“Woman in peril” is a plot device as old as time, and one that enjoys continued popularity. In this reader’s opinion, when it’s done well you get a great female character with agency to make her own decisions, fighting to save herself. Here are three suggestions for recent thrillers that follow women as they puzzle out how to escape the trouble at their heels.
Conviction by Denise Mina
On the day her husband leaves her for her best friend, Anna has her true identity outed on social media, an act that puts her in danger from the people who tried to kill her 15 years earlier. She decides to go on the run with Fin, the husband her best friend abandoned, to follow the breadcrumbs of a true crime podcast that unexpectedly revolves around the mysterious death of an acquaintance. As her past races to catch up with her present, Anna sprints across Europe to stay one step ahead.
Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
Jules Larsen is down on her luck, having lost her job, her boyfriend, and her apartment all on the same day. She gets the chance to start over when she’s offered a job apartment-sitting at The Bartholomew, an historic luxury apartment building in New York City. But the job rules are strange and the neighbors even stranger, so when other apartment sitters in the building start to disappear, Jules begins to suspect that something nefarious is going on.
What Rose Forgot by Nevada Barr
Rose Dennis, 68, wakes up groggy and confused in a field before being taken back to a memory care facility by staff. But something feels off. How long has she had dementia? As Rose stops taking her medication, gains lucidity, and escapes the facility, she comes to realize that someone is trying to kill her. But why? With some help from her tween granddaughter, Rose starts digging for the truth.
~ posted by Andrea G.
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