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

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Book cover of Sycamore Row

Micheal E. Jimerson Author Of Draw A Hard Line

From my list on thrillers moral dilemmas time and location.

Why am I passionate about this?

I've been a lawyer for 30 years, 20 of them as an elected district attorney, and writing relieves stress for me. Real crime is messy and irrational; crime fiction restores order. But literary fiction is too slow—a novel must compel the reader to turn the page. Good thrillers tackle major issues, revealing themes that deepen our understanding of humanity. I've witnessed courage during grief and stress, but I'd never betray that trust by writing nonfiction accounts. I deliberately jumbled character traits and real events and combined them with my understanding of modern police techniques like geofencing and DNA.

Micheal's book list on thrillers moral dilemmas time and location

Micheal E. Jimerson Why Micheal loves this book

This book by John Grisham asks how moral people live in an unjust society. They either come to terms with the wickedness of a broken world or end their lives.

The opening page of the Grisham novel reveals a man who can’t cope with his sins, those of his ancestors, and society. I submit the reader wants a more courageous protagonist capable of coping with the chaos. The entire purpose of crime fiction is to re-establish the order shattered by evil. 

By John Grisham ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In the long-awaited successor to the novel that launched his phenomenal career, John Grisham brings us the powerful sequel to A Time to Kill. As filled with page-turning twists as it is with legal mastery, Sycamore Row proves beyond doubt that John Grisham is in a league of his own.

Jake Brigance has never met Seth Hubbard, or even heard of him, until the old man's suicide note names him attorney for his estate. The will is dynamite. Seth has left ninety per cent of his vast, secret fortune to his housemaid.

The vultures are circling even before the body…


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Book cover of The High House

The High House by James Stoddard,

The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.

The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.

Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…

Book cover of The Western Star

Micheal E. Jimerson Author Of Draw A Hard Line

From my list on thrillers moral dilemmas time and location.

Why am I passionate about this?

I've been a lawyer for 30 years, 20 of them as an elected district attorney, and writing relieves stress for me. Real crime is messy and irrational; crime fiction restores order. But literary fiction is too slow—a novel must compel the reader to turn the page. Good thrillers tackle major issues, revealing themes that deepen our understanding of humanity. I've witnessed courage during grief and stress, but I'd never betray that trust by writing nonfiction accounts. I deliberately jumbled character traits and real events and combined them with my understanding of modern police techniques like geofencing and DNA.

Micheal's book list on thrillers moral dilemmas time and location

Micheal E. Jimerson Why Micheal loves this book

The king of the cowboy detectives, Walt Longmire, must choose a course for his life after Vietnam. We know our hero devoted his life to serving his neighbors, yet here we confront the moment of stark paths before him. The choice not only represents a personal sacrifice but requires those he loves to sacrifice. The calling to seek justice demands a constant commitment.

Johnson presents a villain who has surrendered to his baser nature. A trope of mystery fiction contrasting with a hero capable of overcoming such self-destructiveness. I listened to the audiobook.

By Craig Johnson ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The thirteenth novel in Craig Johnson's beloved New York Times bestselling Longmire series, the basis for the hit Netflix series Longmire

Sheriff Walt Longmire is enjoying a celebratory beer after a weapons certification at the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy when a younger sheriff confronts him with a photograph of twenty-five armed men standing in front of a Challenger steam locomotive. It takes him back to when, fresh from the battlefields of Vietnam, then-deputy Walt accompanied his mentor Lucian to the annual Wyoming Sheriff's Association junket held on the excursion train known as the Western Star, which ran the length of…


Book cover of Bitterroot

Micheal E. Jimerson Author Of Draw A Hard Line

From my list on thrillers moral dilemmas time and location.

Why am I passionate about this?

I've been a lawyer for 30 years, 20 of them as an elected district attorney, and writing relieves stress for me. Real crime is messy and irrational; crime fiction restores order. But literary fiction is too slow—a novel must compel the reader to turn the page. Good thrillers tackle major issues, revealing themes that deepen our understanding of humanity. I've witnessed courage during grief and stress, but I'd never betray that trust by writing nonfiction accounts. I deliberately jumbled character traits and real events and combined them with my understanding of modern police techniques like geofencing and DNA.

Micheal's book list on thrillers moral dilemmas time and location

Micheal E. Jimerson Why Micheal loves this book

James Lee Burke’s book presents the common trope of the cowboy detective out of time and place. The reader would assume the series-leading Texan would enjoy beautiful Montana; however, the setting is awash in corruption and evil.

The hero navigates this moral morass, revealing the harsh consequences of selfishness for humanity. 

By James Lee Burke ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

America's finest crime writer sends hero Billy Bob Holland deep into Montana - paradise to some, to others a savage wilderness...

'Still the greatest, bar none' LITERARY REVIEW

'Powerful stuff and confirms Burke's place in the forefront of contemporary American crime fiction' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

'BITTERROOT is beautifully written and still stands head and shoulders above most other crime fiction' OBSERVER

When Billy Bob Holland visits his old friend Doc Voss, he finds himself caught up in a horrific tragedy. Doc's daughter has been brutally attacked by bikers, and the ringleader, Lamar Ellison, walks free when the DNA samples 'get lost'.…


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Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

Book cover of The Thicket

Micheal E. Jimerson Author Of Draw A Hard Line

From my list on thrillers moral dilemmas time and location.

Why am I passionate about this?

I've been a lawyer for 30 years, 20 of them as an elected district attorney, and writing relieves stress for me. Real crime is messy and irrational; crime fiction restores order. But literary fiction is too slow—a novel must compel the reader to turn the page. Good thrillers tackle major issues, revealing themes that deepen our understanding of humanity. I've witnessed courage during grief and stress, but I'd never betray that trust by writing nonfiction accounts. I deliberately jumbled character traits and real events and combined them with my understanding of modern police techniques like geofencing and DNA.

Micheal's book list on thrillers moral dilemmas time and location

Micheal E. Jimerson Why Micheal loves this book

This book, by Joe R. Lansdale, tells a coming-of-age story. A world where evil prevails, testing the hero’s Christian faith. His morals are inconsistent with the norms of society.

It presents more of a moral forest far more than the real Big Thicket described in greater detail in my novel.

By Joe R. Lansdale ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In The Thicket, award-winning novelist Joe R. Lansdale lets loose like never before, in a rip-roaring adventure set at the dark dawn of the East Texas oil boom, the perfect introduction to an acclaimed writer whose work has been called "as funny and frightening as anything that could have been dreamed up by the Brothers Grimm -- or Mark Twain" (New York Times Book Review)

Jack Parker thought he'd already seen his fair share of tragedy. His grandmother was killed in a farm accident when he was barely five years old. His parents have just succumbed to the smallpox epidemic…


Book cover of Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature

Marilyn S. Greenwald Author Of The Secret of the Hardy Boys: Leslie McFarlane and the Stratemeyer Syndicate

From my list on activists who made sacrifices for big change.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have loved animals since I was a child, and when I was in college, someone introduced me to the work of Cleveland Amory, who was a prominent arts critic for much of his life. But Amory also became one of this nation’s first full-time animal activists and, as I learned later, someone who abandoned a lucrative and high-profile writing career to focus on his work for animal rights and anti-cruelty causes. I wrote a biography of Amory and began to read about the passion, mindset, and single-minded determination of activists of all stripes and how many made great sacrifices to join movements that have changed our lives and mindsets.

Marilyn's book list on activists who made sacrifices for big change

Marilyn S. Greenwald Why Marilyn loves this book

This is the story of someone who was willing to take an unorthodox and brave stand even though she knew she would be widely ridiculed and demeaned. Rachel Carson can be considered one of the first environmentalists in this country. She was one of the first to take on an entire industry when she pointed out the widespread dangers of pesticides and other commonly used chemicals considered at the time to be safe. Carson was a woman of great determination and vision and someone who has been lost to history to some degree.

I felt that in addition to taking on a major corporation and questioning prevailing ways of thinking, Rachel Carson attempted to transform the way we view the natural world and human beings’ effect on it. She was vilified for her efforts and for the very fact that she was a woman scientist–her gender intensified negative feelings against…

By Linda Lear ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, published in 1962, did more than any other single publication to alert the world to the hazards of environmental poisoning and to inspire a powerful social movement that would alter the course of American history. This definitive, sweeping biography shows the origins of Carson's fierce dedication to natural science--and tells the dramatic story of how Carson, already a famous nature writer, became a brillant if reluctant reformer. Drawing on unprecendented access to sources and interviews, Lear masterfully explores the roots of Carson's powerful connection to the natural world, crafting a " fine portrait of the environmentalist…


Book cover of The Boy Who Grew a Forest: The True Story of Jadav Payeng

Lisa Doseff Author Of Grandma Lisa's Humming, Buzzing, Chirping Garden

From my list on gardening to make a difference in the world.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always enjoyed both gardening and children. As a former Virginia Master Gardener and Homeschool mom, and a current Lancaster National Wildlife Federation Habitat Steward, I now find myself encouraging others to look at gardening in a new light – not only as a way to decorate their yards, but also as a means to provide habitat for our diminishing wildlife population. I try to show how you can have both beauty and function at the same time and how much fun it is to engage children in this essential activity. I love books that show what a difference one person – even a young child – can make in the world.

Lisa's book list on gardening to make a difference in the world

Lisa Doseff Why Lisa loves this book

I am moved by how, in spite of his sadness and grief at the loss of his surrounding natural environment and the animals that lived there, Jadav decides to do something about it. He shows how, by taking one small step at a time, each of us has the ability to make a tremendous impact on improving our natural world. It gives me great hope that young readers will be inspired to care for our common home and restore our troubled planet, one plant at a time.

By Sophia Gholz , Kayla Harren (illustrator) ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Boy Who Grew a Forest as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 5, 6, 7, and 8.

What is this book about?

Children's Book Council Notable Social Studies Book Trade Book 2020 Recipient of the 2019 Eureka! Honors Award
Winner - Best of 2019 Kids Books - Most Inspiring Category

As a boy, Jadav Payeng was distressed by the destruction deforestation and erosion was causing on his island home in India's Brahmaputra River. So he began planting trees. What began as a small thicket of bamboo, grew over the years into 1,300 acre forest filled with native plants and animals. The Boy Who Grew a Forest tells the inspiring true story of Payeng--and reminds us all of the difference a single person…


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Book cover of Trusting Her Duke

Trusting Her Duke by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.

Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…

Book cover of A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety: How to Keep Your Cool on a Warming Planet

Leslie Davenport Author Of Emotional Resiliency in the Era of Climate Change: A Clinician's Guide

From my list on eco-anxiety.

Why am I passionate about this?

Some years ago, my eyes were opened to the severity of our climate crisis and it changed me forever. Since that pivotal time, I’ve turned my therapeutic training and clinical experience toward addressing the existential threat of our time. I recognize how we must unmask our deep psychological biases, many of which unconsciously bring harm to our lives and social structures. I pair this with emotional resiliency practices for these deep and sustained efforts. As a Climate Psychology educator and consultant, I enjoy interdisciplinary strategies where I can contribute transformative methods that help us reclaim dormant human capacities that equip us to usher in a more just and safer world.

Leslie's book list on eco-anxiety

Leslie Davenport Why Leslie loves this book

Ray is a colleague and an environmental studies professor at Humboldt State University. After witnessing firsthand the rising emotional distress in her students, she was compelled to respond with empathy and supportive resources. She began to recognize that teaching about climate impacts was not enough, and perhaps it even contributes to the problems if the emotional responses are not addressed in tandem. Written primarily with Gen Z in mind, I find the perspectives and resources are useful for anyone experiencing eco-anxiety, and she incorporates strong and insightful social justice perspectives.

By Sarah Jaquette Ray ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Gen Z's first "existential toolkit" for combating eco-guilt and burnout while advocating for climate justice.

A youth movement is reenergizing global environmental activism. The "climate generation"-late millennials and iGen, or Generation Z-is demanding that policy makers and government leaders take immediate action to address the dire outcomes predicted by climate science. Those inheriting our planet's environmental problems expect to encounter challenges, but they may not have the skills to grapple with the feelings of powerlessness and despair that may arise when they confront this seemingly intractable situation.

Drawing on a decade of experience leading and teaching in college environmental studies…


Book cover of Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening

Anders Gyllenhaal Author Of A Wing and a Prayer: The Race to Save Our Vanishing Birds

From my list on what’s happening to our birds.

Why am I passionate about this?

A decade ago, we were living in Washington, D.C., wrapped up as journalists in the daily news cycle. We began camping to get out of the city and quickly became fascinated with birds. We’ve been writing about birds ever since, on our website, FlyingLessons.US: What we’re learning from the birds,” and now with a book about the extraordinary work across the hemisphere to save birds. There’s a storehouse of books, articles and guides on birdwatching, but very little on what’s happening to bird populations overall. We believe the story of birds is one of the best ways to open a window on the environmental issues that are among the pivotal topics of our time.

Anders' book list on what’s happening to our birds

Anders Gyllenhaal Why Anders loves this book

If you want to understand the trouble birds are in, there’s no better book than Silent Spring Revolution.

This isn’t just about birds; it touches on the full, rich history of the American environmental movement over the mid-1900s. It explores the foundation for how we’ve grappled with the deterioration of habitat and the unraveling of the wildlife that depends on a healthy environment.

This book is the story of why we still have a chance to confront these losses, how the U.S. built the world’s gold standard for conservation and wildlife protection. While we’re not living up to those standards, the laws and policies are well within reach that can confront the collapse of so many species.

By Douglas Brinkley ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Silent Spring Revolution as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed presidential historian Douglas Brinkley chronicles the rise of environmental activism during the Long Sixties (1960-1973), telling the story of an indomitable generation that saved the natural world under the leadership of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon.

With the detonation of the Trinity explosion in the New Mexico desert in 1945, the United States took control of Earth’s destiny for the first time. After the Truman administration dropped atomic bombs on Japan to end World War II, a grim new epoch had arrived. During the early Cold War years, the federal…


Book cover of Greenpeace Captain: My Adventures in Protecting the Future of Our Planet

Jo Miles Author Of Warped State

From my list on sci-fi and non-fiction about taking on greedy corporations.

Why am I passionate about this?

My day job has always involved working with nonprofits, and my favorites are activist organizations. The grassroots organizers I’ve worked with are some of the most impressive people I know. Despite what science fiction stories often tell us, change doesn’t come from blowing up the Death Star, but from hard work and relentless optimism. At a time when corporations are growing ever more powerful, ChatGPT wants to take our jobs, and politics can be dismally depressing, I hope these books remind you that power is never absolute, and the future is what we make of it.

Jo's book list on sci-fi and non-fiction about taking on greedy corporations

Jo Miles Why Jo loves this book

I picked up this book as research but I kept reading because it was fascinating.

I admire Greenpeace a great deal, and their style of direct action—they’re known for activists tying themselves to oil rigs or swarms of kayaks blockading ports to make a point—is a touchpoint for the activist organization in my series.

Willcox’s memoir about captaining one of Greenpeace’s famous ships often reads like a thriller, complete with chase scenes trying to escape the Russian military, and some of the anecdotes fall into the “truth stranger than fiction” category.

A very cool look at some impressive real-life activism that’s not wonky or preachy.

By Peter Willcox , Ronald Weiss ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A Man. A Mission.
GREENPEACE CAPTAIN


PETER WILLCOX has been a Captain for Greenpeace for over 30 years. He would never call himself a hero, but he is recognized on every ocean and continent for devoting his entire life to saving the planet. He has led the most compelling and dangerous Greenpeace actions to bring international attention to the destruction of our environment. From the globally televised imprisonment of his crew, the "Arctic 30," by Russian Commandos to international conspiracies involving diamond smuggling, gun-trading and Al-Qaeda, Willcox has braved the unimaginable and triumphed.

This is his story--which begins when he…


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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Book cover of Bright Green Lies: How the Environmental Movement Lost Its Way and What We Can Do about It

Anthony Biglan Author Of Rebooting Capitalism: How We Can Forge a Society That Works for Everyone

From my list on to find out what we can do to fix the USA.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have spent my career studying how we can make our world more nurturing for every person. We can build a society that ensures that every child has the skills, interests, values, and health habits they need to lead a productive life in caring relationships with others. I created Values to Action to make this a reality in communities around the world. We have more than 200 members across the country who are working together to reform our society so that it has less poverty, economic inequality, discrimination, and many more happy and thriving families. 

Anthony's book list on to find out what we can do to fix the USA

Anthony Biglan Why Anthony loves this book

Its central thesis is that the deficiencies and environmental harm of major efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are being ignored, so that the privileged and elite can continue to live in comfort and affluence. The authors present evidence that advocates for alternative energy such as wind and solar greatly overestimate the potential of these sources to replace fossil fuel energy. At the same time, the development of wind and solar power has harmful environmental impacts, including the mining necessary to obtain rare earth minerals, the decimation of wilderness both in the process of obtaining minerals, and widely implementing wind and solar installations. The undue optimism associated with these activities makes it unnecessary for those who are already privileged to consider adopting a much less consumptive lifestyle.

By Derrick Jensen , Lierre Keith , Max Wilbert

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Bright Green Lies as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“This disturbing but very important book makes clear we must dig deeper than the normal solutions we are offered.”―Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia Works

"Bright Green Lies exposes the hypocrisy and bankruptcy of leading environmental groups and their most prominent cheerleaders. The best-known environmentalists are not in the business of speaking truth, or even holding up rational solutions to blunt the impending ecocide, but instead indulge in a mendacious and self-serving delusion that provides comfort at the expense of reality. They fail to state the obvious: We cannot continue to wallow in hedonistic consumption and industrial expansion and survive as…


Book cover of Sycamore Row
Book cover of The Western Star
Book cover of Bitterroot

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