Looking for military /political / etc thriller authors [merged]

[krazydawg005]

I am looking for more thriller writers to look into. I am into all types of thrillers:

-political
-spy
-military
-legal
-financial
-cop

Here are some of the authors I've been reading and really enjoy so far:

-Tom Clancy, John Grisham, WEB Griffin, Dan Brown, Michael Connelly, Stephen Frey, Vince Flynn, Daniel Silva

If you guys have any other thriller writers you like, please post them. I am building a list of good books to read, and I want to know about more authors (I haven't been reading for please for all that long..a year or so so I don't know about that many authors).

Thanks!

[flixtime]

I'll suggest Stephen Hunter. Start with either "Point of Impact" (1993) or "Dirty White Boys" (1995), then after you've finished those two read "Black Light" (1996). The aforementioned three titles form sort of a pyramid trilogy with "Black Light" being the capstone and bringing together elements found in the first two. After those you can go on to "Time to Hunt", "Hot Springs", "Pale Horse Coming", and "Havana". And then his earlier work if you're still interested.

[AGuyNamedMike]

One of my little pleasures is the Kirk McGarvey series by David Hagberg.

[djmont]

Some of my favorite thriller writers are (in alphabetical order):

Contemporary:
Lee Child, Barry Eisler, Joseph Finder, David Morrell, Thomas Perry

Classic:
Frederick Forsyth, Adam Hall, Robert Ludlum, Ross Thomas (my all-time favorite), Trevanian

Oh man...there are so many good ones. I only listed 5 in each category, but there are many more.

[rkndkn]

An author I rarely hear mentioned in the genre is Victor O'Reilly. I recommend starting with his debut novel, Games of the Hangman -- great stuff!

[Josh-da-man]

It might be worth your time to check out John Sandford (author of the "Prey" series) and John Connolly. ("Every Dead Thing" and "Dark Hollow" are very good reads.)

[TabascoKid]

Harlan Coben - Myron Bolitar series, Tell No One, others.

[Dan1boy]

Few of my consistent faves: Philip Margolin, Nelson DeMille and Brad Meltzer

Phil and Brad write legal thrillers and Nelson writes...um...um....*scratches head*

Sandford is great but man, I'm really burnt out on Davenport...

[Geofferson]

Robert Crais' Elvis Cole books are worth a mention.

[dogmatica]

His novels aren't necessarily "thrillers," but I can't imagine with your current reading list you wouldn't enjoy Elmore Leonard.

[Tommy_Harn]

Dennis Lehane, especially his Patrick Kenzie series.

[12thmonkey]

Originally Posted by rkndkn

An author I rarely hear mentioned in the genre is Victor O'Reilly. I recommend starting with his debut novel, Games of the Hangman -- great stuff!

[Picot12]

John Lescroart (try to read in order cause personal stories build on one another) and Stuart Woods.

[BLeeD]

Stephen White (Alan Gregory Series)
Julia Spencer-Fleming (Clare Ferguson Series)
Brad Thor (Scot Harvath Series)
Kate White (Bailey Wigggins Series)
Ted Bell (Alexander Hawke Series)
Beverly Connor (Diane Fallon Forensic Investigator Series)
Jeffery Deaver (Lincoln Rhyme Series)
K.J. Erickson (Mars Bahr Series)
Brian Haig (Sean Drummond Series)
Jonathon King (Max Freeman Series)
Clinton McKinzie (Antonio Burns Series)
Perri O'Shaughnessey (Nina Reilly Series)
Karin Slaughter (Grant County Series)
P.J. Tracy (The Monkeewrench Series)

These are just a few. There are so many more.

[SiberianLlama]

Greg Rucka's Atticus Kodiak novels are great thrillers. Plus, there aren't too many books where the main character is a bodyguard, as opposed to a cop or a private detective. It really adds a new angle to the genre.

[antennaball]

I'm a huge fan of Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware series. They are in the psychological thriller genre.

Also, his wife Faye Kellerman has a decent Peter Decker series that's detective with a bit of romance thrown in.

[lukewarmwater]

Originally Posted by SiberianLlama

Greg Rucka's Atticus Kodiak novels are great thrillers. Plus, there aren't too many books where the main character is a bodyguard, as opposed to a cop or a private detective. It really adds a new angle to the genre.

His queen and country novels are great too.

[BellsOfWar]

i'd recommend john le carre. he used to be an ex spy so he knows what he's talking about. for staters, i'd recommend "the spy who came in from the cold." it's a very short read, only 200 pages or so. the story itself is a tad slow, but the ending will more than make up for it. he also wrote the book "the constant gardener" which was made into a movie, and as usual, the book was way better than the movie.

[benedict]

Originally Posted by krazydawg005

I am looking for more thriller writers to look into. I am into all types of thrillers:

-political
-spy
-military
-legal
-financial
-cop

Here are some of the authors I've been reading and really enjoy so far:

-Tom Clancy, John Grisham, WEB Griffin, Dan Brown, Michael Connelly, Stephen Frey, Vince Flynn, Daniel Silva

People have already posted some great lists/recommendations. What follows is something I found in the Tom Clancy FAQ which I'm posting just for information:

I've read all of Tom Clancy's books. What other authors write books like him?

Names mentioned in newsgroup discussions are:

Gerry Carroll, Richard Aellen, Ted Albury,
Steve Bartman, Mark Berent, Larry Bond,
Dale Brown, James Cobb, Larry Collins,
Stephen Coonts, Harold Coyle, Clive Cussler,
Len Deighton, Ken Follett, Frederick Forsythe,
W.E.B. Griffin, Richard Hagberg, Marshall Harrison,
Payne Harrison, Eric L. Harry, Richard Herman,
Stephen Hunter, John LeCarre, Robert Ludlum,
Harrison Marshall, David Poyer, Craig Thomas,
Barrett Tillman, Duane Unkefer, Tom Wilson,

No assertion is made whether you will like or dislike any of these authors. These authors have been mentioned in various discussions in the newsgroup.

Some of the names from the FAQ have been cited in recommendations already made in this thread.

Edited to add a chronological list of "must-reads" for information:
http://www.thrillerwriters.org/mustread.html

[Alien Redrum]

Gonna second (and third) Michael Connelly, Robert Crais and Lee Child.

And I don't quite know if they are thriller or not, but Joe Lansdale's Hap and Pine series are pretty good.

* Savage Season (1990).
* Mucho Mojo (1994).
* The Two-Bear Mambo (1995).
* Bad Chili (1997).
* Rumble Tumble (1998).
* Captains Outrageous (2001)

[muttonhead]

I gotta get a plug in here for the crime fiction of George P. Pelecanos, especially his excellent epic trilogy "King Suckerman", "The Sweet Forever" and "Shame the Devil."

He has other series too, and you'll catch a lot of neat instances of crossover character cameos.

[Alien Redrum]

And I just read Shoedog, too.

Pelecanos is great.

[djmont]

Pelecanos is definitely one of the best writers working today. So I'll third that recommendation. (Of course, he's not a thriller author, but why quibble. He's worth reading, regardless)

His new one (The Night Gardener) is supposed to be awesome. I haven't had a chance to look at it yet, but it's already getting some excellent buzz.

[muttonhead]

Originally Posted by djmont

Pelecanos is definitely one of the best writers working today. So I'll third that recommendation. (Of course, he's not a thriller author, but why quibble.

Not a thriller writer per se, but surely there's enough of a palpable verve throughout, especially in "King Suckerman." Like I said, this is crime fiction, and he plays it straight up steeped in tradition.

"The Night Gardener"..... cool! I didn't realize this was in the pipeline. Now I can't wait for it's August release. From an online blurb, it sounds like a potential step more towards the thriller market.

[djmont]

Originally Posted by muttonhead

"The Night Gardener"..... cool! I didn't realize this was in the pipeline. Now I can't wait for it's August release. From an online blurb, it sounds like a potential step more towards the thriller market.

I don't think Little, Brown is trying to position it as a thriller, although they are pushing it as a more commercial novel than some of the rest of GP's work. (I just read the jacket copy from the back of the book, and it sounds like a fairly straight-up mystery plot.)

Not trying to break anyone's stones... Since the original poster was looking for books in the Clancy/Grisham mold, however, I wouldn't want to mislead anyone as to what kind of books Pelecanos writes. (Literary urban crime/noir is probably a good general description.)