Recommendations based on "Child 44"

Penguin presents the audio CD edition of The Spy and the Traitor written and read by Ben Macintyre. A thrilling Cold War story about a KGB double agent, by one of Britain's greatest historians On a warm July evening in 1985, a middle-aged man stood on the pavement of a busy avenue in the heart of Moscow, holding a plastic carrier bag. In his grey suit and tie, he looked like any other Soviet citizen. The bag alone was mildly conspicuous, printed with the red logo of Safeway, the British supermarket. The man was a spy. A senior KGB officer, for more than a decade he had supplied his British spymasters with a stream of priceless secrets from deep within the Soviet intelligence machine. No spy had done more to damage the KGB. The Safeway bag was a signal: to activate his escape plan to be smuggled out of Soviet Russia. So began one of the boldest and most extraordinary episodes in the history of spying. Ben Macintyre reveals a tale of espionage, betrayal and raw courage that changed the course of the Cold War forever. . . 'THE BEST TRUE SPY STORY I HAVE EVER READ' JOHN LE CARRÉ

Torture.Ghost detainees.And a massive cover-up that continues even today.This is the propulsive thriller that only former CIA operative turned bestselling novelist Barry Eisler could write.Marooned in a Manila jail after a bar fight fatality, black ops soldier Ben Treven gets a visit from his former commander, Colonel Scott Horton, who explains the price of Ben’s release: Find and eliminate Daniel Larison, a rogue operator from Ben’s unit who has stolen ninety-two torture tapes from the CIA and is using them to blackmail the U.S. government.But other players are after the tapes, too, and to find Larison, Ben will have to survive CIA hit teams, Blackwater mercenaries, and the long reach of the White House. He’ll also have to find a way to handle Paula Lanier, a smart, sexy FBI agent who has her own reasons for wanting the tapes and is determined to get them before Ben does. With the stakes this high, everyone has an angle—everyone but Ben, who will have to find the right alliance if he wants to stay alive.

A gripping, heart-pounding action-packed thriller from the author of The Good Husband. Lucas and Julia are about to become parents, but there's something Lucas hasn't told his wife. Two months ago, he lost his job and has been secretly working as a rideshare driver in a desperate attempt to make ends meet. But that's about the be the least of his problems. One evening he picks up a passenger in the Hollywood Hills. The man, Damon, puts a gun to Lucas's head, and tells him to drive. Because Damon has a list of men he intends to kill, and he needs Lucas's help. If Lucas complies, his family will be safe, but others will suffer. If he fights back, Damon will target his wife and daughter. It's an impossible choice, but what's clear is that Lucas's life is about to change forever. If he survives the night. READERS LOVE STEVE FRECH! 'I was hooked from the start and finished this book in 1 day. I couldn't read it fast enough' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'A dizzying whirlwind with layer after layer of secrecy' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Great characters, a fast-moving plot and superb writing' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

George Smiley’s deadly game is now a major motion picture starring Gary Oldman and Academy Award—winner Colin Firth “It’s the oldest question of all, George. Who can spy on the spies?” The man he knew as “Control” is dead, and the young Turks who forced him out now run the Circus. But George Smiley isn’t quite ready for retirement—especially when a desperate Russian woman defector surfaces with a shocking accusation: a Soviet mole has penetrated the highest level of British Intelligence. His treachery has already blown some of their vital operations and their best networks. He is one of their own kind. But which one? Relying only on his wits and a small, loyal cadre, Smiley traces the breach back to Karla—his Moscow Centre nemesis—and sets a trap to catch the traitor.

The first part of John le Carré's acclaimed Karla Trilogy, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy sees the beginning of the stealthy Cold War cat-and-mouse game between the taciturn, dogged George Smiley and his wily Soviet counterpart. A mole, implanted by Moscow Centre, has infiltrated the highest ranks of the British Intelligence Service, almost destroying it in the process. And so former spymaster George Smiley has been brought out of retirement in order to hunt down the traitor at the very heart of the Circus - even though it may be one of those closest to him. 'A stunning story' Wall Street Journal 'A great thriller, the best le Carré has written' Spectator THE FIFTH GEORGE SMILEY NOVEL

The series that started it all! In this powerful follow-up to his action-packed thriller The Kill Clause, Gregg Hurwitz, the new maestro of pulse-pounding suspense, ratchets up the excitement with another sensational page-turner featuring Tim Rackley, a driven lawman motivated by honor, morality, and a deep sense of justice. Called back into the fold of the U.S. Marshals Service, Tim is tasked with retrieving Leah Henning, the daughter of a powerful Hollywood producer, from a mind-control cult. As Tim wends his way deep undercover into an insidious operation called The Program, he confronts a brand of mind-warping manipulation beyond his worst expectations. Tim becomes enmeshed with a diverse band of characters—from the charismatic, messianic leader T. D. Betters to a cult reject burnout to the intelligent yet highly vulnerable Leah herself—and finds himself caught in a shadowy landscape of lies, manipulation, and terror. At stake: innocent minds—maybe even his own.

James Patterson believes The Black Book is his best thriller ever. The Red Book is even better. ​For Detective Billy Harney, getting shot in the head, stalked by a state's attorney, and accused of murder by his fellow cops is a normal week on the job. So when a drive-by shooting on the Chicago's west side turns political, he leads the way to a quick solve. But Harney's instincts -- his father was once chief of detectives and his twin sister, Patti, is also on the force -- run deep. As a population hungry for justice threatens to riot, he realizes that the three known victims are hardly the only casualties. When Harney starts asking questions about who's to blame, the easy answers prove to be the wrong ones. On the flip side, the less he seems to know, the longer he can keep his clandestine investigation going ... until Harney's quest to expose the evil that's rotting the city from the inside out takes him to the one place he vowed never to return: his own troubled past.

'Adam Procane has to be stopped...' It was the last message his wife ever sent, and even as he read it, foreign correspondent Bob Newman knew she was dead. The killers had sent a film of her murder to London with the warning - tell other people to keep away from Procane... Procane, a top Washington official, is about to defect. With the Presidental election two months away, it's the last thing the Americans want. Trouble is, until they know exactly who he is, they can do nothing to stop him. In London, Tweed of SIS watches and waits. Four highly suspect Americans have already passed through en route to Scandinavia - the Deputy Head of the CIA, the National Security Adviser and his wife, and the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces. Any one of them could be Procane. Meanwhile Newman has slipped off to Finland, bent on revenge. It's time for Tweed to act. To get back into the field. To stop Newman and find Procane - before he - or she- takes vital secrets to the East....

Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2017Gifted troubleshooter John Smith, introduced in the acclaimed thriller Killfile, must take down a shadowy figure who has weaponized the internet, using social media to put a price on the heads of his targets in this intense, unstoppable thriller from the author reviewers have compared to Michael Crichton, Brad Thor, and James Rollins.As a fixer for America’s one percent, John Smith cleans up the messes of those rich enough to afford him. But he’s no ordinary gun for hire. Smith is a man of rare gifts, including the ability to read minds. Arriving at the wedding of Kira Sadeghi, a reality television celebrity he recently saved from kidnappers, Smith witnesses a group of gunmen open fire, hitting the bride and others. Though he’s unarmed, Smith cripples one of the killers and is able to pry one word from his mind: "Downvote."Eager to learn more, Smith hacks into the brain of an FBI agent investigating the attack to discover the Bureau has been investigating a nefarious new threat called "Downvote," an encrypted site on the "dark net" that lists the names of celebrities and offers a hefty bounty for anyone who can kill them—unleashing an anonymous and deadly flashmob with a keystroke. Finding a mastermind on the internet is like trying to catch air—unless you’re John Smith. Motivated by money and revenge, he traces a series of electronic signatures to a reclusive billionaire living at sea, accompanied by a scary-smart female bodyguard who becomes Smith’s partner in his quest. The hunt for their prey will lead from Hong Kong to Reykjavik to a luxury gambling resort deep in the Laotian jungle. Yet always this criminal mastermind remains one step ahead.The only way Downvote’s creator can stop Smith is to kill him . . . because while this diabolical genius can run, there’s no hiding from a man who can read minds.

Art restorer and legendary spy Gabriel Allon searches for the missing wife of a British billionaire in the electrifying new tale of greed, corruption, and betrayal from #1 New York Times–bestselling novelist Daniel Silva. Alice Winter, one of Britain’s most dazzling socialites, seemingly has the perfect life—a lavish home in posh Knightsbridge, a grand estate in Devon, millions of followers on social media who eagerly await her next post. But when she disappears without a trace while on holiday with three old friends from Cambridge, her desperate husband, the real estate baron Edward Knight, turns to none other than Gabriel Allon to find her. He soon discovers that Alice Winter is not the woman she appears to be, that she has a reckless side, that she has secrets. But Edward Knight has a secret too, a secret so dangerous that Gabriel will have no choice but to return to the life he thought he had left behind. An old enemy lurks there, waiting for him to make one misstep, waiting for the perfect moment to exact vengeance. From its irresistible opening chapters to its heart-pounding climax and shocking final twist, Ransom is a riveting, page-turning tour de force that proves yet again why Daniel Silva is the reigning master of international intrigue and suspense.