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Books like Leave the World Behind
A masterclass in creeping dread that strips away the comforts of modern privilege to reveal the terrifying fragility beneath. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with Leave the World Behind.
- dread-soaked
- claustrophobic
- anxious
- eerie
- 01
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
Iain Reid
A claustrophobic road trip into the darkest, most surreal corners of the human psyche, where every thought feels like a trap.
- 02
All adults here
Emma Straub
A warm, wry exploration of the messy reality that no one ever really figures out how to be a grown-up.
- 03
The End of October
Lawrence Wright
A dread-soaked medical thriller that races against time as a deadly virus unravels the modern world.
- 04
The leftovers
Tom Perrotta
A haunting, quietly devastating portrait of ordinary people trying to buy groceries and fall in love after the world has inexplicably broken.
- 05
The Silence
Don DeLillo
A prescient, philosophical exploration of humanity stripped of its digital connections during a sudden catastrophe.
- 06
The Last Flight
Julie Clark
A breathless, white-knuckle escape hatch of a novel about the lengths women will go to reclaim their lives.
- 07
Severance
Ling Ma
A deadpan, eerily calm apocalypse where the end of the world looks a lot like another day at the office.
- 08
Lovecraft Country
Matt Ruff
A pulp-infused road trip where the cosmic horrors of the occult pale in comparison to the everyday terrors of Jim Crow America.
- 09
The Expats
Chris Pavone
A sleek, paranoid thriller that peels back the manicured facade of European expat life to reveal a labyrinth of marital secrets.
- 10
American Dirt
Jeanine Cummins
A breathless, heart-in-your-throat journey of survival driven by the fierce, unstoppable engine of a mother's love.
- 11
The End of Her
Shari Lapena
A claustrophobic plunge into domestic paranoia where exhaustion blurs the line between truth and deception.
- 12
Dark Matter
Blake Crouch
A relentless, mind-bending sprint through the terrifying consequences of the roads not taken.
