While there are a lot of thriller book series that get better with each outing, some of the genre’s most well-known literary franchises sadly never lived up to their dynamite first books. The law of averages proves that the more prolific an author is, the higher the odds are that some of their books will be critical disappointments. Even the best writers have off days, and for every Stephen King book worth rereading, there is a story or even novel from the author that doesn’t live up to its potential.
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As such, it should not come as a shock that some great thriller book series, such as The Thursday Murder Club, The Housemaid, and You, peak with their first novels. After all, thrillers are famous for hinging on big twists, and the better readers get to know a character, the less likely it is that the author will be able to mislead them with a major revelation. The comfort of familiar characters returning is exactly what makes thriller book series appealing, but this same reliability breeds predictability.
The Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman
Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club series has a killer premise, as a group of pensioners pass the time at their retirement home by solving cold cases. Although Netflix’s movie adaptation of The Thursday Murder Club badly let down the source material with some misjudged changes, the original novel in the series remains the strongest story following the titular group.
From the gossipy newcomer Joyce and the boisterous former union leader Ron to the retired spy Elizabeth and the meek psychiatrist Ibrahim, the eponymous club is filled with rich, charming personalities. The problem is that subsequent books amped up their already playful personae too far, turning the group into caricatures of themselves. In contrast, the original book’s subtler humor is sorely missed in its sequels.
The Housemaid – Freida McFadden
Love her or hate her, Freida McFadden is one of the most popular living authors thanks to her steady stream of psychological thriller novels. McFadden’s biggest hit to date, 2022’s The Housemaid, spawned a movie adaptation starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, and even a reader with a heart of stone would have to admit that the campy, delirious psychological thriller has a truly great twist at its center.
The problem with The Housemaid’s book sequels, which are soon to become movies too, is that the original novel’s twist hinges on a big secret about the title character. Once readers know all about the housemaid’s past, the plots of The Housemaid’s Secret and The Housemaid Is Watching become fairly easy to predict. It is hardly surprising that, from Never Lie to Ward D to The Teacher to The Tenant, almost all of McFadden’s other books are standalone stories, since these don’t need to struggle with follow-up plots after their shocking reveals.
You – Caroline Kepnes
While the sequels to The Housemaid will need to work out how to make the central character’s backstory a mystery again, one Netflix psychological thriller series already tackled this issue years ago. When Caroline Kepnes’ You first hit shelves in 2014, the eerie thriller was a massive critical success, earning rapturous praise from Stephen King himself thanks to its ingenious twist. In a truly daring formal approach, You was a story of a stalker picking a new victim told entirely from the perpetrator’s point of view.
While this sounds potentially stomach-churning, what was truly surprising about Kepnes’ novel was just how unexpectedly comfortable readers soon found themselves in the mind of Joe Goldberg, a mild-mannered bookstore clerk and secret serial killer. The problem was, of course, that once readers got to find out the exact depths Joe would go to stalk and trap his prey, his real nature became obvious. While Kepnes’s sequels Hidden Bodies, You Love Me, and For You and Only You have their moments, the later psychological thrillers couldn’t recapture the sheer shock value of You.
