Book picks similar to
Spooks: The Personnel Files by Harry Pearce


fiction
behind-the-scenes
detectives-spies-other-mysteries
nonfiction

The Failsafe Query


Michael Jenkins - 2018
     Sean Richardson, a disgraced former intelligence agent, is tasked to lead a team to search for Alfie Chapman, an Intelligence officer on the cusp of exposing thousands of secrets to the media. This includes a long lost list of Russian moles embedded since the Cold War, one of whom remains a public favourite in the British parliamentary system. The action moves with absorbing pace and intrigue across Central Asia and Europe as the puzzle begins to unfold through a deep hidden legacy. Tense, fast paced, and insightful, The Failsafe Query twists and turns to a satisfyingly dramatic finale.

One More Chance


Lucy Ayrton - 2018
    . . I loved every page' CLARE MACKINTOSH 'I loved this book. Its witchy, and sweaty and unputdownable. It takes a traditional thriller structure and turns it on it's head' DAISY JOHNSON'Refreshing, heartbreaking and magical . . . Every mother should read this' CATH WEEKS 'A riveting and utterly convincing story, that shines a light on the shadows between right and wrong. A sensitive and thought-provoking into the lives of women' KAREN MILLWARD HARGRAVE 'Fascinating. Enlightening. Sobering.' OXFORD TIMES 'Hard to believe it's a debut . . . utterly compelling' JENNY BLACKHURST 'Fiction that navigates issues not often showcased on the page with care and without judgement is something to savour. One More Chance does just that' SKINNY 'Gritty . . . Brutally honest. Emotionally powerful' MY WEEKLY *** THE BATTLE ON THE INSIDE IS JUST THE BEGINNING Dani hasn't had an easy life. She's made some bad choices and now she's paying the ultimate price; prison. With her young daughter Bethany, growing up in foster care, Dani is determined to be free and reunited with her. There's only one problem; Dani can't stay out of trouble.Dani's new cellmate Martha is quiet and unassuming. There's something about her that doesn't add up. When Martha offers Dani one last chance at freedom, she doesn't hesitate.Everything she wants is on the outside, but Dani is stuck on the inside. Is it possible to break out when everyone is trying to keep you in . . .*** What readers are saying A brilliant insight into the life of a prisoner told in such a clever and sympathetic way. . . that will have you gripped to the very end. A fantastic read. 5***** The story was . . . refreshingly different from anything l have read before. Well worth reading. A gritty, honest read. Really enjoyed it! Just couldn't put it down A brilliant engrossing story and I can't wait to read more by Lucy Ayrton I loved this book. I loved the plot and the story arc. I loved Danni.

Perfect Crime


Jack Parker - 2018
     The First Crime: Many people had reason to kill the victim, and they tried 'til they got it right. You'd think that would leave plenty of clues, but they don't add up right. Can a 16-yr-old. The Second Crime: A teacher was found dead and a lot of other students have had accidents, some serious. Gracie Greene's not so sure they were accidents, but can she find the pattern and motive before someone else dies? The Third Crime: At 18 years old Gracie Greene has already solved 2 murders. Now she finds herself a suspect in a 3rd murder and must solve it to clear herself.

Me And Mine: A warm-hearted memoir of a London Irish Family


Anna May Mangan - 2011
    It might have been the London of the 1950s where 'No Blacks, No Irish No Dogs' was the welcome put out for immigrants, but for the big family that was Anna May Mangan's, it was still better than the poverty they'd hailed from; 'Don't waste today worrying because tomorrow will be even worse' was their motto. But Ireland came with them in the dance halls, holy water and gossip and there was always the warmth of the Irish crowd, in and out of one another's houses 'as if there was no front door'.

Gangland: How the FBI Broke the Mob


Howard Blum - 1993
    Reveals the inside story of how a special team of FBI agents used high-tech bugs and informants to crack the case against John Gotti.

The Long Drunk


Eric Coyote - 2011
    Murphy's life in the gutter was bad enough, but now bad gets worse. Murphy has one week to solve a cold-case murder that has police detectives stumped, or else his best friend dies. Inspired by Chandler, Steinbeck, and Quentin Tarantino, THE LONG DRUNK is a darkly comic crime/detective saga filled with sex, violence, booze, and plenty of foul street talk. Hard-boiled, heartbreaking, and gritty as hell, it thoroughly immerses the reader in the squalid yet resourceful underworld of the down-and-out. By juxtaposing the cruel realities of life on the street with the obscene wealth of the Hollywood elite, Eric Coyote creates an ultra noir masterpiece for the ages. THE LONG DRUNK, named to Kirkus Reviews' Best of 2012, will leave you cringing, laughing, and begging for more.

The Peyton Brooks, FBI Box Set: Volume One: Books 1-5


M.L. Hamilton - 2018
    Over 1,000 pages of action and adventure from San Francisco’s top special agent. The Peyton Brooks, FBI series follows the career of Special Agent Peyton Brooks and her team, the Ghost Squad, as they tackle crimes around the world. This compilation includes titles: Zombies in the Delta, Mermaids in the Pacific, Werewolves in London, Vampires in Hollywood, and Mayan Gods in the Yucatan.

The Darkening Hour


Penny Hancock - 2013
    A middle class woman at her wits' end.A struggling migrant worker with few options for survival.When tensions boil over, who will be the first to snap?Will it be Theodora, finally breaking under the pressure?Or Mona, desperate to find a way out?

Star Wars: The Secrets of the Jedi


Marc Sumerak - 2019
    With thrilling original illustrations and amazing special features including lift-the-flaps, textures, and more, Star Wars: Jediography is guaranteed to thrill the saga’s legions of young fans.

City of Secrets: The Truth Behind the Murders at the Vatican


John Follain - 2003
    It was the worst bloodbath to take place in more than a century in the heart of the supreme authority of the world's one billion Roman Catholics. Four hours later, the Vatican announced that the lance corporal, twenty-three-year-old Cédric Tornay, had shot the couple, then committed suicide in "a fit of madness" brought on by frutstration with the unit's discipline - a conclusion it reaffirmed after a nine-month internal inquiry.But as John Follain's hard-hitting exposé shows, the official report was a travesty, a tissue of suppositions, contradictions, and omissions. Based on an exhaustive three-year investigation - the first independent attempt to establish the truth - 'City of Secrets' reveals how the Vatican, the oldest and most secretive autocracy in the world, staged an elaborate plot to obstruct justice and hide the scandals it dares not confess. Echoing the pace and plotting of a highstakes thriller, Follain's true-life tale of intrigue moves from the guards' barracks and the pope's palace in Vatican City to Paris, Berlin, and the Swiss Alps, and features a fascinating cast: an old, suffering John Paul II; his chief bodyguard, formerly accused of spying for the Soviet bloc; a mysterious priest punished by the Vatican; and the powerful Opus Dei sect.Timely and explosive, 'City of Secrets' is the story of a still-unsolved crime committed on holy territory, and of a systematic attempt to hide the fatal failings of a security force charged with protecting one of the world's most influential leaders.

Poison: From Steeltown to the Punjab, the True Story of a Serial Killer


Jon Wells - 2008
    One of six book-length stories published in the Hamilton Spectator, Poison is a riveting piece of crime reporting that won a National Newspaper Award in 2004. Chronicling the life and crimes of serial murderer Sukhwinder Dhillon, who coolly dispatched two wives, two twin infants, and a friend just for insurance money, Poison details the trail that stretched from Canada to India, the work of the insurance claims investigator and the detectives who suspected wrong-doing, the forensics that sealed Dhillon's fate, and the legal twists and turns of the double murder trial that followed.

Domino Island


Desmond Bagley - 2019
    His rapidly inflated premiums immediately before his death stand to make his young widow a very rich lady! Once there, Kemp discovers that Salton’s political ambitions had made him a lot of enemies, and local tensions around a forthcoming election are already spilling over into protest and violence on the streets. Salton also had friends in unexpected places, including the impossibly beautiful Leotta Tomsson, to whom there is much more than meets the eye. Kemp realises that Salton’s death and the local unrest are a deliberate smokescreen for an altogether more ambitious plot by an enemy in their midst, and as the island comes under siege, even Kemp’s army training seems feeble in the face of such a determined foe.Unseen for more than 40 years and believed lost, Domino Island was accepted for publication in 1972 but then replaced by a different novel to coincide with the release of The Mackintosh Man, the Paul Newman film based on Bagley’s earlier novel The Freedom Trap. It is a classic Bagley tour de force with an all-action finale.

Ravenhill (Jackie Shaw, #1)


John Steele - 2017
    He treads a fine line keeping psychotic hard-man Rab Simpson in check while sleeping with gang leader Billy Tyrie’s beautiful wife on the side. When a bomb claims nine lives, he is given the role of the getaway driver in a planned reprisal killing, a key role in a major operation. But Jackie may not be who he seems... Twenty years later, Jackie returns to the city for his father’s funeral after disappearing in mysterious circumstances. He wants to mourn then leave, but when figures from his past emerge, he is left with no choice but to revisit his violent former life. The first in the Jackie Shaw series, RAVENHILL is a gripping début novel from a brilliant new voice in crime fiction. The second in the series, SEVEN SKINS, is coming soon. ‘Tense, unsparing, compassionate and exceptionally well-written, this brilliant thriller brings vividly to life East Belfast in war and peace, its self-appointed community defenders turned brutal predators, and the security forces who struggled to contain them.’ Ruth Dudley Edwards

Inside HBO's Game of Thrones: Seasons 1 2 (Game of Thrones Book, Book about HBO Series)


Bryan Cogman - 2012
    This official companion book gives fans new ways to enter this fictional world and discover more about the beloved (and reviled) characters and the electrifying plotlines. Hundreds of set photos, production and costume designs, storyboards, and insider stories reveal how the show's creators translated George R. R. Martin's best-selling fantasy series into the world of Westeros. Featuring interviews with key actors and crew members that capture the best scripted and unscripted moments from the first two seasons, as well as a preface by George R. R. Martin, this special volume, bound in a lavishly debossed padded cover, offers exclusive access to this unprecedented television series.

Ripper: The Secret Life of Walter Sickert [Kindle in Motion]


Patricia Cornwell - 2017
    But the ghoulish nature of his art—as well as extensive evidence—points to another name, one that’s left its bloody mark on the pages of history: Jack the Ripper. Cornwell has collected never-before-seen archival material—including a rare mortuary photo, personal correspondence and a will with a mysterious autopsy clause—and applied cutting-edge forensic science to open an old crime to new scrutiny.Incorporating material from Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper—Case Closed, this new edition has been revised and expanded to include eight new chapters, detailed maps and hundreds of images that bring the sinister case to life.