Action Thriller Books

The best action thriller book reviews. Action thrillers feature extensive fight scenes, battle scenarios or high-intensity adventure.

Born of Bombs

Born of Bombs and Bullets, a Hard-Hitting Historical Thriller by David A. Dummer

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The Bottom Line: A welcome respite from monotonous historical thrillers, Born of Bombs and Bullets delivers a fresh, hard-hitting take on Northern Ireland’s Troubles as seen through the eyes of a vulnerable American.  After failing to stop a preventable murder in the American prison where he worked, psychologist Aaron Thornton moves to his wife’s native city of Belfast, Northern Ireland, for a fresh start. Thornton specializes in psychological trauma, including vicarious […]

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Sabotage, a Mesmerizing Crime Thriller by Dave McKeon

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The Bottom Line: A mesmerizing crime thriller that is alternatingly charming, savage and cinematic. Recommended for fans of C.J. Box and Craig Johnson.   When former Canadian commando Lou Gault and his wife inherited the charming fly-in sporting lodge Havre de Poisson, they took on more than just a speculator wilderness destination. They also inherited a legacy. The lodge and surrounding forty-five square miles was a gift

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Fugitive Agent, a Taut, Scorchingly Funny Action Thriller by Dan J Ford

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The Bottom Line: A taut action thriller with scorchingly funny scenes, Ford delivers his best Agent Series book yet.    Dan J Ford’s Rogue Agent introduced us to Tom Wiseman, a one-man wrecking crew in an exceptional series debut. Ford’s second Agent Series book, Fugitive Agent, opens with a flashback that lays the groundwork for the book’s primary struggle. In a bar, we see former FBI boss and

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The Crisis, an Endearing Action Comedy Thriller by T.O. Paine

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The Bottom Line: A clever action comedy that manages to be both quirky and endearing while packing a sneaky emotional punch. The Crisis opens on a Monday, as Florida Pay-N-Save convenience store workers Mattie and Calvin survive an armed robbery. But during the incident, Mattie notes that something seems off with the criminal couple – a muscled man and a young girl with a number tattooed on her leg. On their way

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Rescue Run, an Essential World War II Thriller by John Winn Miller

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The Bottom Line: Based on real World War II heroes, and profoundly researched from cover-to-cover, Rescue Run is every bit as riveting and essential as anything in Clive Cussler’s body of work.  Set during World War II, Rescue Run opens as American Captain Jake Rogers’ cargo ship comes under attack from a Nazi submarine. Despite the assistance of a B-24 bomber in fending off the U-boat attack, Rogers’ battered

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Stuntman

The Stuntman, an Impeccably Paced Action Thriller by Evan Graver

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The Bottom Line: Don’t miss this sharply funny, impeccably paced action thriller. Amidst an ocean of heroes who take themselves far too seriously, Luke Wesson is a breath of fresh air. The Stuntman opens on a Hollywood movie set as Luke Wesson – doubling for actor Jordan Reese – prepares to jump his motorbike onto the roof of a moving train. After a bee sting triggers

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The Best C.J. Box Books, Ranked in Order

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What are the best CJ Box books? For newcomers to Box’s work, deciding which book to pick up first is a serious challenge. That’s because Box has been incredibly prolific in the years since the publication of his first novel. Box is best known for his Joe Pickett series, featuring an honest, upright, hardworking and faithful Wyoming Game and Fish warden. Pickett’s famous flaw is

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The Spear and the Sentinel, a Relentlessly Entertaining Military Thriller by J.L. Hancock

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The Bottom Line: A relentlessly inventive, entertaining and unpretentious military thriller about a terrifying new weapon of mass destruction – AI. Perfect for fans of Jack Carr and L.T. Ryan.  The Spear and the Sentinel opens in Russian-controlled territory north of Japan, as an awestruck Russian soldier informs his commanding officer that he has seen “a God.” After witnessing a blinding light, he saw a person who

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The Third Estate: Secrets of the Manor, an Electrifying Action Thriller by D.R. Berlin

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The Bottom Line: An electrifying blend of secrets, sabotage and survival that sets the stage for a promising series.  Sophie Allard’s life has been anything but easy. She was adopted from an orphanage at age 10, only to suffer her mother’s death at a local farmer’s market two years later. From then on, her adopted father, Professor Milo Anderson, distanced himself from her, seeming to bury

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Book of the Year: 5 Minutes to Die by R.J. Patterson

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The Bottom Line: Voted the Year’s Best Thriller in the 2024 BestThrillers.com Awards. Patterson’s novel has the audacity to open with a literal “cliffhanger” scene, and thanks to the vivid sensory and dramatic flair on display, it’s a chapter that will be long etched in readers’ memories. When Army Ranger Garrett Knox left behind his military career to lead wilderness expeditions, he thought he’d escaped

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