26 books like Pilgrim Book

Ken Follett’s breakthrough novel is a taut and thrilling wartime espionage tale set during World War II. But there is sufficient naval action to include it in this list. I felt it was a wonderfully atmospheric novel.

It centres on Henry Faber, a ruthless German spy nicknamed “The Needle” for his deadly stiletto. Faber uncovers the Allies’ deception surrounding the D-Day invasion and races to deliver the intelligence to Nazi command. His journey leads him to Storm Island, where he encounters Lucy Rose, a lonely Englishwoman whose emotional entanglement with Faber becomes pivotal. As MI5 closes in, the novel builds to an exciting naval warfare climax.

Follett masterfully blends suspense, romance, and historical intrigue in this compelling tale of loyalty and betrayal.

Not exactly literary fiction, I know. And it breaks none of the rules governing the novelist’s craft. And we all read it back when it came out, didn't we? Or saw the movie, there've been a couple of versions...

So why is it on my list, you ask?

The Day of the Jackal is quite simply the greatest thriller ever written, and should be read by anyone who writes fiction, literary or otherwise—and by the rest of us as well.

Think for a moment: We follow The Jackal’s relentless quest to corner and kill French President Charles DeGaulle for 380 pages, waiting with breath bated to see whether he will succeed even though we know before we ever open the cover of the book (if we know even the slightest bit of history) that DeGaulle was never assassinated—ever!—not by The Jackal and not by anyone in… show more.

This book is a real sleeper. If you haven’t read it, drop what you’re doing and order it; you won’t be disappointed. This book, more than any other, reminded me of Raymond Chandler in voice, story, and character. I am baffled that this book is not more widely known.

I read this one and immediately ordered the others in this series. This author, under a pen name, wrote an absolute killer book called Five Decembers, which would have been book six on this five-book list. I absolutely loved this one.

This book is the quintessential crime novel that is the closest thing to working the tough streets of Los Angeles. I worked in South Central Los Angeles as a patrol deputy, so I have a basis for this statement. It is a masterpiece of writing capturing the emotions of what it’s like to age out on a job rife with sorrow, constant threat of the unknown, and lots of blood.

I wrote 38 books before I sold my first novel, The Disposables, which gives me the basis to rate the writing craft in this one. For crime readers, this is one not to be missed. Put it at the top of your to-be-read pile.

The reason I recommend this book is because it is so different from most spy thrillers.

The hero,  Kit Carradine, is not a spy. He is a writer living a boring life in London. His father was a spy, however. He gets recruited to do a small job for the Service. When he agrees, his life is changed. Kit is different from the Jack Reachers and Ryans.

He is a professionally naive, and often in over his head, which provides readers a fresh and accessible vantage to the typical genre tropes.

I've never read a book quite like this. It was a little challenging to get into, but by the time I finished, I was blown away by the author's talent.

The character-driven plot makes whiplash-inducing twists and turns from several points of view. The reader is first drawn into the mind of a comatose patient who is slowly regaining consciousness and thinks he sees his roommate being murdered.

Next, we're following Patrick Fort, a teenager with Asperger's Syndrome, who has won a disability scholarship to study anatomy at Cardiff University. Patrick has spent the last ten years fixated on finding out what happened to his father, the victim of a hit-and-run driver.

His habit of bringing home dead animals and examining them alarms his mother but is the foundation for his later expertise in biology, particularly in dissection. At university, he and his team are given a human cadaver and… show more.

I like the Jack Ryan concept, a spy whose dad is the president. I like the campus one-for-all-all-for-one esprit de corps.

The starting point is nothing new – a diabolic plan to start a civil war. The Balkan venue is what makes it interesting. Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Turks, Chechens, Syrians, Russians, Bulgarians, Czechs, Muslim fanatics – what a mix! The reason this particular book is special is because I read it twice.

I have a Serbian colleague, which made the story more relevant to me, personally. We often discuss world events. The first time I read the book I did not know him. The second time I read it was after we had met and discussed extensively. I saw things in a different light and enjoyed it much more the second time.

I like all of the Dave Robicheaux novels, but this is probably my favorite. Burke captures the sights and sounds of the Louisiana Bayou with the intense affection of someone raised on the Gulf Coast. In fact, I think he treats the setting as lovingly as Robicheaux treats Alafair, the Salvadoran orphan girl he rescues from a downed plane and raises as his own.

The three-legged raccoon, the wet moss hanging ghostlike from dead cypress, the blue crab shelled with a wooden mallet–just a few of the images that add to the patina of New Iberia. Much of the action takes place in Montana, but Robichaux–and James Lee Burke–return home at the end of the book to the bayou they both love.

First of all, I like these unrealistic, larger-than-life heroes. Jack Reacher is big and strong, honorable and idealistic, an alpha male with a soft heart. No matter what happens, I know that Jack Reacher is going to win.

The stories are always good even though some of the details are often off key. This story was particularly inventive, especially the beginning. Reacher prevents a kidnapping when he shoots two kidnappers and a policeman. After he brings the victim to the victim’s father’s house, the father hires him.

Without giving too much away, I can say that this is exactly what Reacher wants. It just gets better from here on in. For me this is the best of the popular Jack Reacher series.

This pulled me right into the world of British Hong Kong in the run-up to the Chinese handover in 1997. I listened to this one on audio with the flu, and it was a very welcome escape.

Multiple POVs and a great fleshing out of all the different characters make for a great, fast-paced read: A chilling ex-SAS Assassin, powerful Triads, Chinese assassins, and a hard-drinking Police Officer held back in his career. Some might say there’s too much going on, but I didn’t have a problem following the narrative. The setting of Hong Kong plays a crucial role, which HK expat Leather vividly describes with its bustling streets and seedy underworld, creating a sense of atmosphere that immersed me in the story.

I found it an intense and gripping novel that showcases Leather’s talent for crafting action-packed thrillers with layered characters. It’s a must-read for fans of crime fiction,… show more.