19 Haunting Thriller Books Like Patient Zero

Struggling writer Lowen Ashleigh receives the chance of a lifetime when Jeremy Crawford hires her to complete the bestselling book series written by his wife, Verity. Just months after their daughters’ deaths, Verity was left in a catatonic state after a car accident. Going through Verity’s study, Lowen stumbles upon an unpublished autobiography full of erotic obsessions and dark confessions. Now Lowen can’t stop thinking about how Verity’s sexy husband deserves better, debating whether to show him Verity’s writings.

Colleen Hoover expertly blends erotic romance with a dark thriller. Switching between Lowen’s perspective and Verity’s manuscript added plenty of suspense and stunning revelations to keep you turning pages. Personally, it wasn’t really the book for me. The book got uncomfortably dark for me, and, holy hell, there was a lot of sex! However, the memorable narrative and the dark corners of Hoover’s mind will make this one pretty hard to forget, and I can understand why it’s a favorite.

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Publication Date: 7 December 2018
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Coveting the life of elite socialite Daphne and her husband Jackson, Amber Patterson sets out on a mission to insinuate herself into the Parrish family. Quickly she becomes Daphne’s most trusted confidante and companion, and Amber is determined to take the life she knows should be hers. Until she learns that the Parrishes have a secret of their own.

Being a Reese book club pick with lots of great reviews, I had high hopes for The Last Mrs. Parrish. Although the book was an easy read, the plot was too predictable, never diverging from its overused trope. I also couldn’t get over the fact that Amber was so one-dimensional; she was extremely focused and conniving, but her goals were so superficial and she didn’t seem to mind the glaring holes in her schemes. All in all, The Last Mrs. Parrish was an okay read for when you want to escape into a psychological thriller.

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Publication Date: 17 October 2017
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Just days away from her wedding to her charmingly attentive rich fiancé, Nellie feels like someone might be following her. Meanwhile, his ex-wife Vanessa is obsessed with her replacement and desperate to stop the wedding. You might think you know how this domestic thriller will end, but appearances can be deceiving. In their first collab, Hendricks and Pekkanen have plenty of tricks up their sleeve, keeping the plot twisting and you second-guessing how it’s all going to end. A roller coaster ride of fun if you love thriller books.

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Publication Date: 2 January 2018
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Working as a lady’s maid in Monte Carlo, the unnamed narrator is swept off her feet by the handsome widower Maxim de Winter. After a rushed courtship and impulsive marriage, she returns as his wife to his beautiful estate, Manderley. Yet, she quickly learns she is not the true mistress of the estate, as the household will not let her forget the memory of Rebecca, de Winter’s first wife who drowned the year before. Rebecca is a hauntingly beautiful epic gothic classic that everyone should read.

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Publication Date: 1938
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After winning a trip to a remote Scotland getaway for the weekend, Adam and Amelia try one last-ditch effort to save their marriage. Amelia is tired of Adam putting his work as a screenwriter before her and Adam is just tired of Amelia. As things start to unravel and their past is revealed through secret anniversary letters Adam has never read, you find that someone is lying and someone doesn’t want them to end happily ever after. While I was reading, I wavered between enjoying the mystery and being annoyed by it. Overall the book was good, if a bit unbelievable, but the twist is so artfully executed that it elevates the entire novel up a notch.

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Publication Date: 7 September 2021
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Dogwalker and petty thief Jane sees her next mark in Eddie, the mysterious man in the neighborhood. As they fall in love, Jane is haunted by the story of his deceased wife, Bea, the wealthy owner of an interior design company who drowned in a boating accident with her best friend. This modern retelling of Jane Eyre fell flat for me. The first half of the story felt like a romance, and once the mystery kicks in, it never really gripped me as I had hoped.

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Publication Date: 5 January 2021
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After ten years in prison, Millie can’t be picky about the jobs she takes so she feels extremely grateful to land a position as a housemaid to the Winchesters. At first, Nina Winchester seems grateful to have Millie clean up her disastrously messy house. Quickly, Nina’s erratic mood changes have Millie on edge. Worse is watching Nina’s perfect (and sexy) husband forced to live with such a wife, which has Millie imagining what it would be like to be in Nina’s place.

When The Housemaid’s Secret won a Goodreads Award in 2023, I realized I had somehow missed the train on McFadden’s series. Let’s be honest, The Housemaid is not particularly clever, deep, or original. The writing, in particular, left much to be desired. Yet Millie’s darkly humorous personality made for a quick fun read. I could have done without the “pining over the married employer” vibe, but the ending took an unexpectedly dark turn that makes it stand out.

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Publication Date: 26 April 2022
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On a remote island off the coast of Ireland, the perfect wedding turns deadly in this thrilling mystery. The high profile wedding between a television star and a magazine publisher is supposed to be the perfect event. Yet once the guests arrive, past conflicts come into play and someone turns up dead. Was it the bride? The best man? The wedding planner? Foley keeps you guessing until the end, giving each suspect a firm motive to want to commit murder. If you are looking for something gripping to distract you, The Guest List was the perfect page-turner to read.

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Publication Date: 2 June 2020
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Emily has found the perfect man in Adam and is ready to tie the knot. Yet one thing stands in the way of their union – Adam’s mother. Pammie is determined to be the only woman in her son’s life, and you’ll be shocked to discover how far she is willing to go to eliminate the competition.

This psychological thriller, a Reese Witherspoon book club pick in 2018, didn’t live up to my expectations. As a narrator, Emily drove me crazy with her desperation and willingness to overlook all the huge red flags flying everywhere. The concluding twist was excellent, but the lead-up was entirely mediocre.

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Publication Date: 21 August 2018
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Jack and Grace seem to be the perfect couple. He’s a high-powered attorney who defends abused women and she’s the perfect housewife. Yet looks can be deceiving, Grace is a prisoner in her own house, forced to act as Jack sees fit. As the day nears for Grace’s sister with Down Syndrome to move in with them, Grace must find a way to negate Jack’s leverage and escape.

Although I spent the whole novel wanting to yell at Grace to just act, Paris does an excellent job making this implausible scenario feel plausible. Compulsively readable, Behind Closed Doors is the perfect psychological thriller if you want fast-paced action you can’t put it down. 

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Publication Date: 11 February 2016
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In an idyllic college town, a beloved high school teacher goes missing. It’s the third unexplained disappearance in three years and police are scrambling to figure out where he went. The whole town is in an uproar about his disappearance … everyone except his wife. She knows he’s dead because she killed him. She just doesn’t know where the body went. This twisted domestic thriller is a quick and extra-creepy read featuring a tough-as-nails heroine who you can’t help root for and a premise that hooks you from the start.

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Publication Date: 29 December 2020
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Gone Girl took the book world by storm with its look at a marriage gone terribly wrong. On her fifth wedding anniversary, Amy Dunne mysteriously disappears. At the top of the suspect list – her seemingly perfect husband Nick. Both husband and wife aren’t who they seem to be, so expect plenty of twists and turns (and lots of language) in this hit thriller. You might not end up loving the story or the characters, but I promise you, you’ll find them memorable enough to land it among the best thriller books of all time.

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Publication Date: 24 May 2012
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Taking the same train to work every day, Rachel is fascinated by a woman who lives along her route. Every day, Rachel gets a glimpse into this woman’s “perfect” life. Until one day, when Rachel witnesses something shocking. Unreliable narrators like Rachel make for the best page-turners because you can never figure out what is true and what is not. Love it or hate it, The Girl on the Train is one of the most talked-about psychological thriller books of recent years.

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Publication Date: 6 January 2015
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After her husband’s tragic death, Nina Swann was not looking for love again when she met his old friend Nick Radcliffe. Suddenly she is swept away by the perfect man but her adult daughter Ash feels like there is something dodgy about Nick. Meanwhile, Martha is a florist whose charming husband Alistair has started disappearing for days. As Martha, Nina, and Ash are set on a collision course, they learn the truth that a perfect man can be a perfect liar in this dark twisted thriller.

I was completely hooked to Lisa Jewell’s thriller which reminds me of the dark and twisted nature of The Family Upstairs though much slower paced. The constant looming dread as the women continue to fall for this man’s charms kept me gripped to the pages wondering when they will figure out his lies. I was also fascinated at the look inside our con man’s mind as he justifies his actions to himself. Sadly, the consistent tension petered out at the end instead of building to a big finish but I still think Don’t Let Him In is a great summer thriller.

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Publication Date: 24 June 2025
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In August 1975, Barbara Van Laar is discovered missing from her summer camp bed. A tragedy for any child, but Barbara is the daughter of the wealthy owner of the camp and the nearby estate. Fourteen years ago, Barbara’s older brother also went missing without a trace. Tying together the wealthy Van Laar family with the working class community that supports the camp and estate, The God of the Woods is a multi-layered drama about secrets that refuse to be forgotten.

I’d been hearing great things about The God of the Woods since it and I immediately snagged a copy after release. Which proceeded to sit on my shelf for months, intimidated by its large size (almost 500 pages). I’m so glad I finally picked it up because I was completely engrossed staying up way too late to finish it. Moore does the slow build of suspense perfectly, gradually unwinding the past and present in an atmospheric story with rich characters. And, yes, God of the Woods is the audiobook Taylor Swift is to in her Eras Tour documentary.

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Publication Date: 2 July 2024
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Orphaned as a child, Jane Eyre has always felt like an outcast. She gladly accepts a position as a governess at Thornfield Hall, caring for Adele, the young ward of the brooding Mr. Rochester. Soon Jane has fallen in love with Rochester’s troubled but kind soul, but a lurking secret at Thornfield Hall threatens to leave her heartbroken. Jane Eyre is a gorgeous classic that combines the romantic time period of Jane Austen with a clever mystery way ahead of its time.

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Publication Date: 16 October 1847
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During a big summer party in 1933, a baby boy from a wealthy family disappears from the country estate. Now, seventy years later, a police detective starts to uncover the truth of what happened at the lake house. A gorgeous mystery written with Morton’s characteristic flare, The Lake House is one of my favorite historical mystery books.

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Publication Date: 2015
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Rowan Caine is ecstatic to receive a high paying live-in nanny position at a remote, but high tech, Scotland estate. However, she never expected to end up in prison for the murder of one of the children. Written in the form of a letter to her lawyer, The Turn of the Key slowly unravels what happened to Rowan – her secrets as well as those of the family who employs her, of the handsome gardener she feels drawn to, and even of the house itself.

If you like being enveloped in a creepy atmosphere, The Turn of the Key certainly delivers. While the plot might not be the best developed you’ve ever read, I found this book to be a fun read perfect for the last days of summer, or to cuddle up with this fall. The story will scare you just enough to keep you engaged without making you too terrified to sleep at night. The ending felt a bit rushed, and I doubt it will be as well regarded as her other books. Yet, I enjoyed it while I read it, and would not be surprised to see it turned into a movie someday.

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Publication Date: 6 August 2019
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In 1929, a teenage Lenora Hope was accused, but never convicted, of killing her parents and her sister. For decades, ever since polio left her unable to speak or move anything but her left hand, Lenora has remained in her family’s Maine estate. In 1983, after a six-month suspension after a patient’s death, Kit McDeere has no choice but to accept an assignment as Lenora’s home health aide. When Lenora begins to type out her story to Kit, Kit suspects that the old lady might not be as harmless as she appears.

Riley Sager’s thrillers are usually a summer staple for me, but The Only One Left was a struggle to read. The plot is mind-numbingly slow. Admittedly, it’s hard to introduce drama when your prime suspect is a paralyzed old lady who can’t talk. The first half of the book spends most of the time in Kit’s head, looping on the same anxious thoughts. The book finally picks up near the end, adding in some unexpected twists, but it took way too much forced reading to get to that point.

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Publication Date: 20 June 2023
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