Book picks similar to
The Blasphemy Law by Salman Shami


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political-thriller

The Secret Patient


Vaughan W. Smith - 2016
    ...and never left the hospital. Trapped and alone, what hope does he have when nobody even knows where to look? Prize-winning journalist Elizabeth is in a slump. After taking down the mayor in a career-defining story, nothing else measures up. Desperate for anything she follows a vague lead from a spooked informant to the local hospital. Under the guise of a regular story, Elizabeth starts digging for answers. She can sense there’s a story, but doesn’t know how big it is. Until it’s too late. A powerful conspiracy is keeping Nathan under their control and his existence a secret. Can Elizabeth uncover the truth and free Nathan? Or will she be silenced forever? You’ll love this mystery thriller because of the twists and turns, the excitement of piecing together the clues, and the shocking secret behind it all. Get it now.

The Web of Karma


Anurag Shrivastava - 2019
    Control over law and order has long since passed from the hands of the administration to caste-based gangs and organized crime syndicates enjoying political patronage. Kidnapping has become one of the flourishing businesses of the state, while every other industry has dwindled down and the development plank has gone on a pause mode, on account of Rangdari, which is yet another booming business apart from contract killing, smuggling, illegal tree cutting, and vehicle snatching. Migration to other states is at peak: not only of big businessmen, but also of lowly laborers. And those who can’t leave the state are either sucked into the crime world or are forced to live under fear. Albeit the local newspapers everyday sketch the sordid saga of the state, the execrable condition is not likely to improve by any means in the near future. Digambar Babu, a middle-aged man of a small town Motihari (the place of Mahatma Gandhi's Champaran Satyagrah), is dejected and dismayed for his family falling apart, and so sets himself on a mission to make amends for the mistakes he has done in the past. Shakuntala Devi, his wife, infuriated at herself for having devoted her whole life selflessly and arduously for her ungrateful family, wants to make up for the injustice she has done to herself, by living the rest of her life selfishly. Sarvesh, their asthmatic son, whose first marriage perished about a decade ago, is still struggling with both his career and his married life, and Nisha, their daughter, is married to someone whom she thinks she will never be able to love. The biggest threat to the already troubled family is Nisha’s ex-lover Kanhaiya Tiwari, who is the youngest corporator of the town, and has sworn to ruin the family. Shyam, Nisha’s husband, who is ‘the absorber of the emotions’, in keeping with his fluidity, writhes in pain but transforms time and again, in order to win his wife’s heart, while Savita, Sarvesh’s current wife, colludes with Kanhaiya Tiwari in his evil intent, in order to have all the strings of the family in her hands. Benighted in Sodom, they weave their web of Karma, and fabricate their fates, but the biggest sufferer in the ruthless game of dominance and survival are the innocent children of the family.The story tries to draw parallels between Digambar Babu’s disarrayed family and the disordered town. The novel is inspired from the real events happened in the town during 90’s era of jungle-raaj.

Summer Visitors


Susan Sallis - 1988
    It was there she and her mother went to recover from a heartrending family tragedy - there she was forced reluctantly into marriage - there she fell into a wild and passionate wartime love. And it was there she saw her children grow and love and cope with the secret legacies the years had left them, until finally they became more than just summer visitors.

Dangerous Appointment


Dennis Kenyon - 2005
    'What have I done?... What have I bloody well done?' Alistair Craig asks himself, as his dream of a million dollars and a new life is shattered upon the shocking discovery of the identity of his passenger. Thrust at the heart of a terrorist kidnap plot, Craig will need to expertly navigate a heart stopping 1,000-mile flight to the Champagne Princess, a luxury yacht anchored in the Atlantic, as he battles to thwart ISIS & the IRA s plans. Political intrigue, violent action, torture and a fraught romance are masterfully woven together in Dennis Kenyon's first, breath-taking thriller, 'Dangerous Appointment'.

Army of One: Introducing Joe Beck


Alastair Brown - 2020
    He's unlicensed. His office is his cell phone. The gun he carries is unregistered, its serial number is filed off, and his methods are out with the law. At a huge 6'5" tall with a hulking 275lb frame packed with rock-solid muscle, he's big, he's bad and he's about as hard as they come - and he's never been one to shy away from a fight. A model cop sent down for a crime he didn't commit, he's out of jail and he's gone renegade. He's become America's Unlicensed Private Detective - a man who drifts around, roaming the length and breadth of America righting wrongs and reaping riches whilst serving up his own hard brand of vigilante justice. In Army of One, he's in McAllen, Texas, - a city not too far from the US-Mexico border - for the funeral of an old friend who, he heard, took his own life. While in town, he soon bumps into a beautiful escort named Sapphire, who mistakes him for somebody else. They make plans to spend the night together, holed up in a cheap nearby motel. But things don't go as planned. They’re soon abducted at gun point and bundled into the back of a black SUV by a sinister group of men they've never seen before. Under orders of a man known only as 'the chairman,' the men drive them out to a desolate stretch of land in the dark Texan desert where a gut-wrenching discovery, a hand-dug grave and a harrowing demise awaits. How will Joe Beck react? What do the men want with them? And what horrors will come to light in the dark of the Texan night? Buy Army of One: Introducing Joe Beck today or find it on the Amazon Kindle Unlimited subscription service for free and start reading to find out. ------- Revised edition: This edition of Army of One: Introducing Joe Beck contains editorial revisions. ------- Reviews “A bit like a Jack Reacher except the main character is more sophisticated. Well worth reading.” JCH, posting on Goodreads.com “A classic thriller. Bit of a modern day western with a hero coming to town to expose a bunch of bad guys. Great read.” Scotty M, posting on Goodreads.com “What a story from start to finish good believable characters and really evil bad guys looking forward to more in future.” Belter, posting on Goodreads.com “Absolutely great. Characters are mysterious and the settings are vivid. In some chapters, I felt like I was actually there! Would highly recommend this book. Looking forward to more Joe Becks!” John, posting on Goodreads.com “What a read! Absolutely loved it.” Jayden, posting on Goodreads.com Books it's similar to If you like Lee Child's Jack Reacher, Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp, J.B. Turner’s Jon Reznick, Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, L.T.

Birbal the Genius


Dev Nadkarni
    While his courtiers were jealous of Birbal, the emperor was quick to notice his agile mind. While the two men loathed hypocrisy and deceit; they also relished a good joke.

Total Fallout (A Jack Tate SAS Thriller #2)


Alex Shaw - 2021
    

Depth Charge


Jason Heaton - 2021
    The tragedy sets in motion a dangerous quest for truth that pulls Tusker into a sinister plot spanning 75 years, from World War II Ceylon to modern day Sri Lanka. Along the way, he matches wits with a psychopathic mercenary, discovers a long lost ship with an explosive secret, and falls for a beautiful marine biologist who is at least as strong as he is. In the end, Tusker finds that the truth may lie at the bottom of the sea, with only one way back to the surface. Depth Charge is an old school thriller in the tradition of Fleming, Maclean, and Cussler, with an eye for detail, cunning villains, and narrow escapes. The story is full of wartime secrets, the intersection of religion and politics, and the arcane world of deep technical diving. It takes readers from the smoky halls of 1940s London to the volatile, seductive heat of Sri Lanka and sixty fathoms under the Indian Ocean.

Sandstorm


Michael Asher - 2003
    A plane crashes in the deserts of North Africa.Fourteen-year-old Billy Sterling regains consciousness to find himself alone among the wreckage. He soon finds the body of the pilot, a celebrated war hero, and on it a cryptic map, more like a pirate’s treasure map than a serious navigational tool. But there is no sign of the plane’s co-pilot.Billy is confident someone will come for him. Someone does, but not anyone he expects... Seven years later, a mysterious stranger contacts Billy’s grieving father, George Bridger Sterling, claiming to be the lost co-pilot. Only a few hours later, this sinister informant is found brutally murdered. Armed with the information that Billy’s plane did not go down where he was told it had, Sterling sets out to discover the truth. Why did the plane take a different route? And why was Billy on board at all? Along with an eccentric private investigator, Eric Churchill, Sterling travels into the vast and dangerous desert, forced to rely on strangers for his own survival.But he is not the only one still looking for Billy after all these years...'Sandstorm' is a fast-paced and evocative thriller, full of adventure and betrayal. Praise for the author: ‘Fast-moving, well written, endlessly exciting, The Eye of Ra excellently conjures up the atmosphere of the desert’ RICHARD BUNDY ‘One of the most impressive novels I’ve read in years. The quality of writing, the characterisation, the plot twists are all excellent. But the true brilliance of the novel is the life in the desert. A stunning achievement; a book to buy and read over and over’ DAVID V BARRETT Michael Asher served in the Parachute Regiment and SAS. A fluent Arab speaker, he has lived for years among the Bedouin peoples. He has made expeditions in many countries, always preferring to travel on foot or with animal transport. He is also the author of ‘Shoot to Kill: From 2 Para to the SAS’. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.

Spies, Lies & Red Tape: A Spy-Military-Political Fiction Thriller based on the Indian Subcontinent


Amit Bagaria - 2019
    How could their Prime Minister speak to them like that? How does the Constitution of India allow such people, with just 35 seats out of 543 in the Lok Sabha, to become the PM?The Indian PM's aircraft took off from Islamabad Airport at 7:45 am IST and was scheduled to land at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in New Delhi at 9:10 am IST. When the aircraft started deviating from its scheduled route, there was panic at the IGIA air traffic control tower. By 9:15 am IST, the aircraft was seen heading south, when it became out of range of the radars at IGIA. Had the PM's aircraft been hijacked? Was it headed to Sri Lanka or the Maldives?The defence minister, external affairs minister and the NSA had accompanied the PM to Islamabad. In their absence, the best men to contact the Indian Air Force Chief were the cabinet secretary or the defence secretary. Both men tried to get hold of him, but to no avail. He was not answering his office or mobile phone. They tried the Vice Chief and got no response either. What in hell was going on?By 9:45 am IST, Indian Army soldiers in battle gear began arriving in army trucks at North and South Block, and at various other ministry buildings spread across Lutyens' Delhi. Hundreds of soldiers also arrived at the residences of the union ministers in the 28.7 km2 Lutyens Bungalow Zone.At 9:45 pm Pakistan Time, about five hours after the Indian generals had finished the press conference in New Delhi and about two hours after millions had started demonstrating on roads across fifty-plus Indian cities, Prime Minister Irfan Khan chaired a meeting of Pakistan's National Security Council. A plan of action was framed.

Pokhran - A Novel


Uday Singh - 2020
    But what went unreported in the media was the nuclear fallout that had lasting impact on the inhabitants of Pokhran, especially Chaitanya.It quickly becomes clear that the conspiracy surrounding this radioactive fallout runs pretty deep in the establishment. Those who have had a hand in covering it up are willing to go to great lengths to ensure that the secrets stay buried.Chaitanya sets on a journey to expose the truth. With Zara by his side, he is sure to bring justice to his people. But when fate snatches Zara away from him, he is consumed by revenge. Undeterred by threats, he embarks on a mission that takes him from the deserts of Pokhran to those of Syria, and into the halls of MIT.A heady page turner, at its very core, Pokhran is an exceptional journey of revenge, courage, love and the unbeatable human spirit.

Sleep Peacefully


N.C. Marshall - 2015
    Haunted by a recurring dream, Nat suffers from endless restless nights. The dreams show vivid images of the events leading up to Jess’s final moments, on the night she passed away. As the dreams start to progress, it soon becomes apparent that Jess’s death was more than just an accident and Nat is forced to delve into her sister’s past. She focuses on a year Jess spent travelling in Australia when she was younger, turning her attention to the places she visited and the people that she met there. Nat soon discovers that Jess held a secret, which she had kept hidden until the day she died. Could this secret be linked to her death?As the past unravels and Nat is lead closer to the truth, she starts to wonder how many other secrets Jess had kept from her, and questions if she ever really knew her sister at all...

The Courier


Gordon J. Campbell - 2019
    They sized him up as someone with potential for strategic deployment, and more importantly, he's under the radar. Gregg's exploits start with what he thinks is a one-off assignment as a courier, and the straightforward task spirals out of control. He's forced to rise to the occasion and use every resource available to survive. Even his family is jeopardized which forces him to return to Japan to settle scores.The Courier is one man’s struggle to fight for survival in a world that he's not been trained for and where violence and retribution are the names of the game.

Sub Zero


John T. Campbell - 1996
    A heavily armed assault team from a North Korean Kilo class submarine is about to shift the balance of power in the Far East and leave the United States also vulnerable to a missile attack. The death ship known as "Master Three" must be prevented from returning to North Korea with its load of top secret documents and a kidnapped Amercan engineer whose head is filled with missile secrets. On an isolated Pacific atoll, an undermanned, outgunned band of civilians, servicemen, engineers and civilians is America's last line of defense . . and her final hope. They must fight the ultimate battle - against an enemy few could have imagined.

Flyaway / Windfall


Desmond Bagley - 2009
    Suspicion that Hendrix is an impostor leads Max Stafford to the Rift Valley, where a violent reaction to his arrival points to a sinister and far-reaching conspiracy far beyond mere greed…Includes a unique bonus - The Circumstances Surrounding the Crime, Bagley's true story about an attempted assassination.