9 Must-Read Novels with Jaw-Dropping Plot Twists — Reader Recommended!

[Affiliate Disclosure: We receive a commission if you purchase something through one of the links below! All affiliates are thoroughly vetted to ensure quality and relevance for our audience.]

I’ve been pushing myself to get back into reading actual books — but it’s hard when you read for a living!! Even reading the best books can feel like work when your eyes are tired.

But I’m really making it a point, so I thought I’d start with my favorite genre: suspense thrillers. I love books with a plot twist, so I got on PA’s Facebook page (are you following us?) and asked the PA community what their favorite books were — specifically, books with a crazy plot twist!

Here are the books they recommended…

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

This book was recommended multiple times — definitely at the top of my list!

Now a Starz original series, Outlander takes place in the Scottish Highlands in 1945. A former British combat nurse, Claire Randall has just returned from the war. Finally reunited with her husband, they take a second honeymoon to the British Isles. She walks through a standing stone and suddenly finds herself an “outlander” in Scotland… in 1743! What happens in her parallel universe will have you on the edge of your seat, turning page after page long past your bedtime!

Get a copy of Outlander on Amazon.

Fingersmith by Sara Waters

Okay, I started trying to summarize this one for you, but the characters and plot are so tightly interwoven, my summary would probably just confuse you… so here’s the summary from Amazon:

“Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a “baby farmer,” who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby’s household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves — fingersmiths — for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home.

One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives — Gentleman, an elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud’s vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be disposed of — passed off as mad, and made to live out the rest of her days in a lunatic asylum.

With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways… But no one and nothing is as it seems in this Dickensian novel of thrills and reversals.”

Get a copy of Fingersmith here.

Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

The title may make you think, “What could possibly be exciting about a girl on a train!?” Well, you’ll see! It’s about Rachel, who takes the same train ride twice daily. I can’t reveal anything more without spoiling it for you, but it’s a shocker. And it’s being made into a movie — make sure you read the book first 🙂

Get it here on Amazon.

Lost Among the Living by Simone St. James

In 1921 England, three years after Jo Manders’ husband Alex disappeared in the war, she is still devastated over his loss. She’s now working for her husband’s wealthy, snooty Aunt Dottie. When they travel to the family’s allegedly cursed, ghostly estate in Sussex, Jo begins to realize her husband’s origins and past are not what they seem…

Find Lost Among the Living on Amazon.

The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie

The Queen of Mystery strikes again! It’s one of my life goals to eventually read all of her novels.

From the back cover:

Pretty, young Anne came to London looking for adventure. In fact, adventure comes looking for her — and finds her immediately at Hyde Park Corner tube station. Anne is present on the platform when a thin man, reeking of mothballs, loses his balance and is electrocuted on the rails.

The Scotland Yard verdict is accidental death. But Anne is not satisfied. After all, who was the man in the brown suit who examined the body? And why did he race off, leaving a cryptic message behind: “17-122 Kilmorden Castle”?

Get it here on Amazon.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

If you haven’t read this one — or even heard of it! — you’re missing out! (Don’t watch the movie first!!)

Gone Girl centers on the twisted marriage of Nick and Amy Dunne. Perfection on the outside. Misery on the inside. Seemingly perfect Amy suddenly disappears one morning and the world thinks Nick is guilty. Is he? Or is something else to blame?

Get it here on Amazon 🙂

BONUS: If you’ve already read Gone Girl, be sure to read Gillian’s other novels, Sharp Objects and Dark Places too!

The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille

The “Gold Coast” is a famous stretch of land on the North Shore of Long Island that was once the center of wealth and power in America. DeMille’s tale centers on the lives of two men — John the Wall Street exec and Frank the Mafia don — and how their lives collide. John’s gorgeous wife Susan gets caught up in the middle, of course, making The Gold Coast a tale of suspense, passion, and betrayal. A must-read for sure!

Get it here on Amazon.

Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier

In an isolated gray stone mansion on the windy coast of Cornwall, the second wife of Maxim de Winter recants the series of events that unfolded back when she first embarked on her new life — as the young bride of a man she hardly knew.

Something’s not right in the house. If you’re into sinister mystery, this book is for you!

From the back cover:

“For in every corner of every room were phantoms of a time dead but not forgotten — a past devotedly preserved by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers: a suite immaculate and untouched, clothing laid out and ready to be worn, but not by any of the great house’s current occupants. With an eerie presentiment of evil tightening her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter walked in the shadow of her mysterious predecessor, determined to uncover the darkest secrets and shattering truths about Maxim’s first wife — the late and hauntingly beautiful Rebecca.”

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

In a world divided not by the color of the skin but by the color of the blood, Red Queen dives into the life of  Mare Barrow, a “Red” whose livelihood hangs on her ability to steal from the rich, powerful “Silvers,” who all have special abilities that give them power over the lowly Reds.

One day, Mare discovers — in the presence of the Silver king — that she has a power of her own. Desperate to cover up the fact that she is a red, the king forces Mare to pretend to be a Silver, even betrothing her to one of his sons.

Mare’s new life is based on a lie and on a hierarchy that has left deep wounds in the lives of her friends and family — The risks she takes to both maintain and mask her identity will keep you on the edge of your seat!

You can find Red Queen on Amazon. Aveyard’s creating a trilogy based on Red Queen. Glass Sword is the second book in that trilogy, followed by King’s Cage and War Storm.

Your Turn!

Which books have you read that have a mind-blowing plot twist (or two)?! I’d love to read them all! Will you share a link in the comments below?