Therapy, the debut novel by German author Sebastian Fitzek, has been classified a psychological thriller but it is actually a crime novel about psychology. Published in 2006, it has notched up sales in excess of eight million copies worldwide.  In Germany, it knocked off Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code from the top spot on the bestseller list. The author has achieved superstar status in Europe and ...

She Chose Me by Tracey Emerson is a gripping, chilling tale of motherhood, rejection, regrets, obsession, abandonment and the fragility of the bond between a mother and a daughter. It is the author’s debut novel and she pulls it off magnificently. Grace is a middle-aged woman who has come back to London after teaching twenty years abroad due to her mother’s deteriorating health. Her relationship ...

I took a look at the following synopsis from the back cover of Alex Lake’s “Seven Days”and it intrigued me immediately, becoming the first novel that I have read in 2021. It has turned out to be a fantastic start to my reading journey for the year! A race against time to save her child… In seven days, Maggie’s son, ...

I love Samantha Hayes’ thrillers. And her In Too Deep did not disappoint me as I was deeply hooked from the opening pages. The premise of In Too Deep is great. One Saturday morning, Rick went out to the shop for a newspaper but never returned. Rick’s disappearance was the second trauma to befall this family. A couple of years earlier, Rick’s ...

I became a fan of Samantha Hayes after reading her “Until You’re Mine” a few days ago. That book is the first in this series with DI Lorraine Fisher and her family at its centre. I started reading her “You Belong to Me”, the third book in this series, with great expectations and I am blown away. Though the plot ...

They say every marriage has its secrets. But no one sees what happens behind closed doors. And sometimes those doors should never be opened … Between You And Me by Lisa Hall is a simple psychological thriller with the mother of all twists revealed in the second last chapter. I totally did not see the twist coming. When it was ...

Without Trace by Simon Booker is a humdinger of a psychological thriller, one that is truly unputdownable. With many twists, cliffhangers, compelling characters, cunning red herrings and fast-moving action, it is a real treat. It explores how far we can trust those around us and who is telling the truth. Journalist Morgan Vine, 37, has campaigned for four years for ...

In “If You Knew Her” by Emily Elgar, young and beautiful Cassie Jensen lies in a coma in a hospital ward after a hit-and-run accident. Frank Ashcroft,  a male patient in the same ward, is in a sort of comatose but unknown to the others, he is in locked-in-syndrome and can see and hear what is going on around him ...

The Book Of You by Claire Kendal is a terrifying and disturbing psychological thriller about obsession, sexual perversion and stalking. I was really engrossed and felt really apprehensive for the protagonist as the story hurtled to its final. But I have to admit that I was disappointed by the ending. Clarissa, 38, is secretary to a university department head and ...

The Lie by C.L. Taylor is a psychological thriller focusing on the fragility of friendships between women and what happens to their friendship when betrayal and guilt tear them apart. It is an adrenaline-pumping novel that keeps me on the edge of my seat. The novel begins in the present day with the protagonist Jane Hughes working at an animal ...