This Father’s Day, give the gift of nonstop action and nail-biting suspense with one of these awesome thrillers. Browse our list below to find the best fit for the dad in your life:
Vicious Circle by C.J. Box
The Cates family had always been a bad lot. Game warden Joe Pickett had been able to strike a fierce blow against them when the life of his daughter April had been endangered, but he’d always wondered if there’d be a day of reckoning. He’s not wondering any longer. Joe knows they’re coming after him and his family now. He has his friend Nate by his side, but will that be enough this time? All he can do is prepare…and wait for them to make the first move.
In addition to being action-packed, Vicious Circle, Box’s latest novel, is perfect for the outdoorsman in your life. Joe Pickett is a phenomenal character, developed brilliantly over the course of seventeen novels. Whether your dad has been reading Box’s series from the beginning or has yet to meet Joe Pickett and his family, Vicious Circle is a must for dads this Father’s Day.
Tom Clancy Point of Contact by Mike Maden
Former U.S. Senator Weston Rhodes is a defense contractor with an urgent problem. His company needs someone to look over the books of Dalfan Technologies, a Singapore company—quickly. He turns to his old friend Gerry Hendley for help. Hendley Associates is one of the best financial analysis firms in the country and the cover for The Campus, a top-secret American intelligence agency. Rhodes asks for two specific analysts, Jack Ryan Jr., and Paul Brown, a mild-mannered forensic accountant.
Both Ryan and Brown initially resist, for different reasons. On the long flight over, Ryan worries he’s being sidelined from the next Campus operation in America’s war on terror. Brown—who was never very good with people—only worries about the numbers, and finding a good cup of tea. Brown has no idea Jack works for The Campus but the awkward accountant is hiding secrets of his own. Rhodes has tasked him with uploading a cyberwarfare program into the highly secure
Brown has no idea Jack works for The Campus but the awkward accountant is hiding secrets of his own. Rhodes has tasked him with uploading a cyberwarfare program into the highly secure Dalfan Technologies mainframe on behalf of the CIA.
On the verge of mission success, Brown discovers a game within the game, and the people who now want to kill him are as deadly as the cyclone bearing down on the island nation. Together Ryan and Brown race to escape both the murderous storm and a team of trained assassins in order to prevent a global catastrophe, even at the cost of their own lives.
Not only is Maden’s first Jack Ryan novel awesome, but it’s perfect for Father’s Day–especially if you’re buying for your dad and you’re not completely sure who his favorite author is. Ask anyone, and odds are they know who Tom Clancy is. As a bonus, impress your dad by telling him that this is the first book in the series from author Mike Maden, and that reviews (especially ours!) say he took the Jack Ryan Junior franchise to a whole new level.
Oath of Honor by Matthew Betley
A break-neck, edge-of-your-seat thriller that moves from a resurgent Russian threat in the Aleutian Islands to North Korean spy ships to secret Sudanese prisons as former Marines Logan West and John Quick, now members of an FBI special task force, uncover a global conspiracy that threatens America’s position in the current international balance of power.
Logan West and John Quick are sent to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, to investigate the possible presence of a Russian black ops team on a mission to steal United States next-generation technology. The resulting violent confrontation triggers a global search for the stolen technology and threatens to pit the US against China in a looming shadow war and technology race. As Logan and John—joined by the chief of the CIA’s Special Operations Group, Cole Matthews—battle their way through Spain, the Mediterranean, and ultimately, across Sudan, an imminent threat arises at home that FBI Deputy Director Mike Benson must face and determine if it is part of the deadly global conspiracy.
If your dad is into political thrillers, lots of action, and wise-cracking heroes, this is the perfect gift for him. Matthew Betley is one of the thriller genre’s brightest new stars, and Oath of Honor is can’t-put-it-down good. Also, as a bonus, Betley’s book is 47% off on Amazon right now, making it a great option for those shopping on a budget.
Foreign Agent by Brad Thor
Terrorism in Europe has spun out of control. The United States has decided on a dramatic response. Now, the CIA needs a very special kind of operative.
Scot Harvath has exactly the skills the CIA is looking for. He’s a former US Navy SEAL with extensive experience in espionage. Working for a private intelligence company, he will provide the CIA, and more important, the President, with absolute deniability.
But deep within the Russian Caucasus, Moscow also has its own special kind of operative. When a clandestine American operations team is ambushed near Syria, all signs point toward a dangerous informant in Brussels.
As the attacks mount, and terror is brought to the very doorstep of the White House, Harvath finds himself in the race of his life. From Vienna, Brussels, and Berlin, to Malta, Jordan, and Syria—he will push himself beyond the edge in order to confront one of the greatest evils the world has ever known.
Brad Thor is one of the best thriller authors on the planet, period. If your dad is a fan of Vince Flynn, Tom Clancy, or the Jason Bourne movies, Foreign Agent is the perfect gift for him. While this is the fifteenth novel in his Scot Harvath series, Thor writes his thrillers in a way that allows readers to jump into the series at any point without having to read the past books. Also, Foreign Agent just came out in mass market paperback, so you can order it right now for less than nine bucks. Hard to beat that deal!
The Nowhere Man by Gregg Hurwitz
Spoken about only in whispers, the Nowhere Man can only be reached by the truly desperate, he can ―He will do anything to save them.
Evan Smoak is the Nowhere Man.
Taken from a group home at twelve, Evan was raised and trained as part of the Orphan Program, an off-the-books operation designed to create deniable intelligence assets―i.e. assassins. Evan was Orphan X. He broke with the Program, using everything he learned to disappear and reinvent himself as the Nowhere Man.
But his new life is interrupted when a surprise attack comes from an unlikely angle and Evan is caught unaware. Captured, drugged, and spirited off to a remote location, he finds himself heavily guarded and cut off from everything he knows. His captors think they have him trapped and helpless in a virtual cage but they don’t know who they’re dealing with―or that they’ve trapped themselves inside that cage with one of the deadliest and most resourceful men on earth.
Continuing his electrifying series featuring Evan Smoak, Gregg Hurwitz delivers a blistering, compelling new novel in the series launched with the instant international bestseller, Orphan X.
Only two books in, Gregg Hurwitz’s Orphan X series is one of the best new franchises since Robert Ludlum first introduced Jason Bourne. A true espionage thriller, The Nowhere Man reads like a blockbuster action movie, and will keep your dad glued to his reading chair from beginning to end.
First Strike by Ben Coes
Deep within the Pentagon, a covert, multi-billion arms-for-influence program was created. The objective was to protect the United States and its allies from terrorist acts by secretly enabling a hand-picked man to emerge as the most powerful leader in the Middle East. But the charismatic Tristan Nazir double-crosses America, twisting the program for his own violent ends to create ISIS. Now America is at great risk.
Elite operative Dewey Andreas is sent to Syria to retrieve details about the source of ISIS’s funding but his cover is blown mid-operation and chaos erupts in the streets of Damascus. Trapped and outnumbered, Dewey manages to send proof of the awful truth―unknown at even the highest levels in the government―that ISIS’s munitions were indeed provided by America itself.
This information arrives in time to for the U.S. to cut off a final arms shipment before it reaches ISIS. But the vicious Nazir, is far from finished. He launches a bold strike into the heart of America, sending a terrorist cell to take over a dorm at Columbia University, capturing hundreds of college students as hostages. For every hour that the shipment of weapons is withheld, the terrorists will publicly execute one student. The potential loss of life is intolerable. A frontal assault is impossible. Releasing the shipment is unthinkable. There is nowhere to turn…
In a situation with no solutions, there remains only one option―Dewey Andreas.
Not only was First Strike one of our highest-rated novels of 2016, but it’s quite possibly the most action-packed thriller of the last decade. From the opening scene on, Ben Coes slams the pedal to the floor and never lets up. On top of that, First Strike features a frighteningly plausible plot. If your dad is a fan of the Diehard movies or authors Vince Flynn or Tom Clancy, this is the perfect gift for him.
Without Warning by Joel C. Rosenberg
As he prepares to deliver the State of the Union address, the president of the United States is convinced the Islamic State is on the run, about to be crushed by American forces once and for all. But New York Times foreign correspondent J. B. Collins tells the president he’s dead wrong. With the Middle East on fire, the Israeli prime minister dead, and Amman in ruins, Collins fears a catastrophic attack inside the American homeland is imminent. He argues that only an all-out manhunt to capture or kill Abu Kahlif―the leader of ISIS―can stop the attack and save American lives. But will the president listen and take decisive action before it’s too late?
Consider this: Joel Rosenberg has racked up over 600 reviews of Without Warning on Amazon and currently holds a five-star rating. That’s super impressive! If you get your dad this one, prepare to hear all about the jaw-dropping ending for months to come, because Rosenberg’s latest thriller stays with readers for a long time.
Ring of Fire by Brad Taylor
Fifteen years ago, in order to win a contract in the Kingdom, a desperate defense contractor used a shell company to provide a bribe to a wealthy Saudi businessman. Now a powerful player in the defense industry, he panics when the Panama Papers burst onto the public scene. Providing insight into the illicit deeds of offshore financing, they could prove his undoing.
To prevent the exposure of his illegal activities, he sets in motion a plan to interdict the next leak, but he is not the only one worried about spilled secrets. The data theft has left the Taskforce potentially vulnerable, leaving a trail that could compromise the unit. Back in the good graces of the new president, Pike Logan and Jennifer Cahill are ordered to interdict the next leak as well, in order to control the damage.
Unbeknownst to either group, the Saudi has been using the shell company to fund terrorists all over the world, and he has a spectacular attack planned, coinciding with the fifteenth anniversary of 9/11. The information Pike and Jennifer uncover will put them on the trail of the imminent threat, but it’s one that they might be unable to stop.
Called Ring of Fire, it will cause unimaginable destruction across the United States, and the ensuing chaos and terror will distract the Taskforce from a truth no one sees: Ring of Fire was only the beginning, and the danger is far from over.
Currently, nobody is writing more realistic action sequences than Brad Taylor, who, as a former Delta operator, writes with been-there-done-that authenticity. His Pike Logan series is one of the top franchises in the genre today–and Ring of Fire is his most timely thriller yet. If your dad is big on explosions and nonstop action, but also appreciates a smart plot and well-developed characters, treat him to Taylor’s latest novel on Father’s Day.
Gunmetal Gray by Mark Greaney
After five years on the run Court Gentry is back on the inside at the CIA. But his first mission makes him wish he had stayed on the outs when a pair of Chinese agents try to take him down in Hong Kong. Normally the Chinese prefer to stay eyes-only on foreign agents. So why are they on such high alert?
Court’s high-stakes hunt for answers takes him across Southeast Asia and leads to
his old friend, Donald Fitzroy, who is being held hostage by the Chinese. Fitzroy was contracted to find Fan Jiang, a former member of an ultra-secret computer warfare unit responsible for testing China’s own security systems. And it seems Fan may have been too good at his job—because China wants him dead.
The first two kill teams Fitzroy sent to find Fan have disappeared and the Chinese have decided to “supervise” the next operation. What they don’t know is that Gentry’s mission is to find Fan first and get whatever intel he has to the US.
After that, all he has to do is get out alive…
Think Jason Bourne, but more violent, and you’ve got Mark Greaney’s character Court ‘The Gray Man’ Gentry. This series, especially over the past few years, has really taken off. Wrap this up and tell your dad you picked him up five hundred adrenaline-pumping pages of pure awesomeness for Father’s Day…he’ll thank you later!
Knife Creek by Paul Doiron
When Maine game warden Mike Bowditch is tasked with shooting invasive feral hogs that are tearing up the forest in his district, he makes a horrific discovery ― a dead baby buried in a shallow grave.
Even more disturbing: evidence suggests the infant was the child of a young woman who was presumed to have died four years earlier after she disappeared from a group rafting trip.
As Bowditch assists the reopened investigation, he begins to suspect that some of his neighbors aren’t who they seem to be. When violence strikes close to home, he realizes that his unknown enemies will stop at nothing to keep their terrible secrets.
Mike Bowditch has bucked the odds his whole career, but this time the intrepid warden may have finally followed his hunches one step too far.
Like Box’s Vicious Circle (listed above), Knife Creek is perfect if your dad is the outdoorsy type. It’s also a great fit if your dad likes a good mystery novel, and Paul Doiron is one of the genre’s most underrated writers working today.
The Himalayan Codex By Bill Schutt and J.R. Finch
In the wake of World War II, zoologist and adventurer Captain R. J. MacCready is sent to the frozen mountain valleys of Tibet to find a creature of legend that may hold the secret to humankind’s evolutionary future–or the key to its extinction–in this explosive follow-up to Hell’s Gate.
It is 1946, and the world is beginning to rebuild from the ashes of the devastating war. Marked by the perilous discoveries he encountered in the wilds of Brazil, Captain R. J. MacCready has a new assignment on the other side of the globe–a mission that may help him put the jungle’s horrors behind him. He is headed for the Himalayas, to examine some recently discovered mammoth bones.
Arriving in Asia, Mac learns the bones are only a cover story. He’s really there to investigate an ancient codex allegedly written by Pliny the Elder, a fascinating text filled with explosive secrets. The Roman naturalist claimed to have discovered a new race of humans, a divergent species that inspired the myth of the Yeti and is rumored to have the ability to accelerate the process of evolution. If Pliny’s assertions are true, this seemingly supernatural ability holds unlimited potential benefits–and unlimited potential for destruction.
Charged with uncovering more about this miracle species, Mac sets off into the remote mountain valleys of Tibet, using the codex as his guide. But the freezing climate and treacherous terrain are only the beginning of the dangers facing him. He must also contend with the brutal Chinese army and a species of native creature even the Yeti seem to fear. The deeper he plunges into the unknown, the more certain it appears that Mac and the associates who join his odyssey may not make it out alive.
Combining plausible science, history, and action-packed thrills, The Himalayan Codex is a page-turning adventure sure to enthrall fans of James Rollins, Michael Crichton, Dan Brown, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.
If your dad likes Indiana Jones or James Rollins’ Sigma Force novels, grab him The Himalayan Codex for Father’s Day and then point him to his reading chair. Bill Schutt and J.R. Finch will keep him thrilled and speed-reading for several hours.