Kevin Guilfoile is the author of Cast of Shadows, an unconventional thriller that has just been published by Knopf. Here, Guilfoile names six books that transcend their genres.

Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin (Signet, $7). I wonder if anyone but me still reads (and rereads) Levin, since nearly all his novels have been made into popular movies at least once. Nevertheless, his restraint was a revelation to me as a suspense writer, and Rosemary’s Baby is perhaps the best example of it. Levin doesn’t even pass judgment when Satan himself impregnates an innocent woman. He lets the reader supply the horror. Brilliant.

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