Can’t-Miss Thrillers for Fans of Black Mirror

Blackstone Publishing and Marc-Uwe King

Sixteen-year-old Lena Palmer has gone missing when a violent video of her assault by masked men goes viral. Yashira, chief inspector at the German FBI and the single mother of a sixteen-year-old girl herself, has been put in charge of the case. Together with her partner Michael they follow all the usual suspects, nut nothing in this case seems to follow any of the usual patterns, and Yashira is running out of time. Views is a compulsive thriller that explores the toxic relationship between technology and humanity, and the fallout after unthinkable lines are crossed.

The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi

Anisa spends her days subtitling films with her well-off parents’ support, while dreaming of bigger things. When her boyfriend tells her about a 10-day language course shrouded in mystery, she wonders if it’s the thing she needs to get into translating great literature. But as she moves to this reclusive and immersive study, she learns more and more about how it all works and what must be consumed to achieve her goal.

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami

In an attempt to stop crime before it happens, the government analyzes people’s data to identify those at higher risk of committing crimes. One such person is Sara, who is determined to be at risk of harming her husband. She is placed under a 21-day observation at a facility with others who were also determined to be at risk. But somehow, her three-week stint turns into months at the facility, as they continue to add more time to her stay. Algorithms, government surveillance, and technology clash in this near-future dystopia.

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

To earn their freedom, incarcerated individuals in this dystopian novel can sign up for a televised fight to the death…literally. Thus far, only one prisoner has made it long enough to be freed after fighting and surviving for three years. Loretta Thuwar, though, is only a month away. But with protests brewing and her freedom coming at a higher and higher cost, Loretta wonders if she’ll make it out after all.

The Last One by Alexandra Oliva

Twelve people sign up for a mysterious wilderness-based reality TV show that promises to push them to their physical limits and test their survival skills. A few weeks into filming, though, one of the contestants, Zoo, stumbles across evidence of a global disaster. She assumes the corpses and destruction are all just part of the game. But as she comes face to face with more worrying details, her confidence in the crew that’s allegedly nearby to keep her safe dwindles until she can’t tell what’s real and what’s fake.

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Jason Dessen is a happily married physicist raising his teenage son when a masked stranger knocks him out after leaving a bar. He awakens to a different world that makes him question not only where his family is, but also if they ever even existed. Does he fight to find his way back, or does he accept this new reality? If you’re a fan of the most mind-bending Black Mirror episodes, this book is for you.

The Warehouse by Rob Hart

Cloud is an all-encompassing, all-seeing company that delivers packages via drone to customers around the world. Its employees live at the company, work at the company, and do everything there. Everyone is happy and taken care of, and nothing is ever wrong at Cloud. But when Zinnia goes undercover as an employee to ferret out the company’s sinister secrets, the visage of this grand empire threatens to reveal a dark underbelly.