What I've Been Reading

I realized I haven't updated this blog in a while. I post more frequently on my Facebook page, which you can follow here, if you aren't already. Here are some of the books and authors I've read in 2020. If you like the types of stories I tell, with mercenaries, spies, and terrorists in plots with up-to-date geo-political backgrounds, then you will probably enjoy these authors, and there's plenty below to keep you occupied until GRAY ZONE is released later this year.

 

I'm not going to bother talking about the usual array of New York Times bestselling authors.As much as I enjoy Mark Greaney or Brad Taylor, you're probably already reading those guys. 

 

First up is Adrian Magson. This shockingly underrated British author writes espionage and crime novels in a variety of series. Anyone reading this will probably find his Marc Portman series of interest. Portman is an independent security contractor who takes on jobs for Western intelligence agencies. The newest installment, A Hostile State, will be out in May.

 

Also on the British end, Andy McNab's Nick Stone series is near and dear to my heart.  This series appears to be on hiatus, but it currently stands at 19 books long. The highlights are Dark Winter, Crossfire, Brute Force, and Exit Wound.

Steven Hildreth, Jr released  Vermilion Boiling in 2020, the newest addition to his Forsaken Patriots. Combining political conspiracies in Washington and Moscow, domestic terrorism, vigilantism, espionage, and intense action scenes, this series is very timely, relevant, and unlike anything else on the market today.

Peter Nealen is an incredibly prolific author, producing numerous books in numerous series, but the one I'll mention here is Brannigan's Blackhearts, an action-packed mercenary series that blends hardcore, realistic combat and plots with the more pulpish elements of old school action series. The most recent addition, Enemy of My Enemy, was released in December.

Also published in December was Drone Strike by former CIA officer David Austin. Think Mitch Rapp or Scott Harvath, but more realistic and without the cheesier aspects of those series.

Thriller maestro Stephen England released Windbreak, the latest addition to his superb Shadow Warriors series. This is a crazy good series that is elegantly written with complex and realistic character-driven plots.

And back on the mercenary front, J.E Higgins published The Izmir Situation, the fourth book in his series about a female South African mercenary. He also has two stand alone mercenary novels. 

 

Although it hasn't been published yet, I was also fortunate enough to read advance copies of Aiden L. Bailey's upcoming Triggerman series, which reads like a cross between Greaney's Gray Man and the Bourne movies.

 

Finally, I must mention James Swallow's cyber thriller Ghost, just published in the US, the third in his series about a private military company, with a touch of Bondian elements.