Sarah Pekkanen’s Current Favorite Thrillers

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

This book kept me up at night—that’s right, I was completely terrified by the story of a little girl who wants more than anything to live alone with her father. And that means getting rid of her mother. Told from the points of view of both mother and child, you know something terrible is coming, because if seven-year-old Hannah has her way, one of them has to go. And her mother is starting to feel the same way.

 The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

“They don’t know what I’m capable of,” the housemaid warns, speaking of the couple whose home she cleans—and neither do we readers. This was a compulsively readable book I binged, one featuring a seemingly quiet, meek character whose true nature was a shocker.

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

Hannah Hall’s new husband Owen has a teenaged daughter from a previous marriage—and despite Hannah’s best efforts, her stepdaughter completely rejects her. That is, until Owen goes missing and the two women who love him most team up together to find answers. The scare factor in this book comes from the outside, but the inner heart is the story of the slowly developing relationship between Hannah and her new stepdaughter, Baily.

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Teenager Madeline Whittier has a terrifying, rare disease—she’s basically allergic to the world. She can’t leave her house or interact with anyone other than her mother and her nurse. Then one day, a new family moves in across the street. From her window, Madeline finds herself looking into the ocean-blue eyes of a boy who will change everything for her. But Madeline’s mother is desperate to keep her daughter locked in the safety of their home. She’ll do anything to protect her girl. The twists in this book are absolutely wild—I tore through the pages in a day.

Verity by Colleen Hoover

Queen CoHo, as she’s known by her legions of fans, proves her prowess in this creepy, beloved story about a writer who gets one of those too good to be true offers to pen a book. She can’t turn it down – even though we readers know danger lies ahead—and she comes to live with an…. let’s just say, unusual family. The ending of Verity still haunts me!

And don’t forget to get Sarah’s newest book here!