10 best-selling mystery thriller books like The Need by Helen Phillips

Cover of The Need by Helen          Phillips

The Need

By: Helen Phillips

3.16

Format: 272 pages, Hardcover

When Molly, home alone with her two young children, hears footsteps in the living room, she tries t…

"Moment by moment, maddened by them and melted by them, maddened / melted, maddened / melted, maddened / melted."

-Helen Phillips, The Need

"She wondered if other mothers experienced it, this permanent state of mild panic, and worried that perhaps they didn't, that perhaps there was something wrong with her."

-Helen Phillips, The Need

"Brilliant, Molly thought, the cheese samples would absorb the kids while she finished the last bit of shopping for the party - the juice boxes, the rainbow sprinkles, the streamers, the other expenses and excesses of the exhausted mother. What a thing it was, grocery shopping, so tedious and so crucial."

-Helen Phillips, The Need

If you liked the mystery thriller plot in The Need by Helen Phillips , here is a list of 10 books like this:

1. Universal Harvester

By: John Darnielle

4.04

Format: None pages,

Life in a small town takes a dark turn when mysterious footage begins appearing on VHS cassettes at… read more

Similar categories in John Darnielle's Universal Harvester book and Helen Phillips's The Need

Cover of Scavenger Hunt by Chad Boudreaux

2. Scavenger Hunt

By: Chad Boudreaux

4.30

Format: 296 pages, Paperback

WHEN JUSTICE IS BLIND, SCAVENGERS DO THE HUNTING Blake Hudson just wants to serve his country we… read more

Similar categories in Chad Boudreaux's Scavenger Hunt book and Helen Phillips's The Need

  • mystery thriller
  • suspense
  • fiction
  • mystery
  • thriller
"What other problems do American soldiers face when hunting down these fanat­ical killers?"

-Chad Boudreaux, Scavenger Hunt

"As Blake turned around to continue his walk back to Main Justice, he spotted one of the tourists taking his picture. “Don’t waste your film!"

-Chad Boudreaux, Scavenger Hunt

"Home was the one place he wanted to forget, the place from which he’d run away but never could escape. And, yes, home was the place he’d been instructed to leave—the place where the trouble began and…"

-Chad Boudreaux, Scavenger Hunt

"While waiting for her accomplice to gather his equipment, Hensley couldn’t help but think ahead to her next mission. She hadn’t told him. It wasn’t a mission for which she’d volunteered, nor a missio…"

-Chad Boudreaux, Scavenger Hunt

Cover of Black Fire by William Kely McClung

3. Black Fire

By: William Kely McClung

4.29

Format: 517 pages, Kindle Edition

Major Tommy Black is at the crossroads of a brilliant, clandestine career. Lost... without purpose … read more

Similar categories in William Kely McClung's Black Fire book and Helen Phillips's The Need

  • thriller
  • fiction
"Okay, sure, he’s a great fucking guy,"

-William Kely McClung, Black Fire

"It was time to start thinking of darker things."

-William Kely McClung, Black Fire

"Black once tried to tackle a Humvee head-on. This was worse"

-William Kely McClung, Black Fire

"Legends were mostly bullshit, even his own, but they sometimes could be useful."

-William Kely McClung, Black Fire

Cover of Counter Identity (Remmich/Miller, #2) by Karl Braungart

4. Counter Identity (Remmich/Miller, #2)

By: Karl Braungart

4.31

Format: 260 pages, Kindle Edition

Imagine you find yourself losing bits of time. Almost like a dream you only slightly remember. Envi… read more

Similar categories in Karl Braungart's Counter Identity (Remmich/Miller, #2) book and Helen Phillips's The Need

  • mystery
  • thriller
  • fiction
"Well, here’s the shocker,"

-Karl Braungart, Counter Identity (Remmich/Miller, #2)

"Yes, I never expected to see you!"

-Karl Braungart, Counter Identity (Remmich/Miller, #2)

"Their war maneuvers excluded shame."

-Karl Braungart, Counter Identity (Remmich/Miller, #2)

"I realized he was on the island when I found this matchbook."

-Karl Braungart, Counter Identity (Remmich/Miller, #2)

Cover of Enemies Among Us (Nick Reagan, #2) by Jeffrey S.  Stephens

5. Enemies Among Us (Nick Reagan, #2)

By: Jeffrey S. Stephens

4.32

Format: 304 pages, Hardcover

As Nick Reagan hunts down the terrorist mastermind, The Handler, he uncovers corruption at the high… read more

Similar categories in Jeffrey S. Stephens's Enemies Among Us (Nick Reagan, #2) book and Helen Phillips's The Need

"Treason is a judgment based wholly on perspective."

-Jeffrey S. Stephens, Enemies Among Us (Nick Reagan, #2)

"If you want to debate the morality of war versus terrorism, let’s start with how these conflicts begin."

-Jeffrey S. Stephens, Enemies Among Us (Nick Reagan, #2)

"He reached into his jacket pocket, as if looking for a guide book, but pulled out an automatic handgun instead. “Don’t do anything stupid,"

-Jeffrey S. Stephens, Enemies Among Us (Nick Reagan, #2)

"He remained quiet, his movements studied. He was still not certain the intruder had gone and, if an attack was coming, he was going to be ready."

-Jeffrey S. Stephens, Enemies Among Us (Nick Reagan, #2)

Cover of Rouge by Mona Awad

6. Rouge

By: Mona Awad

3.56

Format: 383 pages, Kindle Edition

From the critically acclaimed author of Bunny comes a horror-tinted, gothic fairy tale about a lone… read more

Similar categories in Mona Awad's Rouge book and Helen Phillips's The Need

  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • horror
  • thriller
  • adult
  • audiobook
"If I had beauty, I decided then, I would never throw it away. I would never give it up."

-Mona Awad, Rouge

"I mean, we all have our dark days. Very dark days, sometimes. When our demons come out to play. No one lives entirely in the light, right?"

-Mona Awad, Rouge

"That I can’t protect you from my terrible places that I still go, can’t help but go because no one protected me, no one saved me, no one ever held out their hand and walked me away. But I’m trying to…"

-Mona Awad, Rouge

Cover of Foe by Iain Reid

7. Foe

By: Iain Reid

3.71

Format: 261 pages, Hardcover

A taut, psychological mind-bender from the bestselling author of I’m Thinking of Ending Things. … read more

Similar categories in Iain Reid's Foe book and Helen Phillips's The Need

  • audiobook
  • mystery thriller
  • suspense
  • fiction
  • horror
  • mystery
  • thriller
  • adult
  • science fiction
"Good news for someone often means bad news for someone else"

-Iain Reid, Foe

"I’VE BECOME MORE AWARE OF MYSELF. BECAUSE OF THE SITUATION. NOW THAT I KNOW I’M LEAVING, I SEE THINGS DIFFERENTLY. I’VE BEEN AWARE OF LITTLE THINGS THAT I WOULD HAVE MISSED BEFORE. “LIKE WHAT?"

-Iain Reid, Foe

"I’ve been told these old barns are physical reminders of an older life, when things were different. They need upkeep. They need to be restored. It would be a tragedy if the one in this field is ablaz…"

-Iain Reid, Foe

"I can remember we were happy, I say. Happy to have our own house. ‘Can you recall anything specific, like a detail, or is it more a feeling you remember?’ Anybody can remember details if you ask them…"

-Iain Reid, Foe

Cover of Nestlings by Nat Cassidy

8. Nestlings

By: Nat Cassidy

3.86

Format: 293 pages, Paperback

Nat Cassidy is at his razor-sharp best again with his horror novel Nestlings, which harnesses the c… read more

Similar categories in Nat Cassidy's Nestlings book and Helen Phillips's The Need

  • mystery thriller
  • fiction
  • horror
  • mystery
  • thriller
  • adult
  • audiobook
"Grief is the space between two states of being: who you were and who you are. It’s an excruciatingly long, unlit hallway. A staircase you have to crawl down, one interminable flight at a time."

-Nat Cassidy, Nestlings

Cover of Black Sheep by Rachel   Harrison

9. Black Sheep

By: Rachel Harrison

3.60

Format: 289 pages, Hardcover

A cynical twentysomething must confront her unconventional family’s dark secrets in this fiery, irr… read more

Similar categories in Rachel Harrison's Black Sheep book and Helen Phillips's The Need

  • mystery thriller
  • fiction
  • horror
  • mystery
  • thriller
  • adult
  • audiobook
"How can anyone know when ruin wears the disguise of love?"

-Rachel Harrison, Black Sheep

"I hoped wherever she was, she was having a shitty time, had an itch in a place she couldn't scratch."

-Rachel Harrison, Black Sheep

Cover of The Need by Helen          Phillips

10. The Need

By: Helen Phillips

3.16

Format: 272 pages, Hardcover

When Molly, home alone with her two young children, hears footsteps in the living room, she tries t… read more

Similar categories in Helen Phillips's The Need book and Helen Phillips's The Need

  • audiobook
  • mystery thriller
  • literary fiction
  • suspense
  • fiction
  • horror
  • mystery
  • thriller
  • adult
  • science fiction
"Moment by moment, maddened by them and melted by them, maddened / melted, maddened / melted, maddened / melted."

-Helen Phillips, The Need

"She wondered if other mothers experienced it, this permanent state of mild panic, and worried that perhaps they didn't, that perhaps there was something wrong with her."

-Helen Phillips, The Need

"Brilliant, Molly thought, the cheese samples would absorb the kids while she finished the last bit of shopping for the party - the juice boxes, the rainbow sprinkles, the streamers, the other expense…"

-Helen Phillips, The Need

Cover of Surviving Chaos: How I Found Peace at A Beach Bar by Harold Phifer

11. Surviving Chaos: How I Found Peace at A Beach Bar

By: Harold Phifer

4.29

Format: 318 pages, Kindle Edition

For more than fifty years, Harold Phifer's childhood living conditions remained a secret, even from… read more

Similar categories in Harold Phifer's Surviving Chaos: How I Found Peace at A Beach Bar book and Helen Phillips's The Need

"If a man was around when Aunt Kathy came by, she would berate him and throw him out. I even saw her toss guys out at gunpoint. She’d threaten them and say, “I will shoot you until I can’t see you!"

-Harold Phifer, Surviving Chaos: How I Found Peace at A Beach Bar

"Thanksgiving is no time for amateur hour in the kitchen, but we were subjected to this Gong Show on a yearly basis. Aunt Kathy went knee deep in her preparations where others would have surrendered."

-Harold Phifer, Surviving Chaos: How I Found Peace at A Beach Bar

"Before she climbed into the car, I kindly let her know my back seats were very hard and very cold. Dead Eye Red responded, “Son, when I was your age, I would sit on a seat like this and smoke would a…"

-Harold Phifer, Surviving Chaos: How I Found Peace at A Beach Bar

"I ended up sitting right next to Sexy Patty. The placement wasn’t on purpose. (I needed the hands of God, not a girlfriend.) Since I was dealing with my own issues, I failed to notice that she was cl…"

-Harold Phifer, Surviving Chaos: How I Found Peace at A Beach Bar

Cover of Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay

12. Horror Movie

By: Paul Tremblay

3.45

Format: 277 pages, Hardcover

A chilling twist on the “cursed film” genre from the bestselling author of The Pallbearers Club and… read more

Similar categories in Paul Tremblay's Horror Movie book and Helen Phillips's The Need

  • mystery thriller
  • fiction
  • horror
  • mystery
  • thriller
  • adult
  • audiobook
Cover of Bear by Julia  Phillips

13. Bear

By: Julia Phillips

3.38

Format: 304 pages, Hardcover

A mesmerising novel of two sisters on a Pacific Northwest island whose lives are upended by an unex… read more

Similar categories in Julia Phillips's Bear book and Helen Phillips's The Need

  • literary fiction
  • adult
  • fiction
  • audiobook
"There'd been only three hundred students in the whole school, which made it a tiny, gossipy hellhole, a bucket of crabs snapping at each other and falling over themselves."

-Julia Phillips, Bear

"What was Sam afraid of? Withering away here. Dreaming of chances she'd never be able to take, and shriveling up from that denial, getting poorer and put under more pressure and pushed farther from th…"

-Julia Phillips, Bear

Cover of Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

14. Annie Bot

By: Sierra Greer

3.83

Format: 231 pages, Hardcover

Annie Bot was created to be the perfect girlfriend for her human owner, Doug. Designed to satisfy h… read more

Similar categories in Sierra Greer's Annie Bot book and Helen Phillips's The Need

  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • science fiction
  • adult
  • audiobook
Cover of Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil by Ananda Lima

15. Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil

By: Ananda Lima

3.52

Format: 181 pages, Hardcover

At a Halloween party in 1999, a writer slept with the devil. She sees him again and again throughou… read more

Similar categories in Ananda Lima's Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil book and Helen Phillips's The Need

  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • horror
  • adult
  • audiobook
Cover of Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman

16. Incidents Around the House

By: Josh Malerman

3.82

Format: 371 pages, Hardcover

A chilling horror novel about a haunting told from the perspective of a young girl whose troubled f… read more

Similar categories in Josh Malerman's Incidents Around the House book and Helen Phillips's The Need

  • mystery thriller
  • suspense
  • fiction
  • horror
  • mystery
  • thriller
  • adult
  • audiobook
Cover of The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim

17. The Eyes Are the Best Part

By: Monika Kim

3.89

Format: 288 pages, Hardcover

“Violent, smart, gruesome and wildly original, this novel pulls readers into a horrific world of mu… read more

Similar categories in Monika Kim's The Eyes Are the Best Part book and Helen Phillips's The Need

  • mystery thriller
  • fiction
  • horror
  • mystery
  • thriller
  • adult
  • audiobook
Cover of Liars by Sarah Manguso

18. Liars

By: Sarah Manguso

3.89

Format: 272 pages, Hardcover

A searing novel about being a wife, a mother, and an artist, and how marriage makes liars out of us… read more

Similar categories in Sarah Manguso's Liars book and Helen Phillips's The Need

  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • thriller
  • adult
  • audiobook
"I was in charge of everything and in control of nothing."

-Sarah Manguso, Liars

"I needed my suffering to be acknowledged. After that, maybe I’d think about getting through it."

-Sarah Manguso, Liars

Cover of State of Paradise by Laura van den Berg

19. State of Paradise

By: Laura van den Berg

3.51

Format: 224 pages, Hardcover

A heart-racing fun house of uncanniness hidden in Florida’s underbelly, from a reality-warping stor… read more

Similar categories in Laura van den Berg's State of Paradise book and Helen Phillips's The Need

  • audiobook
  • mystery thriller
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • horror
  • mystery
  • adult
  • science fiction
Cover of Strangers and Sojourners by Paul A. Barra

20. Strangers and Sojourners

By: Paul A. Barra

4.33

Format: 315 pages, Kindle Edition

Fixer Big Percy Pletcher sails from Maine with his Giant Schnauzer Ethyl to foil a Russian-American… read more

Similar categories in Paul A. Barra's Strangers and Sojourners book and Helen Phillips's The Need

"Your contact’s codename is Stolichnaya."

-Paul A. Barra, Strangers and Sojourners

"That sounds like Russian interference to me."

-Paul A. Barra, Strangers and Sojourners

"The animal bounded down the dock in huge strides."

-Paul A. Barra, Strangers and Sojourners

"Can you tell us what happened, Percy? All right if I call you Percy?"

-Paul A. Barra, Strangers and Sojourners

Cover of Guillotine by Delilah S. Dawson

21. Guillotine

By: Delilah S. Dawson

4.02

Format: 208 pages, Kindle Edition

The Menu meets Ready of Not in this dark tale of opulent luxury and shocking violence from the New … read more

Similar categories in Delilah S. Dawson's Guillotine book and Helen Phillips's The Need

  • mystery thriller
  • fiction
  • horror
  • mystery
  • thriller
  • adult
  • audiobook

14 Best audiobook books like The Need by Helen Phillips

Transform Your Habits

Rouge

Mona Awad

3.56

Transform Your Habits

Foe

Iain Reid

3.71

Transform Your Habits

Nestlings

Nat Cassidy

3.86

Transform Your Habits

Black Sheep

Rachel Harrison

3.60

View all the books

21 Top fiction books like Bear by Julia Phillips

Transform Your Habits

James

Percival Everett

4.54

Transform Your Habits

Margo's Got Money Troubles

Rufi Thorpe

3.97

Transform Your Habits

Long Island (Eilis Lacey, #2)

Colm Tóibín

3.82

Transform Your Habits

Real Americans

Rachel Khong

4.04

View all the books

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