Here are 83 books that The Fifth Gospel fans have personally recommended if you like
The Fifth Gospel.
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I’ve always had an interest in the unexplained and mysteries of the world, and I have a scientific background, so the search for cryptids blends both interests. I’m also a huge octopus/squid lover, so the Kraken’s possible existence and the search for the giant squid are ones I’ve followed for years. Diving into how modern tech helps wildlife scientists study real animals led me to wonder how using such tech could help find cryptids. The world is huge, and new species are discovered every year, so why not use some of that tech to search for cryptids? Even if they escape our detection, who knows what else we might find?!
I love the summer camp setting of this story, as many cryptids lurk in the forest. In addition to summer camp hijinks, the legend of the Jersey Devil, a cryptid supposedly living in New Jersey, is featured when strange things start happening in the woods and fellow campers disappear.
I loved the way the author took tidbits of the Jersey Devil and then fashioned her own mythical creature who may or may not be the evil monster the area believes it to be. A not-so-scary light horror with a ton of fun.
Whispering Pines meets Small Spaces in this spooky "part campfire tale, part eco-fable, all charm" (Kirkus Reviews) middle grade novel about a girl whose first summer camp experience is disrupted by a menacing creature abducting her fellow campers.
Eleven-year-old Naomi loves all things outdoors-birds and beetles, bats and bunnies-in theory. She explores nature in the best possible way: the cold, hard facts in books. So when her parents' announcement of their impending divorce comes hand in hand with sending Naomi and her younger twin brothers to summer camp while they figure things out, it's salt in the wound for Naomi…
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
Some places hold our memories with a grip that never lets go. These five books explore the weight of inheritance—of land, trauma, and stories passed down in whispers and sighs. With lyrical prose and unflinching emotional honesty, each illuminates what it means to belong to a place that both nurtures and devours.
Joy’s work is always deeply ethical, asking not only what his characters will do, but what they should do—and what it costs them to try.
In this novel, a hunting accident spirals into violence, loyalty, and impossible decisions in the North Carolina mountains. It’s a taut, morally complex thriller with the soul of a Greek tragedy, written in prose that sings.
An accidental death, and the cover-up that follows, sparks a dark series of events that reverberates through the lives of four people who will never be the same again.
When Darl Moody went hunting after a monster buck, a kill that could make the difference between meat for the winter and an empty freezer, he never expected he'd accidentally shoot a man digging ginseng. Worse yet, he's killed a Brewer, a family notorious for vengeance and violence.
With nowhere to turn, Darl calls on the help of the only man he knows will answer, his best friend, Calvin Hooper. But…
Raised alongside three feral younger brothers in the rash-inducing, subtropical climate of Cairo, Georgia, I am a lifelong resident of the South. A circumstance, no doubt, leaving an indelible mark on my voice as a writer. At this point in my writing career, I write what I know. As a reader, I enjoy exploring the rich stories woven by Southern authors, capturing other places, people, and experiences beyond my own frame of reference. Ultimately, as a Southerner, I endeavor to reconcile the South’s troubled past of racial and social oppression with the romanticized notion others have of this place I call home.
This 2002 novel follows young Harriet Cleve Dufresnes in 1970s Mississippi during the aftermath of the death of her nine-year-old brother, who was killed by hanging in the shadow of unexplained circumstances. I am particularly enamored by the novel’s focus on the customs and dynamics of Harriet’s extended Southern family.
Tartt best describes in her own words why I love this novel: It is “a frightening, scary book about children coming into contact with the world of adults frighteningly.”
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Goldfinch comes an utterly riveting novel set in Mississippi of childhood, innocence, and evil. • “Destined to become a special kind of classic.” —The New York Times Book Review
The setting is Alexandria, Mississippi, where one Mother’s Day a little boy named Robin Cleve Dufresnes was found hanging from a tree in his parents’ yard. Twelve years later Robin’s murder is still unsolved and his family remains devastated. So it is that Robin’s sister Harriet—unnervingly bright, insufferably determined, and unduly influenced by the fiction of Kipling and Robert Louis Stevenson--sets…
A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.
Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…
One review of my books mentioned that I make heroes out of damaged people, so it’s natural I would read that kind of book. I love to see lost souls, losers, battlers for justice, and the underdogs rise above all the elements that hold them down. I think most people root for the underdogs, whether in life, in sports, or the weaker in any competition. It’s in our nature to do so. I’m a wife, mother, writer, former commercial artist, former store owner, former importer, which makes me ripe to be something new. But I think I’m done. I’ve shot my wad, done my best at whatever, and it’s always been fun.
Iron House, short for the Iron Mountain Home for Boys, is a thriller that features orphaned brothers: weakling Julian, and his strong and fiercely protective brother, Michael. After being bullied to the point of cracking, Julian kills his abuser. Michael escapes Iron House and takes the blame as he leaves.
This leads the brothers on two very different paths. Julian is adopted and, though mentally unbalanced, becomes a writer of dark children’s stories. Michael is also adopted off the streets by the head of a crime syndicate who teaches him how to kill. Iron House is a complicated story of abuse, torment, and love. The book is not for the faint of heart.
John Hart has written three New York Times bestsellers and won an unprecedented two back-to-back Edgar Awards. His books have been called "masterful" (Jeffery Deaver) and "gripping" (People) with "Grisham-style intrigue and Turow-style brooding" (The New York Times). Now he delivers his fourth novel—a gut-wrenching, heart-stopping thriller no reader will soon forget.
HE WOULD GO TO HELL
At the Iron Mountain Home for Boys, there was nothing but time. Time to burn and time…
I love books about everyman/everywoman characters facing danger, puzzles, and romance with a sense of humor. I love the suspense that builds throughout a whole book and the tension that can develop in just a paragraph. It’s easier for me to imagine I’m the protagonist and lose myself in the pages if I’m not reading about a superhero or a serial killer. With so many choices out there, it’s easier to find another person who’s seen the same TV show, for instance, but books are my true love because they are limitless and offer so many choices. It’s a privilege to be able to share some favorites.
I love surprises and characters who are not what they seem, and I enjoy a high-tech backdrop when it fits the story. When a character thinks he sees evidence of a crime in what’s basically Google Street View, he will not let go of it and drags our unwilling protagonist into danger.
I loved the emotional core of a man dealing with his brother’s mental health issues and the blossoming romance in his life.
What would you do if you witnessed a murder - but no one believed you . . .?
Another masterful suspense novel from the bestselling author of the Richard & Judy summer read winner, NO TIME FOR GOODBYE and FIND YOU FIRST
Map-obsessed Thomas spends his days and nights on a virtual tour of the world through his computer screen, believing he must store the details of every town and city in his head. Then one day, while surfing a street view program, he sees something that shouldn't be there: a woman being murdered behind a window on a New…
I have always straddled between the worlds of fiction and poetry. I received my MFA in poetry in 2016, but during my time in the program, I was often told my poems were too narrative. Sometimes in my fiction workshops in undergrad, I was told my stories were too poetic. So when I finally jumped into the world of verse, I really fell in love with the intersection of poetry and story. Finally, there was a medium that felt “just right!” There are so many fantastic novels in verse out there—with so many more to come—but I hope you’ll enjoy these five favorites of mine!
Long Way Down does an incredible job of telling such a contained story, telling everything within the span of a single elevator ride.
Reynolds uses the elevator trip to make the protagonist encounter ghosts of multiple dead people in his community, all connected to his murdered brother, and question if vengeance is the right answer to his grief. This is a well-deserved classic, and a must-read for all novel-in-verse fans!
“An intense snapshot of the chain reaction caused by pulling a trigger.” —Booklist (starred review) “Astonishing.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “A tour de force.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A Newbery Honor Book A Coretta Scott King Honor Book A Printz Honor Book A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner for Young Adult Literature Longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature Winner of the Walter Dean Myers Award An Edgar Award Winner for Best Young Adult Fiction Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner An Entertainment Weekly Best YA Book of…
The Duke's Christmas Redemption
by
Arietta Richmond,
A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.
Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…
My first books were set in and around San Francisco, an area I knew well and with plenty of opportunities for crime stories. When we moved to Montana twenty years ago, people asked when I’d write one there. I resisted setting dark stories in my own city, where my kids were growing up. Reading about the Bakken Oil Formation in North Dakota, a boom of wealth and expansion and a subsequent bust, offered a perfect storm—the kind that drives desperation, where locals conflict with newcomers, where money—new and old—drives people to make bad decisions. After a visit to the area, the fictional town of Hagen, North Dakota, and the Badlands Thriller Series was born.
Collins’ The Family Plot is set Blackburn Island, off the coast of Rhode Island where the Lighthouse Family lived in a secluded mansion deep in the woods and isolated by their true-crime-obsessed parents.
After her twin brother disappears when they are sixteen, Dahlia leaves home at the earliest opportunity, returning years later after her father’s death. When the family goes to bury him, there is already a body in his grave—her brother’s.
The layered family drama, secrets, and one hell of a twist make this the kind of story I love—layered with tension and impossible to put down.
"Exceedingly entertaining." -The New York Times "Umbrella Academy meets Tana French. Dark, claustrophobic, and beautifully written." -Andrea Bartz, author of We Were Never Here
From the author of The Winter Sister and Behind the Red Door, a family obsessed with true crime gathers to bury their patriarch-only to find another body already in his grave.
At twenty-six, Dahlia Lighthouse is haunted by her upbringing. Raised in a secluded island mansion deep in the woods and kept isolated by her true crime-obsessed parents, she is unable to move beyond the disappearance of her twin brother, Andy, when they were sixteen.
I’ve always been drawn to stories where women defy expectations and carve out power in a world that seeks to silence them. As a writer of historical mysteries, I love exploring unconventional heroines—women who take risks, uncover secrets, and refuse to conform. The best mysteries blend atmosphere, intelligence, and a touch of rebellion, and I seek out books that do just that. Whether it’s a detective disguising her true identity or a woman outwitting society’s constraints, these stories inspire me. My book was born from this passion, and I hope readers who love fiercely independent heroines and richly layered mysteries will enjoy this list as much as I do.
This book is everything I love—an atmospheric setting, a fiercely independent heroine, and a slow-burning partnership filled with tension and intrigue. Charlotte Sloane’s sharp wit and refusal to conform had me hooked from the start.
I devoured this book in a single weekend, completely absorbed in the richly drawn world of Regency London and the dark secrets lurking beneath its surface. I love mysteries that blend history, strong characters, and intricate plotting, and this one delivered all of that and more.
In Regency London, an unconventional scientist and a fearless female artist form an unlikely alliance to expose a cold-hearted killer . . .
The Earl of Wrexford possesses a brilliant scientific mind, but boredom and pride lead him to reckless behavior. So when pompous, pious Reverend Josiah Holworthy publicly condemns him for debauchery, Wrexford unsheathes his rapier-sharp wit and strikes back. As their war of words escalates, London’s most popular satirical cartoonist, A.J. Quill, skewers them both. But then the clergyman is found slain in a church—his face burned by chemicals, his throat slashed ear to ear—and Wrexford finds himself…
I started writing children's books to connect more with my daughter. When she was born, I struggled to bond with her because I felt like I had lost part of who I was. My husband reminded me how important it was to build a strong bond with her, so I began spending more one-on-one time with her. Our favorite activity was looking for the moon together, which led to my first book, "Mommy, Mommy, Where Is The Moon?". When my son came along, I made sure my daughter knew she was still loved, promising our special time together wouldn't stop and she would always be my first baby.
I loved that this book tells the story of him introducing his new baby sister, Margaret, to the reader. It also focuses on how Daniel can be a big helper in the family in an easy and relatable way.
The book also mentions the importance of special time with just Mom and Dad, which assures the older sibling that he or she is not forgotten and still loved.
A new generation of children love Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, inspired by the classic series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood!
Daniel Tiger is learning to be a good big brother to Baby Margaret in this sweet shaped board book, based on a very special episode of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood!
Daniel Tiger is so happy: He’s just gotten a new baby sister! Baby Margaret is very little, and she needs lots of care from Mom and Dad. But not to worry, big brother Daniel is here to help!
This adorable story is perfect for little ones who are about to become big brothers or…
This book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom as he narrates encounters with 12 distinguished American men over 80, including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the world’s most famous heart surgeon.
In these and other intimate conversations, the book…
I am uniquely qualified to assemble this list because I gave my heart and head to the fictional and true West in fourth grade. When I learned California history, enraptured by images of wild horses and vaqueros, the cruelty of bear and bullfighting (no one talked then about cruelty to “converted” Native Americans), and the myth of Zorro. I grabbed the chance to move to the cowgirl state of Nevada, where I learned to love the scents of sagebrush and alkali flats. Research for my fiction and non-fiction has given me license to ride in a Pony Express reenactment and 10-day cattle drive and spend all night bottle-feeding an orphan mustang.
This ranch-centered book puts a human face on the cost of war.
A best in the West (or at least his small Nevada town) bull rider is physically and mentally torn apart by war. He can’t see the future he envisioned for himself anymore. But the story is really about his younger brother, Cam. I love Cam’s humor most of all, but his devotion to his idolized big brother is what makes this more than a story about a skateboarder turned bull rider.
This book is about family in an opposite way from The Red Pony it confirms the safety net family can provide.
Cam O'Mara, grandson and younger brother of bull-riding champions, is not interested in partaking in the family sport. Cam is a skateboarder, and perfecting his tricks—frontside flips, 360s—means everything until his older brother, Ben, comes home from Iraq, paralyzed from a brain injury. What would make a skateboarder take a different kind of ride? And what would get him on a monstrosity of a bull named Ugly? If Cam can stay on for the requisite eight seconds, could the $15,000 prize bring hope and a future for his big brother?
