14 Thrilling Books Like Gone Girl

Entertainment Weekly called Alex Michaelides’ The Silent Patient “a mix of Hitchcockian suspense, Agatha Christie plotting, and Greek tragedy,” making it the perfect read for fans of Flynn’s work. Like Gone Girl, The Silent Patient delivers an intricately plotted psychological thriller packed with twists and turns. The novel centers on Alicia Berenson, a famous artist who lives a life of luxury in London. She seems to have it all—so why has she viciously shot her husband to death? Now locked away in a secure forensic facility, Berenson refuses to speak a word to anyone. But criminal psychotherapist Theo Faber is determined to break through to Alicia and unravel the mystery surrounding her night of violence, even if his search threatens to consume him. Once you’ve finished The Silent Patient, be sure to check out Michaelides’ latest psychological thriller, The Maidens.

Like Gillian Flynn, bestselling author Jean Hanff Korelitz excels at plumbing the psychological depths of her flawed and desperate characters. Case in point? The Plot — Hanff Korelitz’s propulsive novel about ambition, deceit, narcissism, and fame. The book centers on Jacob Finch Bonner, a once-promising novelist who now teaches in a third-rate MFA program. When an arrogant writing student struts into Bonner’s office and describes his idea for a novel, Bonner knows it’s a surefire bestseller. But when Bonner later learns of his student’s death, he decides to steal the student’s plot and claim it as his own. Sure enough, Bonner’s newest work of fiction revives his literary career. He’s living the life he always dreamed of — except someone out there knows his secret and is threatening to expose him. As Bonner scrambles to cover his tracks, he also begins to piece together the mystery of his student’s demise and where the killer story came from in the first place.

If you can’t get enough of complicated, prickly female protagonists like Amy Dunne, you’ll love Anna Williams-Bonner, the central character in Jean Hanff Korelitz’s follow-up to her dark and satirical literary thriller The Plot. A secondary character in the first book, Anna moves front and center in The Sequel, a spot she would claim she rightfully deserves. Second fiddle no more, Anna decides to embark on a literary career of her own after witnessing her husband Jacob’s complicated success. Acclaim isn’t without risk, however. Anna starts receiving excerpts of a novel that shouldn’t exist — and that threatens everything she’s worked so hard to create. Will she turn out to be the master of her own story, or will the secrets of the past finally catch up to her?  

Much like Gone Girl, Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train was adapted into a blockbuster Hollywood film. And just like Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train is an electrifying psychological thriller that’s impossible to put down. The novel introduces you to Rachel, a 33-year-old woman struggling to keep herself together after the calamitous end of her marriage. Rachel takes the same commuter train into London every day. From her passenger window, she often sees the same seemingly happy couple breakfasting on their deck — until one day, she witnesses a startling act. Unable to shake what she saw, Rachel begins asking questions. But her efforts only entangle her in a growing police investigation and pull her deeper into a domestic mystery of double identities and shocking infidelities.

Lucy Foley’s The Guest List delivers a delicious whodunit that Gone Girl fans are sure to love. The New York Times bestselling mystery invites you to a dark, foreboding island off the coast of Ireland, where a rising television star is set to marry a hotshot magazine publisher. Amidst the glitz and glamor, wedding dramas unfold: embarrassing toasts, dance-floor quarrels, a ruined bridesmaid dress. Then a body turns up, and everyone at the party is a suspect. Forget the bride and groom’s wedding vows. Now the question is: Who had it out for the couple and why?

Ruth Ware’s novels always make for a gripping read, and The Woman in Cabin 10 is no exception. The instant New York Times bestseller follows Lo Blacklock, a travel journalist assigned to cover an exclusive luxury cruise. It seems like the assignment of a lifetime. But Blacklock’s enthusiasm sinks when she witnesses a woman being thrown overboard. The journalist races to alert the ship’s crew. There’s just one problem: It seems all the passengers are accounted for. Did Blacklock really see what she thought she saw? And if so, how will she convince anyone to believe her?

A lot of psychological thrillers have a “next door” hook, but don’t let that stop you from picking up this provocative gem by Shari Lapena. In The Couple Next Door, Anne and Marco Conti appear to live the perfect life, but the facade crumbles when they attend an evening dinner party and a terrible crime occurs back home. When Detective Rasbach arrives on the scene, this seemingly innocent gathering of neighbors and friends soon unravels, revealing a twisting story of secrets and betrayal.

Janelle Brown’s bestselling thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat, much like Flynn’s novel — indeed, the San Francisco Chronicle hailed Watch Me Disappear as “just as riveting as Gone Girl.” The narrative centers on the Flanagans, a Berkeley family devastated by the disappearance of their matriarch, Billie Flanagan. It’s been a year since Billie set out on a solo hike in the Desolation Wilderness and vanished. With only a shattered cell phone and a sole hiking boot recovered from the site of her disappearance, Billie is presumed dead. Her husband, Jonathan, and their teenaged daughter, Olive, struggle to cope with the loss. Then Olive begins having eerie visions of her mother, and Jonathan uncovers shocking secrets from Billie’s past. Soon the father–daughter pair suspect that there may be more to Billie’s story than just a tragic missing-person’s case.

Like Gone Girl, S.J. Watson’s Before I Go to Sleep will mess with your mind. The novel — which the New York Times called a “pure page-turner” — follows an amnesiac named Christine. Christine forgets her memories every night when she goes to sleep. She has no memory of the accident that caused her amnesia; indeed, she needs to be reminded who she is and also told the identity of her husband, Ben. One morning, however, Christine awakens to find the words “Don’t trust Ben” scrawled in the secret journal she keeps to jog her memory. As she strives to make sense of the ominous message, suspicions arise about her husband, her accident, and the very truth behind her baffling condition.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock without a Wi-Fi connection, you’ve likely heard about Netflix’s hit series You. Yet many viewers may not know that the show is based on a set of bestselling thrillers by novelist Caroline Kepnes. The first book in the series is a chilling tale of obsession in the digital age. Guinevere Beck is an aspiring writer in New York City who posts about her life on social media. One day she stops by a bookstore in the East Village, where she meets a bookstore clerk named Joe Goldberg. Joe’s entranced by Guinevere; after ringing her up, he seeks her out online, follows her accounts, and soon begins “randomly” bumping into her at bars. It isn’t long, however, before Joe’s creepy stalking takes an even darker turn. He’ll stop at nothing to keep Guinevere in his life — even if it means murder.

Here’s another bestseller that inspired a popular Hollywood adaptation: Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies. The novel revolves around a group of women in a wealthy California enclave, all dealing with their own damage but tied together by a shocking event. Among the group is perfectionist queen bee Madeline, gorgeous but troubled Celeste, and mysterious single mom newcomer Jane. Every little lie and big secret coursing through this community is titillating, resulting in an addictive page-turner that’s both “funny and scary” (Stephen King).

Like Gone Girl, Lauren Groff’s bestselling novel focuses on a complex and problematic marriage. And while Fates and Furies doesn’t employ the same pulse-pounding drive of Flynn’s Gone Girl, both novels challenge us to question how well we truly know those we love. The novel centers on Lotto and Mathilde, two fresh-faced 22-year-olds who are madly in love with each other and bound for big things. Groff then follows their relationship over the course of 24 years, taking us behind closed doors to witness the domestic ebb and flow of honesty, deceit, joy, and loathing, and offering insight into the many ways relationships can fracture, recombine, and combust.

Liz Nugent’s Unraveling Oliver received acclaim from critics and thriller fans alike, and for good reason — it’s a dark and mesmerizing read. Much has been made of the novel’s arresting opening line, which we won’t spoil for you. From there, the narrative uses alternating perspectives to peel back the truth about Oliver Ryan, an award-winning children’s book illustrator who violently assaults his wife and leaves her for dead. Each new narrative voice pulls at a different thread from Oliver’s past, unraveling his persona until the dark core is finally revealed.

Laura Dave’s #1 New York Times bestselling novel The Last Thing He Told Me rounds out our list and is absolutely worth your time if you enjoyed Gone Girl’s heart-racing intensity. The Last Thing He Told Me follows a Bay Area woman named Hannah Hall. Hannah thought she had found the man of her dreams in Owen Michaels — until Owen up and disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a note that implored Hannah to protect his teenage daughter, Bailey. In the wake of Owen’s disappearance, troubling events unfold: The FBI arrests Owen’s boss, and U.S. marshals appear at Hannah’s door. It soon becomes clear that Owen had secrets to hide. Now Hannah must work with Bailey if they hope to piece together Owen’s identity and uncover the truth about his disappearance.