TOPIC · 55 BOOKS

Thriller and crime fiction

Books I have read about thriller and crime fiction, brought together across genres, periods and countries.

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Cover of The Afghan

The Afghan

Frederick ForsythOne of my favourite novels, and one of those I have read most often. Forsyth constructs a vast operation to infiltrate an agent into Al-Qaeda, with the level of detail I enjoy most in his novels. It had me completely hooked.

Cover of The Day of the Jackal

The Day of the Jackal

Frederick ForsythThe preparation of an attack on de Gaulle and the investigation to stop it are told with spectacular precision. Although you know from the beginning that it is based on history, the tension lasts until the end.

Cover of The Dogs of War

The Dogs of War

Frederick ForsythI loved all the detail with which Forsyth tells how to prepare a mercenary operation in Africa: money, weapons, people and logistics.

Cover of The Fist of God

The Fist of God

Frederick ForsythA huge spy thriller set during the Gulf War, I loved how it blends military operations, intelligence and international politics without losing the rhythm of history.

Cover of El cuarto protocolo

El cuarto protocolo

Frederick ForsythIt's not my favorite Forsyth novel, but I really liked it. After all, Forsyth knows how to build spy operations in a lot of detail, but this time the story got a little slower and cooler for me.

Cover of El negociador

El negociador

Frederick ForsythA novel of international kidnappings, negotiations and conspiracies built with incredible precision, it's one of those Forsyth novels where every piece ends up fitting in and you can't stop reading.

Cover of Asesinatos, S.L.

Asesinatos, S.L.

Jack LondonIt's a great idea: a killer organization accepts the task of eliminating its own boss if the client can prove he deserves it.

Cover of The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair

The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair

Joël DickerIt's a very long thriller that got me completely hooked, mixing up an investigation, a blocked writer and a lot of people's secrets, and it changes what you think you know to the end.

Cover of El acusado

El acusado

John GrishamIt's a young adult installment of Grisham that felt too simple and predictable to read fast, but clearly wasn't the kind of legal thriller I was looking for.

Cover of The Appeal

The Appeal

John GrishamA very interesting Grisham about money, court elections and how a company can try to buy the outcome of a lawsuit.

Cover of The Associate

The Associate

John GrishamI was completely hooked on the story of a young lawyer forced to spy inside a big law firm, mixing professional pressure, blackmail and business secrets at an incredibly fast pace.

Cover of El intermediario

El intermediario

John GrishamA lawyer gets out of prison thanks to a mysterious pardon and ends up becoming part of an international operation.

Cover of El cliente

El cliente

John GrishamThe story of a kid caught between the mob, the police and the lawyers has a really good rhythm and manages to keep the tension throughout the book.

Cover of La tapadera

La tapadera

John GrishamThe idea of getting into the perfect job and slowly discovering what's behind it is very well constructed and makes it very difficult to leave.

Cover of El rey de los pleitos

El rey de los pleitos

John GrishamIt's a very entertaining story about a lawyer who moves from profession to making a fortune with class actions, and I liked the way it showed how quickly money and success can change a person.

Cover of El último jurado

El último jurado

John GrishamI really liked the mix between a crime, a trial and the life of a small Southern newspaper.

Cover of El socio

El socio

John GrishamI loved the story of a lawyer who disappears with his firm's money and prepares for years how to survive when they find him.

Cover of El informe Pelícano

El informe Pelícano

John GrishamA very good thriller about a student who connects two murders and is then pursued for having understood too much. It has conspiracy, journalism and a pace that makes it very difficult to put down.

Cover of El estafador

El estafador

John GrishamAn incarcerated lawyer claims to know who killed a federal judge and uses that information to negotiate his release.

Cover of El testamento

El testamento

John GrishamA vast inheritance and a search in Brazil promised a lot, but I found it more uneven than other Grisham novels. It has some good moments, although it took me a long time to become absorbed in it.

Cover of Eye of the Needle

Eye of the Needle

Ken FollettA spy thriller set in World War II with a great premise and a lot of tension.

Cover of Montecristo

Montecristo

Martin SuterA financial thriller that starts off as a seeming coincidence and opens up a much bigger story.

Cover of Con Ed

Con Ed

Matthew KleinI didn't finish connecting with the story or the characters, and the premise could have been much more, but it got pretty flat, and there came a point where I didn't care how it ended.

Cover of The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken (Vish Puri, #3)

The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken (Vish Puri, #3)

Tarquin HallThis Vish Puri instalment did not work for me. It has the atmosphere and humour of the series, but I found the case weaker and it did not hook me as the previous books had.

Cover of The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing

The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing

Tarquin HallA very entertaining mystery set in India, with humor, superstitions and a detective that I especially like.

Cover of The Case of the Missing Servant

The Case of the Missing Servant

Tarquin HallVish Puri's first inquiry I found very amusing and a great way to get around Delhi and understand the little things about Indian society.

Cover of In Cold Blood

In Cold Blood

Truman CapoteCapote reconstructs the murder of a family and everything that happens afterwards with such precision that for a moment you forget you're reading a real story.

Cover of The Silent Patient

The Silent Patient

Alex MichaelidesIt's about a therapist trying to reconstruct the mind and the circumstances that led her patient to never speak again.

Cover of The Club Dumas

The Club Dumas

Arturo Pérez ReverteThe novel follows Lucas Corso, a bibliophile hired to track down a manuscript by Alexandre Dumas. It has good characters and a strong plot, but I found the sheer number of literary references exhausting. It felt as though Pérez-Reverte wanted to include everything he had learned while researching the novel, which made parts of it feel forced. Without that excess, I would have considered it a great, fast-paced novel.

Cover of The Push

The Push

Ashley AudrainI don't even know who recommended this book to me or why I started reading a novel about a mother that talks about her relationship with her daughter, her family, complications and a plot behind it, traumas and evil that lead to a big ending, although I would love the book to have gone on!

Cover of Todo lo que sucedió con Miranda Huff

Todo lo que sucedió con Miranda Huff

Javier CastilloIt wasn't one of those novels that I particularly enjoyed. It got me hooked, but a little bit more. It's about a broken marriage that decides to spend a weekend in a cabin trying to fix the relationship, but she disappears.

Cover of Even the Darkest Night

Even the Darkest Night

Javier CercasIt's one of the best crime novels I've ever read, but it's quick and a good plot: Melchor Marín, the protagonist (with a dark past), investigates the murder of a couple of millionaires in a small Catalan town.

Cover of The Baltimore Boys

The Baltimore Boys

Joël DickerIt's a story of three cousins, one from a humble family and the other, prosperous and successful, and how one of them searches for the truth about something that happened in the family: drama.

Cover of The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer

The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer

Joël DickerAnother Dicker book that got me completely hooked. It's a very twisted story, full of characters, secrets and twists around an ancient murder that may not have been solved the way everyone thought it was. Sometimes it complicates the plot too much, but it gets you wanting to keep reading until you know what happened.

Cover of The Enigma of Room 622

The Enigma of Room 622

Joël DickerIt had me hooked. It is not the best novel in the world and probably deserves a lower rating, but the tangled story kept me reading. It is the weakest Joël Dicker book I have read so far, yet it still entertained me enormously.

Cover of Camino Island

Camino Island

John GrishamThe first John Grisham novel in many years to hook me from the beginning. I loved the legal thrillers he wrote earlier in his career, but then felt that he lost his way. This one follows the theft of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s manuscripts and the investigation to recover them, involving a writer and a Florida bookshop owner.

Cover of The Exchange

The Exchange

John GrishamI love John Grisham’s early novels, and this one comes closer to them than his other recent books. It is the sequel to The Firm, which was both a good novel and a great film. The story concerns negotiations to rescue a kidnapped woman in Libya, and it holds your interest until the end.

Cover of A Time for Mercy

A Time for Mercy

John GrishamTypical novel of John Grisham's late era (how good his first novels were). They find a manuscript on a deceased person's computer after a hurricane, and they suspect that the death was not caused by the hurricane.

Cover of The Confession

The Confession

John GrishamIt's a mix between the Grisham of its beginnings and the current activist, an entertaining book that got me so caught up in it and served its purpose. It's not the best of his career, but it's the best of his last years.

Cover of Camino Ghosts

Camino Ghosts

John GrishamThe first books in the "Camino Island" series were closer to being John Grisham from the beginning.

Cover of The Boys from Biloxi

The Boys from Biloxi

John GrishamFar from John Grisham’s best novels, but one of the better books from his recent period. It hooked me very quickly and I could not put it down. Two childhood friends end up on opposite sides of the law: one becomes a prosecutor and the other one of the area’s leading criminals.

Cover of The Analyst

The Analyst

John KatzenbachA straightforward thriller that had me hooked from the first page and sustains the suspense very well. I do not read much fiction because I often find it difficult, so I appreciated that. Now I want to read the sequel and explore more of the genre.

Cover of The Wrong Man

The Wrong Man

John KatzenbachI just read it because I wanted to know the ending, but it's a very compelling novel.

Cover of Silverview

Silverview

John Le CarréIt was too late when I realized how bad this novel is, and I finished it -- a British spy novel, a bookshake and a heavy storyline that requires too much explanation from the author during the book.

Cover of Red Queen

Red Queen

Juan Gómez-JuradoA novel that caught my eye from the very first page. It's fast, it has a lot of rhythm, a story that catches, good characters and very well written. It's the first book I read about Gomez Jurado and definitely won't be the last.

Cover of Arsene Lupin Gentleman Burglar

Arsene Lupin Gentleman Burglar

Maurice LeblancThe book is a collection of Lupin stories and robberies. It doesn't seem like the best or the most ingenious thing I've ever read, but I want to read some more to give him a chance.

Cover of Airframe

Airframe

Michael CrichtonA novel about an accident on a plane and how there are conflicting interests within the manufacturer to solve the problem. Sometimes too technical, but if you like aviation, you're going to enjoy the novel a lot.

Cover of Eruption

Eruption

Michael Crichton y James PattersonIt's a great story for an action movie like this, but the book is dense, full of geological references and explanations that make it dense, forced conversations in support of the plot to explain things. I finished it because I wanted to know the end (exciting, but better in a movie), but hopefully there will be a movie.

Cover of Inspector Imanishi Investigates

Inspector Imanishi Investigates

Seichō MatsumotoThe one I least liked was Matsumoto, too twisted, and with so many Japanese personalities and names that I'm confused.

Cover of Tokyo Express

Tokyo Express

Seichō MatsumotoA Japanese crime novel set in 1947, in which an inspector and an elderly policeman try to solve the apparent suicide of a couple on a beach. I loved it and devoured it. Highly recommended.

Cover of Pro Bono

Pro Bono

Seichō MatsumotoA girl from a village in southern Japan travels to Tokyo to ask the country's best lawyer for help to save her brother from the death penalty.

Cover of Point Zero

Point Zero

Seichō MatsumotoA good mystery novel by Matsumoto, with postwar Japan always present and a disappearance that reveals a much more complicated story.

Cover of A Quiet Place

A Quiet Place

Seichō MatsumotoA Japanese official is on a trip when suddenly he is informed that his wife has just passed away. Then he begins to investigate the cause of his death. I love Seicho Matsumoto's novels, intrigue, investigations, and always good endings.

Cover of The Sympathizer

The Sympathizer

Viet Thanh NguyenA very original novel about a spy divided between two countries, two ideologies and two identities after the Vietnam War. It mixes thriller, history, politics and quite satire, and shows the conflict from a point of view that rarely appears in American stories about Vietnam.

Cover of The Odessa File

The Odessa File

Frederick ForsythOne of the novels I have read most often. A young German journalist finds the diary of a Jewish man who has taken his own life, begins investigating a Nazi criminal and discovers Odessa, a secret organisation formed by former SS members. It combines journalism, espionage, history and pursuit, and keeps you reading to discover how far the organisation reaches. I also love the film.