literally this entire room I'm standing in is just full, floor to ceiling, with crime
and thriller books.
Which for a thriller fanatic like me is pretty much heaven.
So when you're looking to buy your next thriller, I cannot recommend enough, Goldsboro Books
is such a good place to shop.
But I'm going to tell you in this video about 11 of the best new psychological thrillers
that you might not have read yet, but that you really should.
So the first book on my list is a super exciting thriller that has just come out.
This is An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen.
So this book is about a makeup artist called Jessica, who one day signs up for this ethics
and morality study being conducted by this very mysterious Dr Shields.
And at first, all she has to do is go to this room and answer questions about her morals
on a computer.
But the questions start to get really personal, and before long, Dr Shields is actually telling
Jessica where to go, what to wear, and who to meet.
And as Jessica reveals more and more about her own past, you start to wonder how she
is ever going to get out of the web of manipulation that she has become trapped in.
Really really good creepy one that will have you constantly questioning yourself, and wondering
what you would do in that situation.
Which for me is just the perfect sign of a great thriller.
Next, I've got a really fun fast-paced one, and this is The Temp by Michelle Frances.
So this is great for fans of the TV show The Replacement.
But it's a really fun, subversive twist on that.
So the premise is similar.
It's about a TV producer called Carrie, who goes on maternity leave, and a temp named
Emma comes in to fill her shoes.
And Carrie is really nervous that people are liking Emma a bit too much, and that Emma
might want to steal her job more permanently.
But, here's where it's a bit different.
It really, right from the beginning, is never about pitting these two women against each
other, which I really really appreciated.
It's much more complex than that.
And there's so many twists and turns that will keep you guessing the whole way through.
This one's definitely a page-turner.
I think I read the whole thing in about 24 hours.
Another one that I've loved recently is The Rumour by Lesley Kara.
So this is quite Big Little Lies-esque, in that it's set in this small town, and it's
all about this rumour spreading that someone in the town is living under witness protection,
after having been imprisoned as a child for murdering another child.
And hysteria starts to spread.
Now our main character Joanna doesn't mean to get involved, and she doesn't want to spread
this rumour, but when she accidentally brings it up at her book club, she ends up being
the catalyst for this rumour just going wild.
And it's really suspenseful, and really makes you think about what you would do in that
situation, whether you would want to talk to people, or whether you should protect the
killer's identity.
And the twist for who the killer is is so good, never saw that coming.
More over on the crime end of things, I've got It Should Have Been Me by Susan Wilkins.
So this is about our main character Jo Boden, who's a police officer.
And back when she was 11, her older sister Sarah was murdered in her first term of university.
And her boyfriend was convicted of the murder, and has been in prison ever since.
But, at the start of this book, a documentary filmmaker is making a film determined to prove
Nathan, the boyfriend's, innocence.
So for fans, like me, of Serial and Making a Murderer, this is great.
Really gets into that, and you don't know whether or not Nathan did commit the murder,
but you kind of follow the documentary as they investigate it.
But also at the same time, it's cut between other stories of Jo and the cases that she's
dealing with at work, in her role as a police officer.
So there is just so much action in this book to keep it really exciting, and to keep you
guessing all the way to the end.
Next, I'm going to recommend the book Outside by Sarah Ann Juckes.
And this is quite reminiscent of Room by Emma Donoghue, which is one of my all-time favourites,
so I definitely recommend that as well.
But they're different enough that you can definitely enjoy them both separately.
So Outside is about a girl called Ele, who has been held captive in this room, by someone
known only as Him, and living with these people known only as the Others.
And that's all I'm going to tell you, because I think this book is one that's really fun
to go into without knowing much else.
But it will break your heart, and surprise you a lot along the way.
Now a super feminist thriller that I read is Dead Girls by Abigail Tarttelin.
So this is about 11-year-old Thera, whose best friend Billie is murdered, and Thera
is determined to get revenge.
So this is an answer to the fact that so many thrillers have women as their victims, and
depict a lot of violence against women.
So this is an answer to that.
This is a book that refuses to frame the girls as victims.
Thera instead wants to fight back.
And along the way, she is being helped in her mission by the spirits of other murdered
girls that she believes she's communicating with in her journey.
We actually have a video on this channel where Abigail Tarttelin came to talk to us about
feminism and crime, so I will link that below if you want to go and watch that as well.
If you like thrillers that revolve around a court case, I recommend No Further Questions
by Gillian McAllister. Now Gillian McAllister is a lawyer, which explains why she is so
good at writing crime.
And she's written a few, and her latest is No Further Questions, which revolves around
these two sisters, Martha and Becky.
And Martha leaves her 8-week-old baby in the care of Becky, and then Becky is arrested
for the murder of the baby.
And these two sisters have always been incredibly close, but suddenly all the evidence is pointing
to Becky as having murdered Martha's baby.
So it's absolutely gripping, will keep you guessing the whole way, but it's also this
really moving story of the relationship between the two sisters.
Now I've got a light hearted one next, because thrillers are a really broad genre, and they
don't have to be all doom and gloom and murder.
So this is The Man Who Didn't Call by Rosie Walsh.
And I love this idea: it's a thriller based on the idea of being ghosted.
So Sarah has this whirlwind romance with Eddie, and they're literally like planning their
future together, until he goes off on holiday and then never calls her again.
And all of her friends are just trying to convince her that she's been ghosted, we've
all been there, it happens.
But she is convinced that something more sinister has happened.
And you get really into her head as she's like stalking Eddie on Facebook, seeing when
he was last online, seeing when he's read her messages.
It's stuff that we've all done, and we can all relate.
And we're trying to convince ourselves that we haven't just been ghosted.
But this time, there actually is something more mysterious going on.
Now another one that's light-hearted, but much more back on the murdery side of things,
is #MurderTrending by Gretchen McNeil.
This is a really fun, tongue in cheek thriller, that's set in the not too distant future,
when there's this prison called Alcatraz 2.0, where everything is live streamed, and millions
of Americans tune in constantly to watch criminals being brutally murdered by executioners with
really cute nicknames, like Molly Mauler, and the Gucci Hangman.
So our main character Dee has been sent to this prison for the murder of her stepsister,
but here's the thing: she's innocent.
And a lot of the other people on the island say that they're innocent too.
And then a couple coming up this year that you can pre-order.
I've got The Neighbour by Fiona Cummins.
Now this one is properly terrifying.
This one had me not able to sleep at night, it's so good.
So it's about a family that move into a new neighbourhood, where there has been a recent
spate of killings, all done by this serial killer that the press are nicknaming The Dollmaker.
And we get the perspectives of lots of the different people living in the neighbourhood,
and find out the secrets hiding behind each of their front doors.
And they're all really creepy, so you end up suspecting each of them at some point,
but the real identity of the killer still comes as a really good surprise.
I really really loved this one, and I really recommend it, but just be prepared to never
feel safe around any of your neighbours ever again.
Small price to pay for a really good book.
And finally, my eleventh book is A Nearly Normal Family by M.T. Edvardsson.
Now this one is the story of what happens to a seemingly normal family after their teenage
daughter is accused of murder.
And it's told in this really unusual three-part structure, divided up into one for each member
of the family.
And each bit reveals a different side to the story, and more information, but also more
about what the members of the family really think of each other, and how far they would
each go to protect the people they love.
And there's just so many twists, this book keeps throwing new information at you, literally
right up until the last page.
So those are the eleven thrillers that I think everyone's going to be talking about this
year.
But do leave me a comment with your favourite thriller that you've read recently.
And also, do come to visit Goldsboro Books. I'll put the link to their website in the
description so you can find them, to come and check out their amazing thriller section.
And of course, do give this video a thumbs up if you liked it, and subscribe to this
channel, because we post new videos every Thursday.
And next week, we're on a mission to pair you with your perfect book.
See you next time!