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$20.14The Story
Seventeen thrillers and crime novels covering the full spectrum of the genre — from P.D. James taking Jane Austen's characters into a murder investigation to Ian Rankin proving that Edinburgh's cold cases never stay cold, from Len Deighton concluding one of the great spy trilogies to Dean Koontz doing what only Koontz can do. There's the Queen of Suspense, a Bourne novel, an Edgar Allan Poe Award winner, a Swedish thriller trilogy instalment, and an Australian crime writer who knows the dark side of Africa as well as he knows the dark side of Sydney. A genuinely strong collection.
1. The Eleventh Commandment — Jeffrey Archer A CIA assassin. One final mission. And the eleventh commandment — "thou shalt not be caught" — that is about to be tested. Archer constructs plots like traps, and this one snaps shut with his usual satisfying precision.
2. The Bourne Sanction — Eric Van Lustbader Jason Bourne returns — Van Lustbader took over the franchise after Ludlum's death and kept the pace, the paranoia, and the propulsive energy completely intact. For Bourne completists and anyone who needs a thriller that moves like a runaway train.
3. Cheaters — J.R. Carroll Australian crime fiction with a Michael Connelly endorsement — "It's a winner." Carroll writes about the dark corners of ordinary Australian life with a hardboiled edge that earns that comparison.
4. Collusion — Stuart Neville Set in Northern Ireland, where the peace is fragile and the past refuses to be buried — a thriller about collusion between paramilitaries and the security forces that Val McDermid called "terrifically authentic, shiveringly good." James Ellroy said simply: "This guy can write." Both are right.
5. Plum Lucky — Janet Evanovich A between-the-numbers Stephanie Plum adventure — lighter, faster, and funnier than the main series, which is saying something. Perfect for existing Plum fans and an excellent entry point for anyone not yet acquainted with Trenton's most chaotic bounty hunter.
6. The Beijing Conspiracy — Adrian d'Hagé Australian thriller writer d'Hagé brings his intelligence background to a story where terror has a new weapon and the stakes are genuinely global. Tightly plotted and geopolitically credible.
7. Charity — Len Deighton The stunning conclusion to the Bernard Samson trilogy — Faith, Hope and Charity — one of the great achievements in British spy fiction. If you haven't read the series, track down the first two and then come back to this. If you have, you know exactly what this is worth.
8. Now You See Her — Linda Howard A woman with an unsettling ability — she can see things others can't — and a threat that is very, very real. Howard blends romantic tension and genuine thriller pace better than almost anyone working in this space.
9. Two Little Girls in Blue — Mary Higgins Clark Twin girls are kidnapped. One is found dead. The other is still out there — and only her mother believes she's still alive. The Queen of Suspense at her most emotionally devastating and plot-driven best.
10. Dark Summer — Jon Cleary Scobie Malone returns — Jon Cleary is one of the great figures in Australian crime fiction, and his Sydney detective has been navigating the city's moral complexities for decades with dry wit and quiet authority.
11. Dark Heart — Tony Park "Beauty. Death. Redemption." Tony Park writes African thrillers with the authority of someone who knows the continent intimately — the landscape, the wildlife, the politics, and the violence all rendered with equal vividness. Compulsive reading.
12. Death Comes to Pemberley — P.D. James P.D. James sets a murder mystery in Jane Austen's world, six years after the close of Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth and Darcy investigate. It sounds like it shouldn't work, and it absolutely does — because James brings her full intelligence and craft to the premise and never lets it become a parlour game.
13. Daddy's Girl — Lisa Scottoline A law professor's father is killed in a prison riot, and she can't accept the official explanation. Scottoline writes legal thrillers with a fierce emotional core — the family stakes in this one make it more than usually gripping.
14. Bubble — Anders de la Motte Book Three of the Game Trilogy — the Swedish thriller series that hooked readers from the first page and has been building to this conclusion. Dark, intelligent, and utterly compelling for anyone who has followed the series this far.
15. The Face — Dean Koontz A Hollywood star's son is taken, and the man hired to protect the family knows that whoever is doing this has been planning it for a very long time. Koontz at his most controlled and most frightening.
16. Rather Be the Devil — Ian Rankin John Rebus pulls at a cold case thread from 1978 and finds it attached to something very much alive in the present. Rankin is the undisputed master of Edinburgh crime fiction, and Rebus — retired, impossible, essential — remains one of the great characters in the genre.
17. The Scold's Bridle — Minette Walters Winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award — an elderly woman is found dead in her bath, wearing a medieval instrument of punishment. The investigation that follows is one of Walters' finest — psychologically complex, formally elegant, and deeply unsettling in the way that only the best crime fiction manages.
Description
Seventeen thrillers and crime novels covering the full spectrum of the genre — from P.D. James taking Jane Austen's characters into a murder investigation to Ian Rankin proving that Edinburgh's cold cases never stay cold, from Len Deighton concluding one of the great spy trilogies to Dean Koontz doing what only Koontz can do. There's the Queen of Suspense, a Bourne novel, an Edgar Allan Poe Award winner, a Swedish thriller trilogy instalment, and an Australian crime writer who knows the dark side of Africa as well as he knows the dark side of Sydney. A genuinely strong collection.
1. The Eleventh Commandment — Jeffrey Archer A CIA assassin. One final mission. And the eleventh commandment — "thou shalt not be caught" — that is about to be tested. Archer constructs plots like traps, and this one snaps shut with his usual satisfying precision.
2. The Bourne Sanction — Eric Van Lustbader Jason Bourne returns — Van Lustbader took over the franchise after Ludlum's death and kept the pace, the paranoia, and the propulsive energy completely intact. For Bourne completists and anyone who needs a thriller that moves like a runaway train.
3. Cheaters — J.R. Carroll Australian crime fiction with a Michael Connelly endorsement — "It's a winner." Carroll writes about the dark corners of ordinary Australian life with a hardboiled edge that earns that comparison.
4. Collusion — Stuart Neville Set in Northern Ireland, where the peace is fragile and the past refuses to be buried — a thriller about collusion between paramilitaries and the security forces that Val McDermid called "terrifically authentic, shiveringly good." James Ellroy said simply: "This guy can write." Both are right.
5. Plum Lucky — Janet Evanovich A between-the-numbers Stephanie Plum adventure — lighter, faster, and funnier than the main series, which is saying something. Perfect for existing Plum fans and an excellent entry point for anyone not yet acquainted with Trenton's most chaotic bounty hunter.
6. The Beijing Conspiracy — Adrian d'Hagé Australian thriller writer d'Hagé brings his intelligence background to a story where terror has a new weapon and the stakes are genuinely global. Tightly plotted and geopolitically credible.
7. Charity — Len Deighton The stunning conclusion to the Bernard Samson trilogy — Faith, Hope and Charity — one of the great achievements in British spy fiction. If you haven't read the series, track down the first two and then come back to this. If you have, you know exactly what this is worth.
8. Now You See Her — Linda Howard A woman with an unsettling ability — she can see things others can't — and a threat that is very, very real. Howard blends romantic tension and genuine thriller pace better than almost anyone working in this space.
9. Two Little Girls in Blue — Mary Higgins Clark Twin girls are kidnapped. One is found dead. The other is still out there — and only her mother believes she's still alive. The Queen of Suspense at her most emotionally devastating and plot-driven best.
10. Dark Summer — Jon Cleary Scobie Malone returns — Jon Cleary is one of the great figures in Australian crime fiction, and his Sydney detective has been navigating the city's moral complexities for decades with dry wit and quiet authority.
11. Dark Heart — Tony Park "Beauty. Death. Redemption." Tony Park writes African thrillers with the authority of someone who knows the continent intimately — the landscape, the wildlife, the politics, and the violence all rendered with equal vividness. Compulsive reading.
12. Death Comes to Pemberley — P.D. James P.D. James sets a murder mystery in Jane Austen's world, six years after the close of Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth and Darcy investigate. It sounds like it shouldn't work, and it absolutely does — because James brings her full intelligence and craft to the premise and never lets it become a parlour game.
13. Daddy's Girl — Lisa Scottoline A law professor's father is killed in a prison riot, and she can't accept the official explanation. Scottoline writes legal thrillers with a fierce emotional core — the family stakes in this one make it more than usually gripping.
14. Bubble — Anders de la Motte Book Three of the Game Trilogy — the Swedish thriller series that hooked readers from the first page and has been building to this conclusion. Dark, intelligent, and utterly compelling for anyone who has followed the series this far.
15. The Face — Dean Koontz A Hollywood star's son is taken, and the man hired to protect the family knows that whoever is doing this has been planning it for a very long time. Koontz at his most controlled and most frightening.
16. Rather Be the Devil — Ian Rankin John Rebus pulls at a cold case thread from 1978 and finds it attached to something very much alive in the present. Rankin is the undisputed master of Edinburgh crime fiction, and Rebus — retired, impossible, essential — remains one of the great characters in the genre.
17. The Scold's Bridle — Minette Walters Winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award — an elderly woman is found dead in her bath, wearing a medieval instrument of punishment. The investigation that follows is one of Walters' finest — psychologically complex, formally elegant, and deeply unsettling in the way that only the best crime fiction manages.
