February 2020 ScaredyKit: Psychological Thrillers

According to Wikipedia a psychological thriller is a “thrilling narrative that emphasizes the unstable or delusional psychological states of it’s characters. It’s often told through the viewpoint of a psychologically stressed character and incorporates elements of mystery, drama, action and paranoia.”

Some well-known examples of psychological thrillers are Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, The Girl on a Train by Paula Hawkins, The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware and You by Caroline Kepnes.

So let’s grab a blanket, a pillow and a warm cup of tea, and find a comfy spot to curl up in while we read these stories of mayhem and psychological tension.

Let us know what you are going to be reading and please don’t forget to add your book(s) to the wiki: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2020_ScaredyKIT

I am looking forward to reading Crow Stone by Jenni Mills which has been on my shelves for a very long time.

Not normally my reading, so I googled it and The Last Act of Hattie Hoffman came up. Another one of those books that seems to have two titles - other one being Everything You Want Me To Be. Why, oh why, do they have to change the titles for different markets?!
I'm actually thinking from the description that this could be more mystery thriller, but I'm no expert so I will have to trust Google!!

I have several that I am considering.
The Silent Patient
Bird Box
The Good Girl
The House in the Strand
Not sure what I will settle on.

I'm definitely going to be reading This Sweet Sickness by Patricia Highsmith off my shelves, and I may go on to read some more female thriller writers in the same vein.

I have a few options. Near the top of the list:
- The Widow / Fiona Barton (also fits both letters for AlphaKIT)
- The Lying Game / Ruth Ware
- A Noise Upstairs / Linwood Barclay

I just finished a really great one, The Good Girl. I think I will look for something from the same author

>6 LibraryCin: I’ve had great reads by both Barton and Barclay. Neither disappoint!

The Good Girl by Kubica has risen to the top for me.

>9 Kristelh: A very good book!

>7 Tess_W: I believe that one made my favourites the year I read it!

>7 Tess_W: For those interested in reading The Good Girl it is available in Prime Reading now to read for free!

>12 NinieB: Thanks for the tip. I may get to it in February now.

I just picked up I know who you are by Alice Feeney so I'm planning to read that.

I'll be reading Before the Fact by Francis Iles, which was the basis for Hitchcock's Suspicion.

I won an ARC of Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson from a GoodReads giveaway. Assuming it arrives, that's the one I'll be reading. It sounds like a lot of "bookish" fun!

I'll be reading Cold Vengeance.

Already finished my pick for this month: This Sweet Sickness by Patricia Highsmith

The main character, David, is so completely obsessed with a woman he doesn't really know and who is married to someone else that he has invented a double life in which he is married to her that seems more real to him than his actual life. But when he calls or phones the woman herself, Annabelle, she really doesn't do much to put him off. Maybe she is just being polite, as she says, but she seems to me to be stringing him along (and she's also very quick to get married, in my opinion), and so she does not earn my sympathy as a stalking victim. Likewise, David's only two friends are equally pathetic. Wes is a drunken lech with not a lot going on upstairs, and Effie is so absurdly in love with David that she comes off as nutty as he does. But we spend all our time in David's head, and he becomes rather tedious in his unrelenting, impervious obsession after a time. There is no one here to like or root for or even try to understand, and I have found this to be quite typical of Highsmith's writing.

I may read another thriller this month -- depends on if I'm in the mood for one.

A Noise Downstairs / Linwood Barclay
4 stars

When Paul came across Kenneth, a co-worker, on a deserted road, it appeared Kenneth was trying to dump a couple of bodies! Paul suffered a head injury while Kenneth was arrested and sent to jail on two counts of murder and one of attempted murder (Paul). Months later, Paul has been working with a therapist for both the head injury and just getting past what he went through. He decides he’d like to revisit the event and try to figure out what happened to make Kenneth do such a thing. When Paul’s wife, Charlotte, brings home an old typewriter – similar to one Kenneth used when he killed his victims – things start happening...

As with all Barclay’s books, this was really good. I loved the idea of the old typewriter and I could hear the sounds it made in my head. It was also quite creepy, at times. It was hard to know what was happening with Paul, and the twists were a surprise to me.

I will be reading Over The Edge by Jonathan Kellerman

I listened to Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, narrated by Anna Massey - it was really good and a perfect fit for audio.

>21 Crazymamie: I have chosen Rebecca as well. I loved it years ago so hoping to still love it!

Building on my 1970s/80s choice for January (Silence of the Lambs), I borrowed Red Dragon from my brother and tore through it!

I went ahead and read The Good Girl. I would have liked more suspense and less grimness, but it does have an excellent twist at the end.

I read Call me Evie by JP Pomare. Seventeen-year old Evie (whose real name is Kate) is in hiding with her "uncle" Jim in a small town in New Zealand. She doesn't have clear memories of the events that cause them to be in hiding. Her uncle says he wants to protect her, but can she trust him or has he done something terrible and is he trying to manipulate her?

I felt a bit frustrated that Evie, as the narrator, doesn't tell what she does remember of the the events: we learn it little by little as the story unfolds, alternating between "before" and "after" these events. But this was still a gripping read and the ending wrapped up things very neatly.

>22 JayneCM: It was a slow starter for me, but then it sucked me in and I couldn't put it down.

I've just started Before the Fact. Just starting to establish that handsome Johnny is a cad.

Published in 1932, it's the story of plain but wealthy Lina, who marries the handsome and charming Johnnie, a man without a penny. Year by year, Lina discovers what her husband will do to pay off his enormous gambling debts.

>28 mstrust: I loved Before the Fact and of course the 1941 film called Suspicion that was made from the book starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine. Another mystery by Francis Iles that I really enjoyed was Malice Aforethought.

I read When the Lights Go Out by Mary Kubica. As much as I loved The Good Girl by the same author, I did not like this book. It was from the POV of a very unreliable author. It was difficult for me to tell what was real and what was not. Sometimes that adds to the storyline, but this time it fell flat. 337 pages 2.5 stars

>29 DeltaQueen50: I loved Malice Aforethought too. It was the first Iles (Berkeley) I read, and then I went on to The Poisoned Chocolates Case, which is just as good. I didn't enjoy Before the Fact as much because of the ending, but it was still an interesting character study of Johnnie.

The March thread, "Haunted Places", is up:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/316828

I finished The Perfect Wife by Blake Pierce, with a subtitle of A Jessie Hunt Psychological Suspense Thriller. This was a free Kindle read, and there is a sequel. It was a quick but interesting read, and I would read the sequel.

Hmmm, I recognize where you got the image for this thread!!! LOL!

The Widow / Fiona Barton
3.5 stars

Glen Taylor has been hit by a bus and killed. It is very quickly obvious that he was not a nice man and that he’d likely done some terrible things. His wife, Jean, is left behind to deal with the reporters and her new life without him. One reporter, Kate, soon “befriends” Jean to see if she can get a story.

The book flips back and forth in time and switches viewpoints (between Jean, Kate, a detective, and a couple of other viewpoints - if I’m remembering correctly, though not as often on the others). But, it’s mostly easy to follow as each chapter is headed with whose POV it is and the date. Of course, as the book continues, we learn what those terrible things Glen might have done were. With short chapters, it kept me wanting to read. I did think the ending was a bit abrupt, though.

Has there really only been 4 books read this month!? (And me having read 2 of those.) That's all that's been added to the wiki...

I thought this would be a popular month! It's a good one for me, for sure!

There's still a week left in February to get your thrills in.

I'm getting there! I am nearly finished Rebecca - enjoying it just as much as I remember loving it years ago.

I finished Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson. I won the ARC through a Goodreads giveaway. Since it was classified as a psychological thriller on Amazon, I decided to use it for this.

Just finished The Hiding Place by C.J. Tudor which was very good. I'll be reading more of Tudor's.

Joe goes back to his hometown as a teacher in his old school It appears he has issues to settle. The town has secrets, the characters have secrets, not the least of those are Joe's. A great story with lots of suspense and just enough horror to keep you on the edge of your seat. Joe's narration was frank even though he didn't know all the answers or who to trust. Should we even trust Joe? Very enjoyable.

I finally completed a book for this theme. The book I originally chose to read just didn't appeal to me so chose to read Swerve by Vicki Pettersson. Big Mistake - I really disliked this book and had to force myself to finish. I found it way too sadistic and over the top to be believable.

I finished Rebecca - still love it as much as I did as a teenager!

>40 DeltaQueen50: unfortunately, I have found that when psychological thrillers are bad, they're really really bad. Of course, I have read some really good ones, but they tend to spawn a lot of bad imitators. I hope your next month's pick will be more satisfactory!

>41 JayneCM: & >42 sturlington: Now I am jealous of Jayne, getting to read the excellent Rebecca while I suffered through Swerve. Thanks Shannon, hopefully I will get to read a really good ghost story next month.

>43 DeltaQueen50: My choice for March is one that a few here have already read and recommended so I am looking forward to it! Hope you find a good one.

I finished The Good Girl by Mary Kubica. It was good but definitely some flaws.

I finished Cold Vengeance for the challenge.

I finished A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne, about a sociopathic and manipulative writer.

>47 mathgirl40:. Did you like it? I have it on shelf but haven't gotten around to reading it.

>47 mathgirl40: I did like it very much. I didn't think I would, given the personality of the main character, but the book really drew me in.