There's Rapp. There's Reacher. Who else is there?

Hi all!

My husband and I are looking for some news authors and I'm looking here for suggestions. We've read all the Rapp series (multiple times), the Reacher series and the following:

The Cleaner series by Brett Battles
Camel Club series by Baldacci
Shane Scully by Cannell
Nelson DeMille

We've also dabbled with Brad Thor, Brad Meltzer, Alex Berensen, Barry Eisler, Joseph Finder...

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance! :-)

The Cleaner series is a bit off from the rest but if you enjoyed it, you might want to see if something here will catch your eye: http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/triv72.html (and if you follow the links, you can read quite a lot for a lot of those detectives).

Considering Baldacci, Child, DeMille and Flynn.... you might like something like: Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch for example), John Connelly, The Lucas Davenport series (http://www.librarything.com/series/Lucas+Davenport).

What kind of a hero are you looking for exactly? Because this will drive some of the recommendations...

Thanks so much for the suggestion!

As for the type of hero we like, first word we thought of was badass. :)

Other ways to describe him... aggressive, angry, loner. We enjoy a good series, but that isn't a requirement.

Thanks again!

If you like a little darker, The Harry Hole series by Jo Nesbo is very good.

If you're okay with a sort of slightly supernatural but very badass hero, Joe Ledger series by Jonathan Mayberry is very good.

Repairman Jack by F. Paul Wilson is straight-up badass and an off-the-grid loner.

The Scarecrow books by Matthew Reilly are good.

The Logan McRae series by Stuart MacBride is pretty good. There's also Jeffery Deaver of course.

I second the Lucas Davenport books, especially the earlier ones.

I recommend the Prey series as well, but don't agree about the Repairman Jack novels. The other Jack...Reacher would totally kick his ass.

They're a bit different, but there are two tough guy series set in Wyoming that are good, C.J Box's Joe Pickett series, and Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire series.

There's always the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald.

The Charlie Parker series by John Connolly, starting with Every Dead Thing (yes, these should be read in order). I've written a piece about these books that gives a sort of "why you should read" here: http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2011/11/an-unnatural-appreciation-a-fan-let...

I'd second the Travis McGee books, too, though they are a bit dated. I LOVE them, but keep in mind that they were written in the sixties and early seventies.

Possibly also James Ellroy.

1) The Killer by Tom Hinshelwood aka Tom Wood for the USA and UK paperbacks. The book is called The Hunter in the UK. See his website www.tomwoodbooks.com for an explanation of the title and author name confusion, as well as info on the next book, The Enemy.

Edit: Just checked Amazon.com, and it looks like The Enemy will be out in the USA in May after being released last year in the UK. The third book, The Game, will be out in the UK this year.

2) David Stone's books starting with The Echelon Vendetta;

3) Olen Steinhauer's trilogy starting with The Tourist. He's got other mystery books written before The Tourist, but I haven't read them yet;

4) Barry Eisler's books starting with Rain Fall.

Seconds for Repairman Jack and Travis McGee

# 10 I could not agree more with your assessment of the "Charlie Parker" series by John Connolly He has given me many hours of great reading and I have passed him on to many friends.

If ever the series ends, I will re-read them all in a marathon.

Heat by William Goldman features a badass who specializes in edged weapons. Read it a long time ago, but remember liking it. A stand alone.

The Hawke books by Ted Bell are fun and feature a badass, even if they are maybe a bit thin.

If you want to go real old school there are the early Matt Helms books by Donald Hamilton. He was pretty nasty.

There's another list within the group by someone else who was looking for a reacher replacement. Can't rememebr who but it's an obvious thread title.

Gabriel Allon by Daniel Silva is one little bad ass. Forgot about him.

There were a few books by Robert R. Maxim featuring a group of retired assassins or spys or something who all retired to the same town. I think the main characters name was Bannerman, and that name was in the title of the books. I remember the group as all being badasses. Unfortunately I can't find anything about the books anywhere. Anyone else ever read any of these?

#18 - The Bannerman series, starting with The Bannerman Solution. I enjoyed them quite a lot back then.

Given that the Rapp series is political in nature, I just finished the first book and going into the second of the Joe DeMarco Series (Mike Lawson).

First book is The Inside Ring.

Some other possibilities I haven't seen mentioned . . .

Donald Hamilton's "Matt Helm" series (beginning with Death of a Citizen) takes some tracking-down, but if you can find them they're well worth your time. Helm is a black-ops agent for a shadowy government agency . . . but the character feels like Reacher's spiritual ancestor in many ways.

Jack Higgins' "Sean Dillon" series (beginning with On Dangerous Ground) are what you'd get if James Bond was a short, blonde Irishman who gave up a promising stage-acting career to become an IRA gunman . . . and then got (in effect) drafted as a counter-terrorist agent by the British government.

Stephen Hunter's books about Bob Lee Swagger and (separately) his father, Earl Swagger, start out excellent but go badly downhill as Hunter discovers politics and forgets how to write believable dialogue. Start with Point of Impact and read them in publication order. When you hit the "Oh, good grief!" point (YMMV on where it is) . . . stop. Trust me.

ABVR- I did mention the Matt Helm books, but appreciate someone else bringing them up. Haven't read them in years, but remember Matt being a no-nonsense, ass kicking SOB.

Sadly I have to agree on the Stephen Hunter books. The early ones were so good. I don't remember at what point they started down the rabbit hole. I read his last, and it was laughably bad. I keep reading in hope that he will rediscover his old mojo.

I don't think anyone has mentioned the Tom Clancy book about John Clark's hitory. I think it was Without Remorse. It was kind of a departure at the time from Clancy's techno-thrillers with an emphasis on the techno. Anyway, Clark is definitely one mean motor scooter who goes on a vendetta against drug dealers and starts killing them wholesale. Good fun.

A three book series written by Michael Van Rooy springs to mind. His hero, Monty Haaviko, is trying to go straight after committing crimes and spending time in jail. He and his family moved to Winnipeg from Edmonton to get away from his past associates. Of course, it's not as easy as that. There are only three books, An Ordinary Decent Criminal, Your Friendly Neigbourhood Criminal and A Criminal to Remember, because Michael died while on tour to promote the last book. It's a shame because he showed real promise.

Rapp, Reacher, and RANDALL

Rex Randall and the Jericho Secret by Vince Carter is about a chameleon like character and the 5 kick-ass women in his life.

It is the first book in a new series.

Joe R. Landsdale Hap and Leonard series.

Randy Wayne White's Doc Ford series is very good. Jonathan Maberry's Joe Ledger series is excellent, starting with Patient Zero. Jon Land's Caitlin Strong books, starting with Strong Enough To Die are terrific. And finally, perhaps Jeremy Robinson's Chess Team books might fit the bill, starting with Pulse.

Happy reading!

There's also Robert Crais with Elvis Cole and Joe Pike.

>23 gypsysmom:

First, I had no idea Michael Van Rooy had two more books, so thanks for that information, as I liked the first one.

Second--and more importantly--I had no idea he'd died; that's truly a shame, as he was way too young.

>28 bookstothesky:
I'm glad to let you know of the additional books by Michael but sorry you had to learn of his death this way. He was much too young and he was such a great advocate for Manitoba writers too. He also had quite young children so it is a tragedy for all concerned

robert b parker is the man who i love to read , all his series have a great set of characters.

Ian Rankin's Rebus novels; Henning Mankell's Wallander novels; Cath Staincliff's Manchester based private eye Sal Kilkenny....

Dear amsparky,
Hope I'm not too late with the recommendations! I've got some GUTSY heroes who give you over-the-top, "badass" action. Some people don't like some of them, because they stretch the bounds of "action truth," but as a former English teacher, I give you my promise you'll lose your breath as you read. Matthew Riley writes humdingers. Over-the-top, but remember, you're reading fiction. He writes more than one series, and you are looking for the ones with Shane Scholfield as the main character. John Gilstrap writes fabulous books. Jonathon Grave is his main character. More "believable," but still lots of action. Marc Cameron writes books with Jericho Quinn as the main guy. Another terrific series! Matthew Dunn's "Spycatcher" series is wonderful. L.T. Ryan writes a three-book series, Jack Noble thrillers. Another one publishes next month. On the female side, one of the most badass heroes I've ever seen is J.A. Konrath's "Chandler" series. These should get you started. If you need any more, I've got others. Get ready to hold on! These heroes/heroines are BADASS!

Matthew Dunn's spy catcher series.

Ant-hero, out and out villain Parker series by Richard Stark

I'm late into the conversation, but you may like the Pike Logan thrillers by Brad Taylor. Brad Thor, Marc Cameron, Dalton Fury and Dick Wolf are some recent finds for my Dad who loves all these authors.

I love the Reacher books. For me, the Eve Dallas books are the same kind of addictive read, and she's kick-ass.

Clive Cussler has the Issac Bell series which is pretty good.The Edge series by George Gilman its a western series that kicks butt.The Nick Stone series by Andy McNab is a really good read.The Mrs Pollifax series by Dorothy Gilman isnt bad.The Myron Bolitar series by Harlan Coben.The Elric series by Micheal Moorcock if you have a fantasy fetish.Quite enjoyed the John Keller series by Lawrence Block.And if your into pulp fiction try the Survivalist series by Jerry Ahern or Killsquad series by Frank Garrett.Also you have the Rogue Warrior series by Richard Marcinko.I pretty much enjoyed all of these Im a big fan of the Mitch Rapp and Reacher series.The pulp fiction type stuff like killsquad and the survivalist you sort of have to leave your brain out of the equation lol.

Doc Ford series by Randy Wayne White
Enemy and Stryker series by Rob Sinclair
both excellent

Two crime series books which feature dogs ~

Ryder Creed series by Alex Kava
(Breaking Creed is book #1/K9 rescue dog trainer)

and

The Chet and Bernie series by Spencer Quinn
(Dog On It is book #1/Chet, the dog, narrates the series)

Ghost Platoon by John C Campbell. The Protagonist (Robert Flynn) is a Mitch Rapp- Jack Reacher like character with a soft spot for animals.

Have you tried Daniel Silva ? His Gabriel Allon series is pretty addictive.

Started reading Ben Coes "Dewey Adreas" series...first couple are good.... Can't believe NOBODY has mentioned Brad Thor's "Scot Harvath" series....to me, they were even better than Reacher and Rapp.

Evan Smoak (Orphan X) by Gregg Hurwitz
Nick Heller by Joseph Finder
Court Gentry (the Gray Man) by Mark Greaney
Peter Ash by Nick Petrie
Pike Logan by Brad Taylor
Logan West by Mathew Betley
James Reece by Jack Carr
and finally relatively new to the game
Matt Drake by Don Bentley
That should keep you busy

>1 amsparky: Robert B Parker
Donald Hamilton
Rex Stout
Mickey Spillane

>27 mysterymax: I always wanted to see Pike and Reacher meet.

Reacher said nothing
Pike said even less

>45 mguntle:
I second The Gray Man series by Greaney, and Peter Ash books by Petrie. I love them.

How about Jane Whitefield series by Thomas Perry. First one is Vanishing Act
Perry also wrote The Old Man
Or Those Who Wish Me Dead by Koryta

Agreed on the Peter Ash books. One of them was kind of dumb, but everyone has a dud occasionally. I don't remember which one, but get through it and carry on. The rest are a lot of fun.

The Dez Limerick series by James Byrne is a new one that I really like. Second book just came out. Fists over guns and a nice sarcastic sense of humor.