# Book or Author suggestions for my husband?



## harpangel36 (Jul 25, 2010)

I got my husband a Kindle for his birthday and he has read more than he has ever read before.  He likes book about CIA, military, police, politcal thrillers, etc. He has read a couple Lee Child and John Sandford, but says he doesn't like when the characters always manage to get out of impossible situations. He very much liked Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth and World without End. Would anyone have any suggestions for me to look for books for him?

If this is not a good forum to ask, would there be another forum that would be better?


----------



## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

He might like Robert Crais (more the stand alones and the Joe Pike novels.  The series novels are more like Lee Child where the investigator always gets out of trouble fairly easily.  They are a bit darker though.)

Frederick Forsyth is another good crime/action writer.  

Ken Bruen is an Irish writer of Noir--we are talking some dark crime.  Less action, more dank, dark crime.

If he likes Urban Fantasy themes, Charles Huston writes some very dark crime novels as well as a dark vampire series.  There will be a LOT of foul language in these books whether the mundane or the fantasy.

For a female protag with some dark thriller themes, I'd recommend Carol O'Connell.  Some of the series books are darker than others.  Some are VERY dark.


----------



## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

If he enjoys historical fiction, he could look into Edward Rutherfurd - my favorite of his is _Sarum_.


----------



## John A. A. Logan (Jan 25, 2012)

Perhaps James Ellroy's THE COLD SIX THOUSAND

You've got political thriller as the events surround the Kennedy assassination...cops, FBI, hitmen...


----------



## JEV (Jan 7, 2012)

Try Elmore Leonard.  Funny, rough, great dialogue.  Almost always great to listen to as audiobooks, too.


----------



## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

Oh, oh wait! Thought of another author:  Denise Lehane.

And another UF theme/action:  The Heretic by Nassasi.


----------



## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

Excellent book.


----------



## Maxx (Feb 24, 2009)

A couple of authors come to mind

Tom Clancy, I haven't read any of the more current books, but some of them have good reviews
Without Remorse


Red Storm Rising

Also, Boyd Morrison. He originally published his books on kindle and now has a tradtional publishing contract. I have read 2 of his books and loved them!

The Ark


----------



## ddarol (Feb 5, 2009)

Oh yes, Boyd Morrison!  I have read them all and they are all great!


----------



## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

harpangel36 said:


> I got my husband a Kindle for his birthday and he has read more than he has ever read before. He likes book about CIA, military, police, politcal thrillers, etc. He has read a couple Lee Child and John Sandford, but says he doesn't like when the characters always manage to get out of impossible situations. He very much liked Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth and World without End. Would anyone have any suggestions for me to look for books for him?
> 
> If this is not a good forum to ask, would there be another forum that would be better?


My husband loves J.A. Konrath. He has a police procedural series your husband might like -- look for the drink names!

Has he read Game of Thrones? It's fantasy, but based on The Wars of The Rose, and so it has this nice historical feel -- and surprisingly little magic.


----------



## Harry Shannon (Jul 30, 2010)

John Connolly
Dave Zeltserman
James Lee Burke
Michael Connelly
Robert Crais
Mo Hayder


----------



## CNDudley (May 14, 2010)

If he liked Ken Follett's historicals, he may enjoy C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower series. A British navy man during the Napoleonic Wars. I'm halfway through them and LOVE them.

He could read them in chronological order (according to Hornblower's age in each book), starting with:









and hope they get the "later" books on Kindle by the time he gets there!


----------



## Sean Patrick Fox (Dec 3, 2011)

MariaESchneider said:


> Ken Bruen is an Irish writer of Noir--we are talking some dark crime. Less action, more dank, dark crime.


I will second, third, and fourth this rec for Ken Bruen. He is very, very dark, sometimes so much that it's a little depressing. His writing style is easy to read though - conversational, almost - and he's got great characters telling great stories. The only book of his I've read and didn't love was _Devil_, Book 8 in the Jack Taylor series. It was just really strange and out there, and doesn't fit with the rest of his work. Other than that, they've been fantastic. He's also got some great short stories floating around the internet.

I'm generally not one to gush about an author, but he's someone who - as a writer and a reader - I have tremendous respect for and really enjoy his writing.


----------



## Todd Trumpet (Sep 7, 2011)

Based on his liking "THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH" by Ken Follet and "military/police/political thrillers", he may also like:



*"THE NAME OF THE ROSE" by Umberto Eco.*

From the Wiki: "It is a historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery in the year 1327."

Could be right up his transept!

Todd

P.S. I also strongly second CNDudley's recommendation of *"THE HORNBLOWER SAGA"* (11 novels). I finished rereading them last year. Here's my review thread from the KindleBoards: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,88338.msg1385892.html#msg1385892


----------



## StephenLivingston (May 10, 2011)

He may like Don Delillo's novel about JFK "Libra".
Best wishes, Stephen Livingston.


----------



## jumbojohnny (Dec 25, 2011)

To Todd Trumpet, at least it's set in this septic aisle.


----------



## Sean Patrick Fox (Dec 3, 2011)

To pile more love on Ken Bruen... I just spent $80 on Amazon on a bunch of his books that I haven't yet read, or want to own. Guess that's what happens when rehashing an author crush


----------



## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Anything by Ken Follett! The two you mentioned are his masterpieces, but I loved all of his books.

Nelson DeMille is really good, too. My favorite is one of his earlier books, _Charm School_.


----------



## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

Frederick Forsythe
Nelson DeMille
John le Carré
Ian Fleming
Alistair MacLean
Len Deighton


----------



## MadCityWriter (Dec 8, 2011)

_The Bourne Identity_ and the other two Bourne books by Robert Ludlum...even if he's seen the movies.


----------



## Debra Purdy Kong (Apr 1, 2009)

Stuart Kaminsky, Ray Banks, Declan Hughes, and Robert Dugoni (not sure of spelling) would probably appeal to him as well as the ones others have listed. There's plenty of good reading out there!


----------



## By The Book (Feb 4, 2012)

Don Winslow is great.  I've read a couple of his -- Dawn Patrol was one of my faves of his -- and got sucked in quickly. 

Jeff Shelby does good police/PI novels, too. Great characters and dialogue and lightning-fast stories.  A whole series (Noah Braddock) about a surfer PI and his latest, Thread of Hope, about an ex-cop who turns to find missing kids after his only daughter is abducted. This one is sitting around #25 on the top Kindle paid list, I think.

Happy searching!


----------



## Patrick Skelton (Jan 7, 2011)

There's always the new John Grisham thriller, The Litigators.  It's much better than this past few novels.


----------



## Todd Trumpet (Sep 7, 2011)

jumbojohnny said:


> To Todd Trumpet, at least it's set in this septic aisle.


I've been out-punned!

Todd


----------



## K. A. Jordan (Aug 5, 2010)

MadCityWriter said:


> _The Bourne Identity_ and the other two Bourne books by Robert Ludlum...even if he's seen the movies.


I was going to suggest Ludlum as well.

My family is VERY fond of Dick Francis.


----------



## djgross (May 24, 2011)

Harry Shannon said:


> Michael Connelly
> Robert Crais


I'll second Michael Connelly and Robert Crais 

My favorite Michael Connelly novel features both of his series characters (Detective Harry Bosch and lawyer Mickey Haller):



Connelly has several short story collections featuring Harry Bosch available for $2.99 Kindle: 
 

Taken, the latest novel by Robert Crais, is my new favorite Elvis Cole/Joe Pike book:


----------



## MartinCrosbie (Jan 28, 2012)

John le Carre (especially if he likes flawed heroes)
Len Deighton 
Scott Turow 

Good luck, he's a lucky guy, lol.

Martin Crosbie


----------



## Pirate96 (Sep 8, 2011)

Handsdown my favorite author right now!








http://www.amazon.com/Enemies-Foreign-Domestic-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B004JF4L98/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1329967189&sr=1-1

I am rereading this book again because it is so good. It could be ripped from the headlines. The author is a former Navy Seal and knows the subject material.

Here are some other good ones
James Wesley, Rawles
William Forstchen
David Crawford
Gordon Ryan


----------



## laa0325 (Feb 21, 2010)

Every man I know has been fascinated by the story of Ernest Shackleton. They do manage to get out of an impossible situation, but it's a true story so that can't be helped. 

This is the book my father and husband read. 
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

There is also a free Kindle book written by Shackleton himself. 
South: The Story of Shackleton's 1914-1917 Expedition


----------



## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

The first book in Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Chronicles is just 99 cents right now:


----------



## Rick Gualtieri (Oct 31, 2011)

I just finished Blood Orchids by Toby Neal.  It's a crime drama set in Hawaii.  In the review I'm writing, I liken it to Hawaii Five-O meets Silence of the Lambs.  It was a good, easy read with some interesting insight into the Hawaiin lifestyle (or I assume...I haven't actually been there myself  .


----------



## lmyrick (Feb 23, 2012)

How about John Le Carre's Smiley novels?


----------



## 31842 (Jan 11, 2011)

Has he read Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder series already?


(this is the first one in the series)

They are gritty and dark and absolutely delicious.

I also wanted to second the "Endurance" recommendation and also give a shout out to "Into Thin Air".



It's non-fiction about a bunch of people stuck on Mt. Everest during one of the worst storms in history. It is AMAZING.


----------



## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

KateDanley said:


> I also wanted to second the "Endurance" recommendation and also give a shout out to "Into Thin Air".
> 
> 
> 
> It's non-fiction about a bunch of people stuck on Mt. Everest during one of the worst storms in history. It is AMAZING.


Along those lines, today's daily deal, We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance, was compared to _Into Thin Air_ in both the blurb and the reviews. It sounded so good that I had to 1-click it this morning.


----------



## Gayle (Aug 31, 2009)

James Rollins
Vince Flynn
Brad Thor
Michale Connelly


----------



## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

harpangel36 said:


> but says he doesn't like when the characters always manage to get out of impossible situations.


Here is a very realistic murder mystery. The main character is a cop, but he isn't superhuman or super smart or super rich. The suspects in the book are lower class Irish workers and the crime is a petty one in the eyes of the rest of the world, though important to the main character. The world will not blow up, nations will not fall, nobody's going to loose billions of dollars, but there is crime in the way the real world has crime, there is regret, there are recriminations, and psychological depth. I think the book is worth a 100 J.D. Robb bestsellers or fast paced thrillers.


----------



## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

Did I already mention Carol O'Connell?  And maybe Lisa Fairstein (I am pretty sure I forgot to mention Fairstein.)  Both excellent thriller/intrigue writers.


----------



## 31842 (Jan 11, 2011)

Geemont said:


> Here is a very realistic murder mystery. The main character is a cop, but he isn't superhuman or super smart or super rich. The suspects in the book are lower class Irish workers and the crime is a petty one in the eyes of the rest of the world, though important to the main character. The world will not blow up, nations will not fall, nobody's going to loose billions of dollars, but there is crime in the way the real world has crime, there is regret, there are recriminations, and psychological depth. I think the book is worth a 100 J.D. Robb bestsellers or fast paced thrillers.


This sound really good! I'm checking it out! It sounds a little like the BBC series Foyle's War, which I LOVE.


----------



## bookworm77 (Mar 10, 2012)

The Deguello (Scott Zastrow)

I read a review about it at goodbookstoday.com

Here's an excerpt of the review: As a US Army medic myself I found The Deguello more than captivating. On more than one occasion I found myself with chills completely engulfed within Zastrow's story...


----------

