Here are 100 books that Vertical Run fans have personally recommended if you like
Vertical Run.
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I am a writer of true crime, which makes me keenly aware of the credibility of police procedural books. I also write crime fiction and am drawn to series that provide an interesting and thought-provoking protagonist in the framework of excellent writing. I survived an attempted abduction as a child and have had an interest in crime books since then, starting with the Jane Withers mystery my dad brought home from Goodwill and, of course, the Nancy Drew series.
For starters, I was sucked into the story by the name of the protagonist, Hieronymus Bosch. I had long been drawn to the dark paintings of the artist and expected a lot from his namesake.
In this first book in this series, the body of a man who fought side-by-side with Bosch in a hellish battle in Vietnam was found in a drainpipe. To solve the case, Harry has to relive the horror of Nam and make the choice between justice and vengeance.
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…
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
I was born in the world’s most isolated capital city – Perth, Western Australia. Ever since my family packed up and drove across the vast Nullarbor Plain to relocate to South Australia, I’ve been fascinated by our eerie, wide-open spaces. There’s no doubt that family folklore fed into this. My Finnish mother arrived as a ten-year-old, recalling that when she first felt the heat, she thought: “This is hell.” My father and his family arrived from the Netherlands. I love my country, but this continent presents dangers in its arid isolation – all captivating to a storyteller.
This book has a spellbinding setting and twisting plot that I adored. It’s set inside a luxury lodge in the Alps, cut off by snow. I love snow books and movies—being Australian, it’s so foreign to me, and it’s ideal for the locked room trope.
This novel is told via two POVs: one young woman who works at the ski lodge and one who’s on a tech company work retreat. I admired the way Ware crafts two sympathetic yet suspicious characters. There’s so many puzzles to work out and scrumptious red herrings.
This instant New York Times bestseller and “claustrophobic spine-tingler” (People) from Ruth Ware follows a group of employees trapped on a snow-covered mountain.
Getting snowed in at a luxurious, rustic ski chalet high in the French Alps doesn’t sound like the worst problem in the world. Especially when there’s a breathtaking vista, a full-service chef and housekeeper, a cozy fire to keep you warm, and others to keep you company. Unless that company happens to be eight coworkers…each with something to gain, something to lose, and something to hide.
When the cofounder of Snoop, a trendy London-based tech start-up,…
I lived vicariously through Nancy Drew when I was young. I was naturally observant and curious, and my mom was known to tail a car through our neighborhood if she thought the driver looked suspicious. So, it’s not surprising that I developed a love for all things thrilling. While working in the oil and gas industry for fifteen years, I spent some time focused on a foreign deal that served as inspiration for my first novel. I worked with people seeking power; negotiations bordered on nefarious; the workplace became toxic. If you ever ponder the moral implications behind the pursuit of power, you’ll enjoy the books on this list!
I was young when I first read The Firm and remember being intrigued by the glossy, glitzy world of high-paid lawyers.
I was also scandalized by moral ambiguity, questionable ethics, and an imperfect ending. I fell in love with the gritty protagonist, Mitch, yet grieved some of the choices he made.
I usually know how books will end, but this one kept me guessing and left me shocked and surprised and wondering if ambition can be good or if it always leads to some kind of destruction, whether personally, professionally, or spiritually.
**THE BOOK THAT MADE JOHN GRISHAM A HOUSEHOLD NAME** Featuring an exclusive introduction from the author. _______________________________________
He thought it was his dream job. Until it turned into his worst nightmare...
When Mitch McDeere qualified third in his class at Harvard, offers poured in from every law firm in America. Bendini, Lambert and Locke were a small, well-respected firm, but their offer exceeded Mitch's wildest expectations: a fantastic salary, a new home, and the keys to a brand new BMW.
Except for the mysterious deaths of previous lawyers with the firm. And the FBI investigations. And the secret files.
Delve into this internationally best-selling series, now complete! A fast paced laugh-out-loud mix of Urban Fantasy and Mystery.
I can tell when you’re lying. Every. Single. Time. I’m Jinx, a PI hired to find a missing university student, I hope to find her propped up at a bar–yet my gut…
I’m a full-time novelist now, but for twenty-plus years, I was a practicing attorney. I was a business litigator, representing companies that were suing or being sued by other companies. I toiled away in high-rise office buildings, danced around office politics, and got up close and personal views of how people of every stripe navigate their work and lives in the office. I witnessed sexual harassment, bloodless coups, financial scandals, and professional disgrace—but I also enjoyed the support and encouragement and lifelong friendships that can come from collaborative work experiences. I like to think of the office environment as a petri dish to examine the full range of human behavior.
All Her Little Secrets brings the office thriller into the 21st century. Gone is the stereotypical white male protagonist. Ellice Littlejohn is a woman and an Ivy-educated Black lawyer with a harrowing back story full of poverty, abuse, and addiction. This novel doesn’t shy away from tackling institutionalized corporate racism, but make no mistake: it’s a thriller through and through. It’s wildly entertaining to follow Ellice in a climactic chase scene through office cubicles that are almost as adrenaline-spiked as Vertical Run.
“All Her Little Secrets is a brilliantly nuanced but powerhouse exploration of race, the legal system, and the crushing pressure of keeping secrets. Morris brings a vibrant and welcome new voice to the thriller space.” —Karin Slaughter, New York Times and international bestselling author
In this fast-paced thriller, Wanda M. Morris crafts a twisty mystery about a black lawyer who gets caught in a dangerous conspiracy after the sudden death of her boss . . . A debut perfect for fans of Attica Locke, Alyssa Cole, Harlan Coben, and Celeste Ng, with shades of How to Get Away with Murder…
I’m a full-time novelist now, but for twenty-plus years, I was a practicing attorney. I was a business litigator, representing companies that were suing or being sued by other companies. I toiled away in high-rise office buildings, danced around office politics, and got up close and personal views of how people of every stripe navigate their work and lives in the office. I witnessed sexual harassment, bloodless coups, financial scandals, and professional disgrace—but I also enjoyed the support and encouragement and lifelong friendships that can come from collaborative work experiences. I like to think of the office environment as a petri dish to examine the full range of human behavior.
This is a very modern take on the office thriller, because the office in question is a feminist take on work-share facilities like WeWork. It’s an exclusive, women-only coworking space launched by celebrity entrepreneur Eleanor Walsh. Millennial women are dying to be accepted—at least until Eleanor herself is found dead. This is a fun, glitzy book full of beautiful young women making their stilettoed way in the world. It’s Emily in Paris, set in New York, Sex and the City, for millennials, but with enough murder and mayhem to keep the thrills coming.
Why did the founder of a glamorous coworking space for women disappear? Her best friends will risk everything to uncover the truth.
“Perfect for fans of Big Little Lies.”—The Washington Post
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Real Simple • Marie Claire • Good Housekeeping • CrimeReads
As CEO of the Herd, an elite women-only coworking space, Eleanor Walsh seems to have it all: close friends, a sweet husband, and the most glamorous and successful female-empowerment-based company in New York City. Then she vanishes on the night of a glitzy press conference—and the police…
I’ve always been drawn to stories of good versus evil and watching a hero overcome a great struggle to beat a villain and win the day. I feel it’s innate in humans to want to hear such tales ever since the days gathered around the campfires thousands of years ago, and when it’s done well, it can be a story that inspires you in your own life. Hopefully, these novels can do the same for you!
The atmosphere is a crucial element for me in a good thriller, and this book is one of the more underrated and forgotten Jack Reacher stories from Lee Child. The sense of dread builds slowly and slowly, with some very unpleasant villains in the shadows and some vulnerable lead characters waiting for them to appear.
The action is maybe more sparse than in other Reacher books, but when it happens, it’s just as shocking for the reader as it is for the characters. Hopefully, with the TV show now running on full steam, they’ll consider adapting this for a future season.
Jack Reacher takes aim at the White House in the sixth novel in Lee Child's #1 New York Times bestselling series.
DON'T MISS REACHER ON PRIME VIDEO!
Skilled, cautious, and anonymous, Jack Reacher is perfect for the job: to assassinate the vice president of the United States. Theoretically, of course. A female Secret Service agent wants Reacher to find the holes in her system, and fast-because a covert group already has the vice president in their sights. They've planned well. There's just one thing they didn't plan on: Reacher.
On the morning of December 26, 2004, an undersea earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. The resulting tsunami killed an estimated 230,000 people across fourteen countries, from Indonesia to Sri Lanka to Thailand to the Maldives to India and all the way to East Africa.…
I’ve always been drawn to stories of good versus evil and watching a hero overcome a great struggle to beat a villain and win the day. I feel it’s innate in humans to want to hear such tales ever since the days gathered around the campfires thousands of years ago, and when it’s done well, it can be a story that inspires you in your own life. Hopefully, these novels can do the same for you!
Another slightly left-field pick, but the atmosphere in this author’s books is just as compelling as in Without Fail as mentioned above. In a snowy, cold Iceland, a beleaguered detective investigates the murder of a local man who was once a shining light as a child.
Lost potential, old vendettas, and evil preying on the weak are all elements here, in a very unique setting, with a dogged lead who refuses to give up. Slower and colder but just as gripping.
Detective Erlendur encounters memories of his troubled past in this gripping and award-winning continuation of the "Reykjavik Murder Mysteries". At a grand Reykjavik hotel the doorman has been repeatedly stabbed in the dingy basement room he called home. It is only a few days before Christmas and he was preparing to appear as Santa Claus at a children's party. The manager tries to keep the murder under wraps. A glum detective taking up residence in his hotel and an intrusive murder investigation are not what he needs. As Erlendur quietly surveys the cast of grotesques who populate the hotel, the…
I’ve always been drawn to stories of good versus evil and watching a hero overcome a great struggle to beat a villain and win the day. I feel it’s innate in humans to want to hear such tales ever since the days gathered around the campfires thousands of years ago, and when it’s done well, it can be a story that inspires you in your own life. Hopefully, these novels can do the same for you!
This pick is slightly out of left field, coming from the heroic fantasy genre, but it is possibly my favorite novel. The story is loosely based on a Celtic-esque society and follows the central character, Bane, who is the bastard son of the most powerful king of their era. Angry and hurt but with signs of goodness in him, Bane leaves on a hero’s journey, where he ends up becoming a gladiator in the allegorical version of Rome.
I’ve reread this book so many times and still love it dearly. The choices of right and wrong, becoming a strong man, fighting for what you believe in, and defending those who can’t defend themselves are foundations of other authors’ work on my list, and David Gemmell is a worthy addition.
They called him Bane the Bastard - though none said it to his face. Born of treachery, his name a curse, he grew up among the warriors of the Rigante. They valued his skills in war, but they feared the violence in his heart. And when, as a Wolfshead and Outlaw, he left Rigante lands, they breathed sighs of relief. But Bane would return, the destiny of the Rigante in his hands, the fate of the world resting on his skills with a blade. Midnight Falcon continues the tale of the Rigante, which began in Sword in the Storm, and…
I love to see complicated characters rising to the occasion. People in real life generally have a lot going on just handling the day-to-day, and they aren’t waiting around for adventure, romance, or mystery to find them. It feels very human to me to see characters struggling with more mundane things like social situations, worrying about their appearance, or holding down a job, rather than only focusing on the plot arc, and that’s the type of character I also focus on as a writer. My latest protagonist, Simon, definitely has enough problems without a missing-person case to solve, so he may be what got me thinking of this topic.
The complicated and wonderful characters in Mia’s family really drew me in. They all have enough to deal with: the pandemic; Mia’s first breakup; her complicated relationship with her twin, who seems to do everything right; their brother Eugene’s disabilities, which mean he’s often discriminated against or underestimated; and their parents’ struggles to keep it all together and move on from heartbreaking false hopes.
When her father disappears, Mia doesn’t let her other problems or even the fear and heartbreak get in the way of her determination to find out the truth–no matter how painful–and protect Eugene from unjust suspicion.
I loved the role the complex bonds between the various family members came to play in unraveling this case and coping with its ramifications.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • When a father goes missing, his family’s desperate search leads them to question everything they know about him and one another in this thrilling page-turner, a deeply moving portrait of a family in crisis from the award-winning author of Miracle Creek.
Belletrist Book Club Pick • Finalist for the New American Voices Award • “This is a story with so many twists and turns I was riveted through the last page.”—Jodi Picoult
One of the Most Anticipated Books of the Season: The New York Times • Los Angeles…
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…
Like the widows in The Widows’ Wine Club, I’m getting on. Unlike them, I’ve been a writer for forty years, often hunched over a keyboard, ignoring people. Amazingly, though, I managed to have a happy marriage and make some great friends. Phew! Because I’ve needed friends, especially since my husband died. Looking back, I’m interested to see that I didn’t instantly take to some of my closest buddies. Circumstances threw us together, and we got to know and like and love each other. I explore this in my book.
This is another story bringing history to life, in this case, the famous Rajah Quilt, made by convict women in 1841 while being transported to Tasmania.
I’m not a patcher myself, but my mum was, and I know how patching brings disparate women together, though not as disparate as these "dangerous women" and their leader, the Quaker philanthropist Kezia Hayter.
Hope Adams takes a worthy story and turns it into a gripping whodunnit, beginning with a murder on page one. It is hard at times to keep track of all the characters, but well worth the effort because their unlikely friendships are fascinating and crucial to the solving of the mystery.
The compelling, gorgeously atmospheric tale of female friendship, redemption and betrayal, inspired by the incredible true story of female convicts at sea
'Beautifully written, an epic sea voyage with an intriguing murder mystery . . . an unputdownable read' KATIE FFORDE
'I was thoroughly entranced by the story, and the great murder mystery kept me guessing throughout. A real joy to read' 5***** Reader Review
'A gorgeous and compelling story with vibrant characters . . . I was fascinated' RACHEL HORE ______
London, 1841.
The Rajah sails for Australia.
On board are 180 women convicted of petty crimes, sentenced to…
