At long last, YOU season 4 debuts this week on Netflix! Therefore, it’s the perfect time to explore three very on-brand thriller reads that parallel the life and mind of the ever-chaotic and deeply obsessive Joe Goldberg. This triad of new releases offers engrossing, high-tension stories of cat-and-mouse games, mysterious deaths, secrets, and stalkers. Sound like your cup of tea? Then get cozy with one of these reads to supplement your binge-watch YOU‘s new season, which promises an intriguing new twist.
Hot Pick
The Shards
by Bret Easton Ellis
SYNOPSIS:
It’s 1981, and seventeen-year-old Bret is in his final year at Buckley prep school. One day, a new student, Robert Mallory, arrives toting a mysterious past. The charismatic newcomer soon becomes part of Bret’s close-knit friend group, and, consequently, one of his two great obsessions. The second is preoccupation with a serial killer on the loose. This ominous killer, dubbed The Trawler, seems to be inching closer and closer to Bret and his friends, setting his world on a collision course.
WHY:
The author of American Psycho and Less Than Zero returns with a dizzying psychological suspense novel. Both a fictionalized memoir and a page-turning crime thriller, Bret Easton Ellis’ newest literary project is stylishly scary, blurring fact and fiction against an evocative, nostalgic backdrop. Fraught with paranoia, isolation, jealousy, and rage, The Shards is a propulsive story exploring the intensities of Bret’s teenage life.
Coffee Shop Read
The House Guest
by Hank Phillippi Ryan
SYNOPSIS:
Alyssa Macallan really needs a friend. Her incredibly wealthy, powerful husband just left her, and a devastating divorce is all but inevitable. Not to mention, her ultra-manipulative, toxic ex is likely bent on cementing her ruin. Amidst her turmoil, a seductive new friend – a banker named Bree – enters the fray. Bree seems to be running from a dangerous past relationship of her own but is shy about the details. After Ayssa offers her refuge in the guest house, they become confidantes, and Bree soon makes her an irresistible offer.
WHY:
This topsy-turvy thriller exploring love, friendship, deceit, and betrayal is sure to have you guessing until the very last page. Like any good mystery tale, readers are sucked in by enthralling cat-and-mouse suspense. However, the real question is, who is the cat, and who is the mouse in this story? Stay up all night with this addictive new thriller to find out.
Dark Horse
Liar, Dreamer, Thief
by Maria Dong
SYNOPSIS:
Katrina Kim is a bit of a hot mess, sure, but she’s certainly not a stalker. At the very least, she’d call her unhealthy obsession with her co-worker, Kurt, a twisted sort of coping mechanism. However, her questionable habits (and fragile hold on reality) shatter when she receives a cryptic message from Kurt shortly before he takes his own life. Turns out, he was watching her just as much as she was watching him.
WHY:
Maria Dong’s surreal debut brings readers on one heck of a rollercoaster ride, with a narrative blurring reality with a waking nightmare. Full of twists and turns and underscored with sharp insights into mental health, this genre-bending read conjures a moshpit of emotions with its wholly original, captivating plot, perfect for those who like their mystery novels with a side of fantasy.
Check back here every Tuesday for more Three to Read line-ups.