It’s All In Your Head: Characters With Bateman Levels of Psychopathy
It’s not that Patrick Bateman from American Psycho is the type of character that readers love and root for. But there’s something about Bateman’s depraved mind that is intriguing. You don’t want these characters to win out in the end, but you want them to stick around long enough to spend some time inside their heads, a place that is sometimes thrilling and sometimes dangerous. If you’re looking for thriller books to read with characters like Patrick Bateman and books like American Psycho, check out the eight thrillers on this list.
The Fire Witness
Lars Kepler
The Fire Witness is the third novel in the Joona Linna thriller series from Lars Kepler. In this novel, Detective Inspector Joona Linna is called in to observe the investigation of a gruesome murder at a home for wayward teenage girls called Birgittagarden. The case is disturbing and strange and unlike anything Linna has witnessed before, and soon Linna is drawn into the details of the case. What kind of person could have committed such crimes?
Psycho
Robert Bloch
Psycho is the unforgettable novel that inspired the classic Alfred Hitchcock movie of the same name. And Norman Bates is the type of character that has intrigued readers and viewers for years, just like Patrick Bateman. Perhaps you're familiar with the story of Norman, a lonely man who lives alone with his mother and manages the Bates Motel. But if you've only seen the movie, there's so much more to learn about the character from Bloch's novel.
The Girl Next Door
Jack Ketchum
Suburbia might seem quiet, free of complications and danger. But danger lurks everywhere in the minds of all kinds of people in all kinds of places. Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door is the story of Meg and her sister Susan, two girls who live in a quiet, shady suburban neighborhood at the end of a dead-end street. But they're not free to come and go like other people in the neighborhood. They are trapped in a dark, damp basement where they're held captive by their aunt who is rapidly descending into madness.
Related: Twisted Sisters and Family Secrets in Psychological Thrillers
The Killer Inside Me
Foreword by Stephen King
by Jim Thompson
Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me takes readers into dark mind of an American serial killer. Lou Ford is the deputy sheriff in the small town of Central City, Texas, and everyone in his town loves him. But what they don't know is that Lou has secret urges. Urges that have already claimed the lives of many people.
The Poet
by Michael Connelly
The Poet is a thriller with surprising twists and turns that will keep you guessing and keep you wondering what the strange mind behind these crimes will do next. The story begins when Denver crime-beat reporter Jack McEvoy loses his homicide detective brother to suicide. McEvoy decided to deal with the tragic loss by writing down the story, but as he begins to research what happened to his brother, he starts to suspect a serial killer might be behind it.
Last to Die
by Kate Brady
n Kate Brady's Last to Die, a ruthless killer is hiding in plain sight, and it's the last person anyone would ever suspect. Detective Dani Cole is determined to find out who killed six women with dark pasts, especially because one of the women was someone Dani herself pulled out of a life of crime. When Dani's investigation leads her to a photography foundation and Mitch Sheridan, a photographer she fell in love with years ago, she finds herself drawn to Mitch all over again. When the two work together to uncover the murderer, they discover the killer might be much closer to them than they could have thought.
The Shining
Stephen King
Jack Torrance’s new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he’ll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic location feels ever more remote . . . and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old.
Related: The Five Highest-Rated King Books According to Goodreads
The Killer You Know
by S. R. Masters
The Killer You Know is the story of a group of friends who discover one of them is playing a sinister game. When a group of friends get together for a reunion, they note that one of them is missing, and they recall a time when their friend Will joked with all of him that he would become a serial killer one day. At the time they thought it was a joke, anyway. But now that they don't know where he is? They're not so sure. Especially because some of the things Will joked about match the details of recent murder cases.
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