Authors Like Lisa Jackson (27 Thriller Book Recommendations)

Lisa Jackson is a veteran of romance, thriller, and mystery novels, as Jackson has published over 85 stories.

Famous examples include her iconic Alverez and Pescoli series, ‘Paranoid,’ and the most-sold, ‘The Girl Who Survived‘.

Authors Like Lisa Jackson (27 Thriller Book Recommendations)

She is also known for co-authoring The Colony series with her sister Nancy Bush which details a group of women who are targeted by serial killers. Here readers have noted a lot of grabbing action and a twisting plot that no one saw coming.

However you feel about romance and thriller novels, you can be assured that this author should be on your to-read list. When you’re finished with these, are there other authors of a similar excellence?

To find out more exciting authors who can scratch that thriller itch, read on to discover the incredible possibilities that can be found in the unlikeliest of places. Who knows, they may even take your mind on a new adventure.

If you’re a fan of Lisa Jackon’s ‘The Girl Who Survived’, you’ll instantly fall in love with authors like Erica Spindler, Kay Hooper, Mary Burton, and Tami Hoag. Find out here where to go for your next suspenseful read.

Books By Lisa Jackson

Hot Blooded

Hot Blooded (A Bentz/Montoya Novel)

A cunning cereal killer torments the area of New Orleans and is mixed with a threatening prank call made to Dr. Samantha Leeds.

This continues as more bodies show up and the calls persist, and someone who claims to be a woman from her past enters.

As the authorities are convinced that the killer is linked to Samantha, distrust builds, along with a neighbor who appears to know more about her than any stranger should.

You can find more twists and dark secrets as revelations are made.

Deep Freeze

Deep Freeze (West Coast Series)

This mystery thriller has former movie star Jenna Hughes who wants to get away from fame as she settles into a farm in Oregon.

With this isolation, though, comes problems, as an obsessed fan sends her letters that are personal and deeply disturbing.

Now shaken up, the case opens after a dead woman is found in the woods, and now two women are found dead, one of them having a striking resemblance to Jenna.

Common Themes

Romance Suspense

With characters that enter the main story and act as a weight to the central protagonist, you can find dilemmas and potential love matches that turn into something else with Lisa Jackson’s Northwest series.

Mystery 

How does a murderer find their next victim, and why are main characters picked out as potential targets, with threats and secrets to uncover? An excellent example of this genre is in the New Orleans series.

Authors Like Lisa Jackson

Authors Like Lisa Jackson

Tami Hoag

The Boy: A Novel

A bestselling author of over 30 books published in 30 languages worldwide, Hoag is renowned for her character-driven suspense, which makes her appealing to fans of the thriller mystery genre (see also “Authors Like Grace Burrowes“).

Our first pick, The Boy, starts with the murder of Genevieve’s son KJ, and questions about why the mother has been left alive confuse detective Nick Fourcade.

A more recent release, Bad Liar, promises investigations, accusations, and many truths to be uncovered. Hoag novels have a distinct murder and suspense thriller approach that combines mystery and outlines some plot points.

You also find hints of romance, and some of her other works contain traces of psychological thriller, with some detective fiction added in.

Pros

  • With a tightly packed novel with the classic whodunnit, you have shocking conclusions and keep the reader slightly off-balance, with a signature style that keeps readers hooked until the end.

Cons

  • As you have carefully detailed characters, some may be rough around the edges, which may be off-putting to some readers who want to find evidence of shortcomings to relate to the characters better.

Themes: murder, suspense, thriller.

Erica Spindler

Killer Takes All

Considered the master of enthralling suspense, Spindler is the international chart best-selling author of 36 novels and even 3 novellas.

Also known as the queen of the romantic thriller, she has won various awards, which isn’t surprising when engrossed in one of her stories.

One must-read is Killer Takes All, which centers around Stacy Killian, who believes that a friend’s death is related to the fantasy role-playing game white rabbit. The Detective’s Daughter should be right up your alley for phycological thrillers. 

What separates Spindler’s novels is that they have romance as a critical element and use psychological thrillers for in-depth modeling of characters.

With crime fiction, you can also find domestic thrillers in her other novels as this sub-genre gets a refresh here.

Pros

  • Her novels are so loved because the plot has many strands and themes that run throughout, with many descriptive elements of places near home and abroad.
  • This immersion makes it easy to see why stories like these are described as page-turners.

Cons

  • The issue with this lies in the elements or sub-plotlines that might be skewed depending on what the reader wants most from the story.
  • For those who like the romance element, this might be given less coverage in certain scenes.

Themes: psychological, thriller, in-depth characters.

Mary Burton

The Lies I Told

An author that is all about the details, she loves nothing more than researching forensic procedures and law enforcement and extends to interviews with experts in the field.

She uses these to hunt down serial killers in her best-selling novels of romance and suspense (If you like this types of stories, check out the works of Authors Like Sandra Brown).

For those getting into Burton, we recommend The Lies I Told, which shows Marisa still broken by the death of her sister many years before, which goes unsolved.

For a series, you have Cover Your Eyes, and book one starts with Dixie Simmons, who’s found dead and is linked to a previous murder.

Burton is all about psychological thrillers and writing about obscure characters, as well as police processes (If you like psychological thrillers, you might also want to check out Books Like Sharp Objects and similar titles).

These novels are interested in personal narratives that delve into the human consciousness when trying to separate themselves from devastating events.

Pros

  • One of the biggest credits to Burton’s storytelling is all the possible connections derived from the plot.

Cons

  • With some novels focusing on family, psychological, and abuse issues, readers are met with an intense narrative that can be challenging.
  • A key issue with some of these novels is questions that go unanswered, which can leave readers questioning themselves as they might have missed an essential detail.

Themes: thriller, psychological, obscurity, mystery, police.

Kay Hooper

Stealing Shadows: A Bishop/Special Crimes Unit Novel (A Bishop/SCU Novel Book 1)

A writer who believes writing is more of a necessity than a job, she’s interested in people and characters who have overcome difficulties.

It isn’t hard to see then that she has over 60 books to her name and doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Stealing Shadows show us Cassie Neill, who escapes her former work helping the L.A. Police catch killers.

Though she is far away, a killing frenzy occurs, and Cassie is labeled a suspect. For a cozy romantic mystery, Something Different makes up one story in this collection.

Hooper might be a critical author when discussing psychic thrillers and suspense, with some mystery romance for diluting scenes with a darker tone. She also includes action and adventure in stories with fewer gripping narrative points. 

Pros

  • If you need more clarification on whether these are right for you, there are touches of lighter tones to characters that use characters from other stories. If you’ve read Hooper before, this might be a welcome addition.

Cons

  • If you prefer to avoid being given characters’ thoughts in quick succession, some novels might be a lot to process, but other single stories are much less demanding of any outside thinking.

Themes: romance, mystery, action, suspense.

Final Thoughts

With these selections, you have a mix of thrillers that have the potential to steal your imagination and curiosity, as these page-turners are full of cliffhangers and what if’s.

You may even play detective yourself and try to work out the case as the story unfolds.

You’re in for a delight as you have authors that take the familiar tropes of these genres and do things that can challenge and push the limits of what is possible for stories like these.

This is because there is an abundance of authors and provocative works to choose from.

Even if you don’t tackle your mystery thriller craving, you can find characters and themes that will stick around in your imagination for a while afterward.

Frequently Asked Questions

What If I Don’t Want To Read A Series?

All of the writers on this list have series, some going over 10 books long, but if you look through their other entries, there are a few standalone stories to find out if the author is the right fit for you.

What If I Want A Short Read?

Unfortunately, as these books can be pretty complex and twisting, they are usually over 300 pages long for the most part. You can check their works to find anthologies of stories or novellas for something quick to dip in and out of.

Gawonii Chubbuck