Thriller Book Recomendations

[jbcohen]

So far I have read Mitch Rapp, Scott Harvath, Jason Born and the Prosecution Task Force by Logan Ryles which one should I read next,

[Apache]

Vertical Run by Joseph R. Garber

David Elliot is about to have a very bad day at the office.

Each morning in his forty-fifth floor executive suite, David savors the quiet moments before the workday begins. Until today, when his boss walks in and aims a gun at him, murder glinting in his eye.

For the rest of the day, David will be trapped in a midtown tower with a team of ruthless and professional mercenaries. Everyone he meets—and knows—will try to kill him. They expect him to be dead by lunchtime.

But they’re wrong.

This is the “killer” workday redefined, a high-stakes and whiplash-paced drama that plays out with an electrifying intensity. You’ll never see the office the same way again.

Apache

[John F]

Lee Child's Jack Reacher series.

[Karellen]

I loved Mitch Rapp series, though only the originals, not those written by the ghost writers.

Jack Reacher is also great, but difficult to binge read as after a few books as they tend to take on the same story, so spread out the reading of that series. Save yourself the heartache, don't read anything after Lee Child handed over the reins to his brother.

Came across Levon Cade a great series by Chuck Dixon. Discovered it after watching the movie A Working Man (2025) which was based on the first novel. 12 Books in that series and I struggled to put them down. They are only short novels between 35,000-60,000 words so relatively quick reads.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/175503-levon-cade

My all time favourite is a wonderful mix of thriller (Mitch Rapp style) and science fiction - The Rho Agenda, by Richard Phillips. He has split them into 3 trilogies and recently started on his fourth trilogy of the same series.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/142...enda-inception
https://www.goodreads.com/series/61746-the-rho-agenda
https://www.goodreads.com/series/175...a-assimilation
Read in that order ^^

There is also the Icefire trilogy, though goodreads only shows two books.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/64107-icefire

For stand-along books, try...
Nemesis by Bill Napier

Yea, I'll stop there, but plenty more suggestions if needed.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Karellen

Jack Reacher is also great, but difficult to binge read as after a few books as they tend to take on the same story, so spread out the reading of that series. Save yourself the heartache, don't read anything after Lee Child handed over the reins to his brother.

I highly disagree with your assessment of the Jack Reacher series. It's very good and well worth reading.

[Pulpmeister]

Some vintage classics… Oldies but goodies.

Desmond Bagley, Running Blind, 1970
—A first-person spy vs spy thriller set largely in Iceland. (Three-part BBC TV serial in 1979, filmed mostly in Iceland, with British and Icelandic cast.)

Bernard Cornwell, Crackdown, 1990
—Drug smuggling and drug war in the Bahamas, with a charted luxury cruiser caught in the middle.

Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park, 1991 (or The Andromeda Strain, 1967)

David Dodge, To Catch a Thief, 1952
—American expat who spent much of WW2 with the French underground, now lives in Monte Carlo, where he is suspected of being a jewel thief. (Filmed, with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly)

Ken Follett, Night Over Water, 1991
—It is September 1939. The last Pan-Am Clipper flying boat is leaving Britain for the USA to escape the War. But there is trouble aboard.

Frederick Forsyth, The Day of the Jackal, 1971
—Forsyth's first novel, written in a factual, journalist style, and twice filmed.

Pat Frank, Forbidden Area (US title), Seven Days to Never (UK title) 1956
—Cold war "ticking time bomb" thriller.

Brian Garfield, Hopscotch, 1975
—CIA field agent on the run from his own agency and also the KGB

Hammond Innes, The Angry Mountain, 1950
—The author was stationed at an Allied airfield in Italy in 1944 when Vesuvius erupted just 10 km away. He used his experience in a postwar thriller novel, set in 1948, with a chase that climaxes with a shattering eruption of Vesuvius.

John D MacDonald, The Executioners, 1959
—Relentless novel of vengeance, twice filmed as "Cape Fear" (1962 with Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck; 1991 with Robert deNiro and Nick Nolte.)

A J Quinnell, Man on Fire, 1980
—Fading hit man reduced to taking small-time body guard jobs in Italy for a living; and then a hit man kills the person he is supposed to be guarding. Old instincts awakened, when he recovered from his wounds, he hunts down not just the actual killer, but everyone in the killer's chain of command, too. Twice filmed.

[haertig]

"Sigma Force" series by James Rollins (many books in this series, all are good)

"Travis Chase" series by Patrick Lee ("The Breach", "Ghost Country", "Deep Sky")

"The Martian" by Andy Weir

"John Matherson" series by William R. Forstchen ("One Second After" and sequels)

"Nell Duckworth & Geoffrey Binswanger" series by Warren Fahy ("Fragment", "Pandemonium")

Standalone adventures by James Rollins ("Amazonia", "Ice Hunt", "Subterranean", "Excavation", "The 6th Extinction", and more)

"The Codex" by Douglas Preston

"Burial Ground" by Michael McBride

"Temple" by Matthew Reilly

Most any book by Michael Crichton

[rrr]

Nick Jones "And Then She Vanished". Very good indeed. Gripping page-turner. Time travel
This one is the first in a series of four. but it does actually finish.

Can anyone recommend others like this?
Preferably: standalone (so a proper ending); gripping (so I don't fall asleep); not too long.

[tm3]

[QUOTE=JSWolf;4534177]

Originally Posted by Karellen

Jack Reacher is also great, but difficult to binge read as after a few books as they tend to take on the same story, so spread out the reading of that series. Save yourself the heartache, don't read anything after Lee Child handed over the reins to his brother.

I highly disagree with your assessment of the Jack Reacher series. It's very good and well worth reading.

I'm with JSWolf on this one. I was initially kind of put off with the Reacher books as the hero is over the top and unrealistic, but the more I read the more I realized that Lee Child can craft a really good story. He has his share of duds, but most are worth the read IMO.

I'll also cast my vote for Day of the Jackal and Man on Fire, a couple of great ones.

I'm going to dig into some of the other recommendations here as this is my favorite genre, but I fear that many are only going to be available in print version (like Man on Fire, but still, well worth it).

[Apache]

The 5-book series Man on Fire by A. J. Quinnell has been available as eBooks since 2013. I have them all in paper and really enjoyed them. I remember how hard it was to find the last two until the 2004 movie came out. I much prefer the book to the movie.
Apache

[tm3]

Originally Posted by Apache

The 5-book series Man on Fire by A. J. Quinnell has been available as eBooks since 2013. I have them all in paper and really enjoyed them. I remember how hard it was to find the last two until the 2004 movie came out. I much prefer the book to the movie.
Apache

Thanks for that! I didn't realize it was a series, and when I went looking a few years ago all I found was the print version of what is apparently the first one.

[John F]

Maybe Dan Brown's Robert Langdon series.