Military crime fiction is usually considered a sub-genre of the espionage thriller genre. But there are also thrillers featuring crimes committed within the military. Some authors use former soldiers that have become detectives or special operatives as their leading character. Famous authors of military thrillers include Lee Child, Tom Clancy, Jack Higgins, Jack Carr, Alistair MacLean, Stephen Coonts, Dale Brown, W.E.B. Griffin, or Harold Coyle.
Dennis Lehane
Shutter Island
2009 (First published: 2003)
Shutter Island is an army facility turned hospital for the criminally insane. When a patient escapes, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his partner, Chuck Aule, are called in to investigate. This is one of the best psychological thrillers of all time. One mind-bending plot twist after another! Also a blockbuster movie, directed by Martin Scorsese.
Check Price on AmazonJack Carr
The Terminal List
Book 1 of Terminal List
2022 (First published: 2018)
On his last combat deployment, Lieutenant Commander James Reece’s entire team was killed in a catastrophic ambush. But when those dearest to him are murdered on the day of his homecoming, Reece discovers that this was not an act of war by a foreign enemy but a conspiracy that runs to the highest levels of government.
Check Price on AmazonJack Carr
True Believer
Book 2 of Terminal List
2020 (First published: 2019)
When a string of horrific terrorist attacks plagues the Western world during the holiday season, the broader markets fall into a tailspin. The attacks are being coordinated by a shadowy former Iraqi commando who has disappeared into Europe’s underground. The United States government has an asset who can turn the Iraqi against his masters: James Reece, the most-wanted domestic terrorist alive.
Check Price on AmazonKevin Powers
A Line in the Sand
2023 (First published: 2023)
Arman, ex-Iraq interpreter, discovers a body on Virginia's beach, linking to his tragic past and a deadly conspiracy. Detective Catherine investigates, while journalist Sally probes a corporate scandal. As body count rises, Cat and Sally unite to shield Arman in this gripping military thriller.
Check Price on AmazonKevin Powers
The Yellow Birds
2013 (First published: 2013)
Discover a tale of camaraderie amid a war's trials. Privates Bartle and Murphy fight for survival in Iraq's tumult. United by a promise, they confront insurgents, exhaustion, and mental strain. As reality blurs, their bond falters, unveiling war's far-reaching effects. A timeless exploration of sacrifice and connection, offering touching insights into the hidden costs of conflict on families.
Check Price on AmazonLee Child
Killing Floor
Jack Reacher - Book 1
2012 (First published: 1997)
Ex-military policeman Jack Reacher is a drifter. He’s just passing through Margrave, Georgia, and in less than an hour, he’s arrested for murder. Not much of a welcome. All Reacher knows is that he didn’t kill anybody. At least not here. Not lately. But he doesn’t stand a chance of convincing anyone. Not in Margrave, Georgia. Not a chance in hell.
Check Price on AmazonLee Child
Die Trying
Jack Reacher - Book 2
1999 (First published: 1991)
In a plot to overthrow the U.S. government, Montana neo-Nazis abduct the daughter of the nation's top general and her male companion, Jack Reacher. One of the kidnapper in a truck filled with dynamite is driving to San Francisco, where he plans to detonate in the middle of a crowd celebrating the Fourth of July. Reacher, however, turns the tables on the captors.
Check Price on AmazonLee Child
Tripwire
Jack Reacher - Book 3
2012 (First published: 1999)
Ex military policeman Jack Reacher is enjoying the lazy anonymity of Key West when a stranger shows up asking for him. He’s got a lot of questions. Reacher does too, especially after the guy turns up dead. The answers lead Reacher on a cold trail back to New York, to the tenuous confidence of an alluring woman, and the dangerous corners of his own past.
Check Price on AmazonLee Child
Without Fail
Jack Reacher - Book 6
2011 (First published: 2002)
Jack Reacher arrives in Atlantic City after hitching a ride cross-country with a couple of aging blues musicians. There he is approached by the Secret Service to test their shield around the new vice president of the United States, ex-miliary copy Jack Reacher discovers that a team of assassins is already planning a hit on the vice president.
Check Price on AmazonLee Child
The Enemy
Jack Reacher - Book 8
2011 (First published: 2004)
North Carolina. New Year's Day, 1990. A soldier is found dead in a sleazy motel bed. Jack Reacher is the officer on duty. The soldier turns out to be a two-star general. The situation is bad enough, then Reacher finds the body of the general's wife. This stomach-churning thriller turns back the clock to a younger Reacher, in dogtags. A Reacher who still believes in the service.
Check Price on AmazonLee Child
One Shot
Jack Reacher - Book 9
2011 (First published: 2005)
Six shots. Five dead. One heartland city thrown into a state of terror. But within hours the cops have it solved: a slam-dunk case. Except for one thing. The accused man says: You got the wrong guy. Then he says: Get Reacher for me. And sure enough, from the world he lives in - no phone, no address, no commitments - ex–military investigator Jack Reacher is coming. - Was adapted into a 2012 film starring Tom Cruise
Check Price on AmazonLee Child
Bad Luck and Trouble
Jack Reacher - Book 11
2011 (First published: 2007)
From a helicopter high above the empty California desert, a man is sent free-falling into the night. In Chicago, a woman learns that an elite team of ex–army investigators is being hunted down one by one. And on the streets of Portland, Jack Reacher - soldier, cop, hero - is pulled out of his wandering life by a code that few other people could understand.
Check Price on AmazonLee Child
Better Off Dead
Jack Reacher - Book 26
2022 (First published: 2021)
That morning Reacher he was heading west, walking under the merciless desert sun - until he comes upon a curious scene: A Jeep has crashed into the only tree for miles around. A woman is slumped over the wheel. Dead? No, nothing is what it seems. The woman is Michaela Fenton, an army veteran turned FBI agent trying to find her twin brother, who might be mixed up with some dangerous people.
Check Price on AmazonLee Child
No Plan B
Jack Reacher - Book 27
2022 (First published: 2022)
A woman dies under the wheels of a moving bus. The death is ruled a suicide. But Jack Reacher saw what really happened: A man in a gray hoodie and jeans, moving stealthily, pushed the victim to her demise—before swiftly grabbing the dead woman’s purse and strolling away. When another homicide is ruled an accident, Reacher knows this is no coincidence. With a killer on the loose, Reacher has no time to waste to track down those responsible.
Check Price on AmazonNelson DeMille
Plum Island
John Corey - Book 1
1998 (First published: 1997)
NYPD homicide detective John Corey has moved into Long Island, restlessly recuperating from wounds received in the line of duty when he's hired to consult on the double murder of Tom and Judy Gordon, biologists who worked on Plum Island. This is the site of animal disease reseach for the Department of Agriculture. Were the Gordaons murdered because they'd stolen some valuable new vaccine, or even a dreaded virus?
Check Price on AmazonTom Clancy
The Hunt for Red October
A Jack Ryan Novel Book 1
2018 (First published: 1984)
Somewhere under the freezing Atlantic, a Soviet sub commander has just made a fateful decision. The Red October is heading west. The Americans want her. The Russians want her back. Made into a spectacular film directed by John McTiernan and starring Sean Connery.
Check Price on AmazonTom Clancy
Patriot Games
A Jack Ryan Novel - Book 2
2013
While on vacation with his family, Jack Ryan prevented an assassination attempt on Britain’s royal family and earned him the gratitude of an entire nation—and the scorn of an ultra-left-wing faction of the IRA. Irish terrorist Sean Miller and his followers in the Ulster Liberation Army intend to make sure Ryan pays for his interference in blood.
Check Price on AmazonTom Clancy
The Cardinal of the Kremlin
A Jack Ryan Novel - Book 3
2013
Two men possess vital information on Russia's Star Wars missile defense system. One of them is Cardinal -- America's highest agent in the Kremlin -- and he's about to be terminated by the KGB. The other one is the American who can save Cardinal and lead the world to the brink of peace ... or war.
Check Price on AmazonTom Clancy
Clear and Present Danger
A Jack Ryan Novel - Book 4
2018
When Colombian drug lords assassinate both the U.S. ambassador and the visiting head of the FBI, their actions trigger a covert response from the American government--a response that goes horribly wrong... As the newly named Deputy Director of Intelligence for the CIA, Jack Ryan should be privy to the Colombia operation, but he's been left completely in the dark.
Check Price on AmazonTom Clancy
The Sum of All Fears
A Jack Ryan Novel - Book 5
2018
Peace may finally be at hand in the Middle East, as Jack Ryan, Deputy Director of Intelligence for the CIA, lays the groundwork for a plan that could end centuries of conflict. But ruthless terrorists have a final, desperate card to play: a nuclear weapon hidden somewhere in the United States.
Check Price on AmazonTom Clancy
Dept of Honor
A Jack Ryan Novel - Book 6
1995 (First published: 1994)
Jack Ryan plunges into two, seemingly unrelated, occurrences being a chain of events that will stun the world. Called out of retirement to serve as National Security Advisor to the president, Ryan, with the help of CIA officers John Clark and Domingo Chavez, must prepare the untested president to meet the challenges of a new world order.
Check Price on AmazonTom Clancy
Executive Orders
A Jack Ryan Novel - Book 7
1997
At the climax of Debt of Honor, the most devastating terrorist act in the history of the world left the President, the Joint Chiefs, the Supreme Court, and nearly all of Congress dead. Only Jack Ryan, confirmed Vice President mere minutes before, survived to take the reins of a shaken and leaderless country. Now he must rebuild a government.
Check Price on AmazonTom Clancy / Mark Cameron
Chain of Command
A Jack Ryan Novel - Book 21
2022
A shadowy billionaire uses his fortune to further his corrupt ambitions. Along the way, he’s toppled democratically elected governments and exacerbated divisions within stable nations. Now, he’s ready to implement his most ambitious plan of all. There’s only one force standing in his way—President Jack Ryan.
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