Books like The Human Target: 65 fan favorites

By Tom King, Greg Smallwood,

Here are 65 books that The Human Target fans have personally recommended if you like The Human Target. 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 Justice League International Omnibus Vol. 3

Reginald Wiebe Author Of The Cancer Plot: Terminal Immortality in Marvel's Moral Universe

From my list on superhero comics that consider illness.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been a devoted reader of superhero comics since I was bequeathed a battered pile of comics (along with a giant felt-covered Denver Broncos cowboy hat. The love of superheroes stuck; I’m ambivalent about the Broncos). In that pile was Superboy #195, a comic I can still recite from memory decades later. The combination of clever plotting, visual storytelling, and fantastical escapism hooked me immediately. While building an academic career as a university professor, I held on to this “secret origin” and never stopped wondering what made superhero stories tick.

Reginald's book list on superhero comics that consider illness

Reginald Wiebe Why did Reginald love this book?

This book has one of the most fun depictions of heart disease you’ll read. Wait! Don’t leave! That came out wrong!

Superhero comics rarely consider the toll of an intensely physical role. In this continuation of the landmark superhero series, Blue Beetle struggles with his sense of self-worth when he puts on weight and discovers that he has heart disease. The character’s role in the long-running series had mostly been comic relief, and this storyline gave the character some greater nuance and shading.

As a less-popular character, Blue Beetle can consider retirement without the guarantee that writers will have him miraculously discover the cure to a lifelong condition. While cracking jokes about himself in spandex to cover up his own insecurity, this comic takes time to consider aging, chronic conditions, and the way friends react to a life-changing diagnosis.

By Keith Giffen, John Dematteis,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Justice League International Omnibus Vol. 3 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The satirical 1980s Justice League adventures are collected in a single hardcover edition for the first time. A new hardcover collecting the classic JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL tales from the late 1980s! Batman, Green Lantern, Booster Gold and the other quirky heroes of JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL are back! Can an unlikely new Justice League line-up work as a unit to stop terrorists at the U.N., a brigade of Rocket Reds, the Royal Flush Gang, and other threats - or will they succumb to in-fighting and bad jokes?


Book cover of The Target

Mary Maurice Author Of Burtrum Lee

From my list on exciting your imagination.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always enjoyed the intrigue of the mystery and the constant back and forth of the twists and turns offer in a well-written novel. The tremor of my nerves at the base of my neck as I try to figure out the culprit and their intentions, has always enticed my imagination. To, me, those sensations are mind stimulating, and are only born through reading.

Mary's book list on exciting your imagination

Mary Maurice Why did Mary love this book?

Jessica Reel and Will Robie are CIA assassins who have found themselves as The Target after a mission has been botched and one of their own was killed. Now, being watched under the microscope they are assigned to an almost impossible mission where their only option is kill or be killed. The partners know that they have marks on their backs but have no choice but to obey the orders that have been dealt to them. Will they be able to stave off the unknown mercenary from murdering the first family, as Reel and Robie find themselves once again in the throes of the spy wars.  

By David Baldacci,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The world's greatest assassins are on a high-risk mission for the President--but a powerful mastermind wants them dead in this #1 New York Times bestselling thriller.

The President knows it's a perilous, high-risk assignment. If he gives the order, he has the opportunity to take down a global menace, once and for all. If the mission fails, he would face certain impeachment, and the threats against the nation would multiply. So the president turns to the one team that can pull off the impossible: Will Robie and his partner, Jessica Reel.

Together, Robie and Reel's talents as assassins are unmatched.…


Book cover of Moving Target

Tayler Marie Brooks Author Of Tangled Suspects

From my list on keeping you up or to let your imagination roam.

Why am I passionate about this?

Unlike most authors, who only write one genre, I write mystery/suspense, thriller, fantasy, and dystopian. I love plotting and naming stories. I studied Criminal Justice & Legal Studies in college and absolutely loved it. I've also been reading these genres since I was little. I certainly never thought I’d be a writer, but the ideas kept coming so I guess the writing chose me. As a self-published writer, I get to make every decision concerning my books and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I write my books, design the covers, make the trailers, market the books, and everything else. I enjoy using my writing to point to the things I believe are important.

Tayler's book list on keeping you up or to let your imagination roam

Tayler Marie Brooks Why did Tayler love this book?

What a story! In this book Maddie and Quinn are kidnapped and wake up on an island filled with booby traps. They have to figure out how to survive and get off the island while they’re being chased by the killer and his two dogs.

To make matters worse Quinn is still suffering from injuries from a previous book when a killer tried to crush him with a backhoe. I knew just from looking at the cover, I would love this book, but it was so much better than I ever imagined. 

By Lynette Eason,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

When Maddy McKay and Quinn Holcombe don't show up for Quinn's surprise birthday party, his friends know that something is very wrong. Their search turns up little beyond evidence that Quinn and Maddy just decided to take off for a long overdue vacation. But it soon becomes apparent that they did not leave of their own accord.

Maddy awakens in a cement room with no idea where she is. But it's not long before she realizes she's in the clutches of a madman exacting revenge by hunting. His prey of choice? Humans. Now Maddy and Quinn must run for their…


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Book cover of We Have Always Been Here

We Have Always Been Here by Lena Nguyen,

Misanthropic psychologist Dr. Grace Park is placed on the Deucalion, a survey ship headed to an icy planet in an unexplored galaxy. Her purpose is to observe the thirteen human crew members aboard the ship—all specialists in their own fields—as they assess the colonization potential of the planet, Eos. But…

Book cover of The Target Is Destroyed: What Really Happened To Flight 007 And What America Knew About It

Taylor Downing Author Of 1983: Reagan, Andropov, and a World on the Brink

From my list on Cold War mysteries.

Why am I passionate about this?

Taylor Downing is a historian, writer, and television producer. He has written several best-selling books and has produced more than 200 television documentaries many of which have won awards. Taylor is currently researching and writing a new book on a little-known crisis in World War Two, due for publication in 2022.

Taylor's book list on Cold War mysteries

Taylor Downing Why did Taylor love this book?

A brilliant investigation into one of the great mysteries of the Cold War - why had flight KAL007 drifted 350 miles off course into sensitive Soviet military airspace when it was shot down? Was it a genuine navigational error or could it have been a more sinister spying operation?

By Seymour M. Hersh,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Documents the circumstances surrounding the Soviet attack on, and downing of, a Korean Airlines civilian 747 jet in September, 1983


Book cover of Tom Strong - Book 1

Liam Francis Walsh Author Of Red Scare: A Graphic Novel

From my list on graphic novels for adventurous kids.

Why am I passionate about this?

In my opinion, a good adventure story does two things at once: it compels you to turn pages, while, paradoxically, also enticing you to get off the couch and go out into the beautiful, magical world, pregnant with unlimited possibilities, right outside your door, just waiting for you to notice it. I’ve hitchhiked, I’ve been lost in the jungle, I’ve sailed, I’ve run whitewater rivers, and I’ve written and drawn New Yorker cartoons and picture books. I hope these books are as hard for you to put down as they were for me, and when you do put ‘em down, it’s only to throw on your rucksack and head out in search of adventure!

Liam's book list on graphic novels for adventurous kids

Liam Francis Walsh Why did Liam love this book?

Tom Strong is a throwback to classic pulp heroes, and the closest thing to a superhero you’ll find on my list. Tom is super strong, super smart, and super white, but that’s where comparisons to the heroes from which the author drew inspiration end! Tom’s Black wife and daughter are fully realized characters with thoughts and feelings of their own. Tom doesn’t punch out the bad guys, he doesn’t even believe in bad guys! Instead, he uses his intelligence to recognize that conflict arises not from malice, but from misunderstanding and incompatible needs and desires. With this in mind, Tom can use his super-intelligence to craft a compromise that reestablishes order. Far from preachy, eat-your-vegetables sermonizing, these stories are witty, layered, thought-provoking, and hilarious.

By Alan Moore,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tom Strong - Book 1 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In a first volume featuring a popular physical and mental super-human, Tom battles with the Nazi super-woman Ingrid Weiss and her pre-human monster called the Pangean. A Graphic Novel. Original.


Book cover of Superman Smashes the Klan

Jess Hong Author Of Lovely

From my list on I wish existed when I was a kid.

Why am I passionate about this?

Growing up Asian American, the lack of representation I felt was constant and palpable. I think often about what it would have meant and how beneficial it could have been had I been able to see myself in picture books as a child. This is a list of books I wish little me could have read growing up because when I read them now they speak to that same vulnerable space in me that I still carry. They are a balm to my heart and mind, making me feel connected to both myself and others that look like me and share similar experiences.

Jess' book list on I wish existed when I was a kid

Jess Hong Why did Jess love this book?

This is another masterful creation by Gene Luen Yang! After falling in love with American Born Chinese, this recent work of his did not disappoint. This story based on an old radio play is a tale of self-acceptance and standing up to hatred. Yang brilliantly intertwines the narrative of the Lee family and the issues of discrimination and violence they are faced with moving into a new suburban town along with the struggles of a younger, less experienced Superman coming to terms with being himself, an alien among humans.

By Gene Luen Yang, Gurihiru (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Superman Smashes the Klan as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

Harvey Award winner for Best Children or Young Adult Book! The year is 1946. Teenagers Roberta and Tommy Lee just moved with their parents from Chinatown to the centre of Metropolis, home to the famous hero, Superman. Tommy makes friends quickly, while Roberta pines for home. Then one night, the family awakens to find their house surrounded by the Klan of the Fiery Kross! Superman leaps into action, but his exposure to a mysterious green rock has left him weak. Can Roberta and Tommy help him smash the Klan? Inspired by the 1940s Superman radio serial Clan of the Fiery…


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Book cover of The Mailman

The Mailman by Andrew Welsh-Huggins,

This book is the first in a new thriller series introducing Mercury Carter, a freelance courier whose deliveries often come with dangerous complications. Carter's business model is simple: he delivers items, information, and sometimes even people for a price. He's never missed a delivery, and will do almost anything to…

Book cover of The Doom Patrol Omnibus

Reginald Wiebe Author Of The Cancer Plot: Terminal Immortality in Marvel's Moral Universe

From my list on superhero comics that consider illness.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been a devoted reader of superhero comics since I was bequeathed a battered pile of comics (along with a giant felt-covered Denver Broncos cowboy hat. The love of superheroes stuck; I’m ambivalent about the Broncos). In that pile was Superboy #195, a comic I can still recite from memory decades later. The combination of clever plotting, visual storytelling, and fantastical escapism hooked me immediately. While building an academic career as a university professor, I held on to this “secret origin” and never stopped wondering what made superhero stories tick.

Reginald's book list on superhero comics that consider illness

Reginald Wiebe Why did Reginald love this book?

I’m recommending this book for how delightfully it considers the ill human body as a site of new possibilities. The Doom Patrol have never been well-known superheroes, perhaps because of the willingness of writers to confront the bodily trauma at the heart of their stories.

Morrison’s contribution to the series was to consider the Doom Patrol truly as freaks: people who could not fit into a society that demands gender, mental, and physical homogeneity. Mixing allegorical forms of illness—Cliff “Robotman” Steele’s fallible technological body—with more direct conditions like Kaye “Crazy Jane” Callis’ dissociative identity disorder.

Morrison, along with artistic collaborators, built a celebration of difference into a genre where most heroic bodies never break the mold.

By Grant Morrison, Richard Case,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Doom Patrol Omnibus as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

The new Doom Patrol puts itself back together after nearly being destroyed, and things start to get a lot weirder for everybody. The Chief leads Robotman, the recently formed Rebis, and new member Crazy Jane against the Scissormen, part of a dangerous, philosophical location that has escaped into our world and is threatening to engulf reality itself. Collecting Grant Morrison's definitive run, which launched his career as one of the comic industry's most innovative and creative writers! Collects Doom Patrol #19-63 and Doom Force Special #1.


Book cover of Ghosted

Robin Hill Author Of Waiting for the Sun

From my list on romance for lovers of broken book boyfriends.

Why am I passionate about this?

The tortured hero was my first love, and I’ve never been able to shake him. He never fails to crush me, and there’s nothing more rewarding to a masochistic reader than being completely annihilated, then put back together again. These heartbroken heartbreakers are easy to love (usually), easy to forgive (hopefully), and always keep you coming back for more (definitely). My character, Darian, was born of my search for the perfect tortured hero, and although I’ve moved on to a different kind of hero for my follow-up novel, Magnolia May, he’ll forever own my heart.  

Robin's book list on romance for lovers of broken book boyfriends

Robin Hill Why did Robin love this book?

Jonathan isn’t your typical tortured hero, as much of his brokenness is self-inflicted. But that doesn’t make his journey to redemption any less painful or heart-twisty. We follow his progress in real-time while simultaneously discovering everything he did to fall from grace in the first place. You equally love him and hate him in the most soul-crushing way. And if that little bit of catnip didn’t sway you, give five-year-old Maddie a chance.

By J.M. Darhower,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A new second chance romance standalone from USA Today bestselling author J.M. Darhower.

He's a troubled young actor, Hollywood's newest heartthrob, struggling with fame as the star of the latest superhero franchise. Through scandal after scandal, addiction on top of addiction, a flurry of paparazzi hunt him as he fights to conquer his demons.

She's a single mother, assistant manager at a grocery store, existing in monotony with her five-year-old daughter. Every day when she goes to work, lurid tabloids surround her, the face of a notorious bad boy haunting her from their covers.

A man and a woman, living…


Book cover of Thor The Mighty Avenger

Amalia Dillin Author Of From Asgard, With Love

From my list on Norse gods set in the modern world.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been immersed in Norse Myth for more than a decade and writing books about the Gods I’ve always wanted to read. My Fate of the Gods trilogy is a mythic mash-up of Biblical, Norse, Greek, and Egyptian myth, and writing as Amalia Carosella, my book Daughter of a Thousand Years is Viking age historical fiction about Freydis, the daughter of Erik the Red. Additionally, as a Norse Pagan polytheist myself, finding books that do justice to the Gods in our modern world is that much more important to me than your average reader - I’m always looking to celebrate the books that bring them to life!

Amalia's book list on Norse gods set in the modern world

Amalia Dillin Why did Amalia love this book?

The God: Thor

Marvel doesn’t always get it right, mythologically speaking, but this all-ages title was a fantastic introduction to the superhero version of everyone’s favorite Norse God, Thor. Romantic and full of adventure, with peeks at Thor’s goat chariot and guest appearances by a handful of other superheroes along the way, paired with the gorgeously expressive artwork of Chris Samnee, this is definitely a graphic novel worth gifting to both the young and young at heart in your life—if you can find it to give!

By Roger Langridge,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Collects Thor The Mighty Avenger #1-8 and material from Free Comic Book Day 2011: Captain America & Thor.

It’s Thor as you’ve never seen him when Eisner and Harvey Award-nominated writer Roger Langridge and artist Chris Samnee re-imagine the God of Thunder! Thrill as Thor battles raging robots the size of cities and fights side-by-side with Iron Man for the first time! Gasp as he tames the mightiest sea creatures and tests his might against the Sub-Mariner! Swoon as he rescues damsels in distress from the vilest villains! Plus: When mischievous Loki’s machinations throw Thor and a World War II-era…


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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 Superman: The High-Flying History of America's Most Enduring Hero

Roy Schwartz Author Of Is Superman Circumcised?: The Complete Jewish History of the World's Greatest Hero

From my list on comic book history.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m the author of Is Superman Circumcised? The Complete Jewish History of the World's Greatest Hero, which won the 2021 Diagram Prize, and The Darkness in Lee's Closet and the Others Waiting There. I write about pop culture for The Forward and CNN.com. My writing has appeared in a range of publications, including New York Daily News, Jerusalem Post, and Philosophy Now. I’ve taught English and writing at the City University of New York and am a former writer-in-residence fellow at the New York Public Library.

Roy's book list on comic book history

Roy Schwartz Why did Roy love this book?

Larry Tye brings a lifelong fan’s passion and a renowned journalist’s research skills to the ultimate biography of the Man of Steel. It’s comprehensive and full of amazing stories and facts that weren’t known before, but more impressively it’s entertaining to read, from start to finish. It’s a great book for anyone interested in Americana, pop culture, or Superman.

By Larry Tye,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The first full-fledged history not just of the Man of Steel but of the creators, designers, owners, and performers who made him the icon he is today, from the New York Times bestselling author of Satchel and Bobby Kennedy

“A story as American as Superman himself.”—The Washington Post
 
Legions of fans from Boston to Buenos Aires can recite the story of the child born Kal-El, scion of the doomed planet Krypton, who was rocketed to Earth as an infant, raised by humble Kansas farmers, and rechristened Clark Kent. Known to law-abiders and evildoers alike as Superman, he was destined to…


Book cover of Justice League International Omnibus Vol. 3
Book cover of The Target
Book cover of Moving Target

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