the best thrillers to read this summer ☼

what to read this summer

Hi readers 💌

With summer and good weather approaching, I thought it would be a good idea to make a list (who doesn’t love lists?!) of my favorite thrillers to read during summer: popcorn novels, fast-paced mysteries, and basically, entertaining books that you can devour in one day while lying on a sunny beach or by the swimming pool.

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• The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager. This was my second book by Riley and to this day I still remember being completely captivated and loving the whole summer camp setting. The mystery was fun, I adored the character dynamics, and I remember being surprised by the ending reveals. The perfect summer read, if you ask me..

Fifteen years ago, summer camper Emma Davis watched sleepily as her three cabin mates snuck out of their cabin in the dead of night. The last she--and anyone--saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips. Now a rising star in the NYC art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings. They catch the attention of Francesca Harris-White, the socialite and wealthy owner of the very same Camp Nightingale--and when Francesca implores Emma to return to the camp as a painting counselor, Emma sees an opportunity to find closure and move on. Yet, it is immediately clear that all is not right at Camp Nightingale. Already haunted by surfacing memories, Emma is suddenly plagued by a security camera pointed directly at her cabin, mounting mistrust from Francesca, and, most disturbing of all, cryptic clues Vivian apparently left behind about the camp's twisted origins. And as history begins to repeat itself and three girls go missing again, Emma must face threats from both man and nature in order to uncover all the buried secrets--including what really happened all those years ago.

• Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak. I read this book last year and it was my favorite kind of read: a main character to root for, a creepy setting, and a mystery whose outcome you can’t ever guess. I was continuously fascinated, and the book kept surprising me with every page I turned. I always recommend it, since it doesn’t seem to be that popular.

Mallory Quinn is fresh out of rehab when she takes a job as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy. Mallory immediately loves it. She has her own living space, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fare: trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something different: a man in a forest, dragging a woman’s lifeless body. Then, Teddy’s artwork becomes increasingly sinister, and his stick figures quickly evolve into lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to wonder if these are glimpses of a long-unsolved murder, perhaps relayed by a supernatural force. Knowing just how crazy it all sounds, Mallory nevertheless sets out to decipher the images and save Teddy before it’s too late.

• The Pact by Sharon Bolton. Sharon Bolton’s books are always great, but this one was a propulsively addictive summer read that’s easy to recommend, and super fast-paced. As you can expect, there were some surprises along the way, and I loved the And Then There Were None vibes.

A golden summer, and six talented teenagers are looking forward to the brightest of futures - until a daredevil game goes horribly wrong, leaving three strangers dead. 18-year-old Megan takes the blame for the crime, leaving her friends to get on with their lives. In return, they each agree to a 'favour', payable on her release from prison. Twenty years later Megan is free. It is payback time. And her friends start disappearing, one by one . . .

• In My Dreams I Hold A Knife by Ashley Winstead. Her second book was too dark and twisted even for me, but this novel was everything I could hope for when I decided to start it on vacation. Twisty, with plenty of flashbacks, and super fun!

A college reunion turns dark and deadly in this chilling and propulsive suspense novel about six friends, one unsolved murder, and the dark secrets they’ve been hiding from each other—and themselves—for a decade. Ten years after graduation, Jessica Miller has planned her triumphant return to southern, elite Duquette University, down to the envious whispers that are sure to follow in her wake. Everyone is going to see the girl she wants them to see—confident, beautiful, indifferent—not the girl she was when she left campus, back when Heather’s murder fractured everything, including the tight bond linking the six friends she’d been closest to since freshman year. Ten years ago, everything fell apart, including the dreams she worked for her whole life—and her relationship with the one person she wasn’t supposed to love. But not everyone is ready to move on. Not everyone left Duquette ten years ago, and not everyone can let Heather’s murder go unsolved. Someone is determined to trap the real killer, to make the guilty pay. When the six friends are reunited, they will be forced to confront what happened that night—and the years’ worth of secrets each of them would do anything to keep hidden.

• First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston. I read this book on the beach, so for me it’s undoubtedly a perfect summery escape. I didn’t expect much from it, to be honest, but it was actually much better than I hoped for. I’m not saying more because you shouldn’t read the spoilery summary, but prepare for surprises, and prepare to be thoroughly entertained.

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What about you? What are your favorite summer thrillers?