The summer can be a great time for relaxing, but who says you can’t look for a more thrilling experience? While on vacation, sitting at home, or even on the go, these five thriller books by small authors will have you on the edge of your seat this season.

1. The Magpies by Mark Edwards

The Magpies is a psychological thriller that follows Jamie and Kirsty. When they moved into their new home, they were excited to begin a new chapter of their life together.

After a while, strange noises capture their attention, dead rats end up on their doorstep, and Jamie’s friend is injured in an accident. What was once an exciting and bright future now is filled with dread and uncertainty.

The Magpies is a gripping thriller in which the monsters are not vampires or demons but the people who live next door. It is a nightmare that could happen to anyone.

2. Edge of Collapse by Kyla Stone

A series in which the apocalypse takes a turn for the worst. In one of the coldest winters in the records, an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) cuts all power across the national grid.

Hannah Sheridan is finally released from her prison when the electricity goes out. Held captive by a psychopath for the last five years, she takes her chance to escape.

Ex-soldier Liam Coleman thought his life would have been okay since he was prepared in almost every way possible. But when the EMP turns out all electricity, he’s left helpless and lost.

As they both head towards rural Michigan, they will have to brave the elements across 200 miles. But the freezing weather isn’t the only threat to them – not when Hannah’s obsessive captor won’t let her go.

3. Last Patient of the Night by Gary Gerlacher

AJ Docker is an experienced emergency physician who’s haunted by the death of one of his patients. He digs deeper into the mystery, causing an unsafe environment around him.

As he seeks answers, he teams up with a police friend and a police dog in his quest for the truth. The people responsible aren’t just any average criminals out on the streets: they’re part of a private international crime ring.

Will he be able to discover the answers he’s looking for before the criminals reach him? Or has he stepped into a battlefield that has no retreat?

4. You Shouldn’t Have Come Here by Jeneva Rose

Grace Evans is a workaholic who is searching for an escape from her piled workload. She books an Airbnb on a ranch in the middle of Wyoming. She finds out that the owner is a rather attractive man named Calvin Wells…. but there are an array of things that make her uneasy: no cell service, a missing woman, and an eerie feeling something isn’t right.

Despite this, the two start to fall for each other, even as departure day draws nearer. Grace discovers that Calvin may be obsessed with her in a way she didn’t expect.

This book is a heart-pounding read that captures the reason why you shouldn’t open up your heart and house to a stranger.

5. The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

Millie Calloway is a young girl whose search for work led her to be a live-in housemaid for a rich family, the Winchesters.

As a maid, she takes care of the Winchesters’ and their large, pristine house every day. This includes picking up their daughter from school, cooking a lavish meal for the family before locking herself in the tiny isolated room on the top floor. Nina makes messes just to watch her clean it up. Nina also tells odd lies about her daughter. And her husband Andrew seems to have pain and brokenness gathering in him more and more every day.

Millie tried on Nina’s white dresses only once. But soon, she finds out – and by the time she’s in her secluded bedroom in the attic, Millie realizes it only locks from the outside. She reminds herself that the Winchesters don’t know who she is. And they don’t know all that Millie’s capable of.

What dark secrets and twisted lies are the Winchesters hiding? And will Millie be able to escape without her own secrets being revealed?

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While most of these picks are series, it gives the perfect excuse to keep on reading throughout the summer – and maybe even into all the seasons.

These books are available in select book stores, online shops, and audiobook platforms.