Book picks similar to
The Monarch by Jack Soren


thriller
mystery
suspense
first-in-series

The Faithful Spy


Alex Berenson - 2006
    Alex Berenson’s debut novel of suspense, The Faithful Spy, is a sharp, explosive story that takes readers inside the war on terror as fiction has never done before.John Wells is the only American CIA agent ever to penetrate al Qaeda. Since before the attacks in 2001, Wells has been hiding in the mountains of Pakistan, biding his time, building his cover.Now, on the orders of Omar Khadri–the malicious mastermind plotting more al Qaeda strikes on America–Wells is coming home. Neither Khadri nor Jennifer Exley, Wells’s superior at Langley, knows quite what to expect.For Wells has changed during his years in the mountains. He has become a Muslim. He finds the United States decadent and shallow. Yet he hates al Qaeda and the way it uses Islam to justify its murderous assaults on innocents. He is a man alone, and the CIA–still reeling from its failure to predict 9/11 or find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq–does not know whether to trust him. Among his handlers at Langley, only Exley believes in him, and even she sometimes wonders. And so the agency freezes Wells out, preferring to rely on high-tech means for gathering intelligence.But as that strategy fails and Khadri moves closer to unleashing the most devastating terrorist attack in history, Wells and Exley must somehow find a way to stop him, with or without the government’s consent.From secret American military bases where suspects are held and “interrogated” to basement laboratories where al Qaeda’s scientists grow the deadliest of biological weapons, The Faithful Spy is a riveting and cautionary tale, as affecting in its personal stories as it is sophisticated in its political details. The first spy thriller to grapple squarely with the complexities and terrors of today’s world, this is a uniquely exciting and unnerving novel by an author who truly knows his territory.

Dark Market


Frank Coles - 2012
    Never get caught.Coles is: "Hemingwayesque" - BBC's Focus Magazine.John Savage is a special force of one. A corporate investigator who had to leave when an investigation went wrong. He's become a 21st century warrior serving overseas but not for any one government only the highest bidder. When he finds a dead body with links to his old life he returns and finds that what forced him out was only the beginning of a conspiracy to commit murder on a grand scale. The Dark Market. In which anyone can take part and anyone can be a victim. Now Savage must battle to finish what he started.

White Lies


Jeremy Bates - 2012
    Fearful for her safety, she lies about her destination in order to get him out of the car. But when she later discovers that he is a teacher at the same school, she finds herself feeding that initial lie with more lies.Then Katrina meets Jack Reeves. Handsome, charismatic and strong, he is exactly what she needs to extricate her from the expanding network of lies. She falls fast and hard for him. But when Jack lands himself in the middle of a grisly murder, she must decide whether to turn him in--or tell yet another lie.

The Black Stiletto


Raymond Benson - 2011
    His mother, the underground heroine of yesteryear? The famed, still-unidentified woman who battled Communist spies, took on the Mafia, and preyed on common crooks? The woman who exacted punishment on evildoers without mercy? But it is all described, in great detail, in the diaries. What caused her to begin her quest for justice. Her decision to act outside the law. Her feats as the famed and feared vigilante. How her reputation exploded. In short, how it all played out. Could it be true? Talbot is filled with doubt and disbelief. But the reappearance of one of the Stiletto's old enemies with a thirst for merciless revenge makes the story more than real and could imperil the life of not only the Stiletto, but her son and granddaughter as well.Perfect for fans of vigilante justice While all of the novels in The Black Stiletto Series stand on their own and can be read in any order, the publication sequence is:The Black Stiletto The Black Stiletto: Black & White The Black Stiletto: Stars & Stripes The Black Stiletto: Secrets & Lies The Black Stiletto: Endings & Beginnings

The Driver


Hart Hanson - 2017
    He’s spent the past twenty-eight hours ferrying around Bismarck Avila, a celebrity skateboard mogul who isn’t going home any time soon. Suddenly the wind begins to speak to Skellig in the guttural accent of the Chechen torturer he shot through the eye in Yemen a decade ago: Troubletroubletrouble. Skellig has heard these warnings before—he’s an Army Special Forces sergeant whose limo company is staffed by a ragtag band of wounded veterans, including his Afghan interpreter—and he knows to listen carefully.Skellig runs inside just in time to save Avila from two gunmen but too late for one of Avila’s bodyguards—and wakes up hours later in the hospital, the only person of interest in custody for the murder. Complicating matters further is the appearance of Detective Delilah Groopman of the LAPD, gorgeous and brash, for whom Skellig has always held a candle. As for Avila? He’s willing to help clear Skellig’s name under one peculiar condition: that Skellig become Avila’s personal chauffeur. A cushy gig for any driver, except for the fact that someone is clearly trying to kill Avila, and Skellig is literally the only person sitting between Avila and a bullet to the head.

The Wrecking Crew


Taylor Zajonc - 2016
    But when his expedition threatens the ambitions of billionaire industrialist Charles Bettencourt, Jonah’s survival depends on hijacking a hostile submarine and assembling an unproven crew who must simultaneously investigate the source of a mysterious oceanic plague and face down Bettencourt’s commandos.A thrilling, fast-paced adventure set in the world’s last frontier, THE WRECKING CREW will resonate with James Rollins and Clive Cussler fans alike.

Sara's Game


Ernie Lindsey - 2012
    His car was found. He wasn't. Unbelievably, the police report said, "No foul play suspected." There were a few unreliable sightings over the following months, but little else.Now, on the last day before summer break, her three children have gone missing from their schools, all at the same time.And the note under her windshield wiper asks one simple question: Are you ready to play the game?

Quicksand


Carolyn Baugh - 2015
    As part of a joint task force set up by the Philadelphia Police Department, the FBI, and the local sheriff’s offices, she works to keep Philly’s mean streets safe from gang violence, while trying to honor the expectations of her traditional Egyptian-American family. She can hold her own against hardened murderers and rapists, and her years as a competitive runner ensure that no suspect ever escapes on foot.Nora tries to keep her professional and personal lives separate, but when a mutilated body is discovered in a tough section of town, Nora must rely on both her police training and her cultural background to find out whether this is another gang-related killing or the grisly evidence of something even darker and more disturbing.

Dark Origins


Anthony E. Zuiker - 2009
    It is well known among law enforcement personnel that murderers can be categorized on a scale of twenty-five levels of evil, from the naive opportunists starting out at Level 1 to the organized, premeditated torture-murderers who inhabit Level 25.What almost no one knows, except for the elite unnamed investigations group assigned to hunt down the world's most dangerous killers, a group of men and women accounted for in no official ledger, headed by the brilliant but reluctant operative Steve Dark, is that a new category of killer is in the process of being defined.Only one man belongs to this group.His targets:Anyone.His methods:Unlimited.His alias:Sqweegel.His classification:Level 26.

Her Last Breath


Hilary Davidson - 2021
    However, her sorrow turns to bone-chilling confusion when she receives a message Caroline sent days earlier warning that her death would be no accident. Long used to being a pariah to her family, Deirdre covers her tattoos and heads to Manhattan for her sister’s funeral.The message claimed Caroline’s husband, Theo, killed his first wife and got away with it. Reeling from the news, Deirdre confronts Theo on the way to the cemetery, and he reveals both his temper and his suspicion that Deirdre’s “perfect” sister was having an affair.Paranoid and armed with just enough information to make her dangerous, Deirdre digs into the disturbing secrets buried with Caroline. But as she gets closer to the truth, she realizes that her own life may be at risk…and that there may be more than one killer in the family.

After Me


Deborah Coonts - 2016
    Stem cell therapy is working to clear it.But time is running out for Kate.One night she finds a dead man in her bathtub with a note stuck in his pocket.I know what you’ve done.Her cover blown, Kate runs, the clock is ticking. People close to her are being killed.Shadowy memories tease her. Some she recognizes. Others don’t seem familiar at all.Running from people she can’t remember, dogged by a past lost in the haze, Kate discovers no one is who they appear to be, perhaps not even herself.

Motion To Kill


Joel Goldman - 2002
    Will Lou be the next victim? Find out in Motion to Kill.

Killing Kate


Alex Lake - 2016
    HE HAS A TYPE: ALL HIS VICTIMS LOOK THE SAME. AND THEY ALL LOOK LIKE YOU.Kate returns from a post break-up holiday with her girlfriends to news of a serial killer in her home town – and his victims all look like her.It could, of course, be a simple coincidence. Or maybe not.She becomes convinced she is being watched, followed even. Is she next? And could her mild-mannered ex-boyfriend really be a deranged murderer?Or is the truth something far more sinister?

The Inside Passage


Pendelton C. Wallace - 2014
    The Inside Passage could be in today’s headlines. Ted Higuera, the son of Mexican immigrants, grew up in East LA. An unlikely football scholarship was his ticket out of the barrio. Chris Hardwick was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. The two become college roommates and best friends for life. As a graduation present, Chris’ father offers the boys the use of his sailboat for a summer cruise up the Inside Passage. Chris brings his girlfriend, Meagan O’Donnell along for the cruise. Ted can’t stand Meagan; he thinks she’s just interested in Chris for his money. The three have a series of adventures until they stumble upon an al-Qaeda plot to blow up a cruise ship, then the clock starts ticking. The terrorist must eliminate the witnesses before they can report the plot to the authorities. Ted, Chris and Meagan must prevent the attack on the cruise ship with Chris’ father and his new bride aboard. But what can three unarmed kids to do prevent the terrorist assault?

Defender


Robert J. Crane - 2011
    Those who live in this world are faced with two choices: live an ordinary life or become an adventurer and seek the extraordinary.Cyrus Davidon leads a small guild in the human capital of Reikonos. Caught in an untenable situation, facing death in the den of a dragon, they are saved by the brave fighters of Sanctuary who offer an invitation filled with the promise of greater adventure. Soon Cyrus is embroiled in a mystery - someone is stealing weapons of nearly unlimited power for an unknown purpose, and Sanctuary may be the only thing that stands between the world of Arkaria and total destruction.