8 Thrillers About Jealousy and Obsession Between Friends

As the saying goes, the opposite of love isn’t hate—it’s indifference. And it’s not uncommon to sometimes hate the ones we love the most.

One of the hallmarks of a good thriller is when the reader is made to doubt a character’s true intentions. Is he really a devoted friend? Or does he have an ulterior motive? Does she really care about her and have her best interests at heart, or is she manipulating her to get what she really wants?

In my debut thriller novel, The Better Mother, Savannah discovers she’s pregnant after a short and casual fling with the handsome Max, whom she met at a bar. But several weeks later, when she gets back in touch to tell him, she learns he has reunited with his ex, the rich and beautiful Madison. Though it would be perfectly normal for Madison to be upset and jealous that another woman is having her partner’s baby, Madison says she understands—they were broken up at the time, after all—and that she just wants to help support the two as they form a friendly co-parenting relationship. But is Madison really just trying to get close to Savannah and her baby so she can pull off her own sinister plan?

In these eight thriller novels, friendships are questioned and pushed to their limits. Even if you’ve been friends for decades, can you ever really know someone’s true intentions? At the end of the day, aren’t we all just looking out for number one—ourselves?

Tell Them You Lied by Laura Leffler

Anna grew up without ever having a real friend after a tragic incident in her childhood left her scarred emotionally and at odds with her parents. So when she finally spreads her wings and heads to art school in New York City, it’s no wonder she falls for the first girl that shows her any attention—the mysterious and alluring Willow. It’s obvious Willow is favored as the program’s darling, the one who will undoubtedly succeed in her artist career. Her talent, and her beauty, earn her attention everywhere she goes. The two girls form a tight-knit, codependent best friendship, but Willow can be selfish, manipulative, and cruel. When Anna decides that Willow needs to be reminded why she should cherish their friendship instead of take it for granted, things get deadly—and it all goes down in Manhattan on the pivotal date of September 11^th, 2001. This read is dark and unputdownable, with a reveal at the end you’ll never see coming.

The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding

Once a prominent chef, Lee now finds herself living on the streets after the Covid pandemic shut down her successful restaurant. Each night, she parks her car in a wealthy, oceanfront neighborhood and sleeps clutching her belongings, with all the doors locked. One morning, she witnesses the beautiful and privileged Hazel trying to drown herself in the ocean and saves her. At first, Hazel is furious that Lee foiled her suicide attempt, but soon, the two become fast friends. Lee depends on Hazel for companionship and the basic human comforts she can’t afford that Hazel takes for granted. For Hazel, Lee becomes a true friend she confides a secret to—her husband is abusive. She envies Lee’s freedom. It’s not long before Lee sees Hazel as the cash cow that can help her get back on her feet, and Hazel sees her new friend as her ticket to freedom. What happens when Hazel decides to put Lee’s life on the line to get what she wants, and Lee goes along with it for a promised payday?

His & Hers by Alice Feeney

Successful TV news journalist Anna Andrews fought hard to get where she is. From a modest upbringing, Anna was mostly raised by her mother, the neighborhood maid, when her abusive father checked out. Anna was shy and awkward as a teen until the most popular girl at school, Rachel Hopkins, adopted her into her twisted little friend circle. Anna was captivated by her confidence, allure, and expensive clothes. In the present, things start to unravel when a dead body is found in the woods of her small hometown and Anna is sent to cover the story. But the body turns out to be Rachel’s—and the killer may be targeting all members of that former high school friend circle, one by one. Could Anna be one of the next victims? Or is she the killer? Or is the killer her ex-husband, whom Rachel introduced her to all those years ago? In this book, all characters are suspects, and all narrators are unreliable.

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

Alix Summer is the creator of a popular podcast that highlights powerful women, but after many episodes, she feels the show has run its course. She is desperately trying to think of the topic for her next show when she meets Josie at a pub. They’re both celebrating their 45^th birthday, and it turns out they were even born in the same hospital, making them “birthday twins.” Josie suggests an intriguing idea for Alix’s next podcast—her. She’s had a difficult life, but claims she’s on the precipice of reinvention and invites Alix to chronicle the journey. Josie becomes obsessed with Alix’s seemingly perfect life. Though Alix is wary, she can’t help but think the frightening story Josie weaves will make for excellent podcast material. But as Alix digs deeper into Josie’s past, she starts to question the truth of everything Josie has told her and begins to suspect that Josie targeted her out of jealousy. How far will Josie go to reinvent herself and make Alix, the object of her obsession, her best friend?

The Other Mother by Carol Goodman

New motherhood, and all the insecurities that come with it, can make for gripping thriller fodder. In this novel, Daphne and Laurel—two mothers who meet by chance at a parenting class and both have daughters named Chloe—seem fated to become best friends and support each other through the emotional minefield that is postpartum life. But their friendship soon moves into dysfunctional territory. Laurel starts dressing like Daphne, telling others Daphne’s stories as if they’re her own. Meanwhile, Daphne starts to think that masquerading as Laurel could be her answer to escaping her husband, whom she is afraid thinks she’s an unfit mother and might try to take her daughter away. Posing as Laurel, Daphne takes a job in an eerie, atmospheric mansion archiving materials for an aging author—and she starts to learn that nothing is as it seems.

We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz

Kristen has been helping her best friend Emily keep the secret of what happened on their backpacking trip in Cambodia years ago buried deep, just like the body of the male traveler Emily killed. She said it was in self-defense after he attacked her when they were alone, and Kristen believed her and helped her hide the evidence. But years later, they’re on another backpacking trip in Chile when it’s Kristen who kills a male backpacker, also claiming self-defense. Emily pays her back by helping her cover it up. Now, each friend has dirt on the other, and they are bound to each other by these secrets, begging the eerie question—when is “best friends forever” a deadly concept?

All the Broken People by Leah Konen

Lucy was trying to escape an abusive partner when she fled the city for a small cabin in Woodstock, New York. Having been isolated for so long, she is thrilled when neighbors John and Vera take a liking to her, and the three become instant best friends. She soon discovers this is because John and Vera have been shunned by the neighborhood thanks to accusations against John. The couple finally confesses that they want to fake John’s death and leave to start over fresh with clean reputations (and, as an added bonus, the value of John’s original artwork will soar). Afraid she is losing the only friends she can really count on, Lucy reluctantly agrees to help them fake John’s death—but things go horribly awry when John ends up dead for real. Who is manipulating whom?

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

This book tells the ultimate tale of two “frenemies.” White author June Heyward has always been jealous of Asian author Athena Liu. They have both published books, but June’s sales barely stay above water, while Athena’s soar to amazing heights. Is it because Athena is a marginalized writer of color, as June suspects? Though they’ve never been close, they’ve known each other since they were in the same writing program back at school and catch up every once in a while. When Athena dies in a tragic accident right after showing June her latest manuscript, which no one else has yet seen, June realizes this could be her chance to pass it off as her own. Before long, she is the next big thing in the publishing world, all thanks to the fruits of her theft. But what happens when some people start to suspect the truth? And could Athena’s ghost really be haunting her from the afterworld, having seen what she did?