Saturday, April 1, 2023

Ten terrifying serial killer thrillers

Ren DeStefano lives in Connecticut, where she was born and raised. When she’s not writing thrillers, she’s listening to true crime podcasts and crocheting way too many blankets.

Her new novel is How I'll Kill You.

"The best serial killer thrillers are the ones we pretend could never happen in real life," writes DeStefano at Publishers Weekly, "but still touch upon our deepest-held fear that anything is possible." One entry from her list of the ten most disturbing titles in the genre:
Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

Family trauma runs deep in this story about two sisters and a past that haunts them. Decades ago, their sister went missing and was never found. Now, the surviving sisters are estranged and living very different lives. But when another girl goes missing, the truth comes to the surface in a very unsettling and unexpected way.
Read about the other entries on the list.

Pretty Girls is among Stacy Willingham's five best serial killer thrillers, Leanne Kale Sparks's six novels that push the limit of acceptable thriller storylines, and Harry Dolan's eight top crime novels about people haunted by their pasts.

--Marshal Zeringue