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thrillers

Templars And Supernatural Thrillers With Joseph Nassise

September 20, 2015 By J.F. Penn

templars and supernatural thrillersI love supernatural thrillers and if you add some kick-ass Templars into the mix, I'm a happy reader! Today I talk to Joseph Nassise about his Templar Chronicles series.

hereticWhere did your fascination with the Templars come from? Have you visited Jerusalem or some of the European Templar churches?

Originally, I became fascinated with the Templars when I began investigating the history behind the superstitions surrounding Friday the 13th.  Why was that day considered bad luck? I wondered.  Why not some other day?

As it turns out, it was on Friday, October 13, 1307 that King Philip IV of France sent troops against the Templar strongholds, arresting all they could find, and eventually trying them for crimes against the crown and the church.  That information prompted further exploration into the Templar Order and, liking what I found, I decided to use them as a key plot element in my series.

Your latest book in the series, Fall of Night, features Gabrielle, who has only been a peripheral part of the Templar series so far. Tell us a bit more about the book as my readers love a kick-ass female lead!

Fall of Night is the sixth book in the ongoing Templar Chronicles series, which features modern Templar knights acting as a secret combat squad for the Vatican, protecting mankind from supernatural threats and enemies.  The earlier books center around the character of Cade Williams, a former Boston SWAT officer who gets attacked by a fallen angel known as the Adversary.  That same creature “kills” Cade’s wife, Gabrielle, or so he thinks.

fallofnightWe find out pretty early on in the series that Gabrielle isn’t actually dead, but held prisoner by the Adversary in a kind of limbo-like plane of existence known as the Beyond.  Cade spends much of the first several books trying to rescue her from the Adversary’s control.

In Fall of Night, Gabrielle at last takes center stage.  Due to certain events that play out in books 4 and 5, Infernal Games and Judgment Day, Gabrielle returns to the world of the living carrying information that is vital to the safety of not just the Templars but all mankind.  She needs to get that information to her husband, Cade, but he’s gone missing right at the point he’s needed most.  Fall focuses on Gabrielle’s attempts to find him while safeguarding the information she is carrying.

All your books all have elements of the supernatural. What drives your obsession with what's beyond the physically real? How do your own beliefs/experiences weave into the books?

screamofangelsThis is a tough one to answer, because I’m honestly not sure.  I’ve tried to write other things, but keep coming back to supernatural thrillers/urban fantasy as my primary genre.  The idea that there is something else out there, something more, is an intriguing one and I like adding that element to the stories that I tell.

Almost all of my fiction has it, from the Templar Chronicles to the Great Undead War to the Jeremiah Hunt series.  Maybe one day I’ll break into some other genre, but for now, I’m happy where it am!

What are the themes that keep coming up in your work? What links the series' together?

Almost everything I write deals with the theme of redemption in some fashion and this comes out quite strongly in the Templar Chronicles.  Cade is first determined to avenge his wife’s death and then, when he realizes she isn’t actually dead, he vows to give her back the life that was stolen from her.

Cade’s journey takes him deep into the heart of darkness – not just the darkness created by the supernatural creatures around him, but the darkness in his own heart as well.  Darkness spawned by his belief that he has failed both his wife and himself in not protecting them from the Adversary in the first place. The entire series traces his fight to restore himself to the light, so to speak.

Where are you in the world and what does your writing space look like? Give us a hint of behind the scenes

jeremiahhuntI live in the heat of the desert in Phoenix, Arizona and my writing space is a dedicated office on the second floor of my home.  I do most of my work in that room, though I will sometimes head to the local Starbucks when I need a change of scenery.  I have several dogs and cats and they will often keep my company during the day while I am working.

I write full time, so my routine is pretty fixed. After taking the kids to school I’ll be in my office writing by 7:30 each day and will do so until about noon.  I’ll take an hour or so for lunch and then be back at the keyboard until about three.  Later afternoons and early evenings are spent doing all the other stuff that a writing career requires – answering emails, marketing and promotion, prepping for the next release, etc.

What are a few of the books you love and that you'd recommend readers check out?

I am a huge fan of John Connolly’s Charlie Parker novels, detective fiction with a touch of the supernatural.  Robert Crais’ Elvis Cole and Joe Pike books are right up there as well.  In terms of straight up genre fiction, I’m a fan of Kat Richardson, joenassiseRichard Kadrey, Steven Savile, Caitlin Kittredge, Carrie Vaughn, Jonathan Maberry, Kelley Armstrong, Seanan McGuire, Chris Golden – hell, the list could go on and on!

Where can people find you and your books online?

People can find information about me and my work at my website – www.josephnassise.com – or on my Facebook page – www.facebook.com/joseph.nassise

Filed Under: Interviews with Thriller Authors Tagged With: supernatural, thrillers

Thriller Books And Authors I Love

April 27, 2015 By J.F. Penn

thrillers i love (1)Here are some examples of novels that I love, and authors I enjoy reading.

You can also check out my reviews on Goodreads here. And if you like any of these books, you’re likely to enjoy my work too!

stephen king the standStephen King – The Stand. Probably my favorite book in terms of good vs evil. Plus The Shining, Doctor Sleep and others by King that veer towards the supernatural, rather than the purely horror angle.

James Rollins – Sigma series for some kick-ass fun (love Seichan) and the Sanguines series with Rebecca Cantrell for that supernatural edge

Mo Hayder – Jack Caffrey series

john connollyJohn Connolly – The Charlie Parker series. A huge influence on my London Psychic books, because it blends a detective with a supernatural underworld.

J.A.Konrath – Origin. What do you expect if you keep Beelzebub in a bunker?

Jonathan Maberry – Joe Ledger series

Lisa Gardner – The DD Warren series

Matthew Reilly – Fantastic action/adventure Scarecrow series. It’s a bit like Spooks TV show, everybody dies.

diabolistLayton Green – The Summoner and Dominic Grey series

Val McDermid – Wire in the Blood and that series. Tony Hill & Carol Jordan series

Preston & Child – Pendergast series, particularly the early, more supernatural ones like The Cabinet of Curiosities

James Michener – The Source. An incredible epic about Israel that continues to inspire me.

the sourceJen Blood – Erin Solomon series, particularly Southern Cross. Fast paced thriller about a cult survivor and a religious conspiracy.

Daniel Silva – Gabriel Allon series. Israeli secret agents, religious conspiracy and political thriller plots, plus art history and restoration.

Clive Barker – The Hellbound Heart

James Herbert – Dark , Ash

gillian flynnGillian Flynn – Dark Places, Sharp Objects. These darker books are so much better than Gone Girl IMHO!

Barnaby Williams – Anno Domini. What if St Paul murdered Jesus? A particularly bloody retelling.

Lee Child – Jack Reacher series. I love a loner out for justice

Michael Wallace – The Righteous Series. Polygamous Mormons out in the Utah desert tackle mysteries, murder and the apocalypse.

blackbirdsChuck Wendig – Blackbirds and the Miriam Black series. When Miriam touches someone, she can tell how and when they will die.

Jeremy Robinson – Jack Sigler series, SecondWorld. Non stop action with all kinds of monsters. Check out Island 731 and The Guardian.

angelologyDanielle Trussoni – Angelology. The Nephilim live among us.

Jonathan Holt – The Carnivia trilogy. Murder and mystery set in a darker Venice.

Daniel Suarez – Daemon, Freedom. Technothrillers with an edge of horror

Zoe Sharp – Charlie Fox thrillers. Kick ass female bodyguard solves mysteries and rights wrongs. Described as a female Jack Reacher.

I am pilgrimTerry Hayes – I am Pilgrim. One of the best portrayals of a terrorist character and an enthralling thriller.

Marcus Sakey – Brilliance series. 1% are born with special talents. Kind of X Men but more realistic!

laini taylorLaini Taylor – Daughter of Smoke and Bone series. What if a devil and an angel fell in love … and the angels were the enemy. Fantastic series!

Scott Sigler – Infected, Contagious, Pandemic. Michael Crichton-esque but with more horror as the world copes with an alien invasion that turns humans into all kinds of weird

Max Brooks – World War Z. I’m not usually one for zombie books, but this one is incredibly well written. Much better than the film!

Simon Toyne. Sanctus trilogy. What secret lies at the heart of Ruin?

Alan Baxter – Realmshift, MageSign. Dark fantasy with gods and demons and magic.

macbethAJ Hartley & David Hewson – Macbeth, a novel. This fantastic retelling has beautiful language but really brings the story alive as a thriller.

Martin Lastrapes – Inside the Outside. One girl copes with leaving a cannibal cult.

Dan Brown – The Da Vinci Code. I have to include this as Brown changed the genre and religious thrillers took off after this book. It still stands as a great example of the genre, although the later ones haven’t been so good IMHO.

Erin Morgenstern – The Night Circus

running with the demonTerry Brooks – Running with the Demon. I loved the early Shannara series too, but the demonic books are more my style.

Frank Peretti – This Present Darkness. I read this as a teenager and the unseen supernatural battle of angels and demons influenced my imagination heavily. I see demons everywhere!

Click here for more books that I recommend.

[Read more…] about Thriller Books And Authors I Love

Filed Under: Books I Recommend Tagged With: thrillers

Talking Religious Thrillers And The Sanctus Trilogy With Simon Toyne

September 22, 2014 By J.F. Penn

simon toyneI love religious thrillers and I was hooked by the Sanctus trilogy a few years back, so I was thrilled to talk to author Simon Toyne about his writing influences and what's next in his world.

simon toyneSimon Toyne is the bestselling author of the Sanctus trilogy, translated into 28 languages and published in 50 countries. Sanctus was the UK's biggest selling debut thriller of 2011, and all three books of the trilogy were Sunday Times bestsellers in both hardback and paperback

You can watch the interview below or here on YouTube.

We discuss:

  • Simon talks about the origins of the Sanctus trilogy and what inspired him to write the books. They are fast paced thrillers but they're also about the identity of religion in the West, and the real identity of the main character.
  • sanctusSense of place: The importance of the city of Ruin with the medieval Citadel, and the mysterious Sacrament that lies within.
  • On research and traveling for work – Simon worked for 20 years as a Director making travel shows, so a lot of that went into the books.
  • How Simon took 6 months off his TV job to write his first novel. He took his family to France to take a real break and that experience is woven into the origins of the books.
  • On walking the line on religion and spirituality. There are a lot of Christian ideas in the books, but also a lot of pagan mythology. It wasn't intended to be religious in any way. On arriving in France, sleep-deprived after a storm, and seeing the spires of Rouen Cathedral, Simon found a quote resonating in his mind from Ralph Waldo Emerson “A man is a god in ruins.” That became the seed for the books. Simon mentions that The Name of the Rose was an influence (as it was for me!)
  • On the Tau cross (pictured on the cover) and how important it was to the myths in the book. What is the Sacrament and what does it really mean?
  • Simon's now writing a new modern thriller series about a man who doesn't know who he is, a story of redemption. It's roughly based on the 10 Commandments and the first book is out in early 2015.

You can find Simon and his books at SimonToyne.com and on twitter @simontoyne.

Filed Under: Interviews with Thriller Authors Tagged With: religion, thrillers

Thrillers That Mix Science And Religion With Randy Ingermanson

September 8, 2014 By J.F. Penn

One of the themes I revisit in most of my books is the issue of what I really believe. For many of us, that's the internal journey of a lifetime!

Randy IngermansonToday I talk to physicist and Christian, Randy Ingermanson, about his City of God series and how he reconciles faith and science in his books.

You can watch the video below or here on YouTube, or listen to the audio on SoundCloud.


Randy IngermansonRandy Ingermanson is a physicist and geek suspense novelist. His books include the Oxygen series, the City of God series and Double Vision, as well as books for writers.

We discuss:

  • What is geek suspense anyway? How Randy loves books by Michael Crichton, and how his writing always includes city of godgeeky, smart people who have adventures. How he became a physicist and then started writing
  • How modern physics is a story about how the Universe got here. I talk about how I did Theology at Oxford and my boyfriend was a physicist so I combined religion and science. We discuss the line between religion and science.
  • Randy was raised in a religious home as a 7th Day Adventist. This has impacted his writing, and he continues to try and explore what he believes in his books through the eyes of his characters. How physics is very good at understanding HOW the Universe works, but not WHY the Universe works. We started with hydrogen and we ended up with people.
  • About Randy's City of God series. A rogue physicist travels back in time to kill the Apostle Paul. The book has a Messianic Jew, Rivka, who ends up with a Jewish theoretical physicist and accidentally walks through a portal to 1st century Jerusalem. Now they must stop the assassination of Paul.
  • On the culture shock of using Jerusalem as a backdrop to the story. A short history of 1st century Jerusalem and what was to come in that century, including the destruction of the Temple and the emergence of Rabbinic Judaism, as well as Christianity moving out of Israel to Rome.
  • How Randy visited Jerusalem in 1991 as part of his research and how Jerusalem is one of my favorite cities that keeps appearing in my books. How we were both influenced by The Source by James Michener.
  • How we have to write out of our own experience and passions – for us, it's religion and the supernatural! Plus, Randy brings in an element of romance – he's far more romantic than me! We both write powerful female characters.
  • On Randy's research for the Oxygen series which features a journey to Mars.

You can find Randy at Ingermanson.com and you can get his first book in the City of God series, Transgression, for free on Amazon here. [Read more…] about Thrillers That Mix Science And Religion With Randy Ingermanson

Filed Under: Interviews with Thriller Authors Tagged With: christian, interviews, religion, science, thrillers

22 Thrillers With Kick Ass Heroines

July 5, 2014 By J.F. Penn

I love reading (as well as writing) thrillers with kick ass female characters!

22 thrillersHere are a selection of books featuring feisty women who can fight as well as outsmart their enemies, some you may have heard of, and others will hopefully be new for you.

dieeasyCharlie Fox in Die Easy by Zoe Sharp

Charlie Fox, ex-Special Forces trainee turned bodyguard, described as “ill-tempered, aggressive and borderline psychotic, Fox is also compassionate, introspective and highly principled: arguably one of the most enigmatic − and coolest − heroines in contemporary genre fiction – Chicago Tribune” and Lee Child said: “If I were a woman I'd be Zoë Sharp. If Jack Reacher were a woman he'd be Zoë's main character, Charlie Fox.” Click here to sample or buy.

snakeskinLucy Guardino in Snakeskin by C.J.Lyons

Just your average Pittsburgh soccer mom, baking brownies and carrying a loaded forty-caliber Glock…CJ Lyons' FBI Special Agent Lucy Guardino has been described by real life FBI Agents as “dedicated, smart, and fearless.” Click here to sample or buy.

POEAlexandra Poe in POE by Brett Battles & Robert Gregory Browne

Half-Iranian bounty hunter reluctantly working for a defense contractor tracking down terrorists worldwide in the hope of finding her father, an Army colonel, who has been AWOL for 10 years. Poe is tough as nails, and never backs down from a fight, occasionally to her detriment. Click here to sample or buy.

bloodlinerollinsSeichan in Blood Line and the SIGMA series by James Rollins

Born in Vietnam, Seichan was raised on the streets, fighting for survival until she was recruited by the Guild to become one of their most feared assassins. Now part of SIGMA, Seichan seeks her past … Click here to sample or buy.

budapestMorgan Sierra in One Day In Budapest by J.F.Penn

An ex-Israeli military psychologist specializing in psychology and religion, Morgan Sierra joins the secret world of ARKANE to solve supernatural mysteries around the globe. A Krav Maga expert, passionate about protecting her family, Morgan never gives up on a fight or a quest. Click here to sample or buy.

fleeChandler in Flee by J. A. Konrath and Ann Voss Peterson.

Chandler isn’t a person; it’s the codename for a woman who was shaped from a raw military recruit into a living weapon. She’s an assassin without remorse or fear, doing the bidding of an agency so secret that only three people know of its existence. But when her cover gets blown, she becomes the target of a wide-reaching conspiracy led by a mysterious figure whose connection to Chandler goes far beyond what she could have imagined. Click here to sample or buy.

therighteousEliza Christianson in The Righteous by Michael Wallace

Raised in a polygamous enclave, Eliza still manages to be a headstrong, independent woman, investigating evils both human and supernatural in The Righteous series. She doesn’t flinch from a fight, rescuing others and defending her family to the end. Click here to sample or buy.

hungergamesKatniss Everdene in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Forced to fight for her District while the Capitol celebrates and the rest of Panem suffers under their tyranny, Katniss must kill to survive the murderous attempts of the other tributes. Click here to sample or buy.

dragontattooLisbeth Salander in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Salander, a tattooed computer hacker who joins Mikael Blomkvist to investigate a murder in the powerful Vanger family, turns into an avenging angel as the series progresses. Click to sample or buy now.

genevadecisionPia Sabel in The Geneva Decision by Seeley James

Pia Sabel plays to win. Until a few weeks ago, she was an international soccer star. But now she’s taken the helm of her billionaire father’s private security company, and she’s playing against a whole new set of opponents – the kind who shoot to kill. Click to sample or buy now.

silenceoflambsClarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

Seeking insight into the deadly madman she must find, FBI rookie Clarice Starling turns to Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a monster cannibal held in a hospital for the criminally insane. As Dr. Lecter invites Clarice into the darkest chambers of his mind, he forces her to confront her own childhood demons in return for knowledge; an unspeakable tuition he exacts to teach her how the monster thinks. Time is running out, but Clarice is stronger than you think … Click to sample or buy now.

smokeandboneKarou in Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Raised half in our world, half in ‘Elsewhere', Karou has never understood Brimstone's dark work – buying teeth from hunters and murderers – nor how she came into his keeping. She is a secret even to herself, plagued by the sensation that she isn't whole. Now the doors to Elsewhere are closing, and Karou must choose between the safety of her human life and the dangers of a war-ravaged world that may hold the answers she has always sought. Click to sample or buy now.

sentinelJane Harper in The Sentinel by Jeremy Bishop

Jane is a sarcastic, strong, no-holds-barred heroine capable of fending off angry whalers, anti-whaling activists…and viking zombies! Shipwrecked on an arctic island where ancient Draugar (the inspiration for modern day zombies and vampires) were buried, Jane, along with a band of survivors must face off against the elements and a 600 year old enemy. Click to sample or buy now.

shininggirlsKirby in The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

The girl who wouldn’t die hunting a killer who shouldn’t exist. Harper stalks his shining girls through the years – and cuts the spark out of them. But what if the one that got away came
back for him? Click to sample or buy now.

inceptioKaren Brown in Inceptio by Alison Morton

Karen Brown, angry and frightened after a kidnap attempt, has a choice – being eliminated by government enforcer Jeffery Renschman or fleeing to mysterious Roma Nova, her dead mother's homeland in Europe. Unable to rely on anybody else, she undergoes intensive training, develops fighting skills and becomes an undercover cop. But crazy with bitterness at his past failures, Renschman sets a trap for her, knowing she has no choice but to spring it… Click to sample or buy now.

Want more thriller recommendations? Click here to check out more recommended books here.

Filed Under: Books I Recommend Tagged With: heroines, kick ass, thrillers

26 Thrillers For A Winter’s Night

December 2, 2013 By J.F. Penn

Winter has definitely arrived.

26 thrillers for winter's nightThe trees are almost bare and I've dug out my woolly jumpers and mittens. The pubs are serving mulled wine, and Brits are certainly drinking it!

It's time to curl up by the fire with a good book, so here are some of my recommendations for winter themed thrillers. Please do leave your recommendations in the comments!

the shiningThe Shining – Stephen King

As the harsh winter weather sets in at the Overlook Hotel, the idyllic location feels ever more remote . . . and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old. Click here to sample or buy.

Wolves of ParisThe Wolves of Paris – Michael Wallace

It's the winter of 1450 and Paris is in a panic. A pack of ravenous wolves is loose in the city, feasting on human flesh … These are no ordinary wolves. And if they are not defeated, the city's filthy alleys will be awash in blood. Click here to sample or buy.

white fireWhite Fire – Preston & Child

Colorado, 1876: At a remote mining camp high in the Rocky Mountains, eleven gold miners are killed, their bodies horribly mutilated, flesh devoured.

136 years later … As the winter snows fall, Corrie's life depends on unravelling a dark secret… the key to which may just lie in a lost Sherlock Holmes story, a tale allegedly so horrifying that its author never dared publish it. Click here to sample or buy.

kill zoneKILL ZONE: A Lucy Guardino FBI Thriller – CJ Lyons

Four days before Christmas, visions of sugar plums and sleeping through the Nutcracker with her husband at her side are dashed when FBI Special Agent Lucy Guardino becomes trapped behind enemy lines as a vicious drug cartel declares war on Pittsburgh.  Click here to sample or buy.

james rollins subterraneanSubterranean – James Rollins

Beneath the ice at the bottom of the Earth is a magnificent subterranean labyrinth, a place of breathtaking wonders – and terrors beyond imagining. A team of specialists led by archaeologist Ashley Carter has been hand-picked to explore this secret place and to uncover the riches it holds.

But they are not the first to venture here – and those they follow did not return. There are mysteries here older than time, and revelations that could change the world. But there are also things that should not be disturbed – and a devastating truth that could doom Ashley and the expedition: they are not alone. Click here to sample or buy.

One Day In BudapestOne Day In Budapest – J.F.Penn

A relic, stolen from the heart of an ancient city. An echo of nationalist violence not seen since the dark days of the Second World War.
As the snow falls on the city and the Danube begins to freeze, Morgan Sierra must race against time to find the Holy Right and expose the conspiracy, before blood is spilled again on the streets of Budapest.
Click here to sample or buy.

miss smilllaMiss Smilla's Feeling for Snow – Peter Hoeg

A little boy falls off a roof in Copenhagen and is killed. Smilla, his neighbour, suspects it is not an accident: she has seen his footsteps in the snow, and, having been brought up by her mother, a Greenlander, she has a feeling for snow.

Click here to sample or buy.

icefallIcefall – David Wood

When the bones of the Magi are stolen from their resting place in a German cathedral, the whispered words of a dying priest catapult Dane Maddock and Bones Bonebrake into the midst of a deadly race to solve a centuries-old conspiracy. Click here to sample or buy.

macbethMacbeth, a novel – A.J.Hartley and David Hewson

As winter draws near in Scotland, Macbeth meets a trio of witches and the frustrated hero begins to think that perhaps Scotland needs a new king—him. But what begins as a plan fueled by the best of intentions soon spirals into murder, treachery, and personal collapse. A superb, modern rendition of the classic. Click here to sample or buy.

lockdown sean blackLockdown – Sean Black

It may be Christmas Eve in New York, but for ex-military bodyguard Ryan Lock it's business as usual. His task: to protect the CEO of the world's largest bio-technology company from a group of radical, and highly determined, activists. Click here to sample or buy.

cold earthCold Earth – Sarah Moss

A team of six archaeologists from the United States, England, and Scotland assembles at the beginning of the Arctic summer to unearth traces of the lost Viking settlements in Greenland. But as they sink into uneasy domesticity, there is news of an epidemic back home, and their communications with the outside world fall away. Click here to sample or buy.

drop by dropDrop By Drop – Keith Raffel

Professor Sam Rockman's search for his wife's killer takes him from conspiracy amidst winter snows in Washington D.C. to an abandoned underground center for nuclear weapons in frozen Russia. Click here to sample or buy now. 

ice station matthew reillyIce Station – Matthew Reilly

At a remote US ice station in Antarctica, a team of scientists has made an amazing discovery. They found something unbelievable buried deep below the surface – trapped inside a layer of ice 400 million years old. Something made of metal…something which shouldn't be there…it's the discovery of a lifetime, a discovery of immeasurable value. And a discovery men will kill for. Click here to sample or buy now.

get back jackGet Back Jack – Diane Capri

As ice shards pelt her skin on the streets of DC, New York, and Chicago, Kim Otto slips around the edges of Jack Reacher's lethal enemies, only one shot from death, until she faces an enemy with nothing to lose. Click here to sample or buy now.

antarktos risingAntarktos Rising – Jeremy Robinson

Antarctica, freshly thawed and blooming, has emerged as a new hope. Rather than wage a world war no nation can endure, the leading nations devise a competition, a race to the center of Antarctica, with the three victors dividing the continent … But the dangers awaiting the team are far worse than feared.

Click here to sample or buy now.

second shotSecond Shot – Zoe Sharp

After a bloody shoot-out in a frozen forest, Charlie Fox is left fighting for her life. As she battles to recover from her injuries, she's still fiercely protective of the girl she's trying to protect, even though her actions will catapult them both back into the firing line. And this time, Charlie's in no fit state to protect anyone, least of all herself … Click here to sample or buy now.

defector daniel silvaThe Defector – Daniel Silva

Grigori Bulganov once saved Gabriel Allon's life in Moscow-and Allon always repays his debts. So when the former Russian intelligence officer vanishes, Allon gathers his team of operatives to go after those responsible. But, in a running battle that rages across the globe, Allon soon realizes that his enemy may already hold the key to victory. And that if he continues, it will cost him more than he can bear… Click here to sample or buy now.

freezing pointFreezing Point – Karen Dionne

In a drowning, desperate world, the Soldyne Corporation sees an opportunity: Melt Antarctic icebergs into drinking water using their microwave satellite array, ship the water to thirsty nations around the globe, and make a fortune. But deep within the ice waits an enemy more deadly than anyone could imagine–and an apocalyptic horror Earth may not survive. Click here to sample or buy now.

the terrorThe Terror – Dan Simmons

The ships have now been trapped in the Arctic ice for nearly two years. Coal and provisions are running low. Yet the real threat isn't the constantly shifting landscape of white or the flesh-numbing temperatures, dwindling supplies or the vessels being slowly crushed by the unyielding grip of the frozen ocean.

No, the real threat is far more terrifying. There is something out there that haunts the frigid darkness, which stalks the ships, snatching one man at a time – mutilating, devouring. A nameless thing, at once nowhere and everywhere, this terror has become the expedition's nemesis. Click here to sample or buy now.

 the world beneathThe World Beneath – Rebecca Cantrell

Software millionaire Joe Tesla can't go outside, but he knows it's getting on toward Christmas because New Yorkers are hurrying through Grand Central Station with snow-dusted coats and red-wrapped packages. He also knows that one fourth of them might die bloody Christmas deaths if he can't contain a mysterious disease he's discovered in his subterranean realm. Click here to sample or buy now.

blood and iceBlood and Ice – Robert Masello

Journalist Michael Wilde—his world recently shattered by tragedy—has come to the South Pole looking for solace and a new lease on life. But what he finds on a routine dive in the polar sea is something else entirely: the bodies of a young man and a young woman, bound with chains and sealed forever in a block of ice. Click here to sample or buy now.

the price sokoloffThe Price – Alexandra Sokoloff

In the dead of a Boston winter, a district attorney begins to suspect his wife has made a terrible bargain with a mysterious hospital counselor to save the life of their dying child. Click here to sample or buy now.

icebound Icebound by Dean Koontz

In an Arctic icefield, a special team of scientists has planted bombs that will detonate automatically at midnight to break away some of the ice. Before they withdraw to the safety of their base camp, a shattering tidal wave breaks loose the ice on which they are working. Now they are marooned on an iceberg during the worst winter storm of the decade. The bombs in the ice beneath them are buried irretrievably deep…and ticking. Click here to sample or buy now.

red king of helsinkiThe Red King of Helsinki – Helena Halme

A fast moving Nordic Noir spy story, set in the wintry streets of Helsinki. The year is 1979 and the Cold War is all but over in Helsinki, the playground of the Russian KGB, when a former British Navy officer Iain is asked to work undercover. He’s to investigate Vladislav Kovtun, a violent KGB spy, dubbed The Red King of Helsinki by the Finnish secret service. This is Iain’s first assignment, and when he discovers the bodies left in Kovtun’s wake, he quickly gets embroiled in danger. Click here to sample or buy now.

dark placesDark Places – Gillian Flynn

Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farmhouse into the freezing January snow … Years later, Libby’s search for the truth takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started—on the run from a killer. Click here to sample or buy now.

Thousand Fiendish AngelsA Thousand Fiendish Angels – J.F.Penn

Three short stories inspired by Dante’s Inferno, linked by a book of human skin passed down through generations. On the edge of horror, thriller and the occult.

Sins of Treachery: On the death of their Grandfather, twin brothers Simon and Gestas are left a map covered in alchemical symbols that could lead them to great wealth and power. But they find more than they expected in the frozen wastes of the Arctic north … Click here to sample or buy now.

What's your favorite thriller based in or around the snowy winter? Please do leave a comment below.

Filed Under: Books I Recommend Tagged With: thrillers

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