75 books like The Templar Legacy

As a child I was fascinated with everything espionage. I read many authors from Ian Fleming to Stephen King, but when I read my first Tom Clancy novel, I was hooked. This was my genre! I read and read and ultimately, when I decided to write my first novel, this was the only choice. Red Strom Rising was the inauguration of that dream. It planted that seed. It had it all—espionage, intrigue, action, adventure, suspense—all key ingredients for the thriller genre.

Because I enjoy reading about government conspiracies, I love this book, which features a group that has been assembled to study conspiracies. When a murder is committed, it leads to their own conspiracy machinations with government involvement.

As usual in Baldacci’s writing, the characters are unique and engaging. In many books, there is one protagonist that drives the action, but in this book, it is this eclectic group that strives to find the truth.

I met Lee Child within a few weeks of this book being released. I had never read anything by Child and honestly, hadn't even heard of him prior to that meeting. I bought his book, got it autographed, and read it. His style was different from any other author I had read to that point. I liked his rogue character, Jack Reacher, and the way Child put that character into more and more peril as the story progressed. Having said all that, I had a character in my writing that, in many ways, resembled Reacher. Lee child's writing had a major influence in the crafting of my Gregg Kaplan character and series.

As a writer, it is fun to read several authors in my genre and take note of their different styles of writing. Brad Thor's novels, especially his earlier ones, were a breath of fresh air. Much like Thor's personality, they're excitable, spirited stories that move at a blistering pace…another must ingredient for the thriller genre. His storylines were as present-day as picking up the newspaper and reading the headlines. Never a dull moment with lots of wicked twists.

Sam Bourne (a pseudonym of British author Jonathan Freedland) is an unfairly neglected writer of religious conspiracy thrillers. It’s difficult to recommend just one of Bourne’s books; they are, without fail, perfect examples of the ‘Dan Brown’ genre of fiction. However, The Last Testament is an excellent place to start. Here, Bourne manages to seamlessly meld modern geopolitics with ancient religious mythology. As the protagonists hunt for a stolen relic from the time of Abraham, its significance for peace or war in the Bible lands becomes clear. Hold on to your hats with this one!

Despite the similar title to my previous recommendation, James Becker’s The Lost Testament is a very different beast. The sixth installment of Becker’s Chris Bronson series, the testament concerned is an ancient parchment stolen from the Vatican Archives. It later shows up for sale in Cairo; soon the body count rises as various factions fall over themselves to find it and protect its damaging revelation. I think Becker is a vastly underrated author; his use of plot decoys and his descriptive passages are second-to-none. Becker is another author I admired enough to ask him to cover-review my book. 

I may be uncommon in my likes and dislikes, but I’m a fan of carefully constructed prose. I prefer the challenge of interpretation, to be left without all the facts, to be enticed, teased, and misled. For me, author Simon Toyne does all this, and more. His Sancti trilogy begins with the epitome Sanctus. The plot, concerning an ancient secret passed down through generations of monks, is complex, sometimes disturbing, and always compelling. Toyne’s writing, for me, is both intelligent and dynamic, exactly how this genre should be done!

I’ve chosen this final recommendation because it is a little different from the standard religious conspiracy thriller. I love John Case’s writing (actually a husband and wife collaboration). Although The Genesis Code from this pair could be regarded as a better example of the genre, I prefer The Eighth Day because it deviates from the usual strictly Christian or Islamic subject matter. Plus, refreshingly, it doesn’t make the main character a superhero of espionage, an out-of-control academic, or a swaggering investigative journalist. It involves a demonic tribe in the hinterlands of Turkey and a billionaire’s megalomania. Be prepared for some surprising twists! Dark, fast-paced, and full of intrigue. 

Clive Cussler sold a hundred million books, but for me Juan Cabrillo is by far my most favourite character. Why - because he speaks to me personally. I loved this book because it was written after Clive died, but it’s as good if not better than his early ones. Cabrillo is a team guy, and I love that. He always does the hardest stuff himself. As a leader, that speaks to me.

In this book, we deal with the Saudis as well as Mossad, the US Military, and private groups. How often do we find ourselves in these situations of having to keep everyone happy whilst playing one off against another? In this book, Cabrillo also has to deal with AI-induced soldiers as well as manage to complete the mission. It’s got everything in this book. History, modern opponents, high technology, and very real characters that you either love or… show more.

I will almost never buy a book on Atlantis anymore… except this one got me. Want to know why? I liked the write-up. I was short on adventure novels and I fell in love and read the whole series.

The two characters, Nina Wide and Eddie Chase, are brilliant. Eddie is a wise-cracking, no-nonsense guy, a British cockney who does the stupidest things and blows stuff up. You can't help but love him. In this book, Nina gets a tip on where to find Atlantis (here, her parents got killed trying to find it), and Eddie has to look after her.

McDermott writes like Clive Cussler on cocaine, so there is literally never a dull moment. Atlantis stuff can be really trite, but this is really good. I had some good laughs and could identify with the frustrations of someone on a goose chase. I also liked the villain in… show more.