Give one of
these titles a try.
The tone of
these books varies, (some are more dark and menacing than others,) but they all
feature female protagonists in suspenseful, psychological thrillers, in which
not everything is as it seems.
The Good Girl – Mary Kubica
When Mia,
the 24 year old black sheep daughter of a prominent Chicago family, is
kidnapped, her kidnapper decides to take her to a location other than the one
chosen by his employers, in order to save her.
Kiss Me First – Lottie Moggach
Leila is so
introverted that the Internet feels like the perfect place to join a community
of people who care what she thinks and believe that she matters, and Red Pill
feels like the perfect site. Aiden, the leader of the site, even recruits her
for a special mission: Leila will learn to impersonate, online, another user of
the site, named Tess, so that Tess can commit suicide without her family or
friends realizing she has done so.
Reconstructing Amelia – Kimberly McCreight
Kate has
always worried that she has put her career ahead of her 15 year old daughter’s
needs too many times. When Amelia’s exclusive private school accuses her of
cheating and suspends her, that self-accusation turns to horror and grief when
Kate arrives at the school to discover Amelia has committed suicide by jumping
off the school’s roof. The school, and the police, believes overachieving
Amelia was simply distraught… until her mother receives a text reading: Amelia
didn’t jump.
Just What Kind of Mother Are You? – Paula Daly
Lisa
Kalisto, an English suburban mother, is plunged into guilt and fear when her
best friend’s daughter disappears, during the time Lucinda was supposed to be
at Lisa’s house for a sleepover, and two weeks after the abduction of another
local teen.
The Fever –
Megan Abbott
When the
teen girls, but not the boys, of her small town in Maine begin showing signs of
an inexplicable epidemic, Deenie is trapped in a situation with eerie parallels
to the events in The Crucible.
Dare Me –
Megan Abbott
Addy has
always been the loyal second-in-command, and Beth the queen, of their high
school cheerleading squad, but when a new coach turns the squad, and their
lives, upside down, Addy discovers how frightening Beth can be.
The End of Everything -- Megan Abbott
As friends,
thirteen year old girls can be inseparable, and will claim they know everything
about each other, but when Lizzie’s friend Evie goes missing, she knows enough
about her friend to follow clues the police ignore, but maybe not as much as
she thought she did… about Evie, or about the neighborhood.
How to be a Good Wife – Emma Chapman
Marta’s son
is grown, and her husband ignores her – except for making sure that she always
takes her medication. She has used a marriage manual, How To Be a Good Wife, given to her by her mother-in-law, as her life’s
guide for two decades, but when Marta stops taking her medication, she
experiences strange flashbacks, personality changes, and memories that may or
may not be real.
Before I Go to Sleep – S.J. Watson
Christine is
in her 40’s, but, due to an accident that created ongoing near-term memory
loss, she wakes up every day believing she is in her 20’s. Her husband and
doctor try to help, but when she re-reads the journal she has been keeping in
an attempt to reconstruct her memories, she realizes she can trust only
herself.
You may not be able to sleep well after reading some of these, but they'll keep you turning pages! (And if you want to place a a hold on The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, click on the title.)
