Here are 61 books that Nicholai Hel Series fans have personally recommended once you finish the Nicholai Hel Series series.
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I am an author, attorney, artist, and entrepreneur. My experience as a litigator for over forty years, as well as my experience as a painter and an investor, has inspired and influenced me to write the Chance Cormac legal thrillers series.
When you enter Winslow’s world of drug cartels, be prepared for violence and intrigue at the US-Mexico border. Winslow vividly portrays the ongoing battle between the DEA and the cartels.
Power of the Dog is the first book in the Cartel Trilogy. Winslow takes the reader south of the border as the War on Drugs confronts the brutal realities of the drug trade and its victims.
'Breathtaking' JEREMY CLARKSON 'Winslow's masterpiece (so far) ... should have a place on every crime freak's bookshelf. Superb' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY _______________________ A brilliant page-turning thriller of power and revenge on the front lines of the drug war.
Drug lord Miguel Angel Barrera is head of the Mexican drug federacion, responsible for millions of dollars worth of cocaine traffic into the US and the torture and murder of those who stand in its way. His nephew, Adan Barrera, is his worthy successor.
Art Keller is a US government operative, so determined to obtain revenge for a murdered colleague that his…
Apart from being an armchair historian and author of thriller and suspense novels, I’ve been a lifelong collector of original handwritten historical manuscripts—parchments and papyri from medieval times, papal documents from the Middle Ages, ancient illuminated manuscripts from hundreds of years ago, Gregorian chanting parchments…anything memorializing the human need to communicate and tell stories or document historical events. My home is like a museum, with framed historic written memorabilia on every wall, precious reminders of moments in time when someone thought what they were doing needed to be documented, usually in some form of achingly beautiful calligraphy when art was more important than expediency.
Robert Ludlum has been a favorite author of mine for years and was the inspiration for me to become a writer myself some thirty years ago. His plotlines are so intricately woven you question whether the stories are actually true. Of course, he’s best known for the Jason Bourne series, but those weren’t my favorite of his books. The Chancellor Manuscript stands out for its breathtakingly intricate plotting and well-drawn characters. One of those books you can read again years later and it will still be fresh.
“[The Chancellor Manuscript] exerts a riveting appeal, as it seems to justify our worst nightmares of what really goes on in the so-called intelligence community in Washington.”—The New York Times Book Review
Did J. Edgar Hoover die a natural death? Or was he murdered? When a group of high-minded and high-placed intellectuals known as Inver Brass detect a monstrous threat to the country in Hoover’s unethical use of his scandal-ridden private files, they decide to do away with him—quietly, efficiently, with no hint of impropriety. Then bestselling thriller writer Peter Chancellor stumbles onto information that makes his previous books look…
Every book in my list is about change and exploring alternative lifestyles. More specifically, they are all about lifestyle change, with some very dystopian. Meaning the change was the result of the old way no longer being available. Each book is different, but all result in a different way of life, one that includes the basics we all strive for: survival, safety, consistency, family, friendship, love, with a creative outlet. These all nurture our passions and provide for a life that respects our beliefs, morals, and spirituality. And all have extremely strong characters. I also embrace change and look forward to the new, the innovative, and the unknown.
I am recommending this book as it introduces the lead character to a new lifestyle from that which she’s used to in the United States. Business and life in Hong Kong are at first crazy and overwhelming, but then she slowly, over time, learns how to adapt and thrive. She begins to feel at home in Hong Kong and doesn’t want to return to her life in the United States.
This is how I felt when I first came to Thailand. But once I became more familiar with life in Thailand, I realized that living on a remote island would be perfect for me at retirement. I embraced change, and I’ve never looked back.
This book is a terrific story that takes place in an amazing city where the old and the new collide. The characters are relatable, allowing us to experience their challenges alongside them. It’s a story you…
Taking place over the course of an eventful week in 1963 Hong Kong, James Clavell’s Noble House is a masterfully woven novel of true suspense.
Ian Dunross, the current tai-pan of the illustrious yet financially troubled Struan empire, is racing to undo the damage his predecessor left behind and to once again stand on stable ground. And he’ll do whatever it takes—including striking a hard-fought deal with an American millionaire. But his rival, Quillan Gornt, has other plans. Suddenly caught in a dubious plot involving Soviet spies, Hong Kong’s criminal underground, and the hostile takeover of his company, Dunross holds…
I love to read. I always have. I also love to write mysteries that, hopefully, keep my reader guessing until the end of the book. I look for books that not only provide me with a mystery to solve but also inform me of situations and/or places I would otherwise never learn about. I have found all the books on my list to fill that need. They are just an example of the many I have found and read.
This book provided an insight into WWII in Italy. It is captivating and informative.
It tells the story of Pino, a brave 17-year-old who not only spied on the Germans who occupied his homeland but also crossed the Alps many times to save Jewish people. Full of mystery and intrigue, it was hard to put down until the end.
Soon to be a major television event from Pascal Pictures, starring Tom Holland.
Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, the USA Today and #1 Amazon Charts bestseller Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man's incredible courage and resilience during one of history's darkest hours.
Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He's a normal Italian teenager-obsessed with music, food, and girls-but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape…
I came to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1988 to serve as a law clerk for a prominent federal judge (played by Martin Sheen in the movie Selma). I was convinced that the death penalty could be justly administered, and seeing Ted Bundy’s final appeal did little to change my mind. Subsequent cases, however, slowly worked a change in my attitude as I saw an execution’s effect on everyone involved in the process. My passion comes from this behind-the-scenes look at capital punishment in America.
I was shaken to my core not only by Capote’s character study of two different yet partnered killers but also by his behind-the-scenes depiction of the death penalty process. For the first time, I began to see how capital punishment affects all those involved in its machinations.
The chilling true crime 'non-fiction novel' that made Truman Capote's name, In Cold Blood is a seminal work of modern prose, a remarkable synthesis of journalistic skill and powerfully evocative narrative published in Penguin Modern Classics.
Controversial and compelling, In Cold Blood reconstructs the murder in 1959 of a Kansas farmer, his wife and both their children. Truman Capote's comprehensive study of the killings and subsequent investigation explores the circumstances surrounding this terrible crime and the effect it had on those involved. At the centre of his study are the amoral young killers Perry Smith and Dick Hickcock, who, vividly…
I’m a former rock writer turned television critic, but in my teens, I became hooked on Raymond Chandler’s hardboiled Philip Marlowe detective sagas. The plotting was intricate, the writing exquisite and poetic. I also loved the no-nonsense pulp fiction of Mickey Spillane and his Mike Hammer character. So I’m always on the lookout for authors who combine realism and pace with great prose–like James Crumley, whose writing was like Chandler crossed with Hunter S. Thompson. Through journalism and band management, I came into contact with real gangsters and have always aspired to reflect their three-dimensional reality rather than glorifying them as television and Hollywood tend to do.
Part one of Winslow’s latest trilogy introduces us to a gangland war between Irish and Italian mobs in New England after their fragile peace is ruptured by a beautiful woman. The fall-out puts an end to Danny Ryan’s dream of going legit. It’s up to him to step up, take the lead, and save his family.
Winslow writes believable characters, marries action with heart, and consciously echoes Homer’s The Iliad, including a contemporary Helen of Troy.
"One of America's greatest storytellers." - Stephen King
"No one fuses action with emotion like Winslow." - The Times
The new thriller from the #1 international bestseller - the start of a brand new trilogy
'Superb. This is storytelling with a keen edge. City on Fire is exhilarating to read.' - Stephen King
A Times Best Book for 2022
Two criminal empires together control all of New England.
Until a beautiful woman comes between the Irish and the Italians, launching a war that will see them kill each other, destroy an alliance, and set a city on fire.
I was a political consultant for much of the first half of my nearly 30-year career in communications. Having run statewide and local political campaigns, I experienced many of the personalities I write about today. What is behind the political decisions elected leaders make? Can you truly be a dedicated public servant in politics today? If you only play to win, how do you keep from becoming your own worst enemy? My writing and the works I gravitate towards explore these challenging issues, which are as prevalent today as they were analyzed by the Greeks, Shakespeare, and 20th-century writers.
Having read the series out of order, The Cartel was my first Winslow book. His story was so captivating that I needed to go back and read how it all started.
The fact that I could start with The Cartel without having read the origin story is an example of Winslow’s talent. The Cartel is a great stand-alone story, made even better when its two companion books are added together. Winslow has developed compelling characters, and it's enjoyable to watch how they evolve and face new challenges.
The New York Times bestselling second novel in the explosive Power of the Dog series—an action-filled look at the drug trade that takes you deep inside a world riddled with corruption, betrayal, and bloody revenge.
Book Two of the Power of the Dog Series
It’s 2004. Adán Barrera, kingpin of El Federación, is languishing in a California federal prison. Ex-DEA agent Art Keller passes his days in a monastery, having lost everything to his thirty-year blood feud with the drug lord. Then Barrera escapes. Now, there’s a two-million-dollar bounty on Keller’s head and no one else capable of taking Barrera…
I am an author, attorney, artist, and entrepreneur. My experience as a litigator for over forty years, as well as my experience as a painter and an investor, has inspired and influenced me to write the Chance Cormac legal thrillers series.
There isn’t an author more frightening than Cormac McCarthy.
No Country for Old Men is an existential novel about the pure evil that exists in a barren landscape. The antagonist Anton Cigurth is the darkest character imaginable in a world where there is no justice or remorse.
The sheriff pursuing Cigurth is forced to accept the reality that in the modern world, there is no way to control pure evil.
Llewelyn Moss, hunting antelope near the Rio Grande, instead finds men shot dead, a load of heroin, and more than $2 million in cash. Packing the money out, he knows, will change everything. But only after two more men are murdered does a victim's burning car lead Sheriff Bell to the carnage out in the desert, and he soon realizes that Moss and his young wife are in desperate need of protection. One party in the failed transaction hires an ex-Special Forces officer to defend his interests against a mesmerizing freelancer, while on either side are men accustomed to spectacular…
I’m a former rock writer turned television critic, but in my teens, I became hooked on Raymond Chandler’s hardboiled Philip Marlowe detective sagas. The plotting was intricate, the writing exquisite and poetic. I also loved the no-nonsense pulp fiction of Mickey Spillane and his Mike Hammer character. So I’m always on the lookout for authors who combine realism and pace with great prose–like James Crumley, whose writing was like Chandler crossed with Hunter S. Thompson. Through journalism and band management, I came into contact with real gangsters and have always aspired to reflect their three-dimensional reality rather than glorifying them as television and Hollywood tend to do.
‘Bug’ Montage was once the sharpest get-away driving east of the Mississippi, but he had put all that behind him to become a loving family man, getting by on an honest wage as a motor mechanic. When Bug’s respectable life starts to fall apart, a former associate offers him one last job with a huge payout.
The temptation of earning a quick buck is too strong to ignore, but can Bug survive?
*GUARDIAN BEST CRIME AND THRILLERS OF 2020* *LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE WINNER 2020*
'BLACKTOP WASTELAND may be the book of the year.' MICHAEL CONNELLY 'Sensationally good' LEE CHILD 'I loved BLACKTOP WASTELAND' STEPHEN KING 'Stunning. Can't remember the last time I read such a powerful crime novel' MARK BILLINGHAM
"Bug" Montage: honest mechanic, loving family man. He's no longer the criminal he was - the sharpest wheelman east of the Mississippi.
But when his respectable life crumbles, a shady associate comes calling with a one-time job promising a huge payout. Inexorably drawn to the driver's seat - and haunted by…
I wear many hats: veteran, PTSD-survivor, gardener, national security and law enforcement worker, certified beer judge, gardener, husband, and father. These last two are the most important by far. So, for my list, I wanted to pick my top five reads that your dad absolutely won’t be able to put down if you were to gift him one of these for Father’s Day! There are all kinds of reading dads out there, from History Dads to Thriller Dads to Fantasy Dads. This list has wonderful, unput-downable, slightly under-the-radar books for all the reading dads you know!
As a writer of crime thrillers, I also read a TON of crime thrillers. I also work in national security and law enforcement, and so finding a crime thriller that rings true is one of my great joys.
Don Winslow is an acknowledged master of crime fiction, one of the greatest of all time. But this book flies under the radar because it’s not a standalone novel or a chapter in one of his longer crime saga series. Rather, it’s a collection of six knock-down, drag-out crime novellas. Some of the stories follow familiar Winslow characters or take place in settings he’s already explored, but through a new lens. Every story is different, with characters and settings I loved, all imbued with Winslow’s gift for verisimilitude and wry turns of phrase.
'You can't ask for more emotionally moving entertainment' Stephen King
A riveting collection of original fiction from the revered #1 international bestselling author of The Cartel trilogy and The Force
No matter how you come into this world, you come out broken...
In six intense, haunting short novels, Don Winslow returns to the themes that are the hallmarks of his acclaimed body of work - crime, corruption, vengeance, justice, loss, betrayal, guilt, and redemption - to explore the savagery and nobility that drive and define the human condition.
In Broken, Winslow creates a world of high-level thieves and low-life crooks,…
