Contemporary Thrillers

Try these books if you're looking for:

• contemporary books
• thrillers/legal thrillers/adventure books
• a focus on characters and relationships
• a focus on story and action
• read like Ann Cleeves and Gillian Flynn

In the Woods 
Tana French
MYSTERY FRENCH Dublin M #1
French writes with a similar tone to Gillian Flynn. In the Woods is the first in a moody, police psychological series where things do not always end up as one would expect. Detective Rob Ryan must investigate a chilling murder which brings back 20 year old memories of the violent murder of 2 companions.

A Share In Death 
Deborah Crombie
MYSTERY CROMBIE Duncan #1
Both Cleeves and Crombie write suspenseful, intricately plotted police novels. A Share in Death is the first in a series. Inspector Kincaid is vacationing incognito until a new acquaintance is found murdered in the hotel. This requires him to resume his true identity.

Still Life 
Louise Penny
MYSTERY PENNY Three #1
Penny like Cleeves writes intricately plotted police procedural novels. In the novel, Still Life (first in a series), a much loved member of a community is found murdered in the woods. Will Inspector Gamache be able to find enough small clues to locate the murderer?

Dark Tide 
Elizabeth Haynes
MYSTERY HAYNES
Haynes writes thrillers with suspenseful plots that are similar to the writing style of Flynn. Genevieve is starting a new life living on a houseboat far away from her secret past. She is horrified when a body washes up by the boat and she recognizes it as someone linked to her life she left behind.

Fast-paced Compelling Apocalyptic Bio-Thrillers

Try these books if you're looking for:

• fast-pace
• thrillers
• apocalyptic stories
• strong plot
• adventure

Blindness 
Jose Saramago
F SARAMAGO
A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" whose victims are confined to a vacant mental hospital, while a single eyewitness to the nightmare guides seven oddly assorted strangers through the barren urban landscape. Blindness is an eerie, elegantly written dystopian novel about a society stricken with a sudden, debilitating epidemic. It emphasizes intimate psychological detail and incisive social commentary over action.

Lock In 
John Scalzi
F SCALZI
When a new virus sweeps the globe a discovery is made -- that a few rare individuals have brains that are receptive to being controlled by others, meaning that from time to time, those who are "locked in" or fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus, can "ride" these people and use their bodies as if they were their own. This skill is quickly regulated, licensed, bonded, and controlled. Nothing can go wrong. Or can it?

The Age of Miracles
Karen Thompson Walker
F WALKER
Imagines the coming-of-age story of young Julia, whose world is thrown into upheaval when it is discovered that the Earth's rotation has suddenly begun to slow, posing a catastrophic threat to all life. This haunting dystopian novel is driven primarily by nuanced characterization, thought-provoking social commentary, and realistic, sensitively drawn human drama.

The Children of Men 
P.D. James
MYSTERY JAMES
The year is 2012. The country is under the absolute rule of the Warden. Then by chance, Theo Faron meets a young woman who seeks to challenge the power of the Warden's regime. A compelling, bleakly atmospheric dystopian novel about near-future industrial society plagued by mysterious and devastating medical phenomena. The suspenseful plot serves as an avenue for intimate character drama, thought-provoking social commentary, and haunting meditations on human behavior in extreme conditions.

Thrilling Audiobooks

Try these books if you're looking for:

• action/thriller stories
• audiobooks
• read like Jasper Fforde, Brandon Sanderson, Dan Brown, Dean Koontz

The Angel's Game 
By Carlos Ruiz Zafon
BCD F RUIZ ZAFON
Offered a career-making writing deal from an enigmatic publisher in turbulent 1960s Barcelona, David Martin wonders about his capacity for writing a book for which the publisher claims others will live and die.

The Passage 
By Justin Cronin
BCD F CRONIN Passage #1
The latest test subject in a covert government experiment, abandoned six-year-old Amy is rescued by an FBI agent who hides them in the Oregon hills, from which Amy emerges a century later to save the human race from a terrifying virus.

To Battle! Books of War and Espionage

Try these books if you're looking for:

• action
• thrillers
• fantasy
• adventure
• emphasis on war and espionage
• smart characters 
• realistic tactics
• some lighthearted moments

Transfer of Power 
By Vince Flynn
F FLYNN Mitch_Ra #1
When a gang of terrorists seizes control of the White House, taking hostages, leaving many dead, and driving the president to a secret bunker, it is up to the CIA's top counterterrorism specialist, Mitch Rapp, to stop the insurrection.

Rules of Deception 
By Christopher Reich
F REICH Jonathan #1
Following the death of his wife in a mountaineering accident, Dr. Jonathan Ransom receives a mysterious message that makes him the subject of an international manhunt as he struggles to unravel the truth behind his wife's secrets.

Under Heaven 
By Guy Gavriel Kay
SCI-FI KAY
Shen Tai, son of an illustrious general, has spent two years honoring the memory of his late father by burying the bones of the dead from the site of one of his father's last great battles. In recognition of his labors, an unlikely source has sent him a dangerous gift: 250 Sardian horses. Two hundred and fifty is an unthinkable gift, a gift to overwhelm an emperor. A gift men would kill for.

For more espionage and action thrillers, you may want to try:

• The General's Daughter by Nelson DeMille 
• At Risk by Stella Rimington 
• The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins 
• Semper Fi by W. E. B. Griffin 
• Killing Floor by Lee Child 

For more epic fantasy novels with wars and interwoven plots, you may want to try:

• Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (starting with The Eye of the World) 
• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss 
• Sabriel by Garth Nix 

For lighter stories with smart characters, you may want to try:

• The Naming by Alison Croggon 
• Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown 
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

Summer Thrills

Try these books if you're looking for:

• action books
• thrillers

Bourne Identity 
By Robert Ludlum
F LUDLUM Bourne #1
A shooting victim, suffering from amnesia, finds himself with a Swiss bank account in the name of Jason Bourne, a professional assassin being manipulated by a top-secret American government organization to kill his arch rival, the dreaded Carlos.

Conspiracy of Paper 
By David Liss
F LISS
An outsider in eighteenth-century London, Jewish pugilist and hired thug Benjamin Weaver prowls the city's mean streets in the service of England's gentry tracking down debtors and thieves.

Long, Complex Books - and Make Them Downloadable

Try these books if you're looking for:

• Longer stories
• Complex plots
• Mysteries and thrillers
• Read like Kate Atkinson and Donna Tartt
• Downloadable audiobook

The Dinner (eBook and downloadable audio)
By Herman Koch
F KOCH
Meeting at an Amsterdam restaurant for dinner, two couples move from small talk to the wrenching shared challenge of their teenage sons' act of violence that has triggered a police investigation and revealed the extent to which each family will go to protect those they love.

The Luminaries (eBook)
By Eleanor Catoon
MYSTERY CATTON
A bold neo-Victorian murder mystery set in a remote gold-mining frontier town in 19th-century New Zealand. In 1866, a weary Englishman lands in a gold-mining frontier town on the coast of New Zealand to make his fortune and forever leave behind his family's shame. On arrival, he stumbles across a tense gathering of twelve local men who have met in secret to investigate what links three crimes that occurred on a single day, events in which each man finds himself implicated in some way.

Night Film (eBook and Downloadable Audiobook)
By Marisha Pessl
MYSTERY PESSL
When the daughter of a cult horror film director is found dead in an abandoned Manhattan warehouse, investigative journalist Scott McGrath, disbelieving the official suicide ruling, probes into the strange circumstances of the young woman's death.

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena (eBook and Downloadable Audiobook)
By Anthony Marra
F MARRA
This book is set in rural Chechnya during the region's war with Russia. Though events shift in time, the main focus is a five-day period in 2004, when an eight-year-old girl witnesses her father's abduction by Russian soldiers. Swearing to protect the girl, local doctor Akhmed (whose true passion is portraiture), brings her to a crumbling hospital, run by a hardened but dedicated surgeon, for safety. 

The Golem and the Jinni (eBook and Downloadable Audiobook)
By Helene Wecker
F WECKER
After her creator dies en route to America, Chava, a golem from a Polish shtetl, must navigate the streets of 1899 New York City by herself -- her only ally is a rabbi unsure whether to destroy her, or allow her to fulfill her destiny as the harbinger of destruction. Ahmad, a jinni from Syria's deserts has been released from his thousand-year-old glass bottle by a tinsmith but has little intention of remaining a metalworker, despite his uncanny talent for it. Chava and Ahmad meet and discover that they're soul mates, but a dangerous adversary threatens their future. This vibrant blend of myth, adventure, and romance will enchant fans of stories based on folklore.

The Prisoner of Heaven (eBook)
By Carlos Ruiz Zafon
F RUIZ ZAFON
In 1957 Barcelona, Daniel Sempere and his wife are celebrating Christmas with their new baby son when a mysterious stranger visits the Sempere bookshop and threatens to reveal a long-buried secret about the city's dark past.

State of Wonder (eBook)
By Ann Patchett
F PATCHETT
A researcher at a pharmaceutical company, Marina Singh journeys into the heart of the Amazonian delta to check on a field team that has been silent for two years--a dangerous assignment that forces Marina to confront the ghosts of her past.

Teen Action Thrillers

Try these books if you're looking for:

• action
• thrillers
• YA books

The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die 
By April Henry
YA F Henry
She doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know where she is, or why. All she knows when she comes to in a ransacked cabin is that there are two men arguing over whether or not to kill her. And that she must run. Follow Cady and Ty (her accidental savior turned companion), as they race against the clock to stay alive.

Insomnia 
By J.R. Johansson
YA F JOHANSSO Night Wa #1
Sixteen-year-old Parker Chipp spends his nights experiencing other people's dreams and getting no rest, so when he discovers that new friend Mia's dreams are different he becomes fixated on her until memory blackouts lead him to question exactly what their relationship is.

Grave Mercy 
By Robin LaFevers
YA F LAFEVERS His Fair #1
In the fifteenth-century kingdom of Brittany, seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where she learns that the god of Death has blessed her with dangerous gifts--and a violent destiny.

Scientific Thrillers

Try these books if you're looking for:

• scientific fiction
• thrillers

Ice Station 
By Matthew Reilly
F REILLY Shane #1
On Antarctica, special forces from several countries battle each other for control of what is believed to be an alien space ship buried in the ice. Non-stop action and treachery galore.

The Alexander Cipher 
By Will Adams
F ADAMS
Daniel Knox's first love is archaeology, more specifically Alexander the Great. In this adventure, he competes with rival archaeologists, Egyptian officials, and Macedonian nationalists in the hunt for one of the greatest archaeological prizes in the world--the tomb of Alexander the Great.

The Atlantis Code 
By Charles Brokaw
F BROKAW Thomas #1
When the ancient ruins of Atlantis are discovered along the Spanish coast, linguist and archaeologist Thomas Lourds joins a violent competition to be the first of its explorers, an effort marked by a series of puzzles that must be solved in order to gain entry into the lost civilization.

Adventure and Action Thrillers

Try these books if you're looking for:

• adventure books
• action thrillers

The Reluctant Assassin 
By Eoin Colfer
YA COLFER W.A.R.P. #1
In Victorian London, Albert Garrick, an assassin-for-hire, and his reluctant young apprentice, Riley, are transported via wormhole to modern London, where Riley teams up with a young FBI agent to stop Garrick from returning to his own time and using his newly acquired scientific knowledge and power to change the world forever. This book has nonstop adventure like the Brandon Mull books.

The Will of the Empress 
By Tamora Pierce
YA PIERCE Circle Reforged #1
On visit to Namorn to visit her vast landholdings and her devious cousin, Empress Berenene, eighteen-year-old Sandry must rely on her childhood friends and fellow mages, Daja, Tris, and Briar, despite the distance that has grown between them. All of Peirce’s books have magical elements of adventure and action.

Redwall 
By Brian Jacques
YA JACQUES Redwall #1
When the peaceful life of ancient Redwall Abbey is shattered by the arrival of the evil rat Cluny and his villainous hordes, Matthias, a young mouse, determines to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior which, he is convinced, will help Redwall's inhabitants destroy the enemy. The Redwall series is action packed and fast paced with worlds being built.

Crime and Culture

Try these books if you're looking for:

• short true crime or action thrillers
• books similar to Homeless Bird discussing culture

Jude 
By Kate Morgenroth
YA F MORGENRO
Still reeling from his drug-dealing father's murder, moving in with the wealthy mother he never knew, and transferring to a private school, fifteen-year-old Jude is tricked into pleading guilty to a crime he did not commit.

Nothing to Lose 
By Alex Flinn
YA F FLINN
A year after running away with a traveling carnival to escape his unbearable home life, sixteen-year-old Michael returns to Miami, Florida, to find that his mother is going on trial for the murder of his abusive stepfather.

Kissing the Rain 
By Kevin Brooks
YA F BROOKS
Fifteen-year-old Moo Nelson, shy, overweight, and bullied by his classmates, finds his life spinning out of control after he witnesses a car chase and a fight that results in a murder.

Esperanza Rising 
By Pam Munoz Ryan
J F RYAN
Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the Great Depression.

Wonder 
By R.J. Palacio
J F PALACIO
Ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities and was not expected to survive, goes from being home-schooled to entering fifth grade at a private middle school in Manhattan, which entails enduring the taunting and fear of his classmates as he struggles to be seen as just another student.

Fantasy, Sci-Fi, & Mystery

Try these books if you're looking for:

• action
• mystery
• thriller
• fantasy 
• sci-fi
• similar to: Orson Scott Card, Julia Spencer Fleming, Diana Mott Davidson, Anne McCaffrey, David Baldacci, Michael Palmer
• NOT similar to: Jonathan Kellerman, J.R.R. Tolkien, Sandra Brown

The Expats 
By Chris Pavone
F PAVONE
"An international spy thriller about a former CIA agent who moves with her family to Luxembourg where everything is suspicious and nothing is as it seems"-- Provided by publisher.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder 
By Joanne Fluke
MYSTERY FLUKE Hannah #1
Cookie-baking sleuth Hannah Swenson must protect her reputation when a popular delivery man is found murdered behind her bakery with Hannah's cookies scattered around him.

Action/Thriller Fiction

Try these books if you're looking for:

• action
• thriller
• fiction

The Black Box 
By Michael Connelly
MYSTERY CONNELLY Harry Bo #18
During the Los Angeles riots of 1992, much of South Central L.A. was a crime scene, and in Michael Connelly's latest, Harry Bosch and his team are moving at breakneck speed from homicide to homicide gathering only the most essential information and evidence and then moving on to the next shooting. But one murder stands out for him -- a Danish journalist, shot to death execution style in an alley somewhat removed from the worst rampaging. Harry does as much on the case as he can but then must move on and leave the case to others. Twenty years later when the L.A. cold case division is asked to look into homicides from that era, Harry picks out Anneke Jesperson's file and revisits the crime scene he once so hastily secured.

Adrenaline 
By Jeff Abbott
F ABBOTT Sam Capr #1
Sam Capra’s life is almost perfect. He has a beautiful wife he loves, a new baby on the way, and an exciting job with the CIA. However, in the blink of an eye everything is gone, his wife and child are missing, his coworkers are all dead, and the government he has served faithfully believes he has betrayed them. Desperate to rescue his family and restore his professional reputation, Sam is willing to do almost anything. And while he makes some shocking discoveries about people he has trusted in the past, his greatest shock may be the discovery of his own capacity for violence when the ones he loves are at risk.

Gold of Kings 
By T. Davis Bunn
F BUNN
An art historian unravels the mystery surrounding her grandfather's untimely death and quickly becomes entangled in a web of international intrigue dating back to biblical times.

The Atlantis Code 
By Charles Brokaw
F BROKAW Thomas #1
When the ancient ruins of Atlantis are discovered along the Spanish coast, linguist and archaeologist Thomas Lourds joins a violent competition to be the first of its explorers, an effort marked by a series of puzzles that must be solved in order to gain entry into the lost civilization. 

More Action/Thrillers

Try these books if you're looking for:

• action
• thriller

Don’t Turn Around 
By Michelle Gagnon
YA F GAGNON
After waking up on an operating table with no memory of how she got there, Noa must team up with computer hacker Peter to stop a corrupt corporation with a deadly secret.

Heist Society 
By Ally Carter
YA F CARTER Heist #1
A group of teenagers uses their combined talents to re-steal several priceless paintings and save fifteen-year-old Kat Bishop's father, himself an international art thief, from a vengeful collector.

The Expats 
By Chris Pavone
F PAVONE
"An international spy thriller about a former CIA agent who moves with her family to Luxembourg where everything is suspicious and nothing is as it seems"-- Provided by publisher.

The Fear Index 
By Robert Harris
F HARRIS
A visionary scientist creates a revolutionary form of artificial intelligence that predicts movements in the financial markets with uncanny accuracy. His hedge fund, based in Geneva, makes billions. But after an intruder breaks into his home, he has to try to discover who is trying to destroy him.

Action and Thriller Novels

Try these books if you're looking for:

• action
• thriller

Spycatcher 
By Matthew Dunn
F Dunn Spycatch #1
Unpredictable agent Will Cochrane must catch the world's most wanted international terrorist mastermind, who was responsible for the death of his father in Iraq twenty-five years ago, and avert an attack the likes of which the world has never seen. This book is action packed and fast paced.

The Tourist 
By Olen Steinhauer
F Steinhau Mile Wea #1
Milo Weaver is drawn into a conspiracy that links riots in the Sudan, an assassin committing suicide and an old friend who's been accused of selling secrets to the Chinese. Once the CIA and Homeland Security are after him, the only way for him to survive is to return, headfirst, into Tourism.

The Kill Artist 
By Daniel Silva
F Silva Gabriel #1
The Israeli intelligence chief recalls two former agents to eliminate a top Palestinian terrorist. The former agents were once lovers and their pasts and their enemies come back to haunt them as the terrorist begins his campaign of murder. This spy fiction is a suspenseful adventure.

Contemporary Corporate Narratives

Try these books if you're looking for:

• narrative
• contemporary
• concise
• books about success and business
• inspirational non-fiction and/or action thriller fiction

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking 
By Susan Cain
155.232 CAI 2012
Cain shows how the brain chemistry of introverts and extroverts differs, and how society misunderstands and undervalues introverts. She gives introverts the tools to better understand themselves and take full advantage of their strengths.

The Last Lecture 
By Randy Pausch
BIO PAUSCH 2008
Reflections of a Carnegie Mellon computer science professor who lectured on “really achieving your childhood dreams,” shortly after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Jack: Straight from the Gut 
By Jack Welch
BIO WELCH 2001
The CEO of General Electric looks back on his distinguished career with the corporation and shares his personal philosophy of business and innovative managerial style.

Rising Sun 
By Michael Crichton
F CRICHTON
During the grand opening celebration of the new American headquarters of an immense Japanese conglomerate, the dead body of a woman is found. The investigation begins, and immediately becomes a headlong chase through a twisting maze of industrial intrigue and a violent business battle that takes no prisoners.

Top Producer
By Norb Vonnegut
MYSTERY VONNEGUT
In the wake of a man’s murder in front of hundreds of party-goers, the victim’s best friend, investment expert Grove O’Rourke, is entreated by the man’s widow for help, a situation that is further complicated by a dark secret and an expensive cover-up.