Intro/Welcome: Who, What, When, Where & How > Likes and Comments

Welcome to the Techno-thrillers group.

Join us for:

Book of the Month (BOTM):
We vote on a book of the month to read together as a group. Honestly, it is usually just me and maybe 2 or 3 people each month, but sometimes we get more participants, like when we read Jurassic Park. In 2025, we read two books each month. In 2026, I plan to have a monthly book, and a quarterly book, so we can take a few months to read some of the books that are too hard to read in one month, like The Stand (1200 pages).

Lists:
See our rank-ordered lists of favorites:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
This is a great resource to pick the next best book to read. Feel free to vote on the various lists. For example, I think Project Hail Mary is the best techno-thriller of the 2020s, followed by some books from the Aggressor series. Whether you agree or not, add your vote or a book to the list. You’ll need to use a browser in Desktop mode to do that. Can’t see or do such things from the app.

Group Watch:
Share whenever a technothriller is being made into a movie or show. We can all watch it and comment. We watched Day of the Jackal in 2025. That prompted me to read what turns out to be an outstanding thriller book. The series is modernized, so two different plots, only similar at a very high level. We looked to forward to Project Hail Mary in 2026, and now it is here.

Buddy Read (BR): It's more fun to read together.
Post in the Buddy Read folder any time you want to read a technothriller book. Maybe one or more members will join you, and you can discuss it there. This way, I found a buddy to read Delta-V and Ice Station with me … both good reads.

Challenges Share a list of books you've read.
We have threads for some favorite authors or topics there, like Tom Clancy and Michael Crichton. Will probably add Blake Crouch for 2026.

Bookshelf: See the books the group has read. These are general book of the month, group watch, or buddy read books. This is not for just any new author to promote their book. These were chosen by the group … even if that’s only a handful of us some months.

Author Self-Promotion: Post about your book:
- Do not add your own book to the Bookshelf.
- Do not nominate your own book for reads.
- Post about your book in the AUTHOR folder only.
- That is the one main rule of the group.
- Watch for member-author BOTM opportunity.
- We had 3 member-author reads in 2025.
- A few of us read: The Yamanaka Factors
- It was good—better than several BOTM selections.

Posts
Yes, … please! This is what it is all about. Please post and share your comments on the books!

About us:

Some of us are active, and we’re growing:
- 130 members on Apr 18, 2024
- 140 members on Jun 30, 2024
- 150 members on Aug 30, 2024
- 160 members on Nov 8, 2024
- 170 members on Dec 20, 2024
- 180 members on Jan 28, 2025
- 190 members on Feb 23, 2025
- 200 members on Apr 9, 2025
- 210 members on May 25, 2025
- 220 members on Jun 25, 2025
- 230 members on Jul 16, 2025
- 240 members on Aug 23, 2025
- 250 members on Sep 16, 2025
- 260 members on Oct 17, 2025
- 270 members on Nov 6, 2025
- 280 members on Dec 3, 2025
- 290 members on Dec 29, 2025
- 300 members on Jan 8, 2026
- 310 members on Jan 27, 2026
- 320 members on Feb 11, 2026
- 330 members on Mar 2, 2026
- 340 members on Mar 24, 2026
- 350 members on Apr 13, 2026
- 360 members on May 16, 2026
- 370 members on Jun 13, 2026
- 380 members on Jul 15, 2026

We were 130 members when I joined. The group was 11 years old and seemed to be essentially dormant. I don’t get a lot of feedback, but it is nice to see that the group has doubled in the year and a half since I started moderating. I’ve certainly enjoyed the discussion we get and have found good reads I wouldn’t have without you.

Member Map:

Updated October 11, 2025
Need to add: Argentina, China, Norway, South Korea, Utah, Michigan, Kansas

Locations: (Sovereign States, Countries, States/Regions/Provinces)

Argentina
Australia: ACT, NSW, SA
Bahamas
Belgium
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Brazil
Canada: MB, ON, QC
China
Columbia
Costa Rica
Croatia
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
India: AP, GJ, KA, MH
Ireland
Italy: Apulia, Lombardy
Japan
Lithuania
Netherlands
Norway
Pakistan
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
UAE
UK:
- England: East Midlands, London, North West, South East, South West, Yorkshire and the Humber, West Midlands
- Scotland: Edinburgh, Perth & Kinross
- Northern Ireland
- Bailiwick of Jersey
Ukraine
US: AL, AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, MD, MI, MO, NE, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY (37 of 51 including DC)

Ages: 23 - 81
Men (mostly) & a couple dozen women
Readers, many writers, & a publisher

Let us know if we need to add more countries.

If you are in the UK ... I'm merely trying to reflect some more granular regions, and probably just upsetting everyone in the process. Does anyone use "regions"? Perhaps not. Counties? Seems like a hot mess. Probably cannot make anyone "happy" with a Northern Ireland flag of any kind. The St. Patrick saltire flag is just a decomposition of the Union Jack. If any of you have a preference for something else, let me know.

Tell us a little about you:

 • Name
 • Location: city, province/state, country
 • Local Flavor: something quintessential to your location (not necessarily food but whatever is unique and something you appreciate about the area)
 • Favorites in the technothriller genre:
    - Book(s)
    - Author(s)
    - Quote(s)/Scene
 • Role: note if author, publisher, promoter

You’ll get some greetings and maybe questions based on your bio or profile. I’ll delete most “welcome” messages after about a month, leaving just your bio for the longer term. You can always edit, format, or delete your own posts.

Name: Steve
Location: Tucson, Arizona, USA
Local Flavor: Tucson is arguably the best place to see a saguaro cactus or eat a carne seca chimichanga (Mexican food, Sonoran style).

Favorite techno-thriller book(s):
Project Hail Mary


Favorite techno-thriller authors:
Michael Crichton, Tom Clancy, Andy Weir


Favorite scene: In Project Hail Mary, where … (view spoiler)[Ryland Grace has just arrived in the solar system he was aiming for, and surveys the system with his scopes. He sees a bright spot on the scope, and suddenly it moves. He goes through a series of panicky realizations, that in my mind were something like this: Holy sh*t that thing just moved, … fast, it must be (it arrives) a ship. Who the %$@# is that?! What the %$@&! are they!? That was fast! What do they want? What are their intentions? Can I do anything about it with this ship, by myself, if I don’t like their intentions? Oh H*ll, they must be here for the same reason I am, to figure out what’s going on? Unless they live here?! I’m here to save the planet and humanity. I’m by myself. They’re obviously intelligent life. I’m going to need all the help I can get to succeed. Holy $@% this is alien life. I’m pretty much sh*@&$ing my pants, but … time is of the essence and I need to know what they know. Of my G…, they’re trying to communicate! (hide spoiler)].

Hi there,

I just finished Artificial Wisdom and clicking through the links led me to this group. I'm only a little late :) Here's my tombstone data and then some thoughts / asking-for-a-friend about the book.

Name: Harry
Location: Governor's Harbour, Eleuthera, Bahamas
Flavour: Paradise six months of the year, paradise + hurricanes the other six. It's like living at the end of a bowling alley. Sooner or later, someone is gonna throw a strike.
Fav Book: Does Station Eleven count in the genre? Otherwise Hail Mary
Fav Author: Andy Weir
Role: Reader, Author


I loved Artificial Wisdom until about the 50% point then got into the mystery rhythm of clue-nextChapter-clue-... but that passed quickly enough and I got back to loving it. Then the ending ... hmmm. From reading the acknowledgments, it sounds like his daughter demanded more, which might explain why it felt rushed/tacked-on.

I'm all for leaving the door open to a sequel, but I think the questions he left open to build that door were important to close off. Like ... in a whodunnit, don't you have to say whodunnit?

Anyway, I still really liked it, but it went from a 5 to a 4 for me with the finish.

I'm new to Goodreads and have been slowly adding the books I've read. I stumbled across this group and got an alert, so figured I'd offer up a reply.

• Name: Michael J. Lalonde
• Location: Toronto, ON, Canada
• Flavor: Very heavy traffic :(
• Favorites in the technothriller genre:
The Hunt for Red October
Tom Clancy
There's more but I would be here all day trying to list them all. Needless to say, like many others, Clancy is what got me into the genre.
• Role: Author
The Quiet War: Canadian Front

Hello to all. I'm Victor and I'm writing from Armenia, Colombia.

I'm new to GoodReads and I'm very happy to be part of this group where I hope to learn more about this wonderful genre.

I just finished reading ‘The Fear Index’ by Robert Harris and it left me with a lot of ideas in my head, reminding me of some Michael Crichton and Preston & Child stories :)

Love the idea for this group. Interesting place to come for sci-fi that could be reality.

I joined Goodreads mainly because I am a new writer and published my first book.

The Hunt for the Red October and Tom Clancy in overall are big influencers for me.

I haven't gotten to filling out my list of books yet, but I will!

Thanks for hosting this group!

Hello there, I'm S. A. Black. Nice to meet you all!

• Location: USA
• Favorites in the technothriller genre:
- Ready Player One
- Stephen King
• Role: I'm a newly published indie author and enjoy reading.

Name: Romain
Location: Lausanne, Switzerland
Local Flavor: One of the big wine region of Switzerland with vineyards looking over the Leman Lake

Favorite techno-thriller book(s):
The Dervish House
Glasshouse
Neuromancer
No list will be complete, no list will be perfect.

Roles: avid reader, author

Name: Chris

Location: West Yorkshire, northern England

Flavour: Also known as the Heavy Woollen District, the area is rich with industrial heritage

Favourites:
Books - Cryptonomicon (Stephenson), Daemon (Suarez)
Authors - Clancy, Crichton, Stephenson, Forsyth
Quotes - “Didn’t they know that the only unhackable computer is one that’s running a secure operating system, welded inside a steel safe, buried under a ton of concrete at the bottom of a coal mine guarded by the SAS and a couple of armoured divisions, and switched off?”
(Charles Stross, The Atrocity Archives)

Role: reader and inchoate author

Name: Ryan

Location: Northern Virginia

Flavor: It's the Swamp - half the people around me work for "the government" - IYKYK

Favorites: Too many to count - this is my favorite genre to read. Can't believe it took me this long to find this group.

Huge fan of:

Tom Clancy
Clive Cussler
Michael Crichton
James Rollins
Matthew Reilly
Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
Stephen Coonts
Dale Brown
A.G. Riddle
Steve Berry
Robert Ludlum

Role: I'm an indie author, but here mostly as a reader - would love to get more recs! Especially of the James Rollins/Matt Reilly type technothrillers, I feel like there's not enough well-researched ones out there.

Hello everyone! 👋

My name is Cody Alaniz, I’m from Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA.
One thing I love about my area is the mix of Cajun culture, food, and the resilience of the community—it’s a place full of stories and energy that always inspires me.

As for technothrillers, some of my favorites are:

Books: Daemon by Daniel Suarez, Neuromancer by William Gibson, and The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton.

Authors: Michael Crichton, Daniel Suarez, and William Gibson always keep me hooked.

Quotes/Scenes: One that really sticks with me is from Neuromancer — “The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.” The imagery captures exactly why I love the genre.

My role here: I’m an author. My book The Edge of Control dives into AI, power, and the human struggle to control the very technology we create. I’m looking forward to connecting with other readers and writers who share this passion, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on favorite technothrillers, too.

Excited to be here and join the conversation! 🚀

Greetings fellow earthlings.

My name is Simon Mortimer. I was told a family myth that 'Mortimer' is French for 'Dead Sea' (Mort + Mer), and I was descended from knights upon whom that name was bestowed for valour during the Crusades of a thousand years ago... 'wow' I thought - my young heart swelling with pride and ancestry... Except it turns out, the name is French, but it refers to 'black waters' rather than 'Dead Seas' - and more specifically an area of France famous for pungent peat bogs and nothing to do with knights, castles, or honour gained in battle. So I went from a descendent of knights to someone whom emerged from a peat bog.

As for my location, my current location is Sydney Australia, but I have worked in many parts of the globe in my career as a civil engineer (or civilisation engineer is the forgotten full terminology). I was born and grew up in West Yorkshire on a remote property on the same moors of Wuthering Heights fame. Sydney is a beautiful city with iconic architecture, but it leans a little too heavily on that I'm afraid and has less genuine heart than Melbourne (for example) - Sydney is more show than substance, to a certain extent anyway, it has an awful lot going for it too, don't get me wrong.

My all time favourite techno-thriller is the War of the Worlds, and perhaps more specifically the LP that was released in the 1970s narrated by Richard Burton's voice of gravelly gravitas and with a soaring orchestral backdrop. I was transported to another world. I must have listened to that record over a hundred times as a kid and read the book too. I love the story of what happened when Orson Wells convinced a chunk of America Mars was invading as well via that famous radio broadcast based on the novel. It is such a good story, which has generated its own story in the real world - beat that for a techno thriller!

As for my role, well - yep - I am an author and - full disclosure - of course I am here to reach out to those interested in the genre I have chosen to write in. I am not going to push it on anyone though. You can find my author page and take a look - or not - all good. I do intend to contribute here as well. Techno-thrillers seem to be an under-represented genre, and I reckon the world would be a better and a more fun place if that changes, so anything I can do to help there - I'm all in.

Keep well earthlings.

Simon M

Hello!
I'm looking forward to being a member of this group.
Name: Helena Trooperman
Location: 1hr outside Toronto, ON, Canada
Local Flavour: India Village is my favourite and a good coconut curry goes well with our local Shaun & Ed's beer. Also, I'm British by birth and now, also Canadian.

Favourite techno-thriller authors:
Michael Crichton, Andy Weir, Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, Douglas E. Richards, (James S. A. Corey?)

Favourite techno-thriller reads: apart from Hunt for Red October!
Timeline, Contact, Arrival, Anathem, Seven-Eves, Martian, Artemis, Expanse, Pattern Recognition, Nick Hall series...

Role: Author of optimistic near future scifi told thriller.

Name: Szymon

Location: Poland

Local Flavor: Arguably the best place to eat a massive, bone-in breaded pork cutlet (schabowy) with mashed potatoes and cabbage—ideally at a local pub right next to the largest Polish Aviation Museum in Krakow, surrounded by decades of military history.

Favorite techno-thriller book: The Hunt for Red October

Favorite techno-thriller authors: Tom Clancy, Michael Crichton, Michael DiMercurio

Favorite scene: The final underwater battle in The Hunt for Red October involving the Red October, the USS Dallas, the Konovalov, and the frigate USS Reuben James. The multi-layered tactical complexity and tension of that engagement is simply unmatched.

Role: Indie Author
(Currently writing a military/alt-history saga that evolves from 1920s biplanes into cold war black ops).

Thanks for the welcome.

Daniel Baird
• Location: Carlsbad. CA
• Local Flavor: Surfing and Skateboarding. Surfing for LA28 will be held 35min north of my house, and the skate parks around me have pro skaters daily.
• Favorites in the technothriller genre: 3 Body Problem and Expanse.
• Role: I did write a book, but I'm a software architect for Paramount Streaming.

Name: David
Location: Schenectady, NY, USA
Local Flavor: The Electric City, birthplace of Thomas Edison's General Electric! The original light bulb still shines!
Favorites in the technothriller genre: Brad Thor, Vince Flynn, Jack Carr, and Tom Clancy (the OG)

Welcome Christopher!

Welcome Reader!

Welcome Matt!

Welcome Daniel!

Name
Temitayo Miyoshi-Seun Jemison (TJ)
Location:
Detroit, Michigan
Local Flavor: I live in the "Great Lakes State" birthplace of the U.S. Auto Industry. We have the longest freshwater coastline in the U.S.
Favorite techno-thriller book(s):
Dark Matter, Jurassic Park, Patriot Games, The Manchurian Candidate, Hunger Games, to names a few.
Favorite techno-thriller authors:
Richard Codon, Suzanne Collins, Blake Crouch, Michael Crichton and Tom Clancy to name a few.
Favorite scene:
In Hunger Games, When Katniss Everdeen yells "I volunteer as tribute " to save her little sister Prim, it shows true bravery.

Welcome TJ!


Not many name their favorite scene. I love it!

Welcome Daisy!

Welcome Amir!

Welcome Patricia!

Welcome Seb!

Welcome Jan!


You are the first from Norway! I’ll add it to the list.

Welcome Catarina!

Welcome Samuel!

Welcome Bob!

Welcome Semih!
I’ll have to add Romania to our list of countries!

Welcome Bree!

Fort Collins? They make some good beer there.

Welcome Jennifer!

Hello, I'm R A Hewitt. I'm a British science-fiction writer and CTO, with a background in programming and large-scale systems architecture. I tend to enjoy near-future fiction where the technology is plausible enough to feel uncomfortable: AI, cryptography, quantum computing, complex systems, and unintended consequences.

My debut novel, The Universe Without Noise, comes out on 1 September 2026. It follows a quantum researcher in London who discovers that the systems making life smoother are quietly optimising away everything unpredictable and human.

I'm here primarily because I enjoy the genre and want to discover more science-driven thrillers. I also have a few ebook ARCs available if the premise interests anyone.

Welcome R!


Congratulations on your first novel! Please leave the particulars and offers to posts in the AUTHORS / PROMOTIONS folder.

Welcome Darrin!

Thanks, Steve, and understood.