# Looking for thriller novels **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2009, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-thriller-novels/492071 "2009-04-05T22:51:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-thriller-novels/492071/41 "2009-04-09T01:49:25Z")
Another vote for Nelson DeMille. His return to Vietnam thriller, _Up Country_, was fascinating and terrifying. You also might like Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon series. They’re very well written, tense, exciting Israeli spy novels. Best to read them in order. The Kill Artist The English Assassin The Confessor A Death in Vienna Prince of Fire The Messenger The Secret Servant Moscow Rules ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-thriller-novels/492071/42 "2009-04-09T03:05:44Z")
Frederick Forsyth’s _The ODESSA File_ is a great thriller about a young German journalist hunting down a former SS man in the early 1960s. There are several very interesting layers to the book, and it’s a real page-turner. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-thriller-novels/492071/43 "2009-04-09T12:36:30Z")
I would also recommend Desmond Bagley if you can get hold of any. Different backgrounds, different types of story, most falling into the adventure thriller category. My favourite might be _The Tightrope Men_ which starts with the protagonist waking up in a strange bedroom… _with a strange face!_ But they’re all good. Other favourites: _The Golden Keel, High Citadel, The Vivero Letter, Running Blind._ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-thriller-novels/492071/44 "2009-04-09T15:07:54Z")
Another personal favorite - the late A.J. Quinnell. Probably best known for _Man on Fire_ due to the movie adaptations. I’d also recommend _The Mahdi_ and _In the Name of the Father_. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-thriller-novels/492071/45 "2009-04-09T15:50:47Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > _Point of Impact_ by Stephen Hunter is easily one of the best thrillers ever written. > [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Enthusiastically seconded. > > Everything else he’s written is pretty good, too. And a third. Hunter is one of my favorite authors, though I haven’t picked up his latest one yet, I have read all of the others. I’ve read Point of Impact a few times and have it ready to read again. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-thriller-novels/492071/46 "2009-04-09T17:37:10Z")
**carnivorousplant** - Dean Koontz and Dean R. Koontz are the same person, as well as all his pseudonyms. I like David Morrell - _The League of Night and Fog_ and _The Brotherhood of the Rose_ and others. StG ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-thriller-novels/492071/47 "2009-04-09T17:44:08Z")
I haven’t read Morrell in years. I may have to dig up his most recent one. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-thriller-novels/492071/48 "2009-04-09T19:59:44Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > [Robin Cook](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Cook_(american_novelist)) is the king of medical thrillers. He is great. Hmmm - I just finished listening to his book Vector on CD, and found a lot of the dialogue to be rather pedantic and full of words normal people don’t use. I enjoyed the tale, however. Tess Gerritsen writes some decent mysteries, largely centered around several career women in the Boston area (a police detective and a medical examiner). I’ve enjoyed all of them so far. She has others which are not centered around those characters, and have strong medical plots (the author is/was a doctor). Lisa Gardner also writes some good stuff. Main character also tends to be one of several females. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-thriller-novels/492071/49 "2009-04-09T21:24:59Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Another personal favorite - the late A.J. Quinnell. Probably best known for _Man on Fire_ due to the movie adaptations. I’d also recommend _The Mahdi_ and _In the Name of the Father_. _ **Siege of Silence** _ by Quinnell is an excellent thriller. Highly recommended. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-thriller-novels/492071/50 "2009-04-10T18:34:38Z")
The _Modesty Blaise_ series by Peter O’Donnell. Again a bit dated, but there is a wonderful dynamic between the two main characters. Their abilities are a bit exaggerated but they practice enough to justify it. Parts are often very funny. These boks have been described as the “get me out of here” sub-genre of the thriller category. The protagonists are usually imprisoned or surrounded and escape with great ingenuity and daring. All good escapist (!) fun. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-thriller-novels/492071.md?page=2)