Book picks similar to
Papyrus by John Oehler


historical-fiction
fiction
thriller
abandoned

Kill Day


Andrew Raymond - 2021
    When a routine operation ends in murder, Grant is tasked with capturing the assassin: rogue MI6 officer Henry Marlow.But as Grant leads the hunt, Marlow’s renegade mission escalates, targeting anyone who could expose his secrets. If Grant wants to stop him, he must uncover a shadowy plot that links a Saudi prince, a corrupt Interpol detective, and an infamous black ops programme.With the very future of MI6 at stake, Grant must confront Marlow in a terrifying endgame – after which nothing will be the same again.The epic journey starts here.

The Deceit


Tom Knox - 2013
    Rumor suggests he'd uncovered a priceless religious text, obsessively hidden for centuries by a network of holy men. Meanwhile, on Cornwall's remote western moorlands disturbing rituals are taking place - rituals that appear to have Egyptian connections. Working the case, DI Karen Trevithick is caught up in a dangerous mystery that will threaten the person she loves most. With the help of filmmaker Helen Fassbinder, Ryan finds himself in a race against time to decipher the ancient text. Pursued across Egypt by those who would use its secrets to devastating effect, Ryan draws closer to an unspeakable truth. A truth that will expose the most shocking detail the world has ever known...

The Grotto's Secret


Paula Wynne - 2016
    A TV show host who stands to lose everything.Castile de Granada, 1492: Risking her life, Spanish author Ana-María de Carbonela vowed to keep an unknown yet powerful healing herb’s location hidden. It remained a secret …Until now.TV show host Kelby Wade is forced into the search when her niece is targeted by the relentless assassin who killed her brother. She is pursued on a perilous quest, from a grotto in rural Andalusia to a bizarre hospital in Surrey, to uncover the mystery found between crumbling sheets of parchment in the ruins of a rural Spanish farm. In a race against a conspiracy who want the herb’s power, she struggles to piece together the puzzle and follow the trail her brother left to trace the mysterious plant before the deadly conspirators locate it. It’s only a matter of time before the ancient secret gets exposed ...

Destiny


Alex Archer - 2006
    What she discovers is shattering: an artifact that will seal her destiny; a brotherhood of monks willing to murder to protect their secret; and a powerful black-market occultist desperate to put his own claim to centuries-old blood money. Annja embarks on a high-tension race across Europe and history itself, intent on linking the unholy treachery of the ages with the staggering revelations of the present. But she must survive the shadow figures determined to silence her threat to their existence.

The Dig


Michael Siemsen - 2010
    Mystified experts, confounded by the impossible timeline they receive from traditional dating methods, call upon a stubborn twenty-something with a unique talent. Matthew Turner's gift is also his curse: whenever he touches an object, his consciousness is flooded with the thoughts and feelings of those who touched it before him, be it last week or centuries ago. It's a talent that many covet, some fear, and almost no one understands. Despite being exploited as a child and tormented by the unpleasant experiences imprinted on him from the various items he's "read," Matt agrees to travel from New York to the forests of Kenya. There, threatened by unknown enemies, and helped by a beautiful but prickly ally who begins to understand his strange ability, his mind journeys back in geological time to make a discovery so shocking that it forces us to rewrite all human history.

The Apollo Murders


Chris Hadfield - 2021
    Three astronauts in a tiny spaceship, a quarter million miles from home. A quarter million miles from help.NASA is about to launch Apollo 18. While the mission has been billed as a scientific one, flight controller Kazimieras "Kaz" Zemeckis knows there is a darker objective. Intelligence has discovered a secret Soviet space station spying on America, and Apollo 18 may be the only chance to stop it.But even as Kaz races to keep the NASA crew one step ahead of their Russian rivals, a deadly accident reveals that not everyone involved is quite who they were thought to be. With political stakes stretched to the breaking point, the White House and the Kremlin can only watch as their astronauts collide on the lunar surface, far beyond the reach of law or rescue. Full of the fascinating technical detail that fans of The Martian loved, and reminiscent of the thrilling claustrophobia, twists, and tension of The Hunt for Red October, The Apollo Murders is a high-stakes thriller unlike any other. Chris Hadfield captures the fierce G-forces of launch, the frozen loneliness of space, and the fear of holding on to the outside of a spacecraft orbiting the Earth at 17,000 miles per hour as only someone who has experienced all of these things in real life can. Strap in and count down for the ride of a lifetime.

The Last Ember


Daniel Levin - 2009
    Pages torn from priceless manuscripts litter the floor of an abandoned warehouse. An illegal excavation burrows beneath Jerusalem's Dome of the rome, ground sacred to three religions. Jonathan Marcus a young American lawyer and a former doctoral student in classics, has become a sought-after commodity among antiguities dealers. But when he is summoned to Rome to examine a client's fragment of an ancient stone map, he stumbles across a startling secert: a hidden message carved inside the stone itself. The discovery propels him on a perilous journey from the labyrinth beneath the Colosseum to the biblical-era tunnels of Jerusalem in search of a hidden 2,000-year-old artifact sought by empires throughout the ages. As MArcus and a passionate UN preservationist, Dr. Emili Travia, dig more deeply into the past, they're stunned to discover not only an anicent intelligence operation to protect the artifact, but also a ruthless modern plot to destroy all trace of it by a mysterious radical bent on erasing every remnant of Jewish and Christian presence from the Temple Mount. With a cutting-edge plot as intricately layered as the ancient sites it explores, The Last Ember is a gripping thriller spanning the high-stakes worlds of archaeology, politics, and terrorism in its portrayal of the modern struggle to define--and redefine--history itself.

The Book of Fate


Brad Meltzer - 2006
    None of us knew it was coming."So says Wes Holloway, a young presidential aide, about the day he put Ron Boyle, the chief executive's oldest friend, into the president's limousine. By the trip's end, a crazed assassin would permanently disfigure Wes and kill Boyle. Now, eight years later, Boyle has been spotted alive. Trying to figure out what really happened takes Wes back into disturbing secrets buried in Freemason history, a decade-old presidential crossword puzzle, and a two-hundred-year-old code invented by Thomas Jefferson that conceals secrets worth dying for.

The Lost Chambers Box Set: Three Adventure Thrillers


Ernest Dempsey - 2015
    Step on the gas. And hold on tight. *** Get three of Ernest Dempsey's best selling novels in one box set *** Nearly seven thousand years ago, a priceless piece of history vanished in the Caucasus Mountains near Armenia. Now, you can get three best selling mystery and suspense adventure thrillers in one and save.THE SECRET OF THE STONES- The first book in the Sean Wyatt series takes you through the southeastern United States on a search for an ancient Native American treasure that has been hidden for over four thousand years. Sean has to call upon his skills as a former government agent when things turn sour and he ends up in a high-octane, perilous race against an evil mastermind with dangerous intentions. THE CLERIC'S VAULT- Sean and Tommy are back at it again in the sequel to THE SECRET OF THE STONES. This time, the mysterious clues to the lost chambers of gold lead them to South America in search of a dead priest's collection of odd artifacts. More danger lurks in the mountains of Ecuador, however, and things heat up when the boys are joined by a mysterious Spanish woman with a hidden past. THE LAST CHAMBER- The thrilling conclusion of the trilogy takes Sean Wyatt and his friends across the globe to the foot of an ancient mountain where they investigate a monastery with a sordid past. Follow the clues, the chase, and the fight as Sean and company try to race to the finish and uncover a mystery that will rewrite the history books, or if they lose, change the face of the planet forever. ˃˃˃ If Indiana Jones and Jason Bourne had a kid together, his name would be Sean Wyatt. The Lost Chambers is Ernest Dempsey's trilogy in the genre of thrillers and mysteries, and has won fans over worldwide. This story takes the characters across the the globe on a wild adventure that could spell the end of civilization as we know it. Travel with Sean Wyatt as he pieces together a sequence of ancient riddles in this suspense packed thriller. ˃˃˃ Action so hot you might need to stand in a walk-in cooler when you're done reading. If you love fast, up-tempo stories that don't get bogged down in a lot of bull, this series of thrillers is for you. With crime, murder, suspense, mystery, and white hot action, you're sure to keep turning the pages until you realize the story just ended. But beware, this book is not for the faint of heart. In the world of high stakes adventure, things can get pretty violent. Consider yourself warned.

The Eight


Katherine Neville - 1988
    Before she goes, a mysterious fortune teller warns her of danger, and an antique dealer asks her to search for pieces to a valuable chess set that has been missing for years...In the South of France in 1790 two convent girls hide valuable pieces of a chess set all over the world, because the game that can be played with them is too powerful....

The Hunt for Shambhala


Rob Jones - 2017
     When an old journal from a British explorer comes to light one hundred years after his death, it triggers a sequence of events that could lead to the annihilation of billions of people. John “Mitch” Decker is a former US Marine Corps officer and pilot who just wants a quiet life running his cargo business, but his world is turned upside down in a few seconds when Professor Selena Moore walks into his life. She is on the run and her life is in danger and they must learn to work together fast if they are to discover the ancient Tibetan Kingdom of Shambhala and stop a deadly and ruthless enemy before he can deploy a truly terrifying weapon. Similar in tone to the Joe Hawke Series, the Avalon Adventure Series follows Decker and the rest of the Avalon crew as they fly around the world in their own aircraft and explore the most mysterious archaeological and historical locations on Earth.

Abandon


Blake Crouch - 2009
    Recently, a similar party had also attempted to explore the town and was never heard from again. Now the area is believed to be haunted. This crew is about to discover, twenty miles from civilization with a blizzard bearing down, that they are not alone, and the past is very much alive.Revised edition: This edition of Abandon includes editorial revisions.

Drachen


Brendan Le Grange - 2015
    A psychopath with mother issues. A hitman who hates failure. A soldier with a point to prove. And a treasure that tests every allegiance.Brett Rivera has spent three years searching for the Drachen. The day she finds it is the day her life changes: there is no sign of its legendary treasure and now a cold-blooded killer is hunting her. What does he know that she doesn’t?Brett is chased in Finland, double-crossed in Tallinn, abducted in Lübeck, and shot at in Bremen as this action-packed thriller dashes across northern Europe, barely pausing for breath.A shipwreck. A lost treasure. A hell of a race from one to the other.Readers' Favorite give it 5 stars, calling it an "enthralling adventure tale filled with secret passageways, puzzles, codes and clues."

Breakheart Pass


Alistair MacLean - 1974
    Travelling along it is a crowded troop train, bound for the cholera-stricken garrison at Fort Humboldt. On board are the Governor of Nevada, the daughter of the fort’s commander and a US marshal escorting a notorious outlaw. Between them and safety are the hostile Paiute Indians – and a man who will stop at nothing, not even murder…

The Book of Spies


Gayle Lynds - 2010
     Soon an attempt is made on Eva’s life. Determined not only to survive but to uncover the truth, Eva turns to the only person she can trust—Judd Ryder, a former intelligence agent with his own agenda and a troubled past.  Together, Judd and Eva embark on an international adventure from London to Rome, Istanbul, and Athens.  Somehow they must do what no one else has been able to do – find the library and stay alive.