If you’re a fan of suspense fiction, get ready for the screen adaption of Freida McFadden’s critically acclaimed novel The Housemaid, in theaters December 19th. Adaptations are always exciting to look forward to, but like The Housemaid’s nail-biting plot, they can leave us eager for more when they’re over. Before, or after, you enjoy the thriller on the big screen, consider these similar titles for your fill of mystery, murder and chills.
If you enjoyed The Housemaid’s sharp contrast of unhinged violence against the backdrop of ordinary domesticity, you’ll love American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. In this controversial classic, Patrick Bateman is a wealthy Wall Street broker by day and psychotic serial killer by night. Its blood-splattered power suits and shocking moral vacuity will have you wondering if corporate greed and cold-blooded murder are all that different from each other.
In The Housemaid, class inequality and power dynamics take center stage, illuminated under growing household tension between Millie and the Winchesters. Similarly, Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage follows Jonah Keller, a struggling NYC waiter who becomes involved with Richard Shriver, a famous and award-winning playwright. Jonah is mystified by this new world of wealth where his dreams could come true, but he quickly realizes that things are not as they seem behind the iron gates of his new friend’s estate.
Most people could probably agree that young children drawing disturbing images is always downright creepy. Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak is a mystery about Mallory, a woman working as a nanny for a young boy who begins to do exactly that. His artwork begins with the usual kid stuff – stick figures, houses, flowers - until one day he draws a man in a forest, dragging a woman's lifeless body. From there, the drawings evolve into lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Where did he get these images into his head? Are they perhaps glimpses of an unsolved murder from long ago? Settle in as Mallory sets out to decipher the images and save the boy while coming to terms with a tragedy in her own past - before it's too late.
Though not technically a suspense novel by classification, you’ll still be on the edge of your seat reading the memoir Maid by Stephanie Land. It documents Stephanie’s true accounts as a single mom below the poverty line trying to make ends meet by cleaning rich people’s houses. Spoiler alert: there will not be a drop of blood spilled, but Stephanie uncovers scandalous secrets as she observes her clients in the intimacy of their own homes. With its bold confrontation of unjust stigmas against the working poor, Maid is just as juicy as the average thriller. After all, can’t the hardships of poverty be considered a horror on their own?
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