Caroline Kepnes writes books that really get into your head. Her stories feature characters with dark obsessions. Joe Goldberg from *You* comes to mind immediately.
If you enjoy books like hers, with a focus on dark psychology and unsettling themes, you will want to check out authors who offer a similar reading experience. These writers also explore the darker side of human nature.
They create characters who are complex, sometimes deeply flawed, and always fascinating.
Readers who enjoy Caroline Kepnes’ psychological thrillers will likely appreciate Gillian Flynn’s sharp writing and complex characters.
In Flynn’s novel “Gone Girl,” Nick Dunne finds his life turned upside down when his wife, Amy, suddenly disappears on their fifth wedding anniversary. The investigation soon centers on Nick, whose behavior raises suspicion, revealing unsettling truths about their relationship.
Flynn cleverly switches perspectives between Nick and Amy, building suspense and mystery around their complicated marriage. The story pulls readers into themes of manipulation, deceit, and media sensation, leaving them guessing until the very end.
Paula Hawkins is an author known for psychological thrillers filled with suspense and deep characters. Readers who enjoy Caroline Kepnes’ intense narratives and twisted relationships will find Hawkins’ style similarly absorbing.
Her novel “The Girl on the Train” follows Rachel, a woman struggling with a troubled past and alcohol addiction. During her daily rides on the train, Rachel becomes fascinated with a seemingly perfect couple whose home she passes each day.
One day, witnessing something troubling, Rachel gets drawn into a mystery she can’t resist investigating. Hawkins leads readers through secrets, lies, and shifting perspectives, keeping the truth elusive until the end.
Readers who enjoy the suspense and psychological depth in Caroline Kepnes’ stories may appreciate Ruth Ware’s novels. Ware’s book “The Woman in Cabin 10” introduces Lo Blacklock, a journalist recovering from a recent trauma, who embarks on a luxurious cruise assignment.
When Lo witnesses a woman thrown overboard in the middle of the night, she faces disbelief from shipmates who insist all passengers remain accounted for.
Feeling isolated and doubted, Lo must uncover the truth before the ship reaches its destination and the opportunity to solve the crime disappears. Ware crafts her story with careful tension and unexpected twists, creating the type of suspense fans of Kepnes might find appealing.
If you enjoy Caroline Kepnes’ psychological suspense novels, you might also appreciate the work of B.A. Paris. Paris creates tense, emotionally charged stories that build suspense with every page.
In “Behind Closed Doors,” Paris introduces readers to Jack and Grace, a married couple who appear perfect to their friends: wealthy, attractive, and always together. But their ideal image hides a dark and disturbing truth.
With Jack’s carefully controlled behavior and Grace’s peculiar isolation, the novel offers a chilling look beneath the surface of an apparently flawless marriage. Paris explores manipulation, fear, and the hidden spaces behind one household’s closed doors.
Lisa Unger is an author who specializes in intense psychological thrillers, perfect for readers who enjoy Caroline Kepnes. Her novels tend to focus on ordinary people faced with terrifying secrets and hidden pasts.
In “Confessions on the 7:45,” Selena Murphy boards her evening train home and meets a mysterious stranger named Martha. They casually trade secrets, a harmless moment turned sinister when Selena’s life begins to unravel.
As secrets she shared with Martha resurface unexpectedly, Selena has to confront truths she desperately wanted to keep hidden. This tense thriller explores how fragile our constructed realities are and how quickly a simple confession can go terribly wrong.
Readers who enjoy Caroline Kepnes might appreciate the psychological suspense of author A.J. Finn. His novel “The Woman in the Window” follows Anna Fox, a psychologist who struggles with agoraphobia and spends her days isolated at home.
She spends her time watching her neighbors through her window, until one day she witnesses something horrific in the house across the street. As Anna tries to make sense of what she saw, secrets emerge and reality blurs, leading her into a dangerous situation.
Packed with tension, twists, and characters who keep you guessing, Finn’s thriller captures the spirit that keeps Kepnes fans eagerly turning pages.
Readers who enjoy Caroline Kepnes’ psychological thrillers may find Tess Gerritsen equally captivating. Tess Gerritsen is known for engaging medical suspense and vivid characters who face intense and dangerous situations.
In her novel “The Surgeon,” she introduces us to Detective Jane Rizzoli, a determined investigator on the hunt for a chilling serial killer. The criminal uses surgical precision to commit terrifying crimes, preying on vulnerable women in Boston.
As Detective Rizzoli pieces together clues, she realizes the killer’s methods resemble those of another attacker, previously thought to have been caught.
Gerritsen combines tight storytelling, sharp character development, and realistic details from her medical background that keep readers glued to the pages.
Megan Miranda writes suspenseful thrillers with sharp characters and psychological twists. If you enjoy Caroline Kepnes’ dark and intriguing storytelling, Megan Miranda’s style offers a similar appeal.
Her novel “All the Missing Girls” tells the story of Nicolette Farrell, who returns to her small hometown ten years after her best friend vanished mysteriously. Soon after her return, another young woman disappears, and Nicolette becomes tangled in a web of secrets.
The novel unfolds uniquely in reverse chronological order and reveals layers of hidden truths piece by piece. Miranda’s storytelling gives readers a powerful sense of uncertainty and keeps them guessing until the final pages.
Samantha Downing is a thriller writer known for sharp psychological suspense and intriguing characters readers can’t help but follow.
In “My Lovely Wife,” she introduces readers to an outwardly ordinary married couple whose life takes on a sinister twist beneath a façade of suburban normalcy.
The husband and wife seem like everyday people until a shocking secret about their unusual hobby involving murder begins to unravel. As the tension rises, trust becomes a dangerous game.
Fans of Caroline Kepnes’ “You” will appreciate the dark humor and unsettling yet captivating dynamics between Downing’s characters.
Lisa Jewell writes psychological thrillers that blend suspenseful storytelling and intense character studies, perfect for readers who enjoy Caroline Kepnes. Her novel, “Then She Was Gone,” revolves around the mysterious disappearance of Ellie Mack.
Ten years after Ellie vanished, her mother Laurel meets a charming stranger named Floyd and his young daughter. Floyd’s daughter bears a striking resemblance to Ellie, opening old wounds and unanswered questions.
Through shifting perspectives and clever plot lines, Jewell crafts a story full of dark secrets and emotional depth, pulling readers into the family’s haunting uncertainty.
Readers who enjoy Caroline Kepnes might want to explore Karin Slaughter. She is known for dark, suspenseful thrillers that feature complex characters and unexpected twists.
One of her standout novels is “Pretty Girls,” a powerful and chilling story about two estranged sisters, Claire and Lydia, reunited after the mysterious disappearance of a teenage girl echoes the tragedy of their own sister’s disappearance two decades earlier.
As they reconnect, they uncover shocking secrets about their family and confront terrifying realities that they never imagined. Slaughter’s novels combine psychological suspense and emotional depth, creating intense and memorable reading experiences.
Camilla Läckberg is a Swedish author whose crime novels explore the darker sides of human behavior hidden beneath the quiet surface of small-town life.
If you enjoyed Caroline Kepnes’s psychological suspense and complex characters, you might connect with Läckberg’s style and sharp insights.
Her novel “The Ice Princess,” set in the sleepy fishing village of Fjällbacka, follows writer Erica Falck as she returns to her childhood home and finds herself drawn into a chilling murder investigation.
When her childhood friend Alex is discovered dead in a frozen bathtub, Erica works with detective Patrik Hedström to unravel buried secrets that lie beneath the town’s picture-perfect appearance.
The story carefully builds suspense with each revealed secret and exposed lie; readers become absorbed in the tangled lives and tense relationships leading to Alex’s tragic end.
Joe Hill is an author known for creating dark, suspenseful stories filled with tension and unexpected twists. Readers who enjoy Caroline Kepnes’ psychological suspense might connect with his novel “NOS4A2”.
The story follows Vic McQueen, a woman gifted with a supernatural talent to find lost things. Her path intersects with Charles Manx, a sinister figure who kidnaps children in his eerie Rolls-Royce Wraith and transports them to a twisted amusement park called Christmasland.
Hill builds a tense narrative full of psychological depth, complicated characters, and a chilling antagonist. The haunting atmosphere and gripping storyline make “NOS4A2” a memorable read for fans of character-driven suspense stories.
Tarryn Fisher writes psychological thrillers filled with dark secrets and sharp twists. Her novel “The Wives” pulls readers into the mind of Thursday, a woman married to a man who splits his week between three different wives.
Thursday convinces herself she can handle this unusual arrangement, until curiosity leads her to seek out the other two women. The suspense deepens as boundaries blur between suspicion and reality, loyalty and deception.
Fisher plays effectively with unreliable narrators and tense relationships, elements Caroline Kepnes fans might appreciate.
Patricia Highsmith is an author who creates psychological thrillers with intense insight into the darker side of human nature. Her work often features morally complex characters and unsettling narratives, perfect for readers who enjoy Caroline Kepnes.
In her novel “Strangers on a Train,” two men meet randomly and start discussing hypothetical murder plots. What begins as innocent conversation quickly spirals into something far darker, with dangerous implications for both men.
Throughout the story, Highsmith explores obsession and guilt in a suspenseful way, making it impossible to predict what will happen next.