87 Books Like Rubbernecker

Thematically, my book explores the evolution of the FBI during its most transformative decades. This exceptional work takes us deeper into one area where the FBI can bring to bear remarkable capabilities unlike any other agency: the introduction of Criminal Profiling. 

Douglas delivers a rare insider’s account as one of the FBI’s original profilers in ways that are as informative as they are provocative, all within the harrowing high-stakes context of pursuing some of the most heinous and ultra-violent criminals imaginable. 

Douglas wisely balances this complex, historical, technique-driven accounting with narrative portrayals rife with real consequences that this select group of trailblazing investigators absorbed due to such intimate immersion pursuing these worst-of-the-worst criminal minds. The sheer emotional weight and toll on them are stunning, heightening the sense of debt we as a society owe to them for their invaluable service. 

These sacrifices underscore the reality that protecting and serving for… show more.

I admit I’m old enough that memories of the post-Vietnam War era had begun to fade (mercifully?) until this book brought them back into sharp focus.

Vientiane, Laos, in 1976, after the Communist takeover, is so vividly portrayed–from the scent of the “Crow Shit blossoms” on the banks of the Mekhong to the inertia of the socialistic hierarchy, to the chicken counter spies turning their neighbors in for their capitalistic extravagances. And I found the 72-year-old Laotian coroner protagonist so endearing!

His cynical outlook and visitations from the dead make him a singularly sage and unconventional hero who can roll with the wildly absurd changes of the new regime. 

Hannibal Lecter’s silky smooth menace still chills me like no other villain on my shelf.

Silence of the Lambs taught me how to write a terrifying villain with more than enough charisma to start a devoted cult. Every reread of this book hooks me with that hypnotic voice. Hannibal’s character is so persuasive and razor-sharp, I catch myself sympathizing before the dread slams back in.

I love how Thomas Harris forces me to straddle the line between fascination and horror, then shoves me into Clarice Starling’s head for that heart-hammering showdown with Buffalo Bill.

Decades later, for me, no thriller matches its psychological intrigue. It’s a timeless classic that keeps my lights blazing and my imagination deliciously unsettled.

This is a beast of a thriller at 700 pages, but I thoroughly enjoyed the deep dive nevertheless. American ex-spy Pilgrim is pitched against a Saudi mujahideen fighter known as the Saracen, who is bent on avenging himself against the United States with a chillingly devastating plan.

Both protagonist and antagonist are well fleshed out with detailed backstories that make the character development top-notch in this murder mystery-turned-spy terrorism thriller. There's an interesting switch between first and third person, which I've rarely encountered.

I found it quite engrossing, and many scenes linger long after I put the book down. It's a solid thriller that I could really get my teeth into.

A multi-level work of genius. On the surface, this book is about someone trying to solve a murder. But Ilustrado is so much more than just your usual murder mystery. The book does more than use Philippine colonial and contemporary history as the backdrop; it weaves this history into the fabric of the narrative itself. As the protagonist uncovers buried facts about his late mentor and as well as his own past, he also discovers just how inseparable Art is from the political intrigue and social violence in which it is birthed. And the twist at the end explodes the whole book.

Kellye Garrett takes the fake world of reality TV, hashtags, and influencers to circle her reluctant protagonist, Lena Scott. Life and actions are judged to only have value if you have video of it to get clicks. That’s the message that stuck with me.

Lena Scott and her sister Desiree may share a father, but they could not be more different. That father is hip-hop mogul Mel Pierce known in the business as Murder Mel. The family members are in and out of each other’s lives with the same kinds of drama a blue-collar family would have; there are just bigger price tags. Lena steps out and opts for a modest life away from the family fortune and her father’s name.

When Desiree suddenly dies as a fallen from grace celebrity who appears to have overdosed, Lena doesn’t buy it. Even two years without speaking doesn’t erase how well she… show more.

This book is so original. We follow an old man, a retired serial killer, on his journey to read his own newly published true crime story. He stumbles on the book while doing his security rounds and can't resist picking it up, and over the next week finds himself more and more obsessed with reading it, growing fears that he will be discovered after twenty years, and with the author, his only surviving victim- who was a child at the time and is now an adult twenty years later. 

I enjoyed this book, it's original in the sense that the killer is an ordinary, cranky old bastard that no one likes. He's just a guy, who doesn't stand out, hasn't been good at anything all his life, a mediocre man that falls into the crowd. The only thing he's ever been able to succeed at was being The Nothing Man,… show more.

Cool cover, right? What’s the book about? When it comes to this great author, it could be anything in the scary realm of horror. This book is amazing, with perfect doses of Lovecraftian horror, pulp fiction, and riveting characters. Still a favorite. Well-written and turns up not only the horror but well-defined characters, this author never misses the mark. A great book to introduce yourself to his work, too.

Autistic minds are uniquely suited to interface with 26th-century computers. Has this led society to appreciate autistic people? Of course not! Instead, they’ve been turned into a caste called Operators, enslaved computer programmers denied human rights. But this is starting to change, and recently-liberated Operator Hoshi Archer has a new life as a private investigator. Her latest case? A serial killer who’s ritually murdering Operators. Dora Raymaker vividly describes autistic experience in a way that no non-autistic writer could, and it was profoundly moving for me to read a book written from the viewpoint of a character whose sensory processing was so much like my own. On top of all this, Hoshi and the Red City Circuit is a gripping can’t-put-it-down detective thriller!

Ellie and I live in the same town and met when a mystery reading group that I was a member of read her book and then she spoke to us.

This particular book is part of her cozy Bakeshop Mystery series set in Ashland, Oregon and is totally fun to read – and not just for someone who lives here and can identify with the shops in town that are in the book.

The writing is light, airy, and enjoyable, and the mystery was fun to read, especially since it strayed a bit from town and was involved in a murder on a cruise ship.