27 books like Three Felonies A Day

Perhaps the most famous Southern novel of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird, is the pinnacle of American literature. Covering heavy themes such as racial bigotry, death in families, and the loss of childhood innocence, Lee spins a tale of Tom Robinson, a black man who is accused of rape by a local white woman and her father.

The conclusion of the trial and the events following it stand as a terrible warning to this day, reminding readers of the dangers of prejudice. It’s truly a must-read novel.

Author Wes Moore wrote the Foreword to this book he called “a philosophy that we should all take to heart” and suggested we “honor the redemptive possibilities inherent in every person.” This was reminiscent to me of Greg Lindberg’s interaction with convicted cocaine dealer Willie Colon who, like Chris Wilson, grew in in a very rough neighborhood. 

Wilson’s crime was even more serious, as he killed a man at age 17. His plea of self-defense didn’t work; he was sentenced to life in prison. Not giving up, he came up with a list of things he wanted to do – his Master Plan – and 16 years later, he was triumphant. It’s a memoir that can inspire anyone to accomplish greater things.

I recommend this book because Greg Lindberg was a billionaire when he went to prison in 2020. Instead of fighting his fate, he determined to do the best job possible, whatever he was given, and was ready to serve his full seven years. 

Lindberg published another book before going into prison called Fail Early, Fail Often. He used the principles in the book to (at the prison’s request) teach inmates how to do things differently in life and make a success after prison. The last pages of his book are letters of recommendation from fellow inmates, and his company has a policy of hiring ex-cons. He is doing everything he can to reform the American justice system, and his book is free to prisoners and to their loved ones. 

This is a horror novel about waking up in a hospital with no memory of who you are. What makes it unique is that Ingman started writing as a prisoner. “With nothing but pen, paper, and my own mind and memory of inspiration from my favorite books by Stephen King to my favorite episodes of Twilight Zone,” he says. His incarceration “spanned over 3 prisons and over the course of 5 years 1 month and 5 days,” he says on his Amazon page. I admire his determination and ambition. 

Personally, I find perfect characters perfectly boring.

Give me a protagonist with a past, whose actions you can’t predict and I’m in heaven. Prosecution’s Protection features a rich cast of characters with dark secrets in their pasts which have marked them in different ways. Desmond Graves and Remi Archer have both chosen to channel their past darkness into protecting others—they just go about it very differently.

Oh, yeah—and they can’t stand each other at first. If you enjoy tales of badass heroines protecting their men, this is for you.

Remember Presumed Innocent? I remember finding it one of the most astonishing legal thrillers at the time. But the sequel Turow wrote after 23 years is the mother of all sequels.

Judge Rusty Sabich is suspected of murder yet again (wife, this time; it was his mistress in the previous one). Presumably, Rusty’s wife has died of a heart attack induced by one of her own medicines. Rusty is, once again, prosecuted by the same relentless prosecutor, Tommy, who has had a hard-on for Rusty since they were both prosecutors. He believes Rusty got away with murder the last time around. To add to Tommy’s anguish, Rusty hires the same devious and deceitful defense attorney, Sandy Stern.

 If you, like me, think that sequels are never as good, this one will change your opinion too.

Former US Senator, Augie Sangiamo, runs a political consulting company in Philadelphia, but his candidates are floundering.

When Augie agrees to take some illegal campaign donations from a local oil company, he gets his candidates within striking distance of victory, but this attracts the attention of the D.A., who wants Augie back in prison. However, the wily senator still has a few tricks up his sleeve. 

The dialogue is witty, the story filled with larger-than-life characters, and there’s a clever twist that sees the Philly goombahs pull a fast one on the feds. Ultimately, it’s a heartwarming tale of an old-time pol getting bailed out by his streetwise driver, whose paying Augie back for getting his father a job decades ago, an act that ensured Joey had a happy childhood.

Rage of Angels introduced me to kidnap crime thrillers and inspired me to write my own. I fell in love with Sidney Sheldon after reading this and went on to devour every book he wrote. Sheldon’s character development is brilliant. If you don’t fall in love with and root for Rage of Angel’s Jennifer Parker, then you’re not human. This is a page-turning whirlwind of a tale. You’ll question her morals, your morals, and you’ll ask yourself what you would do in her situation. You’ll love characters you shouldn’t and exhaust yourself trying to figure out Sheldon’s next twist. Totally worth the read. It’s the only 500-page book I didn’t want to end.

This book is on my list of all-time favorites. I read it more than a decade ago, but I still can’t get the ending out of my head. The book is intriguing and fast-paced, and I found the characters so relatable–normal, middle-class people, much like my own family.

Maybe that is why the ending hit me so hard. I didn’t see it coming, but I should have. Maybe I didn’t want to believe it could happen or even consider the possibility. Who would? What a twist. All the evidence is there. The motive is there. It is the only ending that makes sense. It’s perfect. 

In a similar vein to False Witness, Litwin not only exposes the shortcomings of the Garrison investigation into the JFK murder but in the process uncovers the fraud and false information that are cited to support some of the currently popular conspiracy theories about the assassination. It is filled with new information from Litwin’s own extensive research.