Five Books To Get Your Brain Working

Clever thrillers that go beyond simple page-turning appeal

Sep 18, 2024

*The White Door And The Golden Cupboard* by Vilhelm Hammershøi, 1886. I like how Hammershøi’s paintings of interiors often have a slightly cold, unsettling quality to them. Somehow they never quite look like cosy homes even when the decor is beautiful.

Welcome to Five Books For, a newsletter for people who love great stories. I’m so happy you’re here.

I love the September feeling of back to school, new stationery, and the nights starting to get darker; the idea of jumpers and cardigans, fresh crisp air and the leaves starting to change. In all honesty none of that really happens where I live - it’s still about 30°/85° here - but growing up in the UK means it gets deeply programmed into you.

Anyway, one of the great pleasures of autumn for me has always been reading (I mean, that’s true all year round, but there’s something about autumn that nakes reading even more appealing). I find I no longer want summery books, be they light-hearted or burning intense like some of the books we covered in August; instead, I want something a little darker, preferably to be read when I’m curled up in front of a fire, under a blanket, rain tapping on the windows (again, unlikely to happen here but you get the idea). So this month I thought I’d share some clever thrillers with you in case you feel the same. To be clear, I’m not talking here about fun, trashy thrillers; I'm talking about the type of thriller that yes, is full of suspense, but also does something more than the genre strictly requires, whether that’s intricate plotting, a high -concept premise, or an ingenious solution that blindsides the reader.

Below are five recommendations which I hope you’ll love - they’re such great books and perfect autumn reads.

Okay, let’s dive in!

Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty

“We discovered that safety and security are commodities you can sell in return for excitement but you can never buy them back.”

So what’s it about? This is a legal thriller, a sub-genre usually met with a giant yawn from me (with a couple of notable exceptions) but it is also much more than that. Yvonne, a middle-aged and highly-respected scientist, a leader in her field and a married mothet of two children, is on trial for murder, although when the book opens we don’t yet know who has died, or how. As the story unravels via Yvonne’s testimony, we hear that one day, after appearing as an expert in front of a parliamentary select committee, she met a man who claims to be a security consultant at the Houses of Parliament. There is an instant chemistry between them and when he offers her a tour of the secret chapel of the House of Commons, she accompanies him there where they have sex in the chapel’s cupboard, despite not even knowing each other’s names. This is just the first encounter in an intense affair, largely characterised by risky outdoor sex, but the story is by no means only about an affair. Rather, the book is really about the way in which the affair intersects with other events in Yvonne’s life and eventually leads to a murder, hence the courtroom setting.

What’s great about it? This is an absolutely gripping read with a perfect twist at the end - nothing outlandish, just the perfect twist for this particular story (I sometimes feel like the current vogue for plot twists can get a bit carried away, especially in this genre. Not every thriller needs to be Gone Girl to be good). What I love about it is the way that Yvonne, despite her outlandish actions, is like so many of us: just pootling along living her normal life, until a random meeting (and the choices she makes as a result) send her life spinning in a whole new direction. The way in which the story unfolds allows us to see the moment at which her life splits into before and after, and the way that small and sometimes seemingly innocuous choices can implode a life and career. There’s also a focus on stories: the stories we tell ourselves (about ourselves, about others, about our actions); the stories that other people make from our words and actions; the stories that conceal the truth even as they seem complete. Of course, a criminal trial is the ultimate test of stories: two conflicting versions of events, with a jury who have to decide what to believe. Whatever your feelings about Yvonne and her behaviour, she is a compelling and complex character who doesn’t fit easily into any kind of pigeonhole, and the book is stronger for it.

Give it a try if: you like legal thrillers; you love books with strong, intelligent female characters; you like books set in London; you like books which capture that sense of how the ordinary can so quickly become extraordinary; you like books where people behave outlandishly and yet it is somehow utterly plausible in the context of the story.

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

“It’s terrifying when you consider that every thought we have, every choice we could possibly make, branches off into a new world.”

So what’s it about? This fast-paced, non-stop action thriller is based on the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. Our hero Jason is a college physics professor who lives with his wife and son in Chicago. One evening Jason is kidnapped while running a routine errands and wakes to find himself in a science laboratory, only to find that said laboratory is actually in an alternate universe. In this universe, he never married his wife or went on to have a family but instead became a brilliant physicist who created a way to travel between different universes. This Jason (Jason2, for ease) has kidnapped him and gone to replace him to see what his life would have been like had he not been so career-focused. Can Jason figure out how to get back to his wife and family? And can he convince them that it is in fact him, when not only Jason2 but many more Jasons are suddenly starting to appear?

What’s great about it? This is such a fun read but also very clever. I suppose it’s technically a science fiction thriller but it’s enjoyable for anyone who likes thrillers, especially of the Jack Reacher action type, even if you’re someone who shudders at the thought of sci-fi. We have surely all wondered at some point about what our life might have looked like if we’d made different decisions, and this is a great exploration not only of that premise but also of what makes each of us, us. What makes the original Jason, Jason when he is unrecognisable from another Jason who’s lived an almost identical life? How do we create meaning for ourselves? It’s tightly plotted and pacy with some fascinating alternate realities explored along the way, and you’ll be rooting for Jason to succeed all the way through.

Give it a try if: you love books with everyman heroes; you love books which feature a happy family; you love fast-paced thrillers; you love books set in Chicago; you love science fiction; you hate science fiction but love thrillers.

Win by Harlen Coben

“Too much is made of ‘live every moment to its fullest.’ It is an unrealistic goal, one that leads to more stress than satisfaction. The secret to fulfillment is not about exciting adventures or living out loud—no one can maintain that kind of pace—but in welcoming and even relishing the quiet and familiar.”

So what’s it about? Windsor “Win” Horne Lockwood III will be familiar to some readers as a regular character in Coben’s Myron Bolitar series of books. When an elderly and rather reclusive man is found murdered in his luxurious New York apartment, the police find several items linked to the kidnapping of Win’s cousin Patricia back in the 1970s. Can Win get to the bottom of the mystery and find the remaining members of the criminal gang who kidnapped Patricia? And why is his father so uncomfortable with him raking up old history?

What’s great about it? It’s surely not possible to pull together a list of clever thrillers and not include something by Harlen Coben, master of plot, although there are so many great books to choose from it was hard to narrow it down to just one. He writes incredible stand-alone thrillers as well as the Bolitar series and I sincerely hope that this will be the start of a new series with Win as the main protagonist. I chose this one in the end as Win is such a great character, especially once he’s removed from the confines of being Myron’s sidekick and allowed to really come into his own. Like all of Coben’s books, it is well-constructed, brilliantly plotted, the resolution is satisfying and the pace is just right. Win is an absolutely brilliant lead and his narration is wryly amusing even as he’s bringing extreme violence to bear on the bad guys. I also love that we have met various of the characters before through the Bolitar books - it feels like being reunited with old friends.

Give it a try if: you love books with brilliant heroes/anti-heroes; you love action thrillers like the Jack Reacher novels; you love brilliant plotting; you like reading books which have recurring characters or take place in a particular ‘universe’; you find the kidnappings for profit of the past an intriguing type of true crime.

Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

“We only think of the bad things that happen, rather than those that, through fortune, pass us by.’’

So what’s it about? On the 30th October, our heroine Jen is watching out of the window, waiting for her 18 year old son Todd to arrive home from a date. When Todd arrives, he is accosted by a man in the street and before Jen can do anything, stabs the man. Todd is arrested and when Jen wakes up in the morning, exhausted from trying to help Todd and find out how such a thing could have happened, she finds it’s still actually two days earlier, and Todd has not yet stabbed the stranger. And so begins ones of the most creative, high-concept thrillers I’ve ever read. As the book progresses, Jen finds herself looping further and further back in time, spotting clues she missed when they popped up in her day to day life. Can she find the thing she needs to change in order to prevent the stabbing? And will she be able to cope with the secrets she finds out about her own family while she’s searching?

What’s great about it? This is a great read - really gripping and smart at the same time. The time loop concept is brilliant and McAllister uses it perfectly to examine questions of how the decisions we make, even the smallest ones, can have a huge ripple effect on the rest of our lives. One of the things I like about it is that although the time loop is critical to the story, McAllister never strays away from the core nature of the book being a thriller: she’s not concerned with trying to explain how or why such a thing could happen, beyond what Jen needs to know to solve her mystery, which means that the plot remains tight and the pace leads us steadily through the narrative without distraction. There is a small note at the end of the book which mentions a possible explanation for the time loops which I think strikes the perfect balance between not going into detail in the book but providing a premise which works. Jen’s love for her son shines through the novel and one of McAllister’s strengths is understanding and explaining both the joy and the pain of parental love.

Give it a try if: you want something smart to read; you love books where mothers are the heroes; you love books which upend genre expectations; you love books which are high-concept; you love science fiction but want a thriller; you love thrillers and don’t mind a sci-fi concept being used to propel the plot.

The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine

“All she’d wanted was the life she deserved. It didn’t occur to her that she had gotten it.’’

So what’s it about? Amber Patterson has changed her name to escape her past and has decided to get herself a new life, including a new husband. The fact that he’s married to someone else doesn’t present an issue; she has spent a long time researching Jackson Parrish and has decided that he’s the man she wants: a billionaire businessman with a seemingly perfect life, except for the lack of the son he’s always wanted. Amber sets out to befriend Jackson’s wife Daphne so that can use her to get close to Jackson and eventually replace her. But Amber might be taking on more than she bargained for. Will she win Jackson over and convince him to leave Daphne for her? And what will Daphne do about it?

What’s great about it? This book starts off as a seemingly straightforward novel about Amber and her predatory plan, but soon evolves into something much darker and cleverer. I don’t want to spoil the twist but it’s such a great idea for a book and such a satisfying ending. It’s not often that you get to read something really different in the thriller category but when I first read it I loved how clever the plot is, and the twists and turns it takes to get to the end.

Give it a try if: you love books with unpleasant characters carrying out nefarious plans; you love great plot twists; you love stories where women overcome tremendous odds to improve their lives; you love an ending where everyone gets what they deserve.

Thanks for reading!

I hope you found something good to read here. As ever, I’d love to hear if you’ve read and loved (or indeed hated) any of the books here, and which ones you’d add to the list. You can reply directly to this email or leave a comment by clicking the button below.