Thriller · Similar reads
Books like Gone Girl
The best books like Gone Girl are In the Woods, The Maltese Falcon, and Dark Places. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is about marriage and performance, media and public narrative, gender and expectation. 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 the Woods
01
Tana French · Mystery
Dublin detective Rob Ryan is called to investigate a child's murder at an archaeological dig in Knocknaree — the same woods where, twenty years earlier, two of his childhood friends vanished without a trace and Rob was found clinging to a tree, bloodied and with no memory of what happened.
A kindred thriller read.
Read the summary → - The Maltese Falcon
02
Dashiell Hammett · Mystery
San Francisco private detective Sam Spade is hired by a woman calling herself Miss Wonderly to find her missing sister — a lie within thirty seconds of the novel opening.
A kindred thriller read.
Read the summary → - Dark Places
03
Gillian Flynn · Thriller
Libby Day survived the Kansas farmhouse massacre that killed her mother and two sisters when she was seven.
A kindred thriller read.
Read the summary → - Sharp Objects
04
Gillian Flynn · Thriller
Reporter Camille Preaker is sent back to Wind Gap, Missouri — the small town she escaped a decade earlier — to cover the murders of two young girls.
A kindred thriller read.
Read the summary → - The Girl on the Train
05
Paula Hawkins · Thriller
Rachel Watson takes the same commuter train every day, passing the house where she used to live with her ex-husband Tom, who now lives there with his new wife.
A kindred thriller read.
Read the summary → - A Time to Kill
06
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
07
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
08
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 → - Big Little Lies
09
Liane Moriarty · Thriller
Big Little Lies begins with a death at a school trivia night and then spends its entire length working backward to explain how it happened.
A kindred thriller read.
Read the summary → - Blacklands
10
Belinda Bauer · Thriller
Twelve-year-old Steven Lamb lives in the shadow of an unresolved disappearance.
A kindred thriller read.
Read the summary → - Blindsighted
11
Karin Slaughter · Thriller
Blindsighted is Karin Slaughter's debut novel, published in 2001, and the first book in the Grant County series set in fictional Heartsdale, Georgia.
A kindred thriller read.
Read the summary → - Die Trying
12
Lee Child · Thriller
Jack Reacher is in the wrong place at the wrong time in Chicago — helping a woman with dry cleaning when she is snatched off the street.
A kindred thriller read.
Read the summary →
Books like Gone Girl: quick answers
What are the best books like Gone Girl?
The best books like Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn are In the Woods by Tana French, The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, Dark Places by Gillian Flynn, Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with Gone Girl, such as marriage and performance, media and public narrative, gender and expectation.
What should I read after Gone Girl?
A natural next read after Gone Girl is In the Woods by Tana French. A kindred thriller read. Other strong choices are The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, Dark Places by Gillian Flynn, Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn.
What books are similar to Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn?
Gone Girl centers on marriage and performance, media and public narrative, gender and expectation. Books with a similar feel include In the Woods by Tana French, The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, Dark Places by Gillian Flynn, Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, A Time to Kill by John Grisham — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
