Saturday, August 01, 2020

Seven top obsession thrillers

Seraphina Nova Glass is an Assistant Professor of Instruction and Playwright-In-Residence at the University of Texas, Arlington where she teaches Film Studies and Playwriting.

She holds an MFA degree in Dramatic Writing from Smith College, and a second MFA in Directing from the University of Idaho. She’s also a screenwriter and award-winning playwright.

Her new novel is Someone's Listening.

At CrimeReads Glass tagged seven crime and suspense novels that explore the causes and consequences of infatuation, including:
The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine

It’s no wonder this story of relentless stalking and home-wrecking was an instant success. Amber Patterson unapologetically befriends Daphne, the wife of the man she wants for herself. She’s a master manipulator who gets closer and closer to this family under the guise that she’s Daphne’s BFF. The lengths she’ll go to earn the family’s trust while secretly setting traps to get Daphne out of the picture are shocking and anxiety-inducing.

The reason I think this book is such an accomplishment, is because yes, you can have a flawed or somewhat unlikable character and people can still relate and connect, but here you have a protagonist who’s the bad guy and so unabashedly remorseless that you don’t understand why you’re rooting for her, but you ARE. The author has made us want Amber to succeed in destroying a family and stealing a man, but simultaneously, of course, we don’t want her to. Poor Daphne. How could we be rooting for Amber? And that’s why it’s a gem.
Read about another entry on the list.

The Last Mrs. Parrish is among Allison Dickson's top ten thrillers featuring a dance of girlfriends and deception, Kristyn Kusek Lewis's eight shocking thrillers featuring scandals, Margot Hunt's top nine thrillers featuring duplicitous spouses, and Jennifer Hillier's eight crime novels of women starting over.

The Page 69 Test: The Last Mrs. Parrish.

--Marshal Zeringue