Recommendations based on Eye of the Needleby Ken Follett

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. The Day of the Jackal

    by Frederick Forsyth
    An assassin attempts to kill the president of France in a thrilling race against time.

    The book begins in 1962 with the (historical) failed attempt on de Gaulle 's life plotted by, among others, Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry in the Paris suburb of Petit-Clamart : ... (Wikipedia)

  2. Fall of Giants

    by Ken Follett
    Epic historical fiction recounting the tumultuous events of World War I and its aftermath.

    The novel begins with the thirteen-year-old Billy Williams, nicknamed 'Billy With Jesus', going to work his first day in the coal mine underneath the fictional Welsh town of Aberowen in 1911. Three ... (Wikipedia)

  3. Night Over Water

    by Ken Follett
    A gripping tale of suspense, set in the midst of WWII.

    September 1939. England is at war with Nazi Germany. In Southampton, the world’s most luxurious airliner—the legendary Pan Am clipper—takes off for its final flight to neutral America. Aboard are the ... (Goodreads)

  4. The Odessa File

    by Frederick Forsyth
    The uncovering of a sinister Nazi plot, while searching for the truth of a young boy's death.

    In November 1963, shortly after the assassination of John F. Kennedy , Peter Miller, a German freelance crime reporter, follows an ambulance to the apartment of Salomon Tauber, a Holocaust survivor ... (Wikipedia)

  5. Winter of the World

    by Ken Follett
    Epic saga of war, family, and love during the tumultuous times of the 20th century.

    The story follows characters from Germany , Britain , the United States and the Soviet Union , who become linked by events leading to World War II , and continues through the war and its immediate ... (Wikipedia)

  6. The Hunt for Red October

    by Tom Clancy
    A thrilling adventure of a submarine captain's race against the clock in a thrilling game of cat and mouse.

    During the Cold War ,(the story must be set in 1982, according to the days assigned to the dates in the novel, e.g. Dec. 17 was a Friday only in 1982,1976 and 1971 ) Marko Ramius, a Soviet Navy ... (Wikipedia)

  7. The Client

    by John Grisham
    A young boy is thrust into a legal battle, as he tries to protect himself and his family.

    Boyd Boyette, a United States Senator from Louisiana, goes missing. Because of his vocal opposition to a proposed major toxic landfill project by a company known to be Mafia-backed, murder is ... (Wikipedia)

  8. Gorky Park

    by Martin Cruz Smith
    A thrilling murder mystery, set in the Soviet Union, uncovering secrets and conspiracies.

    The story follows Arkady Renko , a chief investigator for the Moscow militsiya , who is assigned to a case involving three corpses found in Gorky Park , an amusement park in Moscow. The victims - two ... (Wikipedia)

  9. The Bourne Identity

    by Robert Ludlum
    An amnesiac assassin must uncover his past and true identity in a deadly search for the truth.

    The preface of the novel consists of two real-life newspaper articles from 1975 about terrorist Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, known as " Carlos the Jackal ." The story opens with gunfire on a boat in the ... (Wikipedia)

  10. The Eagle Has Landed

    by Jack Higgins
    A daring mission to kidnap Winston Churchill from his English home in World War II.

    In November of 1943, an elite team of Nazi paratroopers descends on British soil with a diabolical goal: to abduct Winston Churchill and cripple the Allied war effort. The mission, ordered by Hitler ... (Goodreads)

  11. Absolute Power

    by David Baldacci
    A power-hungry President, a daring thief and a determined investigator collide in a thrilling tale of manipulation and murder.

    An experienced burglar, Luther Whitney, breaks into a billionaire's house with the intent of robbing it. While there, he witnesses the President of the United States and the billionaire's wife having ... (Wikipedia)

  12. The Unlikely Spy

    by Daniel Silva
    A British operative infiltrates Nazi Germany during WWII to uncover secrets about the Hitler regime.

    Set during World War II, the book follows Alfred Vicary, a historian and friend of Winston Churchill, who was wounded in battle during the World War I while serving as an officer in the Intelligence ... (Wikipedia)

  13. The Black Echo

    by Michael Connelly
    A former LAPD detective is drawn into a web of mystery and crime as he investigates the death of a Vietnam vet.

    The novel centers on Harry Bosch , a Vietnam veteran who served as a " tunnel rat " (nicknamed Hari Kari Bosch), with the 1st Infantry Division — a specialized soldier whose job it was to go into the ... (Wikipedia)

  14. Patriot Games

    by Tom Clancy
    A former CIA analyst must protect his family from domestic terrorists, while thwarting a major international conspiracy.

    A kidnapping attempt on the Prince and Princess of Wales and their infant son occurs at the Mall in London . The attack is orchestrated by members of the Ulster Liberation Army , an ideologically ... (Wikipedia)

  15. Centennial

    by James A. Michener
    Epic journey through the history of the American West, painting a vivid picture of its people and culture.

    Written to commemorate the Bicentennial in 1976, James A. Michener’s magnificent saga of the West is an enthralling celebration of the frontier. Brimming with the glory of America’s past, the story ... (Goodreads)

  16. The Boys from Brazil

    by Ira Levin
    An international thriller involving a sinister plot to clone Hitler and create a Fourth Reich.

    Yakov Liebermann is a Nazi hunter (loosely based on Simon Wiesenthal ) who runs a center in Vienna that documents crimes against humanity, perpetrated during the Holocaust . The waning interest of ... (Wikipedia)

  17. The Runaway Jury

    by John Grisham
    A jury trial where the jury's decision is up for sale as two sides battle for a multi-million dollar verdict.

    Wendall Rohr and his team of tort lawyers have filed suit on behalf of plaintiff Celeste Wood, whose husband died of lung cancer , against the tobacco company Pynex. The trial is to be held in Biloxi ... (Wikipedia)

  18. The Bourne Ultimatum

    by Robert Ludlum
    Secret agent Jason Bourne on a mission to uncover the truth behind his life and identity.

    The novel follows David Webb, alias Jason Bourne , as he works to find his old enemy, Carlos the Jackal , who is trying to kill him. As the Jackal enters old age and his infamy fades, he decides that ... (Wikipedia)

  19. War and Remembrance

    by Herman Wouk
    Epic saga of a Jewish family's journey through WWII, facing the struggles of a war-torn world.

    War and Remembrance completes the cycle that began with, The Winds of War, . The story includes historical occurrences at Midway , Yalta , Guadalcanal , and El Alamein as well as the Allied invasions ... (Wikipedia)

  20. The Charm School

    by Nelson DeMille
    A former CIA agent must stop a group of ex-KGB agents from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

    The novel's hero is U.S Air Force Colonel Sam Hollis, a former F-4 Phantom Fighter pilot , who fought in Vietnam . Hollis was shot down during the war , and was disqualified from flying. Later on he ... (Wikipedia)

  21. The Bourne Supremacy

    by Robert Ludlum
    An ex-CIA agent must clear his name from charges of espionage and murder.

    In the first book,, The Bourne Identity, , the title character suffers amnesia . Over the course of the book, he regains his memory with the help of a Canadian economist, Marie St Jacques, and ... (Wikipedia)

  22. I Am Pilgrim

    by Terry Hayes
    A former operative is called back into action to track down a terrorist plotting a global attack.

    A breakneck race against time...and an implacable enemy. An anonymous young woman murdered in a run-down hotel, all identifying characteristics dissolved by acid. A father publicly beheaded in the ... (Goodreads)

  23. Rich Man, Poor Man

    by Irwin Shaw
    A family saga spanning generations, exploring the power of money and its influence on relationships.

    In the early parts of the novel Shaw goes to great lengths to make the point about "Jordache blood" – violent, bitter, resentful. One of the ways he does this is by meticulously describing the ... (Wikipedia)

  24. Timeline

    by Michael Crichton
    A group of scientists travelling through time to save their present.

    In Corazon, Dan Baker and his wife are lost and driving through the Northern Arizona desert when they come across a man in his seventies who looks like a priest. They pull over to help him, then take ... (Wikipedia)

  25. Plum Island

    by Nelson DeMille
    A mysterious investigation into a series of strange, unexplained events on a remote island.

    In 1997, NYPD detective John Corey is on the back porch of his uncle's waterfront home on the North Fork of Long Island recovering from three gunshot wounds while working in his town of Manhattan, ... (Wikipedia)

  26. The Poet

    by Michael Connelly
    A Pulitzer Prize-winning poet's descent into darkness, as he unravels a web of deceit and murder.

    Denver crime-beat reporter Jack McEvoy specializes in violent death. So when his homicide detective brother kills himself, McEvoy copes in the only way he knows how–he decides to write the story. But ... (Goodreads)

  27. The Lion's Game

    by Nelson DeMille
    An international terrorist gives chase to a CIA operative, with the fate of the world in the balance.

    "The Lion" will be landing. And at New York's JFK Airport, an elite American task force waits as the notorious Libyan terrorist prepares to defect to the West. Then, aboard Flight 175, something goes ... (Wikipedia)

  28. Airport

    by Arthur Hailey
    An airport becomes a microcosm of human drama, revealing the stories of those who pass through its gates.

    The story takes place at Lincoln International, a fictional Chicago airport based very loosely on O'Hare International Airport . The action mainly centers on Mel Bakersfeld, the Airport General ... (Wikipedia)

  29. The English Assassin

    by Daniel Silva
    An art restorer is tasked with investigating a murder related to a long-lost masterpiece.

    Art restorer, Gabriel Allon, who also works part-time for 'The Office', a semi-official Israeli intelligence agency, accepts an assignment from an anonymous Zurich banker. Arriving at his villa , he ... (Wikipedia)

  30. The Fourth Protocol

    by Frederick Forsyth
    A thrilling espionage story set in the Cold War, and a race against time to prevent a nuclear disaster.

    On New Year's Eve 1986, professional thief James Rawlings breaks into the apartment of a senior civil servant and inadvertently discovers stolen top secret documents. Despite being a notorious and ... (Wikipedia)