Comparable authors?

[Don]

I'm going through withdrawal symptoms after having recently finished the complete Jack Reacher Series by Lee Child! I read all fifteen books over the past year or so, and am having a real problem finding any other adventure books that are as well written. I do consider Stieg Larsson and Dan Brown in the same league as Lee Child, but I have read all of their works as well! If you enjoy the Jack Reacher series as much as I do, what other authors would you recommend?

[Ruben]

Vince Flynn with the Mitch Rapp series is something you might enjoy. Although it's more of a political thriller and Mitch Rapp is a bit of a 'Captain America' as opposed to Reacher who prefers to be in the background and is normally the last person to provoke his sharpened elbows...the stories are pretty intriguing.

[Don]

Thank you for the suggestion, Zen13. I've just read through the thumbnail profile of Flynn's books and I think I will take you up on the recommendation very soon. Many thanks!

[Opa]

One of the reasons I like Child is because he can keep your interest and express himself without the use of f-bombs and a lot of curse words. Other authors you might like are Brian Haig, Daniel Silva, Joel Rosenburg or John Grisham. If curse words don't bother you, try Brad Thor or Vince Flynn.

[Don]

Thanks to both Opa and Zen13's recommendation, I have picked up a copy of American Assassin by Vince Flynn and will start reading within the hour. Thanks very much folks! Will feed back later!

[Gary]

After coming over to Lee Child from Vince Flynn, I next found Michael Connelly and his Bosch series, starting with The Black Echo to be completely engrossing and whipped through them all.

[Don]

Appreciate the suggestion Gary. I've added Michael Connelly to my list of "To Reads". So far .... really enjoying American Assassin and can now look forward to a summer of great books thanks to this group! And then, in late September, Jack Reacher returns in "The Affair"!

[John]

The character I find most like Reacher is Joe Pike. Robert Crais has a very good series that features LA private eye Elvis Cole. Pike is Cole's partner.

There are three books that have Pike as the main character: THE WATCHMAN, THE FIRST RULE & THE SENTRY.

[Ruben]

Don wrote: "Thanks to both Opa and Zen13's recommendation, I have picked up a copy of American Assassin by Vince Flynn and will start reading within the hour. Thanks very much folks! Will feed back later!"

Hmmm...about American Assassin. That's the prequel to how Mitch Rapp begins his CIA career. I don't know if the publisher's have edited the book recently, but the copy I read had a lot of grammatical errors and errors between character conversations. Just a warning.

[Don]

I deliberately chose the prequel, thinking it might help put the others into a clearer focus when I read them next. I have noticed a few typos and other anomolies in the ebook but I just chalked them up to digital noise! Half way through, I am loving the story and the writing style so far! Thanks again for the recommendation.

[Don]

John ... thanks for suggesting Robert Crais's Joe Pike and Elvis Cole Books. I have heard good things about these books and will definitely investigate some of them this summer.

[Matt]

Hello! Just thought I'd drop by and say if you like Jack Reacher, you might like the first book by author Dan Smith

Though very different in some ways to Reacher, in many others it reminded me of the simple grittiness & single mindedness of JR, but with the human element & fallibility evident in his stories.

Hopefully this 'debut' will lead to great things from Dan!

[John]

Thanks for post about Dan Smith. Will look him up. Anyone else looking getting books through OverDrive and your local Library. Great source!

[Bru]

I'll have to try Dan Smith. I've always enjoyed Stephen Hunter's work. He has that research element that makes the Reacher novels so good. Additionally, the protagonist, Bob Lee Swagger has that invincibility that seems to be characteristic of Jack Reacher. There's also that great moral compass that directs Swagger and Reacher and other greats like Parker's Spencer. Stephen Hunter's latest book has a Jane Fonda doppelganger getting assassinated. It's a lot of fun to read.
Dead Zero

[Gary]

Strey, Thanks for the tip, I just wish he published in Kindle format. Strange not to be for a newly published book

[Katherine]

I suggest Steve Hamilton, especially his Alex McKnight series. Not quite as long and as complicated as Reacher, but complicated by the northern Michigan setting.

[Kathy]

Gary, If you are looking for good thrillers, John Hart writes some really good books. I have read all his books and within the first chapter of all of them, they caught my interest and became very difficult to put down. They are The King of Lies, Down River, The last Child and his newest, Iron House.
Also Lee CHild came out with another Reacher book called The Second Son only in E-book format. Came out yesterday. It is the story of Jack Reacher before he went into the Army. I haven't read it yet, since I don't have an E-Reader yet, but am looking forward to they day I can afford one.Enjoy Reading!

[John]

Kathy, if you have a pc, you can eread using Amazon's new web app. Go to https://read.amazon.com/

[Kathy]

Thanks John, I will try it!

[John]

There is also a ereader at http://www.freebooks.com/
Lots of old "chestnuts" that are free

[John]

And I forgot to mention OverDrive where you can get ebooks from your library. Have read quite a few that way.

[Kathy]

I will download the overdrive, because I get most of my books from the library anyway. I can't afford to buy many books, so I only buy occasionally. Funds are pretty tight these days. Thanks for the information.

[Katherine]

I recommend John Hart highly. Another author similar to Lee Child is William Kent Krueger. His character, Cork O'Connor, is a former Sheriff in northern MN, near the Boundary Waters. He, too, is a freelancer. More predictable than Child, but a tough guy nevertheless. Well worth reading.

[Kathy]

I am a huge fan of John Hart, but I have never read any of William Kent Krueger. I will get one of his books and try him out. I am always looking for new authors to read, then I never run out of books to read!! lol thanks for the recommendations.
Also want to thank everyone for the info on the computer app from overdrive, I now sit at my computer to read. Not as comfortable as the couch, but I do love reading on it! Still like my books too. lol

[John]

On your recommendation, I am reading The King of Lies!

Thanks

Trick to OverDrive is to join as many libraries as you can, more resources.

John

[Diane]

I'm an author and a huge fan of Travis McGee and Jack Reacher, both of whom inspired me to create my Judge Wilhelmina Carson character. Willa is not a "tough guy" but she has an enviable lifestyle, delivers true justice (not just the by-the-rules kind) and is fiercely independent. Don't know if you would like her, but you can easily download samples from Amazon or other sites to find out.

[Tobey]

Might I suggest F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack series? It's a big time investment but well worth it, IMHO. Check out www.repairmanjack.com for more info as the order of how to read the books can be confusing!

[Roddy]

I am new to this group but I can relate to having withdraw after flying through all the Reacher books. The only other time this has happened is with the Prey series by John Sanford. I did not read all these posts entirely but I am surprised that no one has mentioned him.

[Kathy]

Roddy you are so right! Te Prey series is another addictive series! And I am really liking the break he made with his new series about Virgil Flowers. Have you read those? Dark of the Moon, Heat Lighting, Rough Country, Bad Blood, and Rough Country? They are almost as good as the Prey series, which happens to be my favorite of John Sanford.

[Roddy]

Yes, In fact I just finished Shock Wave. I admit the Virgil books are good but I do think the Prey series has more action. I just found out that 'Certain Prey' was made into a movie for TV and will be on the USA network tomorrow (11/6/11) night. While I still can't figure Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher I can definitely see Mark Harmon as Lucas Davenport.

[Kathy]

Roddy wrote: "Yes, In fact I just finished Shock Wave. I admit the Virgil books are good but I do think the Prey series has more action. I just found out that 'Certain Prey' was made into a movie for TV and will..."

Roddy, I didn't know about the moviem will have to watch it. I agree can't see Tom Cruise as Reacher, but I am looking forward to Harmon as Davenport, that one seems to be a better fit.

[Sean]

As you are all such big Reacher fans, and because my own thriller series bears some comparison (we share a publisher in the UK), I hope none of you mind my alerting you to following giveaway:

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...

The same book is also available free for Kindle in the US - but only until tomorrow.

http://www.amazon.com/Deadlock-Ryan-L...

[Don]

Zen13 wrote: "Vince Flynn with the Mitch Rapp series is something you might enjoy. Although it's more of a political thriller and Mitch Rapp is a bit of a 'Captain America' as opposed to Reacher who prefers to b..."

Hey Zen! I owe you one! Your recommendation of Vince Flynn's books was right on the spot! I've now finished ALL of his Mitch Rapp books and am anxiously awaiting Vince's next publication as soon as he is feeling better! Any other authors you would care to recommend??

[Erna]

Kill the Messenger by Tami Hoag is one of my all time favorites. I like others by Tami Hoag, currently I am reading Secrets to the Grave and it is excellent so far.

[Daman]

Don wrote: "I'm going through withdrawal symptoms after having recently finished the complete Jack Reacher Series by Lee Child! I read all fifteen books over the past year or so, and am having a real problem f..."

You might like the Myron Bolitar books from Harlan Coben. He's definitely a protagonist with an interesting past that grows on you like Reacher.

[Harriet]

I'm new to the group but love the Jack Reacher series and just finished reading Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp series. I also would suggest Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar series and C.J. Box's Joe Pickett series. Brad Thor's Scott Harvath is another suggestion. Thanks for the suggestions. Look forward to reading these, too!

[John]

Hi all. Just joined this group after doing a web search titled "books like Jack Reacher series", so I fully get the "withdrawals" mentioned by a few of you. I've read all the series of Reacher, Mitch Rapp (Vince Flynn), and Scot Harvath (Brad Thor), and continue to search for similar series. My love of series began with the Aubrey/Maturin books by Patrick O'Brian (i.e. Master and Commander, etc), which although obviously different than Reacher were still about men pursuing lives of adventure and war. FYI, I've been successful finding entire series (or at least close to it) on eBay for cheap...generally $2 or so per book.

[Mekerei]

Lee Childs is one of the few authors that I will pre-order his latest book and then devour in one to two setting (he hasn't let me down yet). My other favourite author is Barry Eisler.

John Rain is a fictional character created by Barry Eisler. He appears in seven of Eisler's espionage novels as an assassin for hire who specializes in making his victims appear to have died of natural causes. Rain is a Vietnam War veteran who served with the Special Forces; he was later recruited by the CIA, but by the time he appears in the first of the "John Rain" novels, Rain Fall.

There is an interesting conversation between John Rain and Barry Eisler here

[Cathy]

I've enjoyed John Sandford's Prey books. Lucas Davenport is an interesting character who has developed through the years. He has begun a branching off series with Virgil Flowers as the main character - Lucas usually makes a cameo appearance in each of those books. The settings are usually in my home area of northern Minn. and Wisconsin which also make the books fun for me. I also like William Kent Krueger and John Logan's books are excellent. I'm sure I'll think of more in a bit - I love these books because they are a great escape from daily life - the good guy wins but still suffers enough to make it somewhat realistic. Happy reading!

[Susan]

Don wrote: "I'm going through withdrawal symptoms after having recently finished the complete Jack Reacher Series by Lee Child! I read all fifteen books over the past year or so, and am having a real problem f..."

I've been reading this series for a couple years and really like John Sandford's books along with Thomas Perry's Jane Whitefield novels.

[Justin]

Ohhhhh, there are two very awesome ones you just have to try! First, Brad Thor and start with "The Lions of Lucerne"! Next there is David Baldacci who has different series which have different main characters, but all are great!

Then if you want to get into a couple series that are somewhat new and only have a couple books in each, try Noah Nous and his first book "The Bricklayer" and Brad Taylor's, "One Rough Man"!

Being a huge Reacher fan, I'll stake my reputation on these recommendations! I know you will love them!

[Cathy]

These are new authors for me (other than Baldacci - love the Oliver Stone series). Thanks!

[Cecilie]

I`m having withdrawals as well! You have to read Iron House by John Hart. Great read! I`m getting all of John Harts books ASAP!

[Dave]

Reacher is hard to beat. A little different, but still fun, is Robert B. Parker's western duo, Everett Hitch and Virgil Cole. Good series. Parker also had another good series with a guy named Spenser. Private dick in Boston. All tough guys with snappy dialogue. Get in tough situations. Sound a little familiar? If you end up liking Parker, you can keep reading till you drop. Man was really prolific.

[Barbara]

I was so glad to find this thread! I only have a few books in the series to read and I'm already anticipating withdrawals as some have mentioned. Now I have some interesting prospects. Thanks!
Also, would like to share that I discovered JR on the recommendation of a woman who saw me looking at the paperbacks in a store. She told me her son-in-law was producing the 1st Reacher movie and that all the books are excellent. That was mid May and I'm nearly finished with #13!

[Jseigfreid]

I have the same problem, read them all, now what? It was good to find this thread. Two Authors I found before Lee Chile, David Morrell and Jack Higgins. Higgins has Sean Dillon, not the same as Reacher, but the stories are good and well written. Morrell's work is hard to beat. His Brotherhood of the Rose and the quasi trilogy is excellent.

[Bru]

David Morrell actually wrote "First Blood." Which is the movie series "Rambo" that Sylvester Stallone grabbed. The book was my all time favorite at that time. It was very, very good. Nothing like the movie. There was no sequel..if you get my drift. Just a great statement on PTSD.

D.M. lost his son sometime after that and it took a while for him to get his style back. I'll have to try reading him again.

P.S. This is another example of how Hollywood can totally kill a book.

[Shayne]

Thanks to this list, I am a Mitch Rapp fan now. Finished American Assassin and now started with Transfer of Power.

[Glemgoyne]

I'll throw out John gillstrap's Jonathan Graves series. A retired 'operator' that sets up privately. The series starts with 'no mercy'

[Sean]

Hi

Just to add a few more names in the loop, I still trying to get through the Lee Child Books, on my fourth. But do enjoy Karin Slaughter (often same two characters Will Trent and his partner also Sara Linton), David Baldacci is also very good,Harlan Coben, and a very exciting author to read is Linwood Barclay, in fact his two books that I have read are two of the best ever read, No Time To Say Goodbye and The Accident, very gripping. Plus I do enjoy Chris Ryan books.

regards

Sean