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This is going to be a fun one!
Recently, I received an email from a reader who, for medical reasons, can’t travel far or often. “What thrillers,” they asked, “can take me on a trip to exotic locations?” It was a great question, and one that got me thinking . . .
To make sure I nailed my answer, I reached out to a dear friend of mine, author Puja Guha, who, due to her day job, has traveled more than anyone I know. Puja herself is known for writing with an unmatched vibrancy, vividly painting her locations for readers, giving every chapter a place of setting that pops off the page.
If you’ve never read any of her books, I would highly encourage you to check them out here.
As for that email I received, I defer to Puja’s expertise in providing an answer. Read her article below!
Read Your Way Around the Globe: 8 Thrillers with Unforgettable Settings
By Puja Guha
Puja Guha is the author of seven novels and four short stories. She grew up and has worked all over the world, something she channels into her writing, with settings from New York to Madagascar to Iran. So far, she has traveled to over 60 countries, each of which she hopes to someday include in one of her stories or novels. Her spy thriller series THE AHRIMAN LEGACY is an Amazon bestseller, and she has been featured on TV and media, including Fox5, Reader’s Digest, and the London Post.
After all, an author’s primary job is to entertain.
Bringing the setting to life is an integral part of the reader experience, but sometimes realism can be at odds with the story. I’ve lived, worked, and traveled to almost seventy countries. When I find a book that captures the essence of the place well, it helps bring the story alive.
Here are my top eight books that deliver on their settings. But before I dive in, I want to highlight one crucial caveat . . .
In this list, I only stuck with books set in places that I know really well. Numerous other books with a strong sense of place inspire me to add a wide range of destinations to my future travel list—Australia, Algeria, Rwanda, Chile, and Poland, to name a few. And while I don’t need any additional incentives to travel, I look forward to expanding this list as I continue to explore other places.
The Dogs of War by Frederick Forsyth
In this book, a team of mercenaries is hired by a fictitious corporation to execute a military coup in a small African country so that mining rites will be handed over to the company.
Even though Forsyth didn’t use a specific African country, instead creating the republic of Zangaro in West Africa, I found myself noticing many similarities between this made-up country and places around the continent where I’ve worked.
In the first sentence, when Forsyth mentions how the African night sky wraps around you like “warm, wet velvet,” I could recall exactly that experience. I recognize how he describes the experience of a foreigner for whom Africa had “got into his blood… along with the malaria, the whisky, and the million insect stings and bites.” All the little descriptions and insertions speak to Forsyth’s own experience across the continent as both a journalist and an operative. The result—combined with a well-executed plot and an excellent group of characters—is an incredible read.
I originally read this book when I was in high school and enjoyed it. Now, after thirteen years of working all over Africa, it delivers even more. Not only do I enjoy the story itself, but I also find myself reliving pieces of my own experience in the various African cities and countries where I worked.
I’ve often wondered whether Forsyth used a specific country as the basis for Zangaro, or if it’s more an amalgamation of his experiences, and I’m still not sure. Either way, though, he did a fantastic job of bringing a really unusual setting to life.
They Come at Knight by Yasmin Angoe
This is the second book in Angoe’s Knight series, and definitely my favorite. The series follows a Ghanaian woman who overcomes tremendous family trauma and becomes an assassin for the Tribe, a private African council of influential businesspeople and politicians who aim to support development across the continent.
In They Come at Knight, Nena, the lead character, returns to Ghana with her adopted family for the first time since escaping. The scenes are powerful and raw, with descriptions of the former slave port in Elmina, alongside bustling markets and streets, and the incredible view of the ocean through portholes in Elmina Castle.
Angoe does a great job conveying the sense of history for her characters, and how this differs from those who were raised in Ghana versus immigrants and Black Americans, whose ancestors likely passed through this part of West Africa after being captured as slaves.
Here, in particular, Angoe delivers on how different this setting feels depending on the character’s background. The descriptions and emotions she evokes remind me of my time working in Ghana and certainly took me back there. All this is, of course, part of an action-packed plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
American Assassin by Vince Flynn
When I started putting this list together, I hemmed and hawed between two amazing Mitch Rapp books: American Assassin and Kill Shot.
I’ve absolutely loved all the Rapp books I’ve read, but these are two of my favorites. Kill Shot brings Paris back to me like I was still living there—even though it’s been over a decade since I moved back to the US. But for this list, which is really focused on how authors showcase more unusual settings, I had to go with American Assassin.
Set at the end of the Lebanese Civil War, I could feel the chaos during the scenes in Beirut. All the different factions vying for power, including the Americans, Soviets, Israelis, and so many different Arab and religious groups. Lebanon is tremendously diverse, and during the Civil War was overrun by proxy interests from across the region and the world.
I first visited Beirut as a child, a few years after the war had ended. Even though the shooting had stopped, I can vividly remember the bullet holes marring beautiful buildings. At the time, I couldn’t really comprehend the kind of chaos that would have caused what I saw, but now, as an adult, I can feel how accurately Flynn portrayed his scenes.
From walking through a market with this sense of being constantly on edge, because anything and everything could go wrong at any time, to a major shoot-out in Martyr’s Square—it all feels so real and makes the plot land so much stronger.
Plus, it’s a Mitch Rapp novel, so just so much fun.
There are so few thrillers set in India that this one automatically caught my attention. It was also my first read by Brad Thor, and I couldn’t be happier.
An awesome author with so many more books for me to get caught up on, plus one who really did a great job portraying two major Indian cities: Jaipur and Delhi. I loved Thor’s descriptions of the contrasts you see every day in any Indian city—the colors, the vibrancy, the crowds, but all situated right next to horrible poverty and blight that feels unchangeable and untouchable.
Even though I’m not a foreigner in India, as someone who’s been outside for most of my life, similar experiences hit me in the face every time I visit. His descriptions feel especially real, given how Scot Harvath would experience a place so completely new and different from anywhere he has been. Additionally, Thor captures some key cultural aspects, such as how easily an extended family can become a real family and how close-knit those circles can be. Thor’s portrayal also highlights something else: clearly, India should be more present in the action-packed modern-day thriller.
I’m so excited to read more of his books, set all over the world.
This book was such a great way for me to dip my toe into the Pike Logan series!
Much of Operator Down takes place in South Africa, where I was lucky enough to work for a few years, spread out over several visits. The very first scene set in the township of Soweto outside of Johannesburg (usually referred to as Joburg) definitely hit home for me.
Taylor’s scene talks about how this township (a super-poor neighborhood, really kind of a slum) is popular among tourists because of its importance in the movement against apartheid. A little bit of poverty tourism, sometimes called poverty porn. But he also mentions the “drumbeat of laughter and clapping” that I find so characteristic of restaurants across Africa. And, built into the context of an operator analyzing their target, Taylor is able to address some of the key racial dynamics very much present in South Africa.
Other scenes throughout the book also resonate with me and my experiences working there. Some highlights include the incredible beauty of a park in Cape Town, but one where the lead character still has to worry about being mugged even in daylight, and how intertwined various international interests—American, Russian, Chinese, and corporate, to name a few—are in regional politics.
I’m super excited to dive more into the Pike Logan series and visit/revisit more places around the world.