Eight Books About Friendships Turned Deadly
Not all friendships last forever. It can hurt when a friendship ends, but it is a normal part of life. Sometimes, however, the end of a friendship is more than merely painful: it’s downright dangerous. This is especially the case in thrillers like the ones below, which show how lies, jealousy, and murder can fracture even the strongest of friendships. If you want suspense thrillers that will make you look at all your friends with suspicion, these are the books for you!
The books in this article all feature women who are—or pretend to be or believe themselves to be—the very best of friends. Somewhere along the line, however, something goes horribly, irreparably wrong. A few of these friendships started out sweet and turned sour, while others were lethally toxic from the get-go. Either way, you will be fascinated by the way their relationships—and multiple lives—get ripped to shreds.
The Perfect Friend
Barbara Copperthwaite
Alex has had a tough time overcoming her eating disorder. Even worse is the guilt of realizing that her illness has pushed away her husband and children. The only person she has left is her best friend, Carrie. So when Carrie reveals she has terminal cancer, Alex is determined to do everything she can to make her final days perfect. But is Alex's eagerness to make amends doing more harm than good? And is Carrie really deserving of Alex's devotion?
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Give Me Your Hand
Megan Abbott
Kit has risen to the top of her profession and is on the brink of achieving everything she wanted. She hasn’t let anything stop her.
But now someone else is standing in her way: Diane. Best friends at seventeen, their shared ambition made them inseparable. Until the day Diane told Kit her secret — the worst thing she’d ever done, the worst thing Kit could imagine—and it blew their friendship apart. Kit is still the only person who knows what Diane did. And now Diane knows something about Kit that could destroy everything she’s worked so hard for.
How far would Kit go to make the hard work, the sacrifice, worth it in the end? What wouldn’t she give up? Diane thinks Kit is just like her. Maybe she’s right. Ambition: it’s in the blood . . .
Related: Megan Abbott Gives Us The Details On Writing Give Me Your Hand
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Every Last Secret
A. R. Torre
Cat has the perfect life...and Neena wants it. After all, who deserves happiness more: wealthy, boastful Cat, or hard-working Neena? Neena bides her time at first, befriending Cat even as she plans her downfall. For her part, Cat is suspicious of her new neighbor but stays close. This decision may cost her her perfect life, in more ways than one. Filled with shocking twists, Every Last Secret is a brand-new domestic suspense thriller that will appeal to anyone who has ever coveted another person's success.
Related: Books That Show The Perfect Setting For Murder...Is Paradise
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Real World
Natsuo Kirino
Much has been made of the effects of technology and social media on teenagers. Real World takes the debate to new and disturbing levels. Four Tokyo teenagers, each with her own secrets and each already bored with life, become the center of attention when a despised neighbor is accused of killing his father. How the girls react to the situation will impact the rest of their lives. Written by internationally acclaimed novelist Natsuo Kirino, this novel may be a little too real for those worried about how new technology can influence—and corrupt—young minds.
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Not Bad People
Brandy Scott
After a New Year's celebration goes horribly wrong, best friends Melinda, Lou, and Aimee try to go about their lives as if nothing happened. They juggle careers and troublesome children, just like everyone else in town. But some mistakes can never be forgiven and forgotten, no matter how far the perpetrators go to cover their tracks. Not Bad People is a nail-biter of a novel that explores what it means to be a good person versus a bad person... and shows what happens when good people do very, very bad things.
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You Are Not Alone
Greer Hendricks; Sarah Pekkanen
Maybe it wouldn't have happened if Shay weren't so lonely. Instead, her relationship problems and career troubles have put her in the Moore sisters' crosshairs. Cassandra and Jane Moore ingratiate themselves to her so completely and so charmingly that even the ever-logical Shay falls under their spell. What is the true price of friendship with these gorgeous glamor girls? Will Shay live long enough to find out?
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Best Friends Forever
Margot Hunt
Alice and Kat are the living embodiment of the phrase "opposites attract." Despite having almost nothing in common, they have been best friends for years. That closeness is put to the ultimate test when Kat's abusive husband is found dead—murdered, or so the police insist. With Kat suspiciously MIA and Alice on the suspect list, the women's friendship becomes increasingly strained. Can it survive finding out who really killed Kat's husband?
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When Sadie Roper moves back to London, she’s determined to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. First, she needs to get her daughter settled into a new school-one of the most exclusive in the city. Next, she’s going to get back the high-flying criminal barrister career she sacrificed for marriage ten years earlier. But nothing goes quite as planned. The school is not very welcoming newcomers, her daughter hasn’t made any friends yet and the other mothers are as fiercely competitive as their children. Sadie immediately finds herself on the outside as she navigates the fraught politics of the school gate.
But the tide starts to turn as Sadie begins to work on a scandalous, high-profile case that’s the perfect opportunity to prove herself again, even though a dangerous flirtation threatens to cloud her professional judgment. And when Liza, queen of the school moms, befriends Sadie, she draws her into the heart of the world from which she was previously excluded. Soon Sadie and her family start to thrive, but does this close new friendship prevent her from seeing the truth? Sadie may be keeping her friends close, but what she doesn’t know is that her enemies are closer still…
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Eileen Gonzalez is a freelance writer from Connecticut. She has a Master’s degree in communications and years of experience writing about pop culture. She contributes to Book Riot and Foreword Reviews, and she occasionally tweets at @eileen2thestars.