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Recommendations based on Gorky Parkby Martin Cruz Smith
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
Eye of the Needle
by Ken Follett
A thrilling tale of espionage and wartime romance, set in the chaos of WWII.
In 1940, Henry Faber, a German spy nicknamed 'die Nadel' ('The Needle') due to his trademark weapon being a stiletto , is working at a London railway depot, collecting information on troop movements. ... (Wikipedia)
Presumed Innocent
by Scott Turow
Prosecutor Rusty Sabich is accused of murdering his colleague and mistress. He must prove his innocence while navigating a web of lies and deceit.
The novel begins with the discovery of Carolyn Polhemus, dead in her apartment. She is the victim of what appears to be a sexual bondage encounter gone wrong, killed outright by a fatal blow to the ... (Wikipedia)
QB VII
by Leon Uris
A courtroom drama that explores the aftermath of a libel suit brought by a Polish doctor against an American author.
A famous author, Abraham Cady, stands trial for libel. In his book The Holocaust , he named eminent surgeon Sir Adam Kelno as one of the Jadwiga concentration camp 's most sadistic inmate/doctors. ... (Wikipedia)
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)
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)
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)
Polar Star
by Martin Cruz Smith
Arkady Renko, a Russian detective, investigates a murder on a fishing vessel in the Bering Sea.
Arkady Renko , former Chief Investigator of the Moscow Town Prosecutor's Office, is serving a self-imposed exile in Siberia to avoid being detained for his actions in, Gorky Park, several years ... (Wikipedia)
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)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
by John le Carré
A retired spy is called back into action to uncover a mole in the British Secret Service.
Control , chief of the Circus, suspects one of the five senior intelligence officers at the Circus to be a long-standing Soviet mole and assigns code names with the intention that should his agent ... (Wikipedia)
Smiley's People
by John le Carré
Retired spy Smiley is thrust back into the world of espionage to uncover a deadly conspiracy.
John le Carre's classic novels deftly navigate readers through the intricate shadow worlds of international espionage with unsurpassed skill and knowledge and have earned him – and his hero, British ... (Goodreads)
The Far Pavilions
by M.M. Kaye
Epic adventure story set in 19th century India, exploring the clash of East and West.
Ashton Pelham-Martyn (Ash) is the son of a British botanist travelling through India; he is born on the road shortly before the Sepoy uprising of 1857 . His mother dies from childbed fever shortly ... (Wikipedia)
The Black Dahlia
by James Ellroy
A 1940s Los Angeles detective story, exploring the depths of a gruesome unsolved murder.
On January 15, 1947, the torture-ravished body of a beautiful young woman is found in a vacant lot. The victim makes headlines as the Black Dahlia—and so begins the greatest manhunt in California ... (Goodreads)
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)
The Icarus Agenda
by Robert Ludlum
A journalist's investigation of a political conspiracy uncovers dangerous secrets that threaten his life.
Colorado Congressman Evan Kendrick is trying to live out his term quietly when a political mole reveals his deepest secret: Kendrick was the anonymous hero who freed the hostages held by Arab ... (Goodreads)
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)
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)
Clear and Present Danger
by Tom Clancy
CIA analyst Jack Ryan uncovers a covert war against drug cartels in Colombia, leading to a dangerous mission to stop the violence.
The President of the United States , who is running for reelection, finds a fierce opponent in Ohio Governor J. Robert Fowler, who has rallied the American public behind his administration's failures ... (Wikipedia)
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)
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)
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)
Marathon Man
by William Goldman
A young man's race against time to save his family from a deadly conspiracy.
Tom "Babe" Levy is a runner in every sense: racing tirelessly toward his goals of athletic and academic excellence–and endlessly away from the specter of his famous father's scandal-driven suicide. ... (Goodreads)
2001: A Space Odyssey
by Arthur C. Clarke
An interstellar journey of exploration, confronting humanity's place in the universe.
A mysterious alien civilization uses a tool with the appearance of a large crystalline monolith to investigate worlds across the galaxy and, if possible, to encourage the development of intelligent ... (Wikipedia)
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)
Dissolution
by C.J. Sansom
A lawyer in Tudor England investigates a suspicious death, uncovering a vast conspiracy.
Henry VIII has ordered the dissolution of the monasteries and England is full of informers. At the monastery of Scarnsea, events have spiralled out of control with the murder of Commissioner Robin ... (Goodreads)
The Foundation Trilogy
by Isaac Asimov
Intergalactic future-history saga of a Galactic Empire on the brink of collapse.
A THOUSAND-YEAR EPIC, A GALACTIC STRUGGLE, A MONUMENTAL WORK IN THE ANNALS OF SCIENCE FICTION FOUNDATION begins a new chapter in the story of man's future. As the Old Empire crumbles into barbarism ... (Goodreads)
The Alienist
by Caleb Carr
A gripping murder-mystery set in 19th century New York, exposing the dark underbelly of the city.
Narrated from the first-person perspective of John Moore, a crime reporter for, The New York Times, , the novel begins on January 8, 1919, the day that Theodore Roosevelt is buried. Moore has dinner ... (Wikipedia)
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)
Six Days of the Condor
by James Grady
A CIA researcher returns from lunch to find his colleagues murdered. He must evade the killers and uncover the truth.
Ronald Malcolm is a CIA employee who works in a clandestine operations office in Washington, D.C. responsible for analyzing the plots of mystery and spy novels. One day, when he should be in the ... (Wikipedia)
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)
Life, the Universe and Everything
by Douglas Adams
An intergalactic quest to find the answer to the ultimate question of life.
After being stranded on pre-historic Earth after the events in, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, , Arthur Dent is met by his old friend Ford Prefect , who drags him into a space-time eddy , ... (Wikipedia)
