Thriller · Similar reads
Books like Don't Breathe a Word
The best books like Don't Breathe a Word are In Cold Blood, The Devil in the White City, and Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders. Don't Breathe a Word by Jennifer McMahon is about childhood secrets, memory and truth, folklore and reality. If that's what drew you in, here are 12 books that share its DNA — each summarized on Superbook, and ready to chat with in the app.
- In Cold Blood
01
Truman Capote · Memoir
Truman Capote's account of the 1959 murders of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas — and of the investigation, capture, trial, and execution of the killers Perry Smith and Richard Hickock — is the founding document of the true crime genre and one of the most admired works of American nonfiction of the twentieth century.
A kindred thriller read.
Read the summary → - The Devil in the White City
02
Erik Larson · History
The Devil in the White City tells two stories that unfolded simultaneously in Chicago in 1893.
A kindred thriller read.
Read the summary → - Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders
03
Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders
Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry · Memoir
Helter Skelter is the account of the Tate-LaBianca murders of August 1969 written by Vincent Bugliosi, the Los Angeles deputy district attorney who prosecuted Charles Manson, with journalist Curt Gentry.
A kindred thriller read.
Read the summary →
- The Turn of the Screw
04
Henry James · Horror
A young governess is sent to an isolated English country house to care for two children, Miles and Flora, whose guardian — a charming, absent man in London — has made clear he does not want to be bothered.
A kindred thriller read.
Read the summary → - Adult Children of Alcoholics
05
Janet G. Woititz · Psychology
Adult Children of Alcoholics is Janet Woititz's clinical guide to the lasting psychological patterns that develop in children raised in alcoholic families.
Both dig into family dysfunction.
Read the summary → - Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
06
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
J. D. Vance · Memoir
Hillbilly Elegy is J.
Both dig into family dysfunction.
Read the summary → - The Bee Sting
07
Paul Murray · Literary fiction
The Bee Sting is Paul Murray's third novel and his most ambitious — a 650-page study of a middle-class Irish family, the Barneses, collapsing in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
Both dig into family dysfunction.
Read the summary → - The Corrections
08
Jonathan Franzen · Literary fiction
Jonathan Franzen's third novel, published in 2001 and winner of the National Book Award, follows the Lambert family across three adult children and their aging parents, Alfred and Enid, through the late 1990s.
Both dig into family dysfunction.
Read the summary → - The Glass Castle: A Memoir
09
Jeannette Walls · Memoir
The Glass Castle is Jeannette Walls's memoir about growing up as the second of four children in a family that moved constantly across the American Southwest and West Virginia, rarely had enough to eat, and existed almost entirely outside conventional institutions.
Both dig into family dysfunction.
Read the summary → - A Time to Kill
10
John Grisham · Thriller
In Clanton, Mississippi, two white men rape and nearly kill ten-year-old Tonya Hailey.
A kindred thriller read.
Read the summary → - Along Came a Spider
11
James Patterson · Thriller
Along Came a Spider introduces Alex Cross, a Black homicide detective and forensic psychologist working in Washington D.C., in the case that made James Patterson a bestseller.
A kindred thriller read.
Read the summary → - Angels & Demons
12
Dan Brown · Thriller
Physicist Leonardo Vetra is found dead at CERN with a symbol burned into his chest: the Illuminati ambigram.
A kindred thriller read.
Read the summary →
Books like Don't Breathe a Word: quick answers
What are the best books like Don't Breathe a Word?
The best books like Don't Breathe a Word by Jennifer McMahon are In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, Adult Children of Alcoholics by Janet G. Woititz, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with Don't Breathe a Word, such as childhood secrets, memory and truth, folklore and reality.
What should I read after Don't Breathe a Word?
A natural next read after Don't Breathe a Word is In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. A kindred thriller read. Other strong choices are The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James.
What books are similar to Don't Breathe a Word by Jennifer McMahon?
Don't Breathe a Word centers on childhood secrets, memory and truth, folklore and reality. Books with a similar feel include In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, Adult Children of Alcoholics by Janet G. Woititz, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
