Here are 100 books that Pronto fans have personally recommended if you like Pronto. Book DNA is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Lincoln Lawyer

Richard A. Danzig Author Of Facts Are Stubborn Things

From my list on legal thrillers to get your heart racing.

Why am I passionate about this?

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. 

Richard's book list on legal thrillers to get your heart racing

Richard A. Danzig Why Richard loves this book

Connelly is the GOAT of the legal thriller genre. He is the creator of Mickey Haller and Hieronymus Bosch.

The Lincoln Lawyer introduces Mickey Haller, the LA lawyer whose office is his Lincoln Town Car. A criminal defense lawyer, Haller agrees to defend a prominent real estate agent who claims he is being framed for assault and attempted murder.

In Connelly’s novels, things are never what they seem. Connelly understands the challenges facing attorneys in investigating and trying difficult cases for difficult clients.

By Michael Connelly ,

Why should I read it?

12 authors picked The Lincoln Lawyer as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

They're called Lincoln Lawyers: the bottom of the legal food chain, the criminal defence attorneys who operate out of the back of a Lincoln car, travelling between the courthouses of Los Angeles county to take whatever cases the system throws in their path.

Mickey Haller has been in the business a long time, and he knows just how to work it, how to grease the right wheels and palms, to keep the engine of justice working in his favour. When a Beverly Hills rich boy is arrested for brutally beating a woman, Haller has his first high-paying client in years.…


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Book cover of In Bad Faith

In Bad Faith by Geoffrey Carter,

Nelson West, a former Chicago homicide detective, is hired by wealthy heir Lionel Bing to discreetly help “fix” scandals and legal problems for his father’s wealthy friends.

Bing, a brilliant but troubled investigator, suffers from PTSD symptoms as a result of being kidnapped and witnessing the murder of his mother…

Book cover of The Cold Cold Ground

Sara Davis Author Of The Scapegoat

From my list on detective novels that keep you page turning.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love reading mysteries, ever since I started back in junior high with Hercule Poirot, I have loved an atmospheric murder and ensuing investigation. As I’ve gotten older and started writing my own books, though, I’ve gotten pickier about what kinds of detective novels I can stick with—I now require that they also be excellent on the sentence level, which isn’t always easy to find. I also find that I gravitate towards books that have pockets of dry humor from time to time and a unique investigator.

Sara's book list on detective novels that keep you page turning

Sara Davis Why Sara loves this book

This is the first book in the remarkably excellent series set in Ireland during The Troubles about a Catholic police officer, Sean Duffy, who lives in Belfast. I love the way McKinty writes this character; it’s funny and very Irish and such a pleasure to read.

The mystery in this first book involves a corpse with its hand cut off, and then another person’s hand thrown into a car with them. There’s also some Italian opera mixed in for atmosphere. It’s a juicy murder mystery that I couldn’t put down.

By Adrian McKinty ,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked The Cold Cold Ground as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Fast-paced, evocative, and brutal, The Cold Cold Ground is a brilliant depiction of Belfast at the height of the Troubles -- and of a cop treading a thin, thin line.

Northern Ireland, spring 1981. Hunger strikes, riots, power cuts, a homophobic serial killer with a penchant for opera, and a young woman’s suicide that may yet turn out to be murder: on the surface, the events are unconnected, but then things -- and people -- aren’t always what they seem. Detective Sergeant Duffy is the man tasked with trying to get to the bottom of it all. It’s no easy…


Book cover of The Black Echo

Jeff Kerr Author Of Blunt Force Trauma

From my list on crime fiction that sucked me into a series.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was a boy, my father filled our house with books. From an early age, I immersed myself in whatever he was reading, especially spy thrillers (John LeCarre was his favorite) and crime fiction (the first I recall reading was Joseph Wambaugh’s The Onion Field). I loved those books. What captivated me most were stories that provided clues but made me piece them together to draw my own conclusions. I strive to deliver this same experience to the readers of my novels by providing entertaining tales with unexpected, yet plausible endings.

Jeff's book list on crime fiction that sucked me into a series

Jeff Kerr Why Jeff loves this book

This book introduced me to the gritty world of Los Angeles police detective Harry Bosch. I love Bosch’s smarts and toughness, yet beneath his hard exterior lurks a sensitive heart. He is fond of saying, “Everybody counts, or nobody counts,” and he means it.

Whether the victim is a rich businessman or an impoverished drug addict, Bosch pursues justice with the tenacity of a bulldog. Not only that, he makes tough choices with an ironclad sense of right and wrong. After reading it, I devoured everything Michael Connelly has written. I’m that fan who pre-orders his next book as soon as the announcement hits my inbox.

By Michael Connelly ,

Why should I read it?

15 authors picked The Black Echo as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An LAPD homicide detective must choose between justice and vengeance as he teams up with the FBI in this "thrilling" novel filled with mystery and adventure (New York Times Book Review).

For maverick LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch, the body in the drainpipe at Mulholland Dam is more than another anonymous statistic. This one is personal . . . because the murdered man was a fellow Vietnam "tunnel rat" who had fought side by side with him in a hellish underground war. Now Bosch is about to relive the horror of Nam. From a dangerous maze of blind alleys…


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Book cover of Magical Disinformation

Magical Disinformation by Lachlan Page,

This book is a spy novel with a satirical edge which will take you on a heart-pumping journey through the streets, mountains, jungles, and beaches of Colombia. Our Man in Havana meets A Clear and Present Danger.

Book cover of No Country for Old Men

Steven M. Rubin Author Of The Unraveling of Michael Galler

From my list on books with masterclass dialogue.

Why am I passionate about this?

When we speak in real life, much of what we say out loud doesn't have any real meaning. But when authors write, each word a character says must convey meaning to drive the scene forward. The words must exhibit some form of information—emotion, advancement of an idea, or even be the action itself—otherwise, they're just wasted words on the page. The true challenge of writing dialogue is to convey as much as possible with as few words as possible. I love a book in which I'm yearning for specific characters to return just so I can hear the carefully crafted, intelligent, and tight words they employ when speaking, especially when two characters are verbally dueling.

Steven's book list on books with masterclass dialogue

Steven M. Rubin Why Steven loves this book

The book is about a relentless, psychotic hitman (Anton Chigurh) sent to recover money from a drug deal gone bad.

Whenever Chigurh engages someone in a conversation, it is hardly socializing, but rather an expression of his moral code disguised as logic and dispensed as some type of hypnotic philosophical inevitability. He makes people feel like they must pass some type of verbal test when they don't even understand why they are being tested at all.

"If the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?" When confronted with a question like this, one can only hope to just survive the conversation.

By Cormac McCarthy ,

Why should I read it?

14 authors picked No Country for Old Men as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

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…


Book cover of The Cold Dish

Michael Max Darrow Author Of Indian Country

From my list on books for the tribal and murder mystery fan.

Why am I passionate about this?

Native American spirituality has fascinated me all my life. Watching the sweat lodge, hearing the drums and singing, smelling the wood smoke, burning sage, sweetgrass, and pine tar, I had to know more. I had to participate. When I was invited, I jumped at the chance. I've never had a “religious experience” in the church. The first time that flap shut on the lodge, and I found myself in the pitch dark, the water being poured and instantly vaporized into scalding steam, my skin on fire…that was a religious thing to be sure. When I began reading fictional murder/tribal mysteries, I knew what I wanted to write about. I let the sound of the drum guide me. 

Michael's book list on books for the tribal and murder mystery fan

Michael Max Darrow Why Michael loves this book

When Tony Hillerman passed, I was crushed.

I waited years for new tribal mysteries by him, and then he was gone. I searched and searched, and then Craig Johnson came out with his Longmire books (which he is still writing!), and I couldn’t be happier! More tribal murder mysteries, only this time, the main character is a white County Sheriff who has a Native American best friend.

This first book hooked me in a new way, from a different perspective. I read them all and watched the TV series as well. I think it was Hillerman and Johnson that were the catalyst for my own tribal murder mystery books….

By Craig Johnson ,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked The Cold Dish as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Introducing Wyoming's Sheriff Walt Longmire in this riveting novel from the New York Times bestselling author, the first in the Longmire mystery series

Craig Johnson's new novel, LAND OF WOLVES, is forthcoming from Viking

Fans of Ace Atkins, Nevada Barr and Robert B. Parker will love this outstanding first novel, in which New York Times bestselling author Craig Johnson introduces Sheriff Walt Longmire of Wyoming's Absaroka County. Johnson draws on his deep attachment to the American West to produce a literary mystery of stunning authenticity, and full of memorable characters. After twenty-five years as sheriff of Absaroka County, Walt Longmire's…


Book cover of The Power of the Dog

Richard A. Danzig Author Of Facts Are Stubborn Things

From my list on legal thrillers to get your heart racing.

Why am I passionate about this?

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. 

Richard's book list on legal thrillers to get your heart racing

Richard A. Danzig Why Richard loves this book

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.

By Don Winslow ,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Power of the Dog as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'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…


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Book cover of The Realtor's Curse

The Realtor's Curse by John J. Jessop,

The Realtor's Curse: Award-winning comedy mystery. International Firebird Book Award, 1st place in both humor and mystery. 

This is one take-charge lady PI. Her husband has the knots on his head to prove it. 

The realtors are really angry in Florida. When this dysfunctional PI couple travel to the…

Book cover of Turning Angel

Richard A. Danzig Author Of Facts Are Stubborn Things

From my list on legal thrillers to get your heart racing.

Why am I passionate about this?

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. 

Richard's book list on legal thrillers to get your heart racing

Richard A. Danzig Why Richard loves this book

The southern lawyer, Penn Cage, the attorney who has returned home to Natchez, Mississippi, to practice law, is the protagonist of Iles’s legal thrillers.

When a prep school student is found murdered, Cage must defend his best friend. Iles skillfully weaves a story of blackmail, betrayal, and violence in a small Southern town.

By Greg Iles ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Turning Angel as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When the body of Kate Townsend turns up near the Mississippi River and his close friend, physician Drew Elliott, admits to a love affair with the murdered girl, attorney Penn Cage once again tangles with the dark side of his hometown of Natchez, Mississippi, to investigate the secret world of an elite nearby high school, teenage sex, drugs, and violence. 250,000 first printing.


Book cover of The Silversmith

Jeff Kerr Author Of Blunt Force Trauma

From my list on crime fiction that sucked me into a series.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was a boy, my father filled our house with books. From an early age, I immersed myself in whatever he was reading, especially spy thrillers (John LeCarre was his favorite) and crime fiction (the first I recall reading was Joseph Wambaugh’s The Onion Field). I loved those books. What captivated me most were stories that provided clues but made me piece them together to draw my own conclusions. I strive to deliver this same experience to the readers of my novels by providing entertaining tales with unexpected, yet plausible endings.

Jeff's book list on crime fiction that sucked me into a series

Jeff Kerr Why Jeff loves this book

I enjoyed book one in Jeff Carson’s David Wolf series, but it wasn’t until the rural Colorado detective returned home from Italy in this book that I was hooked. Like Walt Longmire and Harry Bosch, Wolf is a man of few words who isn’t afraid to buck the system in the pursuit of justice.

Time and again, he finds himself pushed to the brink of disaster, only to outwit, outmuscle, or outlast his adversary. My wife and I make frequent drives from Austin, Texas, to Colorado. Listening to Wolf’s adventures speeds us through those long, boring landscapes of West Texas and East New Mexico.

By Jeff Carson ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Silversmith as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Deputy Sergeant David Wolf has been waiting sixteen years for today's opportunity to follow in the footsteps of his late father and become Sheriff of the Sluice County SD, headquartered in the small ski resort town of Rocky Points, Colorado. What he's offered, however, isn't quite what he's expecting. And for Wolf, refusing turns out to be harder, and much deadlier, than he could have anticipated.When a rich and powerful enemy corrupts the SCSD from within, Wolf becomes hunted by his own department, along with a special forces killing machine whose psychotic lust for blood is never denied.In this action-packed,…


Book cover of Transient Desires

Alec Peche Author Of Sicilian Murder

From my list on mysteries to explore the major cities of Italy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love good stories and I like to learn about other cities even if it is in a work of fiction. With few exceptions, every story I’ve written is in a location I’ve visited. When you can’t visit a place, then reading about a city in modern-day fiction is a close substitute. How many readers feel like they know the English countryside after reading multiple British mysteries? Or feel like you know Boston when reading the Robert Parker Spenser series? That’s the point of a good mystery – to take you someplace you’re not.

Alec's book list on mysteries to explore the major cities of Italy

Alec Peche Why Alec loves this book

With this book, we get to visit Venice which might be my favorite Italian city. Ms. Leon has written a long-running series always set in Venice. It features an Italian detective (Commissario Guido Brunetti), his professorial wife, two children, an incompetent supervisor, and a secretary that is an IT geek. I like the series as I can feel myself walking down the streets of Venice Island over bridges, and in boats on the canals. The inspector goes home for lunch most days, something that you don’t find in America. She does a good job of describing a way of life in Venice beyond the mystery story.

By Donna Leon ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Transient Desires as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the landmark thirtieth installment of the bestselling series the New Yorker has called “an unusually potent cocktail of atmosphere and event,” Guido Brunetti is forced to confront an unimaginable crime

In his many years as a commissario, Guido Brunetti has seen all manner of crime and known intuitively how to navigate the various pathways in his native city, Venice, to discover the person responsible. Now, in Transient Desires, the thirtieth novel in Donna Leon’s masterful series, he faces a heinous crime committed outside his jurisdiction. He is drawn in innocently enough: two young American women have been badly injured…


If you love Elmore Leonard...

Book cover of A Last Serenade for Billy Bonney

A Last Serenade for Billy Bonney by Mark Warren,

Winner of the 2024 New Mexico - Arizona Book Award.

In this deeply researched novel of America's most celebrated outlaw, Mark Warren sheds light on the human side of Billy the Kid and reveals the intimate stories of the lesser-known players in his legendary life of crime. Warren's fictional composer…

Book cover of The Italians

Dominic Smith Author Of Return to Valetto

From my list on armchair travel through Italy and Italian history.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve just spent the last few years writing Return to Valetto, about a nearly abandoned village in Umbria and the last ten people who live there. In 2018, I received an NEA grant to conduct research in Italy and I visited about a dozen abandoned and nearly abandoned towns all across Italy. While I was traveling, I immersed myself in books about Italy—from history and biography to memoir and fiction. The books on my list were stepping stones in my education about all things Italian and I hope you find them as transporting as I did!

Dominic's book list on armchair travel through Italy and Italian history

Dominic Smith Why Dominic loves this book

In many ways, this sort of book has gone out of style since it was published in the 1960s.

It’s an opinionated and ambitious portrayal of the Italian psyche and culture. Barzini looks at his fellow Italians with a dispassionate eye and a healthy sense of irreverence, uncovering their foibles, hidden beliefs, superstitions, and great strengths as a culture.

For me, Italy is an eternal paradox. Just when you think you’ve worked it out, something happens that makes you do a double-take. This book helps you understand that paradox has been part of Italy’s identity since the very beginning.

By Luigi Barzini ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Italians as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this consummate portrait of the Italian people, bestselling author, publisher, journalist, and politician Luigi Barzini delves deeply into the Italian national character, discovering both its great qualities and its imperfections.

Barzini is startlingly frank as he examines “the two Italies”: the one that created and nurtured such luminaries as Dante Alighieri, St. Thomas of Aquino, and Leonardo da Vinci; the other, feeble and prone to catastrophe, backward in political action if not in thought, “invaded, ravaged, sacked, and humiliated in every century.” Deeply ambivalent, Barzini approaches his task with a combination of love, hate, disillusion, and affectionate paternalism, resulting…


Book cover of The Lincoln Lawyer
Book cover of The Cold Cold Ground
Book cover of The Black Echo

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Interested in Italy, organized crime, and mafia romance?

Italy 427 books
Organized Crime 75 books
Mafia Romance 19 books