Book picks similar to
Kidnap by Murray McDonald


action-adventure
young-adult
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Two Shots


Joe Albert - 2012
    Content to spend his days in the woods and on the water enforcing fishing and hunting laws, he thought he'd left violent crime behind when he left the city. But a single call from dispatch two days before the deer-hunting season opens changes that. Now, he's pushed into working a case he really shouldn't be involved with, and digging for the truth in the death of a noted political operative that some high-powered people would prefer remain buried in the northern Minnesota woods. As Leach pursues those responsible, he finds people and things aren't exactly what they seem. And as the investigation goes on and the web unravels, it becomes increasingly clear the only way for it to end is with a killer's - or his - demise.

Judgment


Lee Goldberg - 2009
    MONK novels, and THE DEAD MAN series...This is the ultimate JUDGMENT...as it was originally meant to be. Brett Macklin was a freewheeling son of sunny California, a collector of vintage cars and a connoisseur of beautiful women. But when his father is murdered by a street gang, Macklin becomes something else--a deadly weapon against crime, a relentless vigilante who won't stop until he's wiped out the killers who have turned Los Angeles into a war zone. "As stunning as the report of a .357 Magnum, a dynamic premiere effort [...] The Best New Paperback Series of the year!" West Coast Review of Books (Originally published as the first book in the ".357 Vigilante" series, under the pen name Ian Ludlow.)Other books in the series:ADJOURNEDPAYBACKGUILTY

Flight For Control


Karlene Petitt - 2012
    But her husband, Captain Bill Jacobs, has his concerns. While her twin daughters are off at camp, and Bill is actively campaigning for the Pilot Union Presidency, Kathryn secretly begins her investigation. What she learns will shock the nation. Flight For Control is a thriller that reads like a mystery. But to Kathryn, there is no mystery on the condition of the airline industry—it’s broken. Planes are crashing. Pensions are lost. Pilots are financially and emotionally bankrupt due to fatigue, furloughs, and loss of seniority. It’s time that someone takes control before it’s too late—unless it already is. Your life is in your pilot’s hands. Do you know who’s flying your plane?

The Unicorn's Daughter


Norma Beishir - 1990
    Jaime Lynde's father has been missing for 19 years, and when she learns of his covert career in the OSS and the CIA, she becomes convinced that he is alive and his whereabouts concealed for sinister reasons. The plot elements are familiar: obfuscating CIA operatives; an agent who vanishes into deep cover; an elaborate official cover story; and people who begin to die under mysterious circumstances. But Beishir's galloping pace revitalizes these standbys, and she confidently builds to a revelatory and spellbinding finale. And in the midst of all the intrigue, a romance develops for Jaime--but the sex is more slow burn than Beishir's trademark high sizzle, as if Beishir herself was too involved in the moves and countermoves of espionage to concentrate on bedroom dramas. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.From the AuthorWhen I was working on this book back in 1986, I'd originally planned to have the climax take place in Amsterdam. As fate would have it, however, President Reagan ordered the air strike on Libya and the the idea of sending my characters into the Middle East seemed a much better option.Berkley originally published the book as A Time for Legends in 1990, with a lovely cover that didn't really say anything about the story. I got tired of having to say, with great embarrassment, "I have no idea" when people asked what that title meant (thanks, marketing chimps--and I mean that in the most sarcastic way possible), so when I regained the rights to it and decided to publish it as an ebook, some changes were in order....

Stone of Fire


J.F. Penn - 2011
    Morgan Sierra, an Oxford University psychologist with a deadly past, doesn’t know the answer to that question — and doesn’t care. All she knows is that her sister and niece have been abducted, held hostage for the stone pendants that Morgan and her sister wear: two of twelve relics once owned by the original Apostles.Forged in fire and wind, drowned in the blood of martyrs, the twelve Pentecost stones have been kept secret for two thousand years. But now the Keepers of the stones are being murdered, and the relics stolen by Thanatos, a shadowy group dedicated to remaking the world into a living Hell. The authorities are clueless; the world lies helpless. And Thanatos grows more powerful with each stone they take. Enter Jake Timber — agent of ARKANE, the British agency tasked with investigating the supernatural. Jake knows some of the secrets Morgan needs to save her family, but can’t stop Thanatos without her help. Only together can they stop Thanatos before the stones are captured, before Morgan’s family is murdered, and before the world is changed forever.From flooded ruins in Italy, to religious sites in Israel, to the far reaches of Iran and Tunisia, Morgan and Jake must race across the world to find the stones before Thanatos gathers the relics and uses their power to turn Earth into a living Hell.But every step they take brings Morgan and Jake closer to the end. To the knife edge between salvation and madness. To the moment when Morgan will have to decide whether she will save her family… or save the world.Time is running out. Thanatos draws near. And the day of Pentecost is at hand.Stone of Fire is the first book in the ARKANE series by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author J.F. Penn.

Breakers


Edward W. Robertson - 2012
    In Los Angeles, Raymond and Mia James are about to lose their house. Within days, none of it will matter.When Vanessa dies of the flu, Walt is devastated. But she isn't the last. The virus quickly kills billions, reducing New York to an open grave and LA to a chaotic wilderness of violence and fires. As Raymond and Mia hole up in an abandoned mansion, where they learn to function without electricity, running water, or neighbors, Walt begins an existential walk to LA, where Vanessa had planned to move when she left him. He expects to die along the way.Months later, a massive vessel appears above Santa Monica Bay. Walt is attacked by a crablike monstrosity in a mountain stream. The virus that ended humanity wasn't created by humans. It was inflicted from outside. The colonists who sent it are ready to finish the job--and Earth's survivors may be too few and too weak to resist.

Invisible Armies


Jon Evans - 2006
    Her escape is only the beginning of a wild ride.Danielle is swept up in a secret war between anti-corporate activists and a transnational mining company that is poisoning thousands of Third World farmers. In a dizzying world of whirlwind romance on the Goa coast,bloody street battles in Paris, shadowy computer hackers and mysterious benefactors, the line between right and wrong becomes increasingly blurred.Danielle discovers that both sides of this war hide terrible secrets—and are willing to kill to protect them.Award-winning author Jon Evans returns with new heroes and a compulsive, fast-paced story that digs into issues of corporate exploitation and the extreme edge of antiglobalization activism. Invisible Armies is Cold War suspense for the modern age, a thriller that looks behind the power of protests and the politics of big business, written by a truly international talent.

Identity


Ted Dekker - 2012
    Who am I? My name is Christy Snow. I'm seventeen and I'm about to die. I'm buried in a coffin under tons of concrete. No one knows where I am. My heart sounds like a monster with clobber feet, running straight toward me. I'm lying on my back, soaked with sweat from the hair on my head to the soles of my feet. My hands and feet won't stop shaking.Some will say that I m not really here. Some will say I'm delusional. Some will say that I don t even exist. But who are they? I'm the one buried in a grave. My name is Christy Snow. I'm seventeen. I'm about to die.So who are you?In a return to the kind of storytelling that made Black, Showdown and Three unforgettable, New York Times bestselling author Ted Dekker drags that question into the light with this modern day parable about how we see ourselves. Humming with intensity and blindsided twists, Eyes Wide Open is raw adrenaline from the first page to the last pure escapism packed with inescapable truth. Not all is as it seems. Or is it? Strap yourself in for the ride of your life. Literally.

Targets of Deception


Jeffrey S. Stephens - 2007
    He is reluctantly drawn back into action when a series of violent events leads him to suss out a new al-Qaeda conspiracy to initiate cataclysmic assaults with poison gas.Sandor follows the deadly trail from New York to Florida to Paris and, ultimately, to the small town of Portofino on the Italian Riviera. Never sure who he can trust and who may be an enemy, Jordan relies on his experience, instincts, and skills as he risks his life to uncover plans for attacks against the United States and its allies. When Sandor discovers a rogue agent behind the plot, he realizes he is the one man who can prevent the catastrophe that could put the lives of millions of people at stake.

Crucible


Ryan W. Aslesen - 2018
    The War on Terror provides the backdrop for the novella that introduces the roots of ultimate antihero, Max Ahlgren.Captain Max Ahlgren is proud to be one of the first team commanders in the Marine Corps' nascent MARSOC detachment. Finally, the Corps' elite warriors are working alongside those of other branches, battling insurgents, not on the front lines but behind them. After his first mission, however, Max learns he will be replaced as team commander.The new commander, Major Whitbeck, comes from 8th and I: Marine Barracks, Washington DC. His late father, a revered general, died in a terrorist car bombing. The commander is in Afghanistan for vengeance--and redemption.When the team infiltrates the ancient desert fortress of Kazindrak, hunting an elusive Al-Qaeda terrorist, Whitbeck reveals his ineptitude in combat. Max's fury grows as the body count rises. When the actual nature of the mission is revealed, Max gets a good look at the sordid underbelly of the War on Terror and sees first-hand what monsters men can become. If he is to survive, however, he may have no choice but to become one.Sometimes the greatest enemy is within...

Jungle Kill


Jim Eldridge - 2010
    But when he is approached by an undercover unit embarking on a dangerous mission, he must make a choice. The mission is to rescue a West African freedom fighter, kidnapped by a gang of ruthless bandits who will stop at nothing to get what they want. The squad is the elite Black-Ops soldiers—Gaz, Two Moons, Tug, Benny, and Nelson—with the codename Delta Unit. Is Mitch the right man for the job? Can he secure the trust of the five men, and step back into the danger zone?

Brad Thor Collectors' Edition #3: The Last Patriot / The Apostle / Foreign Influence


Brad Thor - 2012
    Follow counterterrorism operative and ex-SEAL Scot Harvath’s action-packed exploits, and discover why Brad Thor has been called “America’s favorite author” (KKTX).THE LAST PATRIOTJune 632 A.D.: The prophet Mohammed shares a final and startling revelation. Within days, he is assassinated. September 1789: Thomas Jefferson uncovers a conspiracy that could change the face of Islam. Present day: Men still kill to keep the secret hidden. When a car bomb explodes outside a Parisian café, counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath is thrust back into the life he has tried desperately to leave behind. In a race to uncover an ancient secret with the power to stop militant Islam, Harvath will risk everything to reclaim Mohammed’s final revelation and defeat one of the deadliest evils the world has ever known.THE APOSTLEEvery politician has a secret. And when the daughter of a politically connected family is kidnapped abroad, America’s new president will agree to anything—even a deadly and ill-advised rescue plan—in order to keep his secret hidden. But when covert counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath is assigned to infiltrate one of the world’s most notorious prisons and free the man the kidnappers demand as ransom, he quickly learns that there is much more to the operation than anyone dares to admit. As the subterfuge is laid bare, Harvath must examine his own career of ruthlessly hunting down and killing terrorists and decide if he has what it takes to help one of the world’s worst go free.FOREIGN INFLUENCEBuried deep within the black ops budget of the Department of Defense, a newly created spy agency reports only to a secret panel of military insiders. Its job: target America’s enemies—both foreign and domestic— under charter of three simple words—Find, Fix, and Finish. When a bombing in Rome kills a group of American college students, the evidence points to a dangerous colleague from Harvath’s past. Leveraging this relationship to lure the suspect out of hiding, Harvath must destroy him. But what if it is the wrong man? In Chicago a young woman is struck by a taxi in a hit-and-run, and the family’s attorney uncovers a shocking connection to the Rome bombing. Harvath must link together the desperate violence, and race to prevent one of the most audacious and unthinkable acts of war in the history of mankind.

Don't Know Jack


Diane Capri - 2012
    Fifteen years and sixteen novels later, Reacher still lives off the grid, until trouble finds him, and then he does whatever it takes, much to the delight of readers and the dismay of villains. Now someone big is looking for him. Who? And why? Hunting Jack Reacher is a dangerous business, as FBI Special Agents Kim Otto and Carlos Gaspar are about to find out. Otto and Gaspar are by-the-book hunters who know when it's necessary to break the rules; Reacher is a stone cold killer. But is he their friend or their enemy? Only the secrets hidden in Margrave, Georgia will tell them.

A Hard Man to Forget


Dan Ames - 2017
    Pauling calls the number and reaches a woman whose husband has gone missing.Even stranger, the woman claims she didn't contact Pauling, and has no idea who Jack Reacher is.Intrigued, begins to investigate and when the woman becomes the target of the same men who may have abducted her husband, Pauling recruits Michael Tallon, a former special ops soldier.Pauling and Tallon quickly realize they're dealing with much more than a missing persons case, and soon they're in a deadly race to stop a terrifying act of mass murder."Fast-paced, engaging, original." -New York Times bestselling author Thomas Perry"Engrossing!" -USA Today bestselling author Rick Murcer"Furiously paced. Great action." -New York Times bestselling author Ben Lieberman"Swept me along for the ride." -Edgar-nominated author Craig McDonald

Snipe


Stephen Taylor - 2020
    He’ll Stop at Nothing Until He’s Killed You…Do you Run or Stand and Fight?When the brother of mercenary Nicholas Snipe (Execution of Faith) escapes from a prison for the criminally insane, he tears London apart in his search for Ex-SAS Soldier Danny Pearson. As he leaves a bloody trail of bodies in his wake, Snipe has only one destination in mind, to find and kill Danny Pearson the man who took his brother’s life.Who doesn't love a short story, for me as a reader as well as an author the ability to dip in and get a taste of a series is priceless. Have a read on the train on the way to work, or on the bus, or at the airport. I had a great time writing this short novel and I hope you enjoy reading it just as much. So, it’s goodbye for now and I hope to see you reading one of my full-length Danny Pearson Thrillers soonThanks for readingStephen TaylorReaders are saying“Jack Reacher, Mitch Rapp, Jason Bourne and now Danny Pearson.”