Bestselling Author's Suspenseful Abduction Novel Ranked Among ‘Best Thrillers By and For Women' from Goodreads
Thrillers are the kinds of books that suck you in and keep you up at night, not only because of the storylines but because you just can't put them down. Author Mary Kubica does just that with her suspenseful, twisty psychological thrillers. Her debut novel, The Good Girl, is so well known for it that it's in the top ten of "Best Psychological Thrillers by and for Women" according to Goodreads.
Often compared to Gone Girl, The Good Girl has everything you want in a gripping thriller. Multiple points-of-view, delicious family secrets, twists galore, and an ending you can barely see coming. It's why readers call it "unputdownable" and "a killer debut" for Kubica.
The Good Girlfollows the story of Mia Dennet, a wealthy art teacher from Chicago, who leaves a bar with a stranger, Colin, when her boyfriend fails to show. Colin abducts Mia but instead of delivering her to his employers, hides her away in a secluded cabin in the middle-of-nowhere Minnesota. Mia's mother, Eve, hires a detective and works to find her missing daughter. As the story unfolds dark family secrets are revealed, and the emotional entanglement between Colin and Mia proves to be something no one could have predicted.
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While The Good Girl was Kubica's debut in 2014, she's since gone on to publish nine other novels and her work has been translated into over 30 languages and sold over five million copies worldwide. Booklist Reviewcalled her first novel "[a] debut thriller builds suspense steadily and will have readers guessing what's really going on until the final pages," with Kirkus Reviewssaying it's "a pleasant and unexpected find."
A collector's edition of the novel will be available at Barnes and Noble this summer, just in time for readers to add it to their thriller shelves.
Related: No. 1 Bestselling Author's Obsessive Thriller one Readers 'Can't Wait' to Devour
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This story was originally published May 17, 2026 at 9:47 AM.