The Bottom Line: You never expect the Spanish Inquisition, but leave it to James Rollins to create a complex action/fantasy thriller that actually entertains and (mostly) makes sense. James Rollins’ reliable Sigma Force series may be in its 13th installment, but that doesn’t mean his luck has turned. On the contrary, this may be a […]
The Bottom Line: A brilliantly executed assassination thriller that is perfect for fans of L.T. Ryan, Vince Flynn and Barry Eisler. Hollow-Point Diplomacy begins in picturesque Argentina, as a trio of elderly Nazi fugitives gather to celebrate Hitler’s birthday, drink, sing and reminisce about their glory days in the Third Reich. Their annual night of […]
The Bottom Line: Rear Window meets The Woman in the Window. Highly recommended. What’s creepier than a peeping Tom? How about an obsessive, socially dysfunctional teenager who spends all his free time watching and cataloguing the movements of his neighbors? He even has nicknames for them, like “red boots.” Oh, did I mention that his […]
The Bottom Line: A thoroughly compulsive police procedural by one of America’s most promising new writers. Joseph Lewis, author of our Best of 2018 pick Caught in a Web, is back with another crime thriller featuring world-weary Milwaukee detective Jamie Graff. This time, Jamie’s expertise is requested by Summer Storm, the leader of the FBI serial […]
The Bottom Line: Preston and Child shake up their Agent Pendergast series, and in doing so, elevate it to a new level. What could be worse than an extended government shutdown? For the eccentric Aloysius Xingu Leng Pendergast, the answer is a leadership overhaul at the FBI New York field office. Pendergast likes to work alone, […]
Almost since the FBI was founded during the Teddy Roosevelt presidency in 1908, novelists and filmmakers alike have been cooking up fictional episodes of the legendary G-men. Some of these classic tales are tributes, and many more are conspiracy theories. More often than not in books about the FBI, the feds are positioned as the […]
The Bottom Line: Lush and evocative. The perfect introduction to Sibel Hodge, one of the decade’s most dynamic literary talents. Set in the fictional West African country of Narumbe (you thought I was going to say Wakanda, didn’t you?), author Sibel Hodge delivers a taut thriller that could be a bonafide blockbuster. While Hodge commits the […]
The Bottom Line: A stunning spy thriller about the explosive combination of technology, ambition and fear. Purportedly bored with his life as a playboy billionaire, Simon Scott has put in motion a plan that will position him as the world’s foremost scientific philanthropist. Citing a lack of progress in the field of neuroscience in comparison […]
The Bottom Line: The best Eisler thriller in years. Over the past two decades, former intelligence operative-turned-novelist Barry Eisler has created some of the genre’s most compelling characters, most notably John Rain and Livia Lone. Eisler brings them together with great effect in The Killer Collective. When a joint FBI–Seattle Police investigation of an international […]
The Bottom Line: An outstanding, relentlessly paced whodunnit with sky-high stakes and a jaw-dropping twist. One of the year’s best thrillers. When a trio of high-level political assassinations leave investigators puzzled, Superior Court Judge Cyrus Brooks and Homicide Detective Frank Lotello team up to uncover a diabolical scheme. After the murders and post-mortem sexual assaults […]
