Books like 'American Rust'
Readers who enjoyed American Rust by Philipp Meyer also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary mystery psychological thriller crime literary-fiction historical-fiction coming-of-age drama friendship
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Life of Crime by Kimberley Chambers
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIf you could get away with the perfect crime - would you? HEAVEN HAS NO RAGE, LIKE LOVE TO HATRED TURNED.NOR HELL A FURY, LIKE A WOMAN SCORNED... -
![聖母 by Rikako Akiyoshi, 秋吉理香子]()
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![In the Dark by Cara Hunter]()
In the Dark by Cara Hunter
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDo you know what they’re hiding in the house next door?A woman and child are found locked in a basement, barely alive, and unidentifiable: the woman can’t speak, there are no missing persons reports that match their profile, and the confused, elderly man who owns the house claims he has never seen them before... -
![Sul lato selvaggio by Tiffany McDaniel]()
Sul lato selvaggio by Tiffany McDaniel
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSix women—mothers, daughters, sisters—gone missing. Inspired by the unsolved murders of the Chillicothe Six, this harrowing novel tells the story of two sisters, both of whom could be the next victims, from the internationally best-selling author of Betty."Capture[s] what goes horribly wrong when women don’t fit a customary victim profile..Categorized as:
coming-of-age crime family historical-fiction literary-fiction suspense thriller adult -
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![The Weight of Silence by Gregg Olsen]()
The Weight of Silence by Gregg Olsen
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA heart-pounding novel of unspeakable crimes and unforgivable sins from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sound of Rain. Homicide detective Nicole Foster has finally balanced an unsteady life and is anxious for a second chance... -
![We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker]()
We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsThere are two kinds of families: the ones we are born into and the ones we create.Walk has never left the coastal California town where he grew up. He may have become the chief of police, but he’s still trying to heal the old wound of having given the testimony that sent his best friend, Vincent King, to prison decades before. Now, thirty years later, Vincent is being released...Categorized as:
coming-of-age crime drama family friendship historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction -
![No Child of Mine by Susan Lewis]()
No Child of Mine by Susan Lewis
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom internationally bestselling British author Susan Lewis comes an unflinching, thoroughly suspenseful novel—perfect for readers of Jodi Picoult—about the darkest secrets a family can hide. Alex Lake’s life is centered on helping people. Her job as a social worker in a British seaside town is more than a career: It’s the very essence of who she is... -
![The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain]()
The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsIn 1977, pregnant Genevieve Russell disappeared. Twenty years later, her remains are discovered and Timothy Gleason is charged with murder. But there is no sign of the unborn child. CeeCee Wilkes knows how Genevieve Russell died, because she was there. And she also knows what happened to the missing infant, because two decades ago she made the devastating choice to raise the baby as her own...Categorized as:
coming-of-age crime drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic suspense -
![Prisoner by Ross Greenwood]()
Prisoner by Ross Greenwood
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA shocking thriller inspired by the true stories of a male prison officer in a women’s prison.Behind bars, the rules are different…Prison Officer Jim Dalton is used to walking the landings on the male side of HMP Peterborough. It’s a dangerous place, fuelled by testosterone-driven violence, but he’s done the job for a long time... -
![Juste une ombre by Karine Giébel]()
Juste une ombre by Karine Giébel
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsCloé Beauchamp est une jeune femme à qui tout semble réussir; belle, brillante, sur le point d'être nommée à la tête d'une prestigieuse agence de publicité... Et amoureuse, depuis peu, d'un homme charmant. Elle cache à la perfection ses failles et les horreurs qui ont jalonné son passé. Mais lentement, sa vie va se transformer en cauchemar... -
![The Lodger by Valerie Keogh]()
The Lodger by Valerie Keogh
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsShe’s in your home…Leigh Simons can’t say for sure what made her do it. A moment of madness, perhaps, but when the young, loud and gorgeous waitress at her favorite coffee shop reveals she is homeless, Leigh offers her the empty room in her house.In your head…Gina is the perfect lodger; Leigh, lonely and frustrated with her life, becomes infatuated with the woman – her boldness, her zeal... -
![Boetedoening (O'Loughlin by Michael Robotham]()
Boetedoening (O'Loughlin by Michael Robotham
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsRay Hegarty, a highly respected former detective, lies dead in his daughter Sienna's bedroom. She is found covered in his blood. Everything points to her guilt, but psychologist Joe O'Loughlin isn't convinced.Fourteen-year-old Sienna is Joe's daughter's best friend ? Joe has watched her grow up and seen the troubled look in her eyes... -
![The Ex-Wife by Jess Ryder]()
The Ex-Wife by Jess Ryder
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsYou’ve got everything she wants …Newly married Natasha has the perfect house, a loving husband and a beautiful little girl called Emily. She’d have it all if it wasn’t for Jen, her husband’s ex-wife who just won’t leave them alone …Then Natasha returns home one day to find her husband and Emily gone without trace... -
![The Last Thing She Told Me by Linda Green]()
The Last Thing She Told Me by Linda Green
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsEven the deepest buried secrets can find their way to the surface...Moments before she dies, Nicola's grandmother Betty whispers to her that there are babies at the bottom of the garden.Nicola's mother claims she was talking nonsense. However, when Nicola's daughter finds a bone while playing in Betty's garden, it's clear that something sinister has taken place... -
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![Found by Erin Kinsley]()
Found by Erin Kinsley
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen 11 year old Evan vanishes without trace, his parents are plunged into their worst nightmare.Especially as the police, under massive pressure, have no answers. But months later Evan is unexpectedly found, frightened and refusing to speak. His loving family realise life will never be the same again.DI Naylor knows that unless those who took Evan are caught, other children are in danger... -
![Secrets to the Grave by Tami Hoag]()
Secrets to the Grave by Tami Hoag
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsLibrarian’s note: This is a previously-published edition of Kindle ASIN: B0040SYJ0A. Marissa Fordham is dead, but her daughter is found at the crime scene, injured but alive. Now sheriff's detective Tony Mendez and child advocate Anne Leone begin to peel back the layers of Marissa's life... -
![The Rise by Shari King, Shari Low]()
The Rise by Shari King, Shari Low
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen we bury our secrets, they always come back to haunt us...Their rise was meteoric.Only a few years before, they had been three friends from Glasgow, just trying to survive tough lives of danger and dysfunction.But on one Hollywood evening in 1993, they were on the world’s biggest stage, accepting their Oscar in front of the watching world.That night was the beginning of their careers... -
![Things We Never Say by Caitlin Weaver]()
Things We Never Say by Caitlin Weaver
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThree mothers. Three secrets. One devastating scandal.Anna has always been the quiet one, the soft-spoken mother who kept her head down and her secrets close. But when she's thrown together with Maggie and Rhea on a PTA project, they begin to bond over wine and gossip, and slowly share the truths behind their picture-perfect lives... -
![The Rules of Backyard Cricket by Jock Serong]()
The Rules of Backyard Cricket by Jock Serong
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt starts in a suburban backyard with Darren Keefe and his older brother, sons of a fierce and gutsy single mother. The endless glow of summer, the bottomless fury of contest. All the love and hatred in two small bodies poured into the rules of a made-up game. Darren has two big talents: cricket and trouble... -
![One Little Mistake by Emma Curtis]()
One Little Mistake by Emma Curtis
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsVicky Seagrave is blessed: three beautiful children, a successful, doting husband, great friends and a job she loves. She should be perfectly happy. When she risks everything she holds dear on a whim, there's only person she trusts enough to turn to. But Vicky is about to learn that one mistake is all it takes; that if you're careless with those you love, you don't deserve to keep them . . -
![The Competition by Marcia Clark]()
The Competition by Marcia Clark
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn Marcia Clark's most electrifying thriller yet, Los Angeles District Attorney Rachel Knight investigates a horrifying high school massacre. A Columbine-style shooting at a high school in the San Fernando Valley has left a community shaken to its core. Two students are identified as the killers. Both are dead, believed to have committed a mutual suicide... -
![My Little Girl by Shalini Boland]()
My Little Girl by Shalini Boland
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratings‘I’m sorry. Your daughter is missing…’Claire Nolan receives a panicked phone call, telling her that her seven-year-old daughter Beatrice has gone missing on a trip to the local fair.It’s every mother’s worst nightmare. And it’s happening to her... -
![Dear Mother by Angela Marsons]()
Dear Mother by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA story about three sisters brought together by the death of their cruel and abusive mother. Alex, the youngest, is a bitter, unforgiving woman who refuses to face the events of her childhood. She hides in a bottle and destroys any chance of happiness that comes her way. Her life is spiralling dangerously out of control but she doesn't have the strength to stop it... -
![The Halo Effect by Anne D. LeClaire]()
The Halo Effect by Anne D. LeClaire
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn this tour de force, a father, shaken by tragedy, tries to avenge his daughter’s murder—and restore his family’s shattered life. It was supposed to be a typical October evening for renowned portrait artist Will Light... -
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![The New Wife by Sue Watson]()
The New Wife by Sue Watson
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsYou can never truly know what goes on behind closed doors…My darling son, Sam, is marrying his childhood sweetheart and I couldn’t be prouder of the man he’s grown into. Walking out on his abusive father all those years ago was the best thing I ever did. And today he stands, tall and handsome, saying ‘I do’ to my dream daughter-in-law... -
![You Let Me In by Lucy Clarke]()
You Let Me In by Lucy Clarke
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsSpine-tingling, chilling, and utterly compulsive, YOU LET ME IN is the stunning new novel from Richard & Judy Book Club author, Lucy Clarke Nothing has felt right since Elle rented out her house . . . I’M IN YOUR HOUSE There’s a new coldness. A shift in the atmosphere. The prickling feeling that someone is watching her every move from the shadows... -
![The Friend by Teresa Driscoll]()
The Friend by Teresa Driscoll
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsOn a train with her husband, miles from home and their four-year-old son, Ben, Sophie receives a chilling phone call. Two boys are in hospital after a tragic accident. One of them is Ben.She thought she could trust Emma, her new friend, to look after her little boy. After all, Emma’s a kindred spirit—someone Sophie was sure she could bare her soul to, despite the village rumours... -
![The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith]()
The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsThe phone starts vibrating in my hand. It's my father. He never calls. Pulse racing in trepidation, I sit up in bed and answer. 'Caitlin,' he says. 'You need to come to the house. Right now. It's Olivia. She's back.'On the night when Caitlin and Olivia's parents leave them to go to a dinner party both girls are full of excitement about being old enough to stay home alone... -
![I Am Watching You by Teresa Driscoll]()
I Am Watching You by Teresa Driscoll
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsWhen Ella Longfield overhears two attractive young men flirting with teenage girls on a train, she thinks nothing of it—until she realises they are fresh out of prison and her maternal instinct is put on high alert. But just as she’s decided to call for help, something stops her. The next day, she wakes up to the news that one of the girls—beautiful, green-eyed Anna Ballard—has disappeared... -
![Her Perfect Family by Teresa Driscoll]()
Her Perfect Family by Teresa Driscoll
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsA gripping psychological thriller from the bestselling author of I Am Watching You. The perfect family? Or the perfect lie?It’s their daughter’s graduation and Rachel and Ed Hartley are expecting it to be one of their family’s happiest days... -
![One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf]()
One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsIn her most emotionally charged novel to date, New York Times bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf explores the unspoken events that shape a community, the ties between parents and their children and how the fragile normalcy of our everyday life is so easily shattered.In the midst of a sudden spring snowstorm, an unknown man armed with a gun walks into an elementary school classroom... -
![The Back Road by Rachel Abbott]()
The Back Road by Rachel Abbott
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn a quiet country village, secrets abound.When a young girl, Abbie Campbell, is knocked over and left for dead on the back road of the village of Little Melham, waves of shock ripple through the small community and a chain of events, which threatens to expose long-kept secrets, is triggered... -
![pretending to dance by Diane Chamberlain]()
pretending to dance by Diane Chamberlain
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsMolly Arnette is very good at keeping secrets. She lives in San Diego with a husband she adores, and they are trying to adopt a baby because they can't have a child on their own. But the process of adoption brings to light many questions about Molly's past and her family—the family she left behind in North Carolina twenty years before. The mother she says is dead but who is very much alive...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction realistic suspense -
![The Promise by Teresa Driscoll]()
The Promise by Teresa Driscoll
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe chilling new psychological thriller from the #1 bestselling author of I Am Watching You. It was their darkest secret. Three schoolgirls made a promise – to take the horrible truth of what they did to the grave.Thirty years later, Beth and Sally have tried to put the trauma behind them... -
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![Secrets She Left Behind by Diane Chamberlain]()
Secrets She Left Behind by Diane Chamberlain
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsOne afternoon, single mother Sara Weston says she's going to the store--and never returns. In her absence, she leaves her teenage son alone with his damaged past and a legacy of secrets... -
![Three Mothers by Hannah Beckerman, Kristin Atherton]()
Three Mothers by Hannah Beckerman, Kristin Atherton
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of The Forgetting : a tense, character-driven suspense with a final twist that will make you gaspA heartbroken motherWhen seventeen-year-old Isla Richardson is killed in a hit-and-run incident, a community’s lives are thrown into disarray. For Isla’s mum, Abby, it is her second devastating bereavement, having lost her husband five years ago... -
![She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper]()
She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsEleven-year-old Polly is smart far beyond her years. But she's a loner. Her mother tells her she has 'gunfighter eyes', like the father she's never met. In prison, about to be released, Nate runs afoul of the powerful leader of the Aryan Brotherhood. Marked for death on his release, Nate soon realizes that everyone he has ever loved is a target - including his daughter, Polly... -
![With Love from the Inside by Angela Pisel]()
With Love from the Inside by Angela Pisel
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAngela Pisel’s poignant debut explores the complex relationship between a mother and a daughter, and their quest to discover the truth and whether or not love can prevail—even from behind bars.Grace Bradshaw knows the exact minute she will die. On death row for murdering her infant son, her last breath will be taken on February 15 at 12:01 a.m... -
![Faultlines by Barbara Taylor Sissel]()
Faultlines by Barbara Taylor Sissel
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIt’s the phone call every parent dreads: in the middle of the night, Sandy Cline learns that her twenty-year-old son, Jordan, has been in a car accident. Her nephew, Travis, was also in the car, along with Travis’s girlfriend. All three are alive—but barely. The car was smashed against a tree along a remote and winding road, beautiful but deadly, in their rural Texas Hill Country town... -
![Clean by Alia Trabucco Zerán, Sophie Hughes]()
Clean by Alia Trabucco Zerán, Sophie Hughes
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsINTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER!From a global star and International Booker Prize finalist, a razor-sharp, unforgettable novel about a maid who’s seen too much and a family at a breaking pointA young girl has died and the family’s maid is being interrogated. She must tell the whole story before arriving at the girl’s death... -
![A Conflict of Interest by Adam Mitzner]()
A Conflict of Interest by Adam Mitzner
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAlex Miller is a criminal defense attorney and, at thirty-five, the youngest partner in one of the most powerful law firms in New York City. He's a man at the top of his game with the life he's always dreamed of, complete with a devoted wife, who remains patient with his long hours and high-stakes cases, and the love of a beautiful young daughter... -
![I Made a Mistake by Jane Corry]()
I Made a Mistake by Jane Corry
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIT STARTED WITH A KISS... AND ENDED WITH MURDER. The darkly addictive new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of I Looked Away, Blood Sisters and My Husband's Wife. --------------------------------------------------------In Poppy Page's mind, there are two types of women in this world: those who are faithful to their husbands, and those who are not... -
![Behind Closed Doors by Susan Lewis]()
Behind Closed Doors by Susan Lewis
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe powerful new novel about how life can change course in a heartbeat. From the Sunday Times Top Ten bestselling author of Never Say Goodbye. When fourteen-year-old Sophie Monroe suddenly vanishes one night it looks at first as though she's run away from home.Her computer and mobile phone have gone, and she's taken a bag full of clothes... -
![No Hiding in Boise by Kim Hooper]()
No Hiding in Boise by Kim Hooper
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen Angie is awakened by a midnight call from an officer with the Boise Police Department, she thinks there must be a misunderstanding. The officer tells her that her husband was involved in a shooting at a local bar, but how can that be possible when her husband is sleeping right next to her? Except when she turns to wake him, he isn’t there... -
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![The Quiet People: The nerve-shredding, twisty MUST-READ bestseller by Paul Cleave]()
The Quiet People: The nerve-shredding, twisty MUST-READ bestseller by Paul Cleave
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratings"A cinematic, raging, rollercoaster of a plot with a wry humour … The Quiet People is wildly entertaining and will keep you guessing right to the end." — New Zealand Herald"A superb novel from a champion storyteller." — Crime Watch"Cleave writes the kind of dark, intense thrillers that I never want to end. Do yourself a favour and check him out... -
![Home Truths by Charity Norman]()
Home Truths by Charity Norman
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsLivia Denby is on trial for attempted murder. The jury have reached a verdict. Two years earlier, Livia was a probation officer in Yorkshire, her husband Scott a teacher. Their children, Heidi and Noah, round out a happy family until the day Scott's brother dies. Grief and guilt leave Scott seeking answers, a search which takes him into the world of conspiracy theories... -
![The Grazier's Son by Cathryn Hein]()
The Grazier's Son by Cathryn Hein
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen taking up an unexpected inheritance with an unhappy past, newcomer Stirling is daunted to find a town set against him. Except, perhaps, for one sassy, big-hearted woman, who is willing to give him a chance to prove he belongs. Pitch-perfect rural romance from popular Australian author Cathryn Hein... -
![Whisper Me This by Kerry Anne King]()
Whisper Me This by Kerry Anne King
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsSingle mother Maisey Addington has always fallen short of her own mother’s expectations—never married, a bit adrift, wasting her high IQ on dead-end jobs. The only thing Maisey’s sure she’s gotten right is her relationship with her twelve-year-old daughter, Elle…until a phone call blows apart the precarious balance of their lives... -
![Scrublands by Chris Hammer]()
Scrublands by Chris Hammer
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn an isolated country town afflicted by interminable drought, a charismatic and dedicated young priest calmly opens fire on his congregation, shooting dead five parishioners before being gunned down himself. A year later, accompanied by his own demons from war-time reporting, journalist Martin Scarsden arrives in Riversend... -
![Working Fire by Emily Bleeker]()
Working Fire by Emily Bleeker
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFrom the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of When I’m Gone comes a compelling novel of a bond between sisters, tested by tragedy…Ellie Brown thought she’d finally escaped her stifling hometown of Broadlands, Illinois; med school was supposed to be her ticket out...
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