15 Sizzling YA Thrillers for Scorching Hot Summer Days

JULY 8, 2020 Annika Voss Riveted by Simon Teen

I Killed Zoe Spanos by Kit Frick

Anna Cicconi is looking for a fresh start with her summer job as a nanny in the Hamptons. What she finds instead is a community on edge after the disappearance of Zoe Spanos, a local girl who has been missing since New Year’s Eve and to whom Anna bares an eerie resemblance. So when Zoe’s body is found and Anna is charged with manslaughter, something doesn’t entirely add up and Martina Green, teen host of the Missing Zoe podcast, is determined to find out the truth

Girl Unframed by Deb Caletti

Sydney isn’t entirely excited to spend the summer with her film-star mother, who prizes her beauty and male attention above all else. Sydney’s fears rise when she discovers her mother’s involvement with Jake, a dangerous art dealer with shady connections. To make matters worse, Jake’s eyes seem to follow Sydney everywhere and behaviors that once seemed like misunderstandings begin to feel like threats as the summer grows longer and hotter.

Perfect Liars by Amanda K. Morgan

This is two thrillers in one!  Read Amanda K. Morgan’s two twist-filled thrillers, Secrets, Lies, and Scandals and Such a Good Girl, that are sure to have your heart pounding and your spine tingling.

All Eyes on Us by Kit Frick

Pretty Little Liars meets People Like Us in this taut, tense thriller about two teens who find their lives intertwined when an anonymous texter threatens to spill their secret. Amanda Kelly is the daughter of small town social climbers, dating real estate heir Carter Shaw. Rosalie Bell is fighting to remain true to herself and her girlfriend against her Christian fundamentalist parents by carrying on a fake relationship with Carter on the side. Now, Amanda and Rosalie are roped into a bid to take Carter down and unmask their stalker, known as Private, before Private uproots their lives.

The Best Lies by Sarah Lyu

Remy was happy once. She had her boyfriend Jack and her best friend Elise who understood her better than anyone else in the world. But now that happiness is gone. Jack is dead, shot through the chest, and it was Elise who pulled the trigger. As the police investigate, Remy does the same, sifting through her own memories, looking for a scrap of truth that could save the friendship that means everything to her. Told in alternating timelines, this twisted psychologically thriller explores the dark side of obsessive friendship.

 I'll Never Tell  by Abigail Haas

For high school seniors Anna, her boyfriend, Tate, and her best friend, Elise, spring break in Aruba is a dream come true. But this paradise goes south very quickly when Elise is found murdered. Now, Anna finds herself stuck as the primary suspect in this murder trial, not knowing who to trust and who to turn to.

The Perfect Candidate by Peter Stone

When recent high school graduate Cameron Carter lands an internship with Congressman Billy Beck in Washington, DC, he thinks it is his ticket out of small town captivity. He soon finds a friend and mentor in fellow staffer Ariel Lancaster, until she winds up dead…

As rumors and accusations about her death fly around Capitol Hill, Cameron’s low profile makes him the perfect candidate for an FBI investigation that he wants no part of. Before he knows it—and with his family’s future at stake—he discovers DC’s darkest secrets as he races to expose a deadly conspiracy.

If it doesn’t get him killed first.

This Lie Will Kill You by Chelsea Pitcher

One year ago, there was a party. At the party, someone died. Five teens each played a part and up until now, no one has told the truth. Tonight, the five survivors arrive at an isolated mansion in the hills expecting to compete for a cash prize, but they soon discover they were lured there by a person bent on revenge. Five arrived, but not all can leave. Will the truth set them free or will their lies destroy them all?

Dangerous Lies by Becca Fitzpatrick

A teen is forced to make a fresh start after witnessing a violent crime—but love and danger find her anyway in this novel from Becca Fitzpatrick, the New York Times bestselling author of the Hush, Hush saga.

Bad Girls with Perfect Faces by Lynn Weingarten

Sasha does something to protect her best friend, however, what she does may haunt her for the rest of her life. Her best friend, Xavier, wants to help her but doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into. Then there’s, Ivy, just as twisted as vines spiraling on a house. All three of their stories come together and start something that will change everything, even to the point where no one knows what is made up or true.

Here Lies Daniel Tate by Cristin Terrill

It seems too good to be true when Daniel Tate, missing since he was abducted from one of California’s most elite private enclaves at the age of ten, turns up on a snowy street in Vancouver six years later. It’s perfect. A miracle. Except for one thing.

Three Truths and a Lie by Brent Hartinge

A weekend retreat in the woods and an innocent game of three truths and a lie go horribly wrong in this high-octane psychological thriller filled with romantic suspense by a Lambda Award–winning author.

The Sisterhood A.J. Grainger

Seventeen-year-old Lil’s heart was broken when her sister Mella disappeared. There’s been no trace or sighting of her since she vanished, so when Lil sees a girl lying in the road near her house she thinks for a heart-stopping moment that it’s Mella.

Out of Control by Sarah Alderson

When seventeen-year-old Liva came to New York City, all she wanted was to escape the painful memories of her past and finally find a fresh start. But she becomes the sole witness to a brutal murder everthing changes. Soon she’s in police custody—supposedly for her own protection—and when she realizes something isn’t right, but it’s too late. With the help of a sexy car thief that she met at the station, Liva manages to get away, but now the two of them are alone in New York, trying to outrun and outwit the two killers who will stop at nothing to find them.

How to Disappear by Ann Redisch Stampler

This electric cross-country thriller follows the game of cat and mouse between a girl on the run from a murder she witnessed—or committed?—and the boy who’s sent to kill her.

Looking for some more beachy vibes? Check out these books that you should pack in your beach bag this summer!

~Enjoy!