Book picks similar to
The Exchange by Dustin Stevens
mystery
thriller
mystery-crime
action
The Blowback Protocol: A Sam Jameson Thriller
Lars Emmerich - 2017
Is it Special Agent Sam Jameson’s fault? Homeland, Justice, and a powerful US Senator think so. And Sam is afraid they might be right. She’s been suspended, and she even faces an indictment. With her beau stuck on an overseas deployment, she’s left alone with her guilt, remorse and heartache - until a cryptic and terrifying message propels her out of her darkness and into a morass of international intrigue. Along the way, the clues start to add up, and Sam begins to wonder: was the little girl’s tragic death an accident, or something much worse? And what does the CIA have to do with the horrible tragedy? Halfway across the globe, Sam runs into someone from her past. But something’s different about him, and it quickly becomes clear he’s in a desperate struggle of his own. Three important people in his life have been kidnapped and face a brutal death — that he himself has set in motion. Are all of their fates intertwined? Are Sam and the man from her past fighting the same battle, against the same adversary? Can they unravel a vast and deadly conspiracy in time to save their own lives? Blowback is a classic spy thriller in the tradition of the best espionage novels from Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, Daniel Silva, Mark Greaney, and Frederick Forsyth, told with the entertaining style and flair that have made #1 Bestselling Author Lars Emmerich one of the thriller genre’s most promising stars. For fans of these great spy thriller authors: Mark Greaney (the Gray Man) Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum (Jason Bourne), Daniel Silva (Gabriel Allon), Frederick Forsyth, Barry Eisler, Vince Flynn, David Baldacci, and Brad Thor. Interview with #1 Bestselling Author Lars Emmerich
Q: Who are your influences?
A: Too many to list! I started out years ago as a Tom Clancy addict, and I thoroughly enjoy many of Nelson DeMille’s novels. I regularly read David Baldacci, Vince Flynn, Barry Eisler, Michael Connelly, and John Grisham. James Patterson has redefined what it means to be a working author, and I read his stuff as well. My top picks are usually espionage and private detective novels, any of the thousands of thrillers and mysteries best sellers, and, of course, books featuring classic pulp heroes. And I’m greatly influenced by all sorts of nonfiction, as well. I read all the time, and I’m a bit of a magpie about the topics — science, economics, finance, politics, history, mathematics, engineering, biomechanics, medicine… It’s a big world out there, and I love learning more about it. Many of those topics find their way into my fiction, so I can justify it all as “research.”
Q: The Sam Jameson series has become quite a phenomenon. What do you think has been the driving force behind the books’ success?
A: I think Sam has something of a unique voice. She says the things we all wish we could say, and she gets away with it about half of the time. The other half of the time, not so much. I think she’s also a very human heroine. She has plenty of flaws and weaknesses, yet she accomplishes some amazing things. She’s kind of like every one of us in that regard, which resonates.
Q: You have developed personal relationships with your readers over the years, which is a little unusual in the publishing business. Was that a conscious choice?
A: Absolutely. Books are intimate things. They occupy a person’s mind and thoughts for hours at a time. Good books leave a lasting impression, and great books might even change the way we think about things, but all books are a relationship. I always wanted a conversation.
Rising From the Ashes
Katy Pierce
Allie Grecco will make them pay.Allie Grecco is living a double life. Thoughtful friend, office drone, and girly college student by day, she becomes a deadly hunter by night, lurking New York City’s seediest alleys to eliminate scumbag predators the cops can’t—or won’t—catch.Since her discharge from the military, it’s the only thing that keeps the nightmares at bay. But everything changes when Allie realizes she’s not the only hunter out there.When one of her sting operations is interrupted by another ex-military operator, Allie learns a secret about her day job at Soldiers for Hire, and is soon put to the ultimate test... a case that could alter the course of her life forever.A civil rights lawyer is missing, and the cops have declared her dead. It smells like a cover-up. Allie Grecco won’t have it. Not on her watch.Rising From the Ashes is book one of Katy Pierce’s Allie Grecco series, perfect for fans of L.T. Ryan. A thrilling roller-coaster ride of one soldier’s journey to face her demons—vigilante-style.
Surrender the Fear
R.D. Brady - 2020
So when a poor, straight-A student goes missing in a small town outside Atlanta, Nola vows to bring her home. But in a case that already cuts close to her own wounded heart, she discovers the teenager is only the latest girl to vanish into gangland vice.Fearing for the naive victims, Nola channels her boiling rage into working alone. But as she pushes further into a shadowy conspiracy, even her lethal fists and deadly marksmanship may not be enough to save innocent lives.Can Nola free the captives before she is silenced?Surrender the Fear is the haunting first book in the Nola James crime fiction series. If you like powerful women, vigilante enforcement, and brutal hand-to-hand combat, then you'll love R.D. Brady's dark mystery.Buy Surrender the Fear to put evil in the crosshairs today!
Line of Sin: Deputy Corus Mystery #3
Mark Hazard - 2019
But the shadowy figures that had been operating through Walla Walla want to know more about who he is and, more importantly, who he really works for. The FBI shows up with old scores to settle and a curious interest in the case. Turns out, Deputy Albert Chu cuts a striking resemblance to an enigmatic and presumed-deceased figure, el Remora: The man who formed the lucrative Taipei route, in which Tanner Farm played a key role. The FBI sends Chu into enemy territory, posing as el Remora’s son who wants a piece of his father’s business, with Corus by his side, cutting the path straight to the smuggling organization’s leadership. Together they plunge courageously into the heart of the enemy, finding volatile internal relationships that boil over at the worst possible time, leaving Corus and Chu in a fight for their lives and later imprisoned aboard a cargo vessel heading for Asia. In the quiet moments, Corus comes to believe his noblest virtues, bravery and sacrifice, have been co-opted by a darker force inside of him, leading him across a line of sin. He must root out the cause, before it hurts everyone and everything he loves. But before that journey can begin in earnest, he and Chu must avoid watery graves, using odd-couple teamwork, wit and tenacity, and Corus must supply final severance to the menacing strands keeping him moored to his past. Book #3 in the Deputy Corus Mystery Series
The Hunting
Stephen Leather - 2021
His medical skills help casualties survive against all the odds.But Raj needs to rely on a completely different set of skills when he is taken hostage in a treacherous case of mistaken identity.Billionaire big-game hunter Jon van der Sandt is driven by revenge - his family have been killed by jihadist terrorists and he wants his vengeance up close and personal. He has hired ex Special Forces hard men to snatch the ISIS killers from the desert and transport them halfway across the world to the vast wilderness of his American estate.But they grab Raj by mistake, and once the killing begins it's too late to plead mistaken identity. To survive, he'll have to become as ruthless a killer as the man who is hunting him.
Shadow Kill
David Caris - 2021
Betrayed by his employer and left for dead, Kovac decides to lie low in Tokyo.His plan? Revenge...But when a young woman asks him to protect her from the yakuza, Kovac feels duty-bound to help. She’s a victim of abuse, and long experience tells him if he doesn’t step in tonight she’ll be a corpse before dawn.As Kovac works to uncover the truth of his last job, he finds himself drawn into a conspiracy which goes well beyond the yakuza to a new and terrifying multinational cartel. One that will stop at nothing to control the global drug trade.The kingpins are certain they’ve covered all bases. They're well-funded and utterly ruthless. But they’ve failed to account for one man – John Kovac.SHADOW KILL is the first in a fast-paced, unflinching thriller series that won't in any way shortchange you on action. Perfect for fans of Lee Child, Mark Greaney and Mark Dawson.
The Pilot Class
Harrison Jones - 2015
When Tri Con hires eight new pilots and assigns them to a pilot class, they find the ground school and flight simulator challenge more than expected. The class is a mix of former military pilots and civilians with varying experience, including a former female flight attendant. Who can survive The Pilot Class and meet the challenge of flying the line as a Tri Con first officer. Personal relationships, a married flight attendant with an abusive husband, a major airline accident, and the federal government are all obstacles that stand in the way of The Pilot Class.
The Kurt Vetter Trilogy (The Reluctant Hero)
William Esmont - 2014
With Amanda's help, he uncovers a rogue CIA plot to detonate a nuclear bomb in Moscow. Meanwhile, the assassins who killed his brother launch an all-out hunt to silence him and anyone else who may thwart their plans.In a frantic sprint across Europe, Kurt and Amanda must stay one step ahead of the killers while racing against the clock to prevent the bomb from incinerating millions of innocent people.Book Two: PressedBruised and battered from a recent mission, ex-CIA analyst Kurt Vetter is pressed into service once again when hackers launch a devastating cyber-attack on the United States Strategic Early Warning System, nearly triggering a nuclear confrontation.When Kurt and his partner Amanda Carter investigate the security lapse, they discover that elements of a Russian sleeper cell have compromised the integrity of the National Military Command Center. To further complicate matters, Kurt and Amanda also learn that a Chechen arms dealer with a stolen nuclear warhead is about to start selling suitcase nukes to the highest bidder.With membership in the nuclear club poised to explode and the United States effectively blinded to the threat, Kurt and Amanda are the last line of defense before the world descends into anarchy.Book Three: Blood in the StreetsA routine trip to China turns disastrous for intelligence agent Kurt Vetter when a deadly series of attacks on civilian targets plunges the country into anarchy. Trapped in a disintegrating nation, Kurt and his team take to the war-torn streets of Beijing to locate a Chinese double agent who may know the truth behind the source of the violence.As the politicians in Washington struggle with how to respond to the imminent collapse of the United States' largest trading partner, the responsibility falls on Kurt to prevent the destruction of the modern global economy.When the conflict begins to spread beyond China's borders, Kurt and his team learn the threat is larger and more insidious than anyone could have imagined. If they don't act fast, the entire region, and perhaps the entire world may be draw into a conflict unlike any seen before.
Ancient Revenge
J.F. Lourens - 2011
An explosion rips the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris apart during celebratory mass, killing hundreds and revealing a hidden crypt with a most gruesome find: the crucified body of a naked young woman; twelve tombstones inscribed with a single phrase -- in domina nostra salus. CIA agent John Russell, an expert in religious crime, is summoned to investigate a wave of atrocities that surges through Europe: Bodies on cathedral towers covered in baffling tattoos; the massacre of a Cistercian monastery; the relentless execution of senior Cardinal Bishops. Sorting through the bizarre crimes, Russell and his team are plunged into a web of age-old conspiracies involving the Vatican, the Ceile De, spouses of the gods, warrior priestesses and their quest to settle a primeval score. In a race against time, Russell drags his team through Europe in a desperate struggle to prevent total cataclysm. In just four days...
Blue Waters
Eric Chance Stone - 2020
Never any good at holding down a steady job, Rick does whatever he can to make a living—searching for stolen cars or missing persons, catching and selling catfish from the bayou, or gambling in pool halls—whatever it takes to one day fulfill his dream: his very own fishing yacht and charter business.Little does Rick know, his latest foray into the bayou with his metal detector will forever change his life. From the bayous of southeast Texas to the seedier neighborhoods of Houston, from the sparkling beaches of the Virgin Islands to the Voodoo drug dens of Haiti, Rick’s quest to find a killer will take all of his wits and skill to stay alive and bring justice to a young woman’s killer. And if he’s lucky, he might find some treasure after all.Buckle up and enjoy the ride!
The Girl at the Deep End of the Lake
Sam Lee Jackson - 2018
But, when the ingrate disappears into the mean streets of Phoenix you don’t let that stand. You recruit your old partner, Blackhawk, and together you take on two of the bloodiest cartels in the Southwest. Yeah, that’s what happens.
Beyond Betrayal
L.T. Ryan - 2013
To observe and isolate a potential threat to national security residing inside the White House. Facing a conspiracy that threatens to rock Washington, D.C. to its core, Clarissa is pitted against an overwhelming force that won’t stop until she’s dead.This suspense thriller is Clarissa Abbot’s first feature novel. She is also a feature character in several books in the Jack Noble series.
To Die For
M.A. Comley - 2021
Can Sam drag them into the light in time, or will she be buried with the deadly secret?From NY Times bestselling author who brought you the Justice Series, M.A. Comley now brings you To Die For, the first book in these brand-new police procedural series, a tour-de-force not to be missed.
Ghosts in the Machine (A David and Martin Yerxa Thriller - Book 3)
Ed Markham - 2017
No one can explain what killed him. Another tech industry titan is missing. No one can explain how he disappeared. The FBI assigns David and Martin Yerxa to investigate. But father and son are outside their comfort zone among the Internet CEOs, tech journalists, and intelligentsia of Northern California. Together, David and Martin must unravel the mystery of one man's death and another's disappearance while battling the larger forces that seem to be working against them. Ghosts in the Machine is a tense, thought-provoking thriller that will leave you guessing until the final shocking pages.