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As a reviewer and insider, Ryan Steck has been called “the Godfather of the thriller genre.” In this first contributed piece to BookTrib, Ryan names every thriller hitting the bookshelves this fall that genre aficionados should know about. Visit Ryan at www.therealbookspy.com.

With half of this summer’s biggest titles already in bookstores, we’re turning our attention to fall, which is shaping up to be action-packed and full of suspense. Anytime you get new books starring Mitch Rapp, Harry Bosch, James Bond, Jack Reacher, and Stephanie Plum over the course of just a couple months, you know it’s going to be a good time.

Check out all the must-read thrillers coming out this fall below.

Happy reading!


 

RedWarRed War(Atria)by Kyle Mills

Release Date: September 25th

The #1 New York Times bestselling series returns with Mitch Rapp racing to prevent Russia’s gravely ill leader from starting a full-scale war with NATO.

When Russian president Maxim Krupin discovers that he has inoperable brain cancer, he’s determined to cling to power. His first task is to kill or imprison any of his countrymen who can threaten him. Soon, though, his illness becomes serious enough to require a more dramatic diversion—war with the West.

Upon learning of Krupin’s condition, CIA director Irene Kennedy understands that the US is facing an opponent who has nothing to lose. The only way to avoid a confrontation that could leave millions dead is to send Mitch Rapp to Russia under impossibly dangerous orders. With the Kremlin’s entire security apparatus hunting him, he must find and kill a man many have deemed the most powerful in the world.

Success means averting a war that could consume all of Europe. But if his mission is discovered, Rapp will plunge Russia and America into a conflict that neither will survive.”

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Dark Sarcren NightDark Sacred Night (Little, Brown and Company) by Michael Connelly

Release Date: October 30th

“LAPD Detective Renée Ballard teams up with Harry Bosch in the new work of fiction from #1 NYT bestselling author Michael Connelly.

Renée Ballard is working the night beat again, and returns to Hollywood Station in the early hours only to find a stranger rifling through old file cabinets. The intruder is retired detective Harry Bosch, working a cold case that has gotten under his skin. Ballard kicks him out, but then checks into the case herself and it brings a deep tug of empathy and anger.

Bosch is investigating the death of fifteen-year-old Daisy Clayton, a runaway on the streets of Hollywood who was brutally murdered and her body left in a dumpster like so much trash. Now, Ballard joins forces with Bosch to find out what happened to Daisy and finally bring her killer to justice.”

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Forever and a day 007Forever and a Day(Harper)by Anthony Horowitz

Release Date: November 6th

“A spy is dead. A legend is born. This is how it all began. The explosive prequel to Casino Royale, from bestselling author Anthony Horowitz.

Forever and a Day is the story of the birth of a legend, in the brutal underworld of the French Riviera, taking readers into the very beginning of James Bond’s illustrious career and the formation of his identity.

***

M laid down his pipe and stared at it tetchily. “We have no choice. We’re just going to bring forward this other chap you’ve been preparing. But you didn’t tell me his name.”

“‘It’s Bond, sir,’” the Chief of Staff replied. “James Bond.”

The sea keeps its secrets. But not this time.

One body. Three bullets. 007 floats in the waters of Marseille, killed by an unknown hand.

It’s time for a new agent to step up. Time for a new weapon in the war against organized crime.

It’s time for James Bond to earn his license to kill.”

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The FoxThe Fox (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)by Frederick Forsyth

Release Date: October 16th

“The #1 New York Times-bestselling master of international intrigue takes readers into the bleeding-edge world of technological espionage in a propulsive thriller that feels chillingly real.

Former chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service Adrian Weston is awoken in the middle of the night by a phone call from the Prime Minister. Her news is shocking: the Pentagon, the NSA, and the CIA have been hacked simultaneously, their seemingly impenetrable firewalls breached by an unknown enemy known only as “The Fox.” Even more surprisingly, the culprit is revealed to be a young British teenager, Luke Jennings. He has no agenda, no secrets, just a blisteringly brilliant mind. Extradition to the U.S. seems likely–until Weston has another idea: If Luke can do this to us, what can he do to our enemies?

After conferring with both the American President and the Prime Minister, Weston is determined to use “The Fox” and his talents to the advantage of the two nations. But doing so places the boy on a geopolitical minefield. Adrian must stay one step ahead of multiple invisible enemies, all while finding a way to utilize the most powerful–and most unpredictable–weapon of all.

With his trademark research and deep knowledge of the rules and practices of international intrigue, Forsyth takes on tomorrow’s threats in this race-against-the-clock thriller.”

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Past TensePast Tense (Delacorte Press) by Lee Child

Release Date: November 5th

Family secrets come back to haunt Jack Reacher in this electrifying thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child, “a superb craftsman of suspense” (Entertainment Weekly).

Jack Reacher hits the pavement and sticks out his thumb. He plans to follow the sun on an epic trip across America, from Maine to California. He doesn’t get far. On a country road deep in the New England woods, he sees a sign to a place he has never been: the town where his father was born. He thinks, What’s one extra day? He takes the detour.
At the same moment, in the same isolated area, a car breaks down. Two young Canadians had been on their way to New York City to sell a treasure. Now they’re stranded at a lonely motel in the middle of nowhere. The owners seem almost too friendly. It’s a strange place, but it’s all there is.

The next morning, in the city clerk’s office, Reacher asks about the old family home. He’s told no one named Reacher ever lived in town. He’s always known his father left and never returned, but now Reacher wonders, Was he ever there in the first place?

As Reacher explores his father’s life, and as the Canadians face lethal dangers, strands of different stories begin to merge. Then Reacher makes a shocking discovery: The present can be tough, but the past can be tense . . . and deadly.”

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The reckoingThe Reckoning (Doubleday) by John Grisham

Release Date: October 23rd

New York Times bestselling author John Grisham returns to Clanton, Mississippi, to tell the story of an unthinkable murder and the bizarre trial that follows it, in this powerful new legal thriller.

Pete Banning was Clanton’s favorite son, a returning war hero, the patriarch of a prominent family, a farmer, father, neighbor, and a faithful member of the Methodist church. Then one cool October morning in 1946 he rose early, drove into town, walked into the Church, and calmly shot and killed the Reverend Dexter Bell. As if the murder wasn’t shocking enough, it was even more baffling that Pete’s only statement about it—to the sheriff, to his defense attorney, to the judge, to his family and friends, and to the people of Clanton—was “I have nothing to say.” And so the murder of the esteemed Reverend Bell became the most mysterious and unforgettable crime Ford County had ever known.”

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look alive twenty fiveLook Alive Twenty-Five (G.P. Putnam’s Sons) by Janet Evanovich

Release Date: November 13th

“Stephanie Plum faces the toughest puzzle of her career in the twenty-fifth entry in Janet Evanovich’s #1 New York Times-bestselling series.

There’s nothing like a good deli, and the Red River Deli in Trenton is one of the best. World-famous for its pastrami, cole slaw, and for its disappearing managers. Over the last month, three have vanished from the face of the earth, and the only clue in each case is one shoe that’s been left behind. The police are baffled. Lula is convinced that it’s a case of alien abduction. Whatever it is, they’d better figure out what’s going on before they lose their new manager, Ms. Stephanie Plum.”

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November RoadNovember Road (William Morrow) by Lou Berney Release Date: October 9th

“Set against the assassination of JFK, a poignant and evocative crime novel that centers on a desperate cat-and-mouse chase across 1960s America—a story of unexpected connections, daring possibilities, and the hope of second chances from the Edgar Award-winning author of The Long and Faraway Gone.

Frank Guidry’s luck has finally run out.

A loyal street lieutenant to New Orleans’ mob boss Carlos Marcello, Guidry has learned that everybody is expendable. But now it’s his turn—he knows too much about the crime of the century: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Within hours of JFK’s murder, everyone with ties to Marcello is turning up dead, and Guidry suspects he’s next: he was in Dallas on an errand for the boss less than two weeks before the president was shot. With few good options, Guidry hits the road to Las Vegas, to see an old associate—a dangerous man who hates Marcello enough to help Guidry vanish.

Guidry knows that the first rule of running is “don’t stop,” but when he sees a beautiful housewife on the side of the road with a broken-down car, two little daughters and a dog in the back seat, he sees the perfect disguise to cover his tracks from the hit men on his tail. Posing as an insurance man, Guidry offers to help Charlotte reach her destination, California. If she accompanies him to Vegas, he can help her get a new car.

For her, it’s more than a car— it’s an escape. She’s on the run too, from a stifling existence in small-town Oklahoma and a kindly husband who’s a hopeless drunk.

It’s an American story: two strangers meet to share the open road west, a dream, a hope—and find each other on the way.

Charlotte sees that he’s strong and kind; Guidry discovers that she’s smart and funny. He learns that’s she determined to give herself and her kids a new life; she can’t know that he’s desperate to leave his old one behind.

Another rule—fugitives shouldn’t fall in love, especially with each other. A road isn’t just a road, it’s a trail, and Guidry’s ruthless and relentless hunters are closing in on him. But now Guidry doesn’t want to just survive, he wants to really live, maybe for the first time.

Everyone’s expendable, or they should be, but now Guidry just can’t throw away the woman he’s come to love.

And it might get them both killed.”

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Dark WinterDark Winter (Humanix Books) by A.J. Tata Release Date: October 30th

In a blistering scenario almost too close to the headlines, former Brigadier General A.J. Tata delivers a chillingly authentic glimpse of tomorrow’s wars—and the anonymous hackers who hold the fate of the world at their fingertips . . .

By the time anyone realizes what’s happening, it is too late. A dark network of hackers has infiltrated the computers of the U.S. military, unleashing chaos across the globe. U.S. missiles strike the wrong targets. Defense systems fail. Power grids shut down. Within hours, America’s enemies move in. Russian tanks plow through northern Europe. Iranian troops invade Iraq. North Korean destroys Seoul and fires missiles at Japan.

Phase 1 of ComWar is complete.

Enter Jake Mahegan and his team of highly trained operatives. Their mission is to locate the nerve center of ComWar—aka Computer Optimized Warfare—and to shut down the operation through any means necessary. Mahegan knows it’s a virtual suicide mission. There are three ComWar headquarters, each hidden deep underground in Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Splitting up the team is Mahegan’s only chance to prevent the next wave of cyber attacks. But even that won’t stop the sleeper cell agents—here in the United States . . .

When Phase 2 ends, World War III begins.”

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Genre: Thrillers
Ryan Steck

Since launching The Real Book Spy (www.therealbookspy.com) in 2015, Ryan Steck has broken relevant industry news, written hundreds of book reviews, and conducted interviews with many of the genre’s top thriller authors on his way to becoming one of the most respected voices among thriller fans. A former sportswriter who transitioned into the publishing world in 2014, Steck worked as a book critic and reviewer for several other websites and media outlets before launching The Real Book Spy. Since then, he’s worked with a number of authors as a “book doctor,” has earned a loyal following of diehard readers and has become the go-to source for all things thriller.

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