“I want readers to feel like they’re on a roller coaster. Fast, twisty, maybe a few screams. It’s definitely a thrill ride,” Sager says. For more nail-biting reads, check out the author’s most anticipated thrillers of summer. “Fans of The Silent Patient will love The Maidens [Celadon] by Alex Michaelides. Set in the world of academia, it features Greek mythology, multiple murders and a twist that made my jaw hit the floor.” “Each summer, one book gets everyone talking. This year, The Other Black Girl [Atria] by Zakiya Dalila Harris is that book. Equal parts funny and chilling, it’s the most bold and original novel I’ve read in years.” “A hit among some of the hottest thriller writers working today, Bath Haus [Doubleday] by P.J. Vernon examines the consequences of a man’s tryst at a gay bathhouse. As his lies spin out of control, he faces the possibility of losing everything—including his life.” “Falling [July 6, Avid Reader Press] is sure to please adrenaline junkies—and terrify anyone with a fear of flying. Former flight attendant T.J. Newman tells a story in which a pilot can save his kidnapped family only by crashing his commercial flight and killing everyone on board.” “S.A. Cosby follows up last summer’s breakout hit Blacktop Wasteland with Razorblade Tears [July 6, Flatiron], a story of two fathers—one Black, one white—seeking revenge after the murders of their gay sons.” “In The Husbands [August 3, Flatiron], Chandler Baker takes readers to an elite enclave where the women have it all and the men might literally be too good to be true. It’s not quite Stepford, but it’s certainly in the same neighborhood.” “Billy Summers [August 3, Scribner] by Stephen King: A hit man who only kills bad guys embarks on one last job. Things don’t go as planned. A late-summer treat from the master of horror.” “In The Turnout [August 3, G.P. Putnam’s Sons], Megan Abbott, the author of the stellar cheerleader noir Dare Me, trains her keen eye on the world of ballet and two sisters whose relationship—and family-run studio—start to unravel.” “A woman’s life is upended when she befriends a group of hard-drinking, target-shooting Texas housewives in The Hunting Wives [Berkley] by May Cobb. As hot and soapy as a bubble bath, it’s the summer’s juiciest read.” “A down-on-his-luck writer, a dead student and a story worth killing for make up the plot of, well, The Plot [Celadon] by Jean Hanff Korelitz. One of the first thrillers out of the gate this summer, it already has readers buzzing.” “Death comes to suburbia in bestseller Megan Miranda’s Such a Quiet Place [Simon & Schuster], which chronicles an insular neighborhood torn apart by a shocking double murder—and the return of the woman everyone thinks is responsible.” “An expert on space travel, journalist Jeffrey Kluger turns to fiction with Holdout [August 3, Dutton], about an American astronaut staging a one-woman protest aboard the International Space Station. It’s so cinematic it should come with a tub of popcorn.” Next, 26 New Beach Reads We Can’t Wait to Take on Vacation
