90 books like A Jack Ryan Novel

This is the spy thriller that started it all! I was a huge fan of the Matt Damon trilogy and had always been an avid reader, so naturally, I gravitated toward the original novel, which was far better than the film.

Popular action thrillers tend to suffer from one of two diseases: “soldier syndrome,”—meaning the author knows what he or she is writing about but isn’t a master of the language—or from “poser-itis,” which is when the writer is good with a pen but would be too scared to use it to gauge out an eye if he or she had to.

So it’s a rare wordsmith who can understand the deepest, most primal parts of the human psyche and then put it into a literary form that delights the eyes and ears. Ludlum is one such writer.

The ultimate thrill ride from start to finish, Jack Carr’s first novel following Navy Seal Commander James Reece is one to remember. I bought this book at the airport in Anaheim, California, and started reading while waiting for my flight. A few delays and a five-hour flight later I had finished the entire book. It is a fantastically written book, laced with complex characters, government, and corporate conspiracies, and reminds us all why you must always be wary of those closest to us.

It’s hard to find someone who hasn’t heard of Lee Child’s protagonist Jack Reacher.

I recommend his second in the series to start with because that’s when Child started writing the rest of the series in third person as opposed to first.

Die Trying has Reacher witnessing a kidnapping, and ultimately being captured himself. As Reacher and the woman try to outsmart their captors and uncover the truth behind their abduction, the tension never lets up. 

But what really sets this book apart is how Reacher's military background is woven into the fabric of the story, creating a character whose unique perspective, skills, and experience make him an unstoppable force.

As I indicated earlier, I am a Lee Child superfan. I’ve read all his original books. A thick (and expensive) biography. A long essay he wrote on heroism. All his short stories. You get the idea. So it was fun to re-read this book, his first.

It wasn’t what I remembered, that’s for sure! Yes, the action scenes are vivid and instructive (Child writes about the utility of a headbutt versus the risk of breaking your hand with a punch), and the action is what I remember most. But there’s more to this book than fights: there’s a major romance, which the author writes with gusto and in detail, heavy on feelings, not on private parts; the prose is better than solid, with imagery that really makes it come alive; and the story is plausible and tightly woven, with plenty of surprises. 

In The Gray Man, a highly skilled, former CIA operative tries to rescue a colleague and his family while various teams of elite assassins try to stop him however they can.

The Gray Man – AKA Court Gentry or Sierra Six – doesn’t follow anybody’s orders, even those of the most powerful institutions on the planet. Though rebellious, he has morals and only applies his skillset for good.

My favorite part of this book were the action scenes. I liked how big they were, but also the variety of arenas, weapons, and opponents. Also, the Gray Man takes a serious beating through the chapters. Because he’s hurt, but still kicking, the fights progressively get more challenging for him, and more dramatic.

When I first began writing, the most common critique I got was, “You haven’t found your voice yet.” My editor said my style reminded her of Dean Koontz and gave me this book.

I was hooked from the first rain-soaked scene, where protagonist Spencer Grant checks on a missing friend and stumbles into a rogue government hit squad. Fortunately, Spencer Grant has a robust skill set of his own, along with a very dark secret in his past, his personal “dark river of the heart.”

The book goes a bit wild near the end, but by then, the lap bar is firmly down, and there is no getting off the ride. When I finished it, I declared, “I want to write just like that!”

This is the first of a series of novels based on the Queen & Country comic book, created and written by Rucka and originally inspired by the Sandbaggers British TV series. I love the main character, Tara Chace, and I also love how her stories don’t pull punches when it comes to portraying the politics and bureaucracy that sit on top of the actual operations she’s asked to perform.

The world is complicated, but sometimes, if we can focus on solving one single problem, we can make everything just a little bit better—for a while, anyway. The work never ends, and that’s the real job: to persist despite all horrors.

As I researched the 1990s hunt for Osama Bin Laden for my book, I became aware that most of the team in the CIA virtual station tasked with tracking down the terrorist leader was composed of women. And yet, most histories of the CIA are histories of (white) men.

In this book, I could find a lot more detail on the women hunting Bin Laden, as well as on many others. Mundy provides a potted history of women in the CIA, from its origins to the present day. In the book, I admired Mundy’s ability to contact and fully connect with current and former CIA operatives. The stories are told in an almost unfiltered manner from the perspectives of those who lived through them.

In this manner, each aspect is made somewhat more real, from the fight for better roles, pay, and recognition to the central role in intelligence collection,… show more.

The first section of this book feels so accurate in its depiction of the Smersh (death to spies) training camp that I hardly missed 007 at all, who appears on page 95 in part two of the book. I first came across James Bond when my sister, who was three years my senior, got me to see the 1963 film. I was twelve at the time. I wonder what today’s politically correct regime would have to say about that? My sister was probably underage as well but looked older, so she passed muster.

This book is my favorite of Fleming’s Bond books. I have read it many times, yet when I pick it up to start again, there is that air of excitement; I can almost smell the exotic location of Istanbul, Bond being pitched against a dangerous adversary, and, to top it all, the remarkable character, Colonel Rosa Klebb,… show more.

This novel, released in 1994, was one of The New York Times’ Notable Books of the Year, but these days, unfortunately few people have heard of it. 

A thriller about a terrorist holding the entire American air traffic control system hostage, this novel stood out because of how accurate all the details of the U.S. ATC were—details Gruenfeld had become aware of while pursuing a pilot’s license. 

Rush Limbaugh, an avid fan of aviation, raved about the book on his #1 rated radio show, and that’s where I heard about it.