Forbes 15 Best Psychological Thriller Books to Read

The psychological thriller genre is one of my favorite subgenres to read when I am looking for a good book to devour. You know that you will be in for a scary treat. That is why we will be looking at Forbes 15 best psychological thriller books to read and see which books stand out!

This genre may not be for everyone and it will keep up some people up at night. Do read at your own risk because these authors put a lot of time and effort into scaring you senseless. And psychological thrillers take it a step further and will mess with you mentally. You can see Forbes picks below!

15 Best Psychological Thriller Books to Read

• My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson 
• Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier 
• Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith 
• Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
• The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
• Along Came a Spider by James Patterson
• The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn/Dan Mallory
• Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane  
• The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
• The Other Woman by Sandie Jones
• The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
• The Shining by Stephen King

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Right off the bat, the book that fits the psychological thriller perfectly is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. It does both really well and has a bunch of plot twists and amazing characters to keep you intrigued. This book is not for the light of heart so do read at your own risk. I know I will be repeating that warning often in this article.

Strangers on a Train

The queen of psychological novels in my opinion is Patricia Highsmith. Her novel Strangers on a Train is a fun yet wild story of a random encounter ion a train that leads to psychological torture for one of the characters in the book. Highsmith’s characters are fun because they aren’t black or white but shades of gray when it comes to morality.

The Da Vinci Code

My first criticism for this list comes at this pick. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown is a great (but overrated) novel in my opinion but it isn’t a psychological novel at all. It is a mystery thriller and is mostly action packed. Forbes was either too lazy or wanted to appeal to a bigger audience with this pick. I am very disappointed at Forbes for including this novel.

Shutter Island

One of my favorite psychological thrillers of all time is Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. The plot and the psychological angle of this book make this a must read and I give Forbes some redeeming points for including this novel. If you have only watched the movie, then I implore you to read the book as well; you won’t regret it!

The Silence of the Lambs

What always gets me about The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris is that it isn’t the first book in the series. Yet it is so good that it is the novel often mentioned in the Hannibal Lecter books. That is also true for The Da Vinci Code even though Angel and Demons is also a great novel. This is one of the best psychological thrillers of all time for a reason and should be included on every list like this.

Conclusion

That is all for Forbes 15 best psychological thriller books to read list. There are a lot of classics and must reads on this list. If you remove The Da Vinci Code, then this list would be well rounded in my opinion. How many of these books have you read or plan to read?

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