It’s been a thrilling year when it comes to the thriller genre. Disappearances, mental instability, fear-gripping insomnia, suspicious marriages and kidnappings are just some of the highlights in our picks. Here are our favorite heart-stopping, mind-boggling, twisty, must-read thrillers of 2018 so far.

The Good Son by You-Jeong Jeong

When Yu-jin wakes up one morning, he finds his mother murdered at the bottom of the stairs and he doesn’t know what happened. And the fact that Yu-jin suffers from seizures and memory loss makes the night especially hard to remember. Was his mother calling for help or begging for her life? Yu-jin spends the next three days to figure out what happened to his mother. The Good Son is a shocking thriller about a twisted mother-and-son relationship you’ll not forget.

Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris

Finn and Layla are on vacation when she disappears at a gas station. A decade later, connecting through grief over their loss, Finn is now engaged to Layla’s sister, Ellen. While he loves Ellen, he can’t help but have a sixth sense that something is not quite right, and when Finn gets a phone call from someone who says he has seen Layla, his suspicions grow. Is Layla alive and in hiding, and was her disappearance planned all along?

She Was the Quiet One by Michele Campbell

When twin sisters Bel and Rose enroll at Odell Academy, they think it’s an opportunity of a lifetime. But when peer pressure and a bad crowd of kids ruin the twins’ relationship, they each seek out solace and advice on how to move forward. Rose looks to her dorm mother, Sarah, while Bel turns to Heath, a charming teacher who just happens to be married to Sarah. She Was the Quiet One is a story of privilege and seduction, where only one sister comes out alive.

The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy

The May Mothers, who have all just had babies born in May, get together twice a week for some adult time. Single mom Winnie is apprehensive about leaving her six-week-old with a babysitter but reluctantly agrees to a night out. When her baby Midas is snatched from his crib that night, the May Mothers become connected in ways they never thought possible. Friendships and marriages are put to the test as they search for the missing baby.

Three Days Missing by Kimberly Belle

When Kat’s nine-year-old son disappears from an overnight class trip in the mountains, with no leads, she is stunned and in shock. Another mother, Stef Huntington, who is prominent in the community, has reasons of her own to be concerned over Ethan’s disappearance. The two very different mothers will work together to figure out the mystery behind Kat’s son’s disappearance.

When the Lights Go Out by Mary Kubica

Jessie Sloane is rebuilding her life, applying for college and moving into a new apartment after caring for her mom for years. When the college discovers a glitch with her social security number, nothing will ever be the same. As Jessie tries to figure out the mystery of who she is, insomnia pulls at her mental stability, and she confuses reality with imagination. Has Jessie been living a life of lies, or is she just becoming delusional from lack of sleep?

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

Reclusive Anna Fox drinks too much wine, watches old movies and spies on her New York neighbors. When she sees something happen in the house across the way, she’s not sure if she imagined it or if someone is really in danger. With her failing mental state, nothing – and no one – appears as it should be, and something terrible might be happening right outside her window.

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Make no assumptions in this jealous ex-wife story. Complex secrets and dangerous truths made in the name of love will have dire consequences.

I Will Never Leave You by S.M. Thayer

When Trish holds her husband’s mistress’s baby for the first time, she falls deeply in love – a baby is what has been missing in her and James’s life. But James and Laurel want to be together, and banking heiress Trish – with her ironclad prenup – is not making it easy for the lovers. Determined to make the baby hers, how far will Trish go to be happy, and how far will James and Laurel go to tear themselves away from Trish and her obsession?

(Feature image courtesy of @l_skell)