Book picks similar to
Skills To Kill: The Steve Dane Thrillers by Brian Drake


thriller
fiction
g_thriller_spy-political-military
drake-brian

Assassin


Bryan Murray - 2014
    While Jake is on a dangerous mission to terminate the patriarch of a large family oil company in Dubai, who refuses to work on illegal arms deals with rogue government agents, Jake's bosses, his wife overhears those same agents and her boss discussing their treacherous plans, after which she and her friend are terminated, just to keep them quiet. Jake is angry and devastated and with help from Sarah, a friendly Federal Agent, he goes in search of the people responsible, determined to kill them, not realising that the vengeance-seeking Arab sons and lethal bodyguards of the man he terminated in Dubai, have been sent to kill him by his treacherous agency colleagues.

Plausible Deniability: The explosive Lex Harper novella


Stephen Leather - 2019
     He has the uncanny knack of producing plots that are all too real, and this is no exception — Daily Mail on First Response The war on drugs has always been a dirty business. But there are some jobs that are so dirty that even MI5 can’t risk getting involved. Which is when the authorities turn to a man who isn’t afraid to go where others fear to tread – Lex Harper. Harper is sent into the Golden Triangle in a bid to block the flood of heroin that is crippling the West. But when the plan backfires, Harper discovers that heroin poses a threat much closer to home. And his retaliation takes him on a mission of revenge around the world. Praise for Stephen Leather’s Dan "Spider" Shepherd series: Let Spider draw you into his web, you won't regret it. — The Sun The sheer impetus of his storytelling is damned hard to resist. — Daily Express A master of the thriller genre. — Irish Times

Matador


Stewart Matthews - 2018
     Experience the gripping first entry in the action-packed Barrett Mason Thriller series! Barrett Mason’s mission was simple: help an Iranian biochemist defect. Extract him to the States then learn the darkest secrets of the Ayatollah’s weapons programs. Iran's deadliest spies would try to kill them along the way, but Barrett never shied away from a fight. Everything was going fine until Barrett was caught in a spy’s worst nightmare: his own side tried to kill him. Trapped between two sides full of expertly trained, cold-blooded killers means standing his ground is suicide. And running will only get him so far. But Barrett Mason never lays down. Not when failure means unleashing the deadliest weapons known to man. He'll fight to get his revenge, or he’ll die trying. Fans of Clancy's Jack Ryan, Child's Jack Reacher, Ludlum's Jason Bourne, and LT Ryan's Jack Noble will be hooked by the heart-pounding, life-or-death adventures of Barrett Mason. Other books in the Barrett Mason Thriller series Book 0: The Lost Son Book 1: Matador Book 2: Tyrant

A Life Worth Taking


C.G. Cooper - 2018
    Cordial airline pilot one day and ruthless killer the next. But why does he kill? What started it all? And more importantly, what is the hidden pain that drives him to the next kill? Read the exciting new series by USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR C. G. Cooper, the book his long-time readers are calling his best work to date.

Cartel


Matt Rogers - 2017
    ENTER THE FILES. June, 2007. Black Force — a new division of the U.S. military that officially does not exist — has its first operative. Jason King, a young prodigy who accelerated up through the ranks at an unprecedented rate, is tasked with proving his worth as a solo warrior. In Mexico, Joaquín Ramos has made a name for himself out of the blood of his enemies. The twenty-eight-year-old cartel leader hacked a path through anyone who dared to interfere with his newfound monopoly on the billion-dollar online drug trade, capitalising on the archaic nature of the existing empire in Tijuana. He’s new school. So is King. With doubts swirling amongst those who know of Black Force’s existence, King heads into the city’s decrepit underworld alone, intent on tearing the cartel apart from the inside. Still largely inexperienced, it doesn’t take long for his plans to fall to pieces… 
Outnumbered. Outgunned. Just the way he likes it. CARTEL is the explosive first entry in the prequel series, "The Jason King Files." Read "The Jason King Series" for more relentless thrills, exclusively on Amazon.

Agent 192


Vince Vogel - 2018
    Beginning ten years ago with a bungled mission and an escape from a burning prison, this story finds Alex now dwelling in the Pit: a secret psychiatric unit for broken agents of the British Secret Service. Busted out and whisked away to the deserts of Syria, he finds himself in a community of ex-agents led by a mysterious masked figure who wants Alex to join them. Meanwhile, Uriel send their deadliest agents on the trail of their missing man. Starting in Copenhagen and spreading to the jungles of South America, they hunt down leads with violent efficiency and find a group of assassins hellbent on taking Uriel down and turning the hunters into the hunted. As Alex begins to learn of the intentions of the community, he must make a choice: his country or his new found family. Spanning the globe and involving a wide-ranging cast of characters, this fast-paced thriller will leave you breathless as you enter the chaotic world of Agent 192.

The Caliban Program


Richard Fox
    A war Ritter isn't ready for. Al-Qaeda holds an American hostage, and Ritter's history with the kidnapper is the only hope to rescue the American before it's too late. While Ritter is a key player in the search, the CIA considers him an expendable asset. Contains an excerpt from the full length novel, Into Darkness.

Shadow Soldiers


Jim Heskett - 2018
    A quick and clean assassin. But he's burned out and ready to quit.Trained by a government agency with no name, Layne Parrish can snap a neck with one hand. But tea parties and cartoons with his three-year-old daughter is where his priorities are. After retiring to the mountains of Colorado for a simpler life, Layne thought that perilous world was behind him.He was wrong--dead wrong.When his former boss begs for his expertise, Layne knows he has one mission:  Eliminate an assassin to save a life. It's a job he can't refuse. This particular assassin is a ghost from his past--a murky past he wants destroyed.  But when Layne picks up his pistol for the last time, will his plan backfire?

Grant's War


Eric Meyer - 2017
    Except the judge offers him an alternative, a chance to make a difference. Grant joins the infantry, and on the 11th of September 2001, the planes hit the World Trade Center. Soon after, they ship out for Afghanistan. Grant’s unit is tasked with guarding Bagram Airbase. A safe assignment, where his worst enemy is a vindictive platoon lieutenant. That’s until the Taliban mount a massive attack on the airbase. Grant fights back like a demon, and discovers a natural affinity for the heat of battle. Impressed by his ferocity, an Army Rangers captain seconds him to assist with a special mission. It is the start of a long hard, battle for survival and to defeat many powerful and cunning enemies. Some are robed and bearded, and carry AK-47s. Others wear the uniform of the US military. At stake is his freedom, his life, and the life of those around him. Special Operations: Grant’s War is an incredible story of a tough, violent man in a tough, violent land. Black-Ops: A full length novel by the bestselling author of many Spec Ops series. These include the popular SEAL Team Bravo stories, Heroes of Afghanistan, Raider, Echo Six, and Devil's Guard titles.

Rogue Ghost


Mike Ryan - 2015
    Recruited as a 17 year old, she has over 100 kills to her credit. But ten years of blending in, disappearing, and assassinating targets has taken a toll on her and she'd like to get out. Now, she has a new problem....her partner's gone rogue. After stealing government secrets, he intends to sell them to the highest bidder. It's up to Parker, and her new partner, to find him and bring him in...dead or alive.

The Contract Man


A.P. Bateman - 2015
    But how do you silence the most dangerous man imaginable? Send him into hell on earth... While Alex King is sent into Northern Iraq to tidy the loose ends of a botched mission, the archipelago of Indonesia is under communist threat from within its own military. A consortium of worried businessmen call for desperate measures and seek the services of an assassin. But what if MI6 could be duped into taking care of their problems for them? With secret links to China the communist contingent threatens Britain's trade initiatives with the largest mineral producing country on the planet. In the dark world of intelligence it seems that everybody has their price.

Wicked Storm


Chase Austin - 2019
    A cage match. Only one chance.Will Sam Wick succeed? Task Force-77 (TF-77) is a black ops team of NSA and the US Military. This is the team, the U.S. government calls when it needs to get people out of the most dangerous places on earth.Sam Wick. Task Force 77's best. Master Extractor. Perfect Assassin. Where the government cannot and will not go, he will.

Fury in the Gulf


Peter Nealen - 2020
    But the Saudis are leaning on the Americans to prevent an overt response. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking for the hostages.Enter the mercenaries.John Brannigan retired from the Marine Corps, and isn’t all that happy about it. Now, with American lives in the balance, he’ll come back to the action, recruiting a small crew of men ready to stare death in the face.They’re alone, outnumbered, and outgunned.There’s no backup coming.Have they signed up for a mission, or a suicide run?

When Shadows Call


Ernest Dempsey - 2017
    International art sleuth Adriana Villa’s life is dangerous enough. Saving stolen masterpieces—by stealing them back from the thieves, gangsters, and war criminals who hoard them—has nearly killed her more times than she can count. So, when a secret government agency recruits her to help hunt down a furtive terrorist network bent on stealing some of the world’s most powerful missiles, Adriana takes some persuading. She is, after all, in no hurry to die battling an even more lethal brand of killer. And saving priceless art is nothing like fighting to save the free world. But when she learns of their plan to smuggle a handful of the deadly rockets into London and kill tens of thousands of innocents in the largest terrorist attack in history, Adriana relents—and goes to war. Victory won’t come easily, though. To launch their murderous strikes, the terrorists will deploy every scheme, every tactic they can think of to stop, or kill, anyone who gets in their way—even the most dangerous woman in the world. Fresh off the runaway success of his wildly popular Sean Wyatt thriller series, USA TODAY best-selling author Ernest Dempsey again electrifies readers with his newest edge-of-your-seat shocker. Adriana Villa is a ruthless modern-day hero in a deadly modern-day fight for freedom, and she’ll have to fight nearly as dirty as the enemy to save all our lives.

Stop at Nothing


J.T. Brannan - 2012
    Living in the Caymans with his wife and two children, he is no longer fully active, but due to his unique abilities he is called upon to perform a difficult assassination. The target is the Director of the CIA’s National Clandestine Service; but after the mission, Cole becomes a target himself. And as the forces against him mount up relentlessly, he realizes that greed and hunger for power at the highest levels means that he can trust nobody. Cole discovers that not only are thousands of lives at risk, but his own wife and children are threatened. Pushed into deciding whether to protect global security or to save his family, Cole vows that he will stop at nothing to do both – whatever the cost.