Book picks similar to
Night of Error by Desmond Bagley


thriller
fiction
adventure
desmond-bagley

Year of the Golden Ape


Colin Forbes - 1974
    . . ' The extremists have taken over. Again the weapon is oil. Masterminding the plan to destroy Israel, Sheik Gamal Tafak has hired professional terrorists - including LeCat, the French killer, and Winter, the enigmatic Englishman.The action races from Cairo to Hamburg, Paris, London and California. The worldwide conspiracy unfolds. Russia and the West are stunned. A super-tanker bound for San Francisco is hi-jacked, armed with a nuclear bomb. The extremists sail for the Golden Gate Bridge, threatening to annihilate America's most beautiful city. Only two people can turn the tide - Winter, professional adventurer, and Betty Cordell, expert markswoman. Colin Forbes 'Has no equal' "Sunday Mirror"

The Cry of the Halidon


Robert Ludlum - 1974
    All Dunstone Limited requires is his time, his expertise, and his absolute secrecy. No one—not even McAuliff’s handpicked team—can know of Dunstone’s involvement. But British Intelligence is aware of the deal, and they’ve let Alex in on a secret of their own: The last survey team Dunstone dispatched to Jamaica vanished without a trace. Now it’s too late to turn back. Alex already knows about Dunstone—which means he knows too much. From the moment he lands in Jamaica, Alex is a marked man. On an island paradise where a beautiful woman might be a spy and every move could be his last, Alex’s only clue to survival is a single mysterious word: Halidon.  Praise for Robert Ludlum  “Don’t ever begin a Ludlum novel if you have to go to work the next day.”—Chicago Sun-Times   “Ludlum stuffs more surprises into his novels than any other six-pack of thriller writers combined.”—The New York Times

Atlantic Fury


Hammond Innes - 1962
    But a curious mission takes his brother Donald to the Hebrides to meet a Major Braddock, and he finds the man who was once his brother living a new life in a dead man's name. Braddock is running the evacuation of the army base on the remote, gale-swept island of Laerg. Winter is closing in, and he has his own reasons for wanting the army -- and Donald Ross -- off Laerg as quickly as possible, even in the face of a furious storm building out in the Atlantic.

Desperate Measures


David Morrell - 1994
    Suddenly, what was to have been the final act of Matt's ruined life is interrupted by a phone call. Matt's editor has an assignment for him: write an obituary of a man who is not dead yet.Plucked from the edge of oblivion, plunged into the unexpected, Matt finds himself accused of killing the very man whose premature death notice he was to write.As he races to untangle the most dangerous story of his career, Matt seeks redemption in a deepening love for Jill Warren, who becomes his accomplice in survival. He finds himself thrust into the heart of a conspiracy of aging power brokers whose lethal influence in America and throughout the world remains terrifyingly unsurpassed. And he stumbles across a devastating secret forged in the birth of the Cold War--and decades before that, in the intimate and treacherous rites of passage among the nation's youthful, golden elite.

The Hammer of Eden


Ken Follett - 1993
    Crackerjack young FBI agent Judy Maddox is assigned to track down the elusive, sinister group called the "Hammer of Eden."Judy's boss, who has a grudge against her, thinks he has given her a waste-of-time assignment. But Judy's research leads her to maverick seismologist Michael Quercus, who gives her the shocking news that it might just be possible for an earthquake to be deliberately triggered. And when a tremor in a remote California desert shows evidence of being machine-generated, Judy knows the threat is terrifyingly real.Suddenly in charge of a life-or-death investigation, Judy must pinpoint the terrorists' next target, with the help of the erratic but attractive Michael. Their compelling romantic drama is played out as they race to beat the terrorist deadline and prevent an unthinkable disaster.Unknown to them, Michael's estranged wife, gorgeous but angry, has fallen under the spell of a clever, sexy cult leader called Priest -- and they have stolen from Michael's computer the key data that enables the Hammer of Eden to carry out their cataclysmic threat. Worse still, Michael's son is with his wife -- and under the control of Priest. All of them are in mortal jeopardy as Judy and Michael fight to save San Francisco from being brought down in ruins.Ken Follett became a best-selling author in 1978 with the publication of "Eye of the Needle, " which won the Edgar award and became a major motion picture. He has sincewritten numerous other best-selling thrillers and historical novels, including "The Third Twin, " and "A Place Called Freedom."

Codename Villanelle


Luke Jennings - 2017
    A catlike psychopath whose love for the creature comforts of her luxurious lifestyle is second only to her love of the game, she specializes in murdering the world's richest and most powerful. But when she murders an influential Russian politician, she draws a relentless foe to her tail. Eve Polastri (not a codename) is a former MI6 operative hired by the national security services for a singular task: to find and capture or kill the assassin responsible, and those who have aided her. Eve, whose quiet and otherwise unextraordinary life belies her quick wit and keen intellect, accepts the mission. The ensuing chase will lead them on a trail around the world, intersecting with corrupt governments and powerful criminal organizations, all leading towards a final confrontation from which neither will emerge unscathed. Codename Villanelle is a sleek, fast-paced international thriller from an exciting new voice in fiction.

The Fist of God


Frederick Forsyth - 1994
    Peopled with vivid characters, brilliantly displaying Forsyth's incomparable, knowledge of intelligence operations and tradecraft, moving back and forth between Washington and London, Baghdad and Kuwait, desert vastnesses and city bazaars, this breathtaking novel is an utterly convincing story of what may actually have happened behind the headlines.

The Golden Rendezvous


Alistair MacLean - 1962
    A missing atomic scientist ... A hidden nuclear device ... A very rich and beautiful woman ...A band of desperate hijackers ... A ship of gold.Put them all together with First Officer John Carter, tough, shrewd, resourceful, and you have a fantastic blend of suspense – adventure and international intrigue.

The Atlantis Code


Charles Brokaw - 2009
    The ruins of the technologically-advanced, eerily-enigmatic ancient civilization promise their discoverer fame, fortune, and power... but hold earth-shattering secrets about the origin of man.While world-famous linguist and archaeologist, Thomas Lourds, is shooting a film that dramatizes his flamboyant life and scientific achievements, satellites spot impossibly ancient ruins along the Spanish coast. Lourds knows exactly what it means: the Lost Continent of Atlantis has been found. The race is on, and Lourds' challengers will do anything to get there first.Whoever controls the Lost Continent will control the world.

French Kiss


Eric Van Lustbader - 1988
    Two men have aleady been murdered for the Pray Duaw, and now their brothers, New York lawyer, Chris Haye, and NYPD detective Steve Guarda, are ready to face the savage madman who will stop at nothing to destroy them."Suspense that is sustained to the final page."LOS ANGELES TIMESFrom the Paperback edition.

Solo


Jack Higgins - 1980
    But his true vocation is far more interesting and lucrative: He is a peerless international assassin. His music and fame give him entrée to complete his assignments all over the world without fail. He believes himself truly untouchable—until he makes one fatal mistake.Col. Asa Morgan is a military man to the bone. A veteran of wars both declared and undeclared, he’s one of the most respected and lethal members of the British SAS, and utterly devoted to his country. But when his daughter is run down and killed by an unknown assassin making his escape, his sworn duty no longer matters. Now, his only mission is to find the killer before the authorities do—and make him suffer as long as possible before death.Morgan and Mikali will stalk each other across continents, from bloody back alleys to gilded halls in a deadly game in which each man is both the hunter and the hunted. And only the winner walks away.

The Deep


Peter Benchley - 1976
    They dive on the reefs offshore, looking for the wreck of a sunken ship. What they find lures them into a strange and increasingly terrifying encounter with past and present, a struggle for salvage and survival along the floor of the sea, in the deep.

The Evening News


Arthur Hailey - 1990
    Few writers possess Hailey's ability to combine careful, accurate research with a profound sense of human drama. (Doubleday)

Passenger 13


Scott Mariani - 2011
    PASSENGER 13A novella by Scott MarianiFive years before the events of The Alchemist's Secret... June 2003: the world is still on fire in the aftermath of 9/11. Fresh from the bloody conflict of the Second Gulf War, SAS soldier Ben Hope returns to Britain for some R&R leave, only to find himself embroiled in an intrigue deadlier than anything he's encountered on the battlefields of Iraq. When a passenger aircraft piloted by Ben's former army comrade Nick Chapman crashed off the Cayman Islands killing everyone on board, the official line was that Chapman committed suicide. But things don't add up, and Ben's old friend is barely in his grave before unfolding events point to something far bigger and more sinister going on. What did Chapman witness that powerful forces would do anything to suppress? Who was the mysterious thirteenth passenger on board the doomed flight? Following the trail of clues from the rugged Welsh borders to the Caribbean paradise that Chapman had made his home, Ben quickly discovers that some kinds of knowledge will get you killed - fast. Knowledge that threatens to unmask a global conspiracy of shocking proportions and change the way we view the world... and its masterminds have just made Ben Hope their principal target.Praise for Scott Mariani:"A rollickingly good way to spend some time in an easy chair"- USA Today"Scott Mariani is an awesome writer!" - Chris Kuzneski, bestselling author of THE HUNTERS"Deadly conspiracies, bone-crunching action and a tormented hero with a heart... Scott Mariani packs a real punch"- Andy McDermott, bestselling author of THE SACRED VAULT

The Plantation


Chris Kuzneski - 2000
    But these aren’t random kidnappings. They’re crimes of passion,planned and researched several months in advance, then executed with a singular objective in mind. Revenge.Ariane Walker is one of the victims, dragged from her apartment with few clues to follow. The police said there’s little they can do for her, but that isn’t good enough for her boyfriend, Jonathon Payne.With the help of his best friend (David Jones), Payne gives chase, hoping that a lead in New Orleans somehow pays off. Together, they uncover the mystery of Ariane’s abduction and the truth behind the South’s most violent secret.