At first blush, all of these books are independent of a specific genre; a saga, a fantasy, a political drama, a spy novel, a crime thriller. But they all have one comment element—the little guy against the world. David versus Goliath, as it were. When I progressed from writing about personal interests to writing novels, I knew I wanted to follow the same style in my thriller stories. I've been fortunate to have a life of adventure that allows me to create worlds of high tension that my protagionist must overcome to achieve success. I dare say my first book would fit with my recommendations, as will my second novel which is currently in development.
When love steers Nate Vickers down a dangerous path, he quickly learns the error of his ways. As an ill-conceived heist goes sideways, and he's violently parted from the woman with whom he’d hoped to share his newfound wealth. Nate is forced to run for his life, take on a new identity, and carve out an existence for himself.
Finally settling down on a sailboat in a small seaside town in British Columbia and doing everything he can to make amends for his past misdeeds, he thinks he’s found peace. But new beginnings are never easy, especially for someone being sought by a violent gang, the mob whose money the gang lost, and the police who consider him a “person of interest” in both the robbery and a recent murder.
The Pillars of the Earth is one of the finest examples of a period piece saga that I have ever read. It is captivating, intriguing, and will appeal to anyone who loves historical fiction at its finest. The characters are believable. You feel like you are dealing with their issues alongside them. I learned a lot about the early church-driven communities of feudal England and how the church interplayed with the politics of the day as seen through the eyes of Philip, as he fights against church and state to bring the dream of the largest Gothic church to fruition. Highly recommend this book.
The "extraordinary . . . monumental masterpiece" (Booklist) that changed the course of Ken Follett's already phenomenal career-and begins where its prequel, The Evening and the Morning, ended.
"Follett risks all and comes out a clear winner," extolled Publishers Weekly on the release of The Pillars of the Earth. A departure for the bestselling thriller writer, the historical epic stunned readers and critics alike with its ambitious scope and gripping humanity. Today, it stands as a testament to Follett's unassailable command of the written word and to his universal appeal.
There are few books that will entice me to read the entire book in a day. Ready Player One did. It is a captivating fantasy book that pits the player in a virtual world set in 2045 against an evil corporation bent on domination. The characters are vivid and the action is nonstop. It was a great thrill ride that left me questioning whether the electronic world we now live in is truly an advancement of our society.
SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY STEVEN SPIELBERG
It's the year 2044, and the real world has become an ugly place. We're out of oil. We've wrecked the climate. Famine, poverty, and disease are widespread.
Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade is obsessed by the ultimate lottery ticket that…
It isn’t often that a book written a long time ago would be one of my recommendations. Atlas Shrugged is a compelling story of what our world could become if political forces collide along the way. In Rand's piece she pits Capitalism against Socialism through the eyes of Railroad executive Dagny Taggart and Steel Magnet, Hank Rearden. It is an extraordinary piece of literature that will leave you questioning if it was written as a warning of where our current-day societies are headed. A long read, but well worth your time.
Published in 1957, Atlas Shrugged was Ayn Rand's greatest achievement and last work of fiction. In this novel she dramatizes her unique philosophy through an intellectual mystery story that integrates ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, politics, economics, and sex. Set in a near-future U.S.A. whose economy is collapsing as a result of the mysterious disappearance of leading innovators and industrialists, this novel presents an astounding panorama of human life-from the productive genius who becomes a worthless playboy...to the great steel industrialist who does not know that he is working for his own destruction...to the philosopher who becomes a pirate...to the woman who…
The Heist is one in a series of spy novels written by the prolific author, Daniel Silva, featuring the legendary spy Gabriel Allon. Usually, spy novels bore me to tears, but I have now read every book Silva has written. He is the best in his genre and I was captivated by his characters who are thoroughly developed as you work through the series. All of Silva’s books focus on crimes against the Jewish state and the Heist tells the tale of a stolen Carvaggio masterpiece and Allon’s attempt to retrieve it from a historic criminal element. I couldn’t put it down.
Gabriel Allon, master art restorer and assassin, returns in a spellbinding new thriller from No.1 bestselling author Daniel Silva. For all fans of Robert Ludlum.
Gabriel Allon - art restorer and legendary spy - is in Venice when he receives an urgent call from the Italian police. The art dealer Justin Isherwood has stumbled upon a chilling murder scene, and is being held as a suspect.
The dead man is a fallen spy with a secret - a trafficker in stolen artwork, sold to a mysterious collector. To save his friend, Gabriel…
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is one of the great psychological crime thrillers. Larsson’s ability to draw us into the macraba world of violence against women while captivating us with colorful characters is a testament to his writing abilities. It is a dark subject that can leave you drained if it were not for the deducing abilities of Michael Bloomquist and Lisbeth Salander who combine their intellect to try to end the reign of terror of a psychopath. This is one of the novels that moved me into the thriller genre in my books.
Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder - and that the killer is a member of his own tightly-knit but dysfunctional family.
He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, truculent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history.
On the expertise I claim only a deep interest in history, leadership, and social history. After some thirty-six years in the fire and emergency services I can, I think, claim to have seen the best and the worst of human behaviour and condition. History, particularly naval history, has always been one of my interests and the Battle of Jutland is a truly fascinating study in the importance of communication between the leader and every level between him/her and the people performing whatever task is required. In my own career, on a very much smaller scale, this is a lesson every officer learns very quickly.
Captain Heron finds himself embroiled in a conflict that threatens to bring down the world order he is sworn to defend when a secretive Consortium seeks to undermine the World Treaty Organisation and the democracies it represents as he oversees the building and commissioning of a new starship.
When the Consortium employs an assassin from the Pantheon, it becomes personal.
Captain James Heron First Into the Fray: Prequel to Harry Heron Into the Unknown of the Harry Heron Series
The year is 2202, and the recently widowed Captain James Heron is appointed to stand by his next command, the starship NECS Vanguard, while she is being built. He and his team soon discover that they are battling the Consortium, a shadowy corporate group that seeks to steal the specs for the ship’s new super weapon. The Consortium hires the Pantheon, a mysterious espionage agency, to do their dirty work as they lay plans to take down the Fleet and gain supreme power on an intergalactic scale. When Pantheon Agent Bast and her team kidnap Felicity Rowanberg, a Fleet agent…
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