Fans pick 93 books like Hostage

By Clare Mackintosh,

Here are 93 books that Hostage fans have personally recommended if you like Hostage. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of City on Fire

Frank Romans Author Of Warriors of Ameraulde

From my list on keeping you turning the pages in anticipation.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love a book that pulls you into the story, one where maybe you see yourself in the characters. As a boy, I loved to read and would lose myself in books. I find I am drawn to many different types and genres, but especially military or crime dramas. My favorites include historical references and in my own writing I often place characters in an actual historical event, but with a fictional outcome. The most important thing to me is creating a character who is interesting enough to make the reader want more. My personal military experiences were used to begin my first novel while the characters came to life.

Frank's book list on keeping you turning the pages in anticipation

Frank Romans Why did Frank love this book?

If you’re like me and love gangster stories, you’re going to love this book. The characters draw you into their world, their backgrounds, and their unique personalities from the beginning. I found myself comparing them to childhood friends since I grew up around similar characters. Maybe you did too. You’ll root for Danny as he navigates through the crime bosses, crooked cops, and his own gang of allies. Will he succeed or become another crime boss?

By Don Winslow,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked City on Fire as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"One of America's greatest storytellers." - Stephen King

"No one fuses action with emotion like Winslow." - The Times

The new thriller from the #1 international bestseller - the start of a brand new trilogy

'Superb. This is storytelling with a keen edge. City on Fire is exhilarating to read.' - Stephen King

A Times Best Book for 2022

Two criminal empires together control all of New England.

Until a beautiful woman comes between the Irish and the Italians, launching a war that will see them kill each other, destroy an alliance, and set a city on fire.

Danny Ryan…


Book cover of The Note Through the Wire: The Incredible True Story of a Prisoner of War and a Resistance Heroine

Frank Romans Author Of Warriors of Ameraulde

From my list on keeping you turning the pages in anticipation.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love a book that pulls you into the story, one where maybe you see yourself in the characters. As a boy, I loved to read and would lose myself in books. I find I am drawn to many different types and genres, but especially military or crime dramas. My favorites include historical references and in my own writing I often place characters in an actual historical event, but with a fictional outcome. The most important thing to me is creating a character who is interesting enough to make the reader want more. My personal military experiences were used to begin my first novel while the characters came to life.

Frank's book list on keeping you turning the pages in anticipation

Frank Romans Why did Frank love this book?

I am a sucker for war-time love stories, and the tragedy of this one is it is true. An exceptional piece of writing about courage and love, set in the middle of the most heinous, horrific events of modern history. A simple, crumpled note passed between strangers through a barbed wire fence begins weaving a true tale, a love story rivaling that of Romeo and Juliet.

By Doug Gold,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Note Through the Wire as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'An unforgettable love story set in perilous times' Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz

The greatest love blossoms in the darkest hour.

In the heart of Nazi-occupied Europe, two people meet fleetingly in a chance encounter. One is an underground resistance fighter; the other a prisoner of war. A crumpled note passes between these two strangers and sets them on a course that will change their lives forever.

The Note Through the Wire is the stunning true story of Josefine Lobnik, a resistance heroine, and Bruce Murray, an imprisoned soldier, as they discover love in the midst of…


Book cover of Hairpin Bridge

Frank Romans Author Of Warriors of Ameraulde

From my list on keeping you turning the pages in anticipation.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love a book that pulls you into the story, one where maybe you see yourself in the characters. As a boy, I loved to read and would lose myself in books. I find I am drawn to many different types and genres, but especially military or crime dramas. My favorites include historical references and in my own writing I often place characters in an actual historical event, but with a fictional outcome. The most important thing to me is creating a character who is interesting enough to make the reader want more. My personal military experiences were used to begin my first novel while the characters came to life.

Frank's book list on keeping you turning the pages in anticipation

Frank Romans Why did Frank love this book?

Have you ever traveled somewhere, and something doesn’t feel right? There is a world of travelers, nomads, and homeless who live lives none of us can explain or understand. Their world includes strange disappearances or accidents, and authorities who ignore or hide the truth. If you start digging for answers, it might make some people uncomfortable. This is a riveting yarn of a sister who refuses to just let it go and move on with her life. Her fierce determination for answers leads her into her own fight for survival. A can’t put it down thrill ride.

By Taylor Adams,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Hairpin Bridge as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the author of the “full-throttle thriller” (A. J. Finn) No Exit—a riveting new psychological page-turner featuring a fierce and unforgettable heroine.

Three months ago, Lena Nguyen’s estranged twin sister, Cambry, drove to a remote bridge seventy miles outside of Missoula, Montana, and jumped two hundred feet to her death. At least, that is the official police version.

But Lena isn’t buying it.

Now she’s come to that very bridge, driving her dead twin’s car and armed with a cassette recorder, determined to find out what really happened by interviewing the highway patrolman who allegedly discovered her sister’s body.

Corporal…


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Book cover of Through Any Window

Through Any Window By Deb Richardson-Moore,

Riley Masterson has moved to Greenbrier, SC, anxious to escape the chaos that has overwhelmed her life.

Questioned in a murder in Alabama, she has spent eighteen months under suspicion by a sheriff’s office, unable to make an arrest. But things in gentrifying Greenbrier are not as they seem. As…

Book cover of Make Them Cry

Frank Romans Author Of Warriors of Ameraulde

From my list on keeping you turning the pages in anticipation.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love a book that pulls you into the story, one where maybe you see yourself in the characters. As a boy, I loved to read and would lose myself in books. I find I am drawn to many different types and genres, but especially military or crime dramas. My favorites include historical references and in my own writing I often place characters in an actual historical event, but with a fictional outcome. The most important thing to me is creating a character who is interesting enough to make the reader want more. My personal military experiences were used to begin my first novel while the characters came to life.

Frank's book list on keeping you turning the pages in anticipation

Frank Romans Why did Frank love this book?

Diane Harbaugh is a female, strong, badass similar to Jason Bourne. You’re going to love her. Making them cry is an action-packed romp through disillusioned agents, informants, and cartels. Diane navigates on the edges through multiple scapes, all while trying to keep her reputation intact. She must deal with unscrupulous bosses while trusting a rogue CIA agent and a cartel informant. Every time she gets out of trouble, more trouble finds her. This book is worth your time.

By Smith Henderson, Jon Marc Smith,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Make Them Cry as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For fans of The Border and Jason Bourne, Make Them Cry is an explosive action thriller about a DEA agent sucked into a dangerous turf war on the US-Mexico border.

 

It’s hard to make Diane Harbaugh flinch. A former prosecutor notorious for her aggressive tactics, she’s now a DEA agent who interrogates witnesses so effectively, she has them confessing in tears. But when she hears from Gustavo, a high-ranking cartel member with an invaluable secret about the international black market, she’s thrown for a loop. She heads to Mexico to meet him, and her entire understanding of justice and duty…


Book cover of The Flight Attendant

Catherine Yardley Author Of Ember

From my list on explore childhood trauma.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been fascinated by people and I love stories. All we are is who we are to each other. Our childhoods are such a formative time and they echo into our future. We never really leave them behind. If we have a childhood wound we have to fix it. Childhood trauma and recovering from it is such a fascinating topic. Psychology has always intrigued me. We can suppress memories and then, boom!, they hit us and we have to deal with the fallout. I have read so many books on the topic and I look forward to reading more in the future. 

Catherine's book list on explore childhood trauma

Catherine Yardley Why did Catherine love this book?

This book is about a flight attendant called Cassie Bowden who wakes up next to a dead man. Strange choice, right? Not really. Cassie is a high-functioning alcoholic who is desperately trying to escape her troubled childhood. Cassie is full of self-loathing and clearly has low self-esteem. She makes bad choices but ultimately I loved her and wanted her to succeed. Cassie, like my protagonist, Natalie, has gone a bit off the rails and is struggling to find herself. While my book lacks dead bodies and the FBI, both stories are about healing and finding a home. 

This fantastic book has also been made into a great television show. However, I will always prefer the ending in the book.

By Chris Bohjalian,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Flight Attendant as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A powerful thriller about the ways an entire life can change in one night: A flight attendant wakes up in the wrong hotel, in the wrong bed, with a dead man—and no idea what happened. • Don't miss the acclaimed HBO Max series!

Cassandra Bowden is no stranger to hungover mornings. She's a binge drinker, her job with the airline making it easy to find adventure, and the occasional blackouts seem to be inevitable. She lives with them, and the accompanying self-loathing. When she awakes in a Dubai hotel room, she tries to piece the…


Book cover of The Layover

Emem Uko Author Of Notice Me

From my list on ‘opposites attract’ young love romance.

Why am I passionate about this?

My debut novel was geared toward Young Adults because I’m fascinated by young people discovering themselves in different environments. Although I enjoy reading and writing other genres, I'm arguably more interested in YA. This is a genre that is in need of good writers because it is like an introduction to youngsters who pick up novels that they deem safe for their ages and consumption. It is a fun and exciting genre. I’m trying to contribute to it and hopefully lessen the bad reviews out there for YA books. 

Emem's book list on ‘opposites attract’ young love romance

Emem Uko Why did Emem love this book?

Flight attendant, Ava, finds herself in the most amazing destination ever because of a layover. She embarks on more than most people accomplish on a layover. This is such a fun book and a little on the Rom-com cliche side, but some perspectives are original because the author is a real flight attendant. 

By Lacie Waldon,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Layover as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Unhoneymooners meets The Hating Game in this breezy debut romantic comedy about life--and love--30,000 feet above the ground.

After ten years as a flight attendant, Ava Greene is poised to hang up her wings and finally put down roots. She's got one trip left before she bids her old life farewell, and she plans to enjoy every second of it. But then she discovers that former pilot Jack Stone--the absurdly gorgeous, ridiculously cocky man she's held a secret grudge against for years--is on her flight. And he has the nerve to flirt with her, as if he doesn't remember…


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Book cover of Lethal Legacy

Lethal Legacy By H.R. Kemp,

Buried Secrets. A web of deceit, betrayal, and danger. Can she survive her fight for justice and truth? Laura thought she knew everything about her late husband before he died. Now, her life and the lives of those she loves are in danger. As Laura delves into his previous role…

Book cover of Cutting Edge: New Stories of Mystery and Crime by Women Writers

Carol LaHines Author Of Distant Flickers: Stories of Identity & Loss

From my list on themed anthologies.

Why am I passionate about this?

The anthology form unites diverse voices around a common theme—in the case of Distant Flickers, identity and loss. The stories in the anthology explore intense personal relationships—of mother and child, old lovers, etc. Some of the stories are in the moment and some recounted with the perspective of time, some are fable-like, some formal, and others more colloquial. Reading them the reader is struck by the variety of approaches a writer might take to a subject. The device of the contributor’s notes enables the reader to see the story behind the story and how life informs art—life furnishing the raw material or day residue of the story.  

Carol's book list on themed anthologies

Carol LaHines Why did Carol love this book?

Sheila Kohler, a mentor of mine whose work is featured in this thrilling collection, is fond of saying that suspense arises from putting a vulnerable character in a dangerous situation. A literary writer of the highest caliber, Sheila knows how to generate the suspense that keeps the page turning. Crime fiction has a long history going back to Dostoevsky and beyond, to the great tragedians—the commission of a crime entails motive, means, and is inherently dramatic. This eclectic selection of mystery and female noir, edited by Joyce Carol Oates, features superstar writers like Edwidge Danticat, Margaret Atwood, Sheila Kohler, Elizabeth McCracken, and Joyce Carol Oates herself. The writing is luminous, the themes are varied—from domestic horror to the erotic to dark fairy tales—and the tales keep the reader turning the page.

By Joyce Carol Oates (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Cutting Edge as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A chilling noir collection featuring fifteen crime and mystery tales and six poems from female authors.

Joyce Carol Oates, a queen-pin of the noir genre, has brought her keen and discerning eye to the curation of an outstanding anthology of brand-new top-shelf short stories (and poems by Margaret Atwood!). While bad men are not always the victims in these tales, they get their due often enough to satisfy readers who are sick and tired of the gendered status quo, or who just want to have a little bit of fun at the expense of a crumbling patriarchal society. This stylistically…


Book cover of What I Did

Gail Aldwin Author Of This Much Huxley Knows: A Story of Innocence, Misunderstandings, and Acceptance

From my list on contemporary adult novels with young narrators.

Why am I passionate about this?

Novelist, poet and scriptwriter. My interest in young narrators stems from a desire to effectively capture the voices of children in my novels. Creative writing PhD studies with the University of South Wales encouraged me to research different strategies and techniques used by published authors and to experiment with them in my writing. The String Games my debut novel was the result of this academic and creative journey. Further novels continue to include young voices in a starring role as I get inside the heads of a range of characters. After a stint as a university lecturer, I dabbled in fiction for children and through a collaboration with illustrator Fiona Zechmeister, Pandemonium a children’s picture book was published in 2020.

Gail's book list on contemporary adult novels with young narrators

Gail Aldwin Why did Gail love this book?

Billy’s family gets caught up in the care system when the six-year-old narrator is smacked by his father. An only child surrounded by adults, Billy emulates the talk of others but mishears and repeats language incorrectly with hilarious results. Malapropism sees Billy using the word copulating instead of cooperating, he loves sayings but transcribes them incorrectly giving us a different cuttlefish rather than a different kettle of fish. Through Billy’s voice, readers are securely within the mind of a child. Extended periods of internal monologue and interrupted using an em dash to indicate speech. Questions directly to the reader add to the sense of intimacy created in this fine novel.

By Christopher Wakling,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked What I Did as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A boy runs across a busy road.
His father smacks him.
A passer-by intervenes ...

When Billy Wright runs across a busy road, his world is altered irreversibly, even though he doesn't realise it at the time.
Because a passer-by has stopped to watch the scene. She has seen Billy's father catch up with him and smack him. Within an hour she has informed social services, plunging the family into a living nightmare which begins with a social worker's visit and escalates through a series of misunderstandings until the family is threatened to its core.
What I Did is a…


Book cover of No Visible Bruises: What We Don't Know about Domestic Violence Can Kill Us

Jessica Willis Fisher Author Of Unspeakable: Surviving My Childhood and Finding My Voice

From my list on courage to tell my survivor story.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am through and through a storytelling creature and fell in love with books as a child. I first aspired to be a librarian, then an author. Life took me in other directions, and when I found songwriting as a teen, I figured it would be the closest I would ever come to my original dreams. It was not until I escaped from my abusive family as a young adult and dove headfirst into therapy that I realized my story was far darker than I had ever let myself admit. I am now a singer-songwriter and memoirist who believes that sharing our stories with one another will change the world. 

Jessica's book list on courage to tell my survivor story

Jessica Willis Fisher Why did Jessica love this book?

This is one of the most sobering, critical, and potentially life-saving books I’ve ever read. At times, I found it hard to accept its obvious truths about something I had endured first-hand for years and yet struggled to admit was my reality.

This book has three sections: the first focuses on the stories and experiences of domestic violence victims, the second on perpetrators, and the third on the efforts of helpers, advocates, and law enforcement.

Reading this book was healing and eye-opening. It directly motivated me to take more action to support other survivors and improve our frequently flawed systems. 

By Rachel Louise Snyder,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked No Visible Bruises as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE HILLMAN PRIZE FOR BOOK JOURNALISM, THE HELEN BERNSTEIN BOOK AWARD, AND THE LUKAS WORK-IN-PROGRESS AWARD * A NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 BOOKS OF THE YEAR * NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST * LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE FINALIST * ABA SILVER GAVEL AWARD FINALIST * KIRKUS PRIZE FINALIST

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2019 BY: Esquire, Amazon, Kirkus, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, BookPage, BookRiot, Economist, New York Times Staff Critics

“A seminal and breathtaking account of why home is the most dangerous place to be a woman . . . A tour de…


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Book cover of Make Her Pay

Make Her Pay By Miranda Rijks,

A twisty psychological thriller about beautiful, successful Leonie who has just met Markus, the man of her dreams. But Leonie has a secret. Ten years ago, she was involved in an accident in which another driver died. Leonie shouldn’t have been behind the wheel that night – so she fled…

Book cover of When I Was a Girl

Stuart Larner Author Of Hope: Stories from a Women's Refuge

From my list on realistic and helpful about domestic abuse.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a writer who has written an assortment of over a hundred and seventy different articles, poems, and books. I worked for thirty five years as a psychologist and my late wife, Rosie Larner, was a social worker and lecturer. We have both dealt with cases of domestic abuse and have recognised the extent of the problem worldwide and the misery that it causes. We offer these tales under the pen-name of Rosy Stewart to show the diversity of the problems and to bring hope to the sufferers with the hope of resolution of each case to reach a wider audience.

Stuart's book list on realistic and helpful about domestic abuse

Stuart Larner Why did Stuart love this book?

This is told in the voice of a young girl living in a household of domestic violence in the 1960s in UK.

She is regarded as presenting difficulties for her parents right from the beginning with her difficult birth. It is written in short scenes and excerpts from her childhood. She adores her mother, but she is sexually assaulted by one of her mother’s boyfriends. The writing of this is realistic as seen by an innocent four-year-old girl.

When the mother marries another boyfriend the family dynamics change from being kind at first to much stricter. It is clear that the little girl will develop psychological problems in later life.

By Ros Jones,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked When I Was a Girl as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Cursed by her grandmother and trapped in domestic violence in 1960s Britain, Evelyn must find a way to protect her five young daughters. Aware that her firstborn, Kim, is doomed to repeat her own disastrous life choices, Evelyn places her in the care of one of her admirers to protect her from her fate.


Meanwhile, her daughter Bess carries a deep-rooted sense of shame and guilt that her birth nearly killed her beloved mother. Subjected to sexual abuse, she tries to make sense of her feelings and her place within the secretive family she grows up in, desperately seeking love…


Book cover of City on Fire
Book cover of The Note Through the Wire: The Incredible True Story of a Prisoner of War and a Resistance Heroine
Book cover of Hairpin Bridge

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