Psychological Thrillers: The Tension Is All in Your Head

What does a novel need to make our psychological thriller list? Simply put, it needs suspense and plot developments that require characters (and readers) to get involved in the story on an intellectual level. You might think of the authors as playing mind games.

The Architect,* Keith Ablow

Christine Falls, Benjamin Black

I Heard That Song Before, Mary Higgins Clark

Red Leaves, Thomas H. Cook

Guilt,* G.H. Ephron

A Good and Happy Child, Justin Evans

Therapy, Sebastian Fitzek

No Man's Land,* G.M. Ford

Until It's Over, Nicci French

In the Woods,* Tana French

The Mephisto Club,* Tess Gerritsen

Ravens, George Dawes Green

Lying with Strangers, James Grippando

The Wrong Mother, Sophie Hannah

The Spinning Man, George Harrar

Hannibal Rising,* Thomas Harris

The Havana Room, Colin Harrison

The Last Child, John Hart

Strike Dog: A Woods Cop Mystery,* Joseph Heywood

Hunting Fear,* Kay Hooper

Blood Memory, Greg Iles

Killer Dreams,* Iris Johansen

The Madman's Tale, John Katzenbach

A Necessary Evil,* Alex Kava

The Genius, Jesse Kellerman

Rage: An Alex Delaware Novel,* Jonathan Kellerman

The Session, Judith Kelman

Under the Dome, Stephen King

Brother Odd,* Dean Koontz

Above Suspicion,* Lynda La Plante

Lost Echoes, Joe R. Lansdale

Dearly Devoted Dexter,* Jeff Lindsay

Legends: A Novel of Dissimulation, Robert Littell

The Girl Next Door, Patricia MacDonald

The Lost Mother, Mary McGarry Morris

Somewhere in the City, Marcia Muller

Piercing, Ryu Murakami

Twenty-Seven Bones: A Thriller,* Jonathan Nasaw

The Wilderness: A Leslie Stone Novel,* Karen Novak

Keeper of the Keys, Perri O'Shaughnessy

You've Been Warned, James Patterson

The Body of David Hayes,* Ridley Pearson

Killing Neptune's Daughter, Randall Peffer

Seven Types of Ambiguity, Elliot Perlman

Falling, Christopher Pike

The Book of the Dead,* Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

The Alias Man, Bill Pronzini

Absolution, Caro Ramsay

Blind Fall, Christopher Rice

Blue Smoke, Nora Roberts

All the Colors of Darkness,* Peter Robinson

Shatter,* Michael Robotham

The Promise of a Lie, Howard Roughan

Absent Friends, S.J. Rozan

Color Blind,* Jonathan Santlofer

Perfect Nightmare, John Saul

Bloodprint: A Novel of Psychological Suspense, Kitty Sewell

Blackbelly, Heather Sharfeddin

18 Seconds,* George D. Shuman

User I.D., Jenefer Shute

Detour, James Siegel

Undone, Karin Slaughter

Fire Point: A Novel of Suspense, John Smolens

Now You See Her, Cecelia Tishy

Sweet Humphrey, Peter Turnbull

Black Out, Lisa Unger

The Devil's Feather, Minette Walters

Kill Me, Stephen White

The Price of Silence, Kate Wilhelm

*This novel is part of a series.

Other titles in the series may or may not be considered “psychological fiction.” For more reading suggestions, Ask Readers Services.

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JHL
Rev. 12/09