coolreads# Retro Books# The Emperor’s Tomb

The Emperor’s Tomb
Author: Steve Berry
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 9781444709360

Year Published: 2002

Visitors to China will want to visit and see the wondrous Terracotta army, and the Great Wall. These two archaeological remnants are culturally and historically significant in China’s history. They were built by Qin Shi Huang (260-210BC), the first emperor of China. Furthermore, the Terracotta army has attracted enormous interests from around the world, making the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang a famous tourist attraction.

coolreads# The Stranger in the Lifeboat @definitelybooks

The Stranger in the Lifeboat

Author: Mitch Albom

Publisher: Sphere

ISBN: 9780751584530

For fans of mysteries, thrillers and crime fiction, this book may not be their cup of tea, but there is mention of a mystery at the heart of this novel which might appeal to them. And Mitch Albom’s writing has that particular appeal that will keep them reading.

coolreads# The Nameless Ones

The Nameless Ones

Author: John Connolly

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

ISBN: 9781529398359

The Nameless Ones, the 19th novel in the Charlie Parker series barely features John Connolly’s troubled detective. Instead, it features his associates Louis and Angel. Both are lovers, as well as partners in crime, and they are a study in contrasts. Louis is black, always immaculately dressed, and is a cold-blooded assassin while Angel is white, shabbily dressed, and a thief who will fight if he has too, but would rather not. Angel is also recovering from cancer. They are drawn into the story by the murder of Louis’ friend and fixer, De Jaager, in Amsterdam.

coolreads# Rainmaker

Rainmaker

- Making brands and people famous

and furious for three decades

Author: Harmandar Singh

Publisher: Sledgerhammer Communications (M) Sdn Bhd

ISBN: 9789672595304

Billed as an advertising creative director gone rogue, Harmandar Singh, who is better known as Ham, has a string of achievements and years of experience in the advertising industry under his belt. He has worked in some of the top ad agencies in London, New York,Tokyo, Singapore, Manila, and is also Malaysia’s representative for the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.

coolreads# Judas Horse

Judas Horse

Author: Lynda La Plante

Publisher: Zaffre

ISBN:9781785769825

Judas Horse starts with DS Jack Warr of the Metropolitan Police being seconded to the Wimbledon Police to help them apprehend ‘The Wimbledon Prowler‘, a burglar who has been plaguing the area for the past five years.

coolreads# The Secret Life of Writers

The Secret Life of Writers

Author: Guillaume Musso

Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson

ISBN: 978147461913

Known as the ‘French suspense king’, Guillaume Musso lives up to this claim with The Secret Life of Writers that reads like a book within a book. This novel is a masterclass in storytelling.

coolreads# The Bourne Treachery

The Bourne Treachery

Author: Brian Freeman

Publisher: Head of Zeus

ISBN: 9781789546590

The thrilling saga of Jason Bourne continues in the Robert Ludlum series, now continued by Brian Freeman. In this latest adventure, nothing is what it seems when deadly enemies confront each other.

coolreads# Nemesis

Nemesis

Author: Anthony Riches

Publisher: Head of Zeus

ISBN: 9781801100106

Mickey Bale is a man on a mission. And that mission is to take down Joe Castagna, the gang boss who, Bale thinks, is responsible for his sister’s death. Aided by a mysterious person known only as Nemesis who passes insider information about the crime lord and his extensive operation, Bale hopes to cause as many problems as possible for Castagna and his people.

coolreads# Private Rogue

Private Rogue

Authors: James Patterson & Adam Hamdy

Publisher: Century

ISBN: 9781529125887

Jack Morgan is the head of Private, the world’s largest investigation agency. When a wealthy businessman approaches him with a desperate plea to find his daughter and grandchildren who have all disappeared without a trace, Jack is coerced into accepting the assignment by his co-worker and lover, Justine.

coolreads# Fast Track

Fast Track

Author: Stephen Leather

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

ISBN: 9781473672048

Fast Track begins with the jihadists crossing the English Channel, passing themselves off as asylum seekers. And due to the slack checking at the borders, many managed to get through into Britain. MI5 have been keeping some of them under surveillance. In fact, the agency has even recruited one jihadist agent called Abdul Abbas placed under M16 handler Mo Uthman, also an Asian. Abbas is planted into the jihadists’ cell in London to get information on the terrorists who are planning an attack in the city.

coolreads# City of Ice

City of Ice

Author: Brian Klingborg

Publisher: Headline

ISBN: 9781472281869

In the Raven Valley township of northern China – where the theft of a few chickens counts as a major crime – a young woman is found brutally murdered with her heart, lungs and liver removed.

coolreads# Rogue Asset

Rogue Asset

Author: Andy McDermott

Publisher: Headline

ISBN: 9781472263841

As a former special ops soldier as well as operative of the secretive SC9 - an elite security service of the British government given the remit to neutralise the country’s enemies - Alex Reeve now finds himself with the Fox Red label. It is the SC9 code for an internal threat, given to a rogue asset.

coolreads# Our Friends in Beijing

Our Friends in Beijing

Author: John Simpson

Publisher: John Murray

ISBN: 9781473674547

Jon Swift, the British TV broadcaster finds himself in trouble when his journalism career is not going the way he wants. Jon realises that he is too old to be part of the new world order and despite his predicament, he refuses to suck up to his superiors. But experience has taught him to trust his instincts. So this time, after being given his termination letter, Jon decides to visit China with his TV producer, Alyssa Roberts for a final hurrah and also to report on the new developments taking place there. That’s when his adventure in Beijing takes on a new challenge for him.

coolreads# Red Wolves

Red Wolves

Author: Adam Hamdy

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

ISBN: 9781509899241

The book kicks off with a daring escape from a Cairo prison where Elmore Lang rescues Ziad Malek, an American born to Egyptian immigrant parents. The crime scene is crude and dangerous, and it leaves behind many dead bodies. However, the victims - the guards and other prisoners - who are collateral damage during the escape, do not have any evidence of what killed them.

coolreads# Robert Ludlum’s The Treadstone Exile

Robert Ludlum’s

The Treadstone Exile

Author: Joshua Hood

Publisher: Head of Zeus

ISBN: 9781800241107

Former Treadstone Operative Adam Hayes finds himself at the centre of a web of warring factions and high-level secrets in the second novel in the Treadstone series, the newest addition to the Robert Ludlum collection.

coolreads# The Shadow

The Shadow

Authors: James Patterson & Brian Sitts

Publisher: Arrow Books

ISBN: 9781787467736

James Patterson’s latest novel, The Shadow, written in collaboration with Brian Sitts, is a dystopian science-fiction with elements of both the Marvel and DC comics universes.  The book opens in a diner set in 1937, featuring Lamont Cranston and Margo Lane. The aloof Lamont is about to ask Margo to marry him. And Margo has a bigger surprise - her implied secret pregnancy. Unfortunately, before they can reveal the secrets to each other, the pair are being poisoned. Lamont manages to drive them across town to a secret warehouse/laboratory he owned. 

coolreads# The Mercenary

The Mercenary

Author: Paul Vidich

Publisher: No Exit Press

ISBN: 9806857304452

The Mercenary is about a retired CIA agent who returns to arrange a KGB agent's defection from Moscow in 1985. When Moscow CIA station chief George Mueller’s cover is compromised due to betrayal within the Agency, top-secret asset codename GAMBIT requests a new case officer - Aleksander Garin. The CIA then pulls Garin out of retirement and sends him off to Moscow. 

coolreads# The Paladin

The Paladin

Author: David Ignatius

Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company

ISBN: 9780393867480

The Paladin is about a daring, high-tech CIA operation that goes wrong and is disavowed by the higher authorities while the agent involved, who has been sacrificed, sets out for revenge. 

coolreads# The Two Lost Mountains

The Two Lost Mountains

Author: Matthew Reilly

Publisher: Orion

ISBN: 9781409194415

Matthew Reilly’s Jack West Jr. series kicked off with Seven Ancient Wonders, which introduced a host of new characters, and offered an action-packed thrill-ride. A blockbuster movie on the page, filled with secret history, insane action scenes, some fun technology, and superb pacing. 

coolreads# Hour of the Assassin

Hour of the Assassin

Author: Matthew Quirk

Publisher: Head Zeus

ISBN: 9781800243484

Framed for a crime he did not commit and on the run for his life, a former Secret Service agent discovers how far some men will go to get to the highest office in the United States in this thriller from bestselling author Matthew Quirk.

coolreads# Manhunter

Manhunter

Author: Chris Ryan

Publisher: Zaffre

ISBN:9781838775216

The story starts off with SAS staff sergeant Josh Bowman, a member of the four-man team of The Wing, a covert unit of SAS working alongside MI5 and MI6, in an agonising withdrawal condition and badly in need of a shot to relieve the pain spreading all over his body. Bowman is with the detail to protect a British-backed tyrant, Ken ‘The Viper’ Seguma, who is the president of the tiny but mineral-rich Central African state of Karatandu.

coolreads# Scar Tissue

Scar Tissue

Author: Ollie Olleron

Publisher: Blink

ISBN: 9781788703626

Alex Abbott is a former Special Forces operative who left private security work in the Middle East under questionable circumstances. Unfortunately, his experience in the military has landed him with a serious drinking problem that not only wrecked his marriage but also estranged him from his family. Now he is making a living as a hired gun in Singapore.

coolreads# The Kobalt Dossier

The Kobalt Dossier

Author: Eric Van Lustbader

Publisher: Head of Zeus

ISBN: 9781800243149

Evan Ryder returns in The Kobalt Dossier, the stunning follow-up to The Nemesis Manifesto from New York Times bestselling author Eric Van Lustbader.

coolreads# Bloody Foreigners

Bloody Foreigners

Author: Neil Humphreys

Publisher: Muswell Press

ISBN: 9781916207738

Neil Humphreys hits the nail right on the head with his latest crime thriller, Bloody Foreigners, featuring the racial hate crime that is on the rise everywhere. Especially in London where the story is based...

coolreads# The Night Agent

The Night Agent

Author: Matthew Quirk

Publisher: Head of Zeus

ISBN: 9781800243477

The non-stop action of this thriller is similar to an earlier thriller published many years ago - The Pelican Brief by John Grisham - which has been made into a movie starring Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington, of the same title. In both stories, ordinary citizens are on the run from the authorities after stumbling upon some dark secrets that lead directly to the White House. 

coolreads# Tom Clancy’s Op-Centre - The Black Order

Tom Clancy’s Op-Centre - The Black Order

Author: Jeff Rovin

Publisher: St Martin Griffin NY

ISBN: 9781250222343

In this action-packed thriller in the New York Times bestselling Tom Clancy's Op-Center series, America's elite task force must take down a group of ruthless domestic terrorists determined to paralyse the country through acts of violence. They are known as the Black Order, a motley group of self-proclaimed patriots and survivalists who refuse to surrender their values and beliefs to the left-leaning cultural and progressive forces threatening their nation.

coolreads# The Morning Deluge, Mao Tsetung and the Chinese Revolution

The Morning Deluge,

Mao Tsetung and the Chinese Revolution

Author: Han Suyin

Publisher: Little Brown

ISBN: 9780316342896

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of China celebrated its 100th Anniversary on July 1, 2021, and there’s great interest in the man behind the formation and growth of CCP. That person is Chairman Mao Zedung.

coolreads# Run For Cover

Run For Cover

Author: Michael Ledwidge

Publisher: Headline

ISBN: 9781472283078

In the gripping prologue of Michael Ledwidge’s sequel to 2020’s Stop At Nothing, National Parks Service ranger Owen Barber, the sheriff of Wyoming’s Teton County, and two FBI agents are about to examine a woman’s body found in Grand Teton Park, believed to be the latest victim of the person who’d killed three women in three other national parks, when a sniper opens fire, killing everyone but one of the FBI agents. 

coolreads# China

China

Author: Edward Rutherfurd

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

ISBN: 9781444787825

China, by Edward Rutherfurd, is a spectacular novel of the nation spanning from 1839 to 1900 - covering the pains of the Opium Wars to the suppression of the Boxer rebellion. It is the story of the conflicts surrounding the forced opening of China ports and territories to Western trade, customs, and religion.

coolreads# The President's Daughter

The President's Daughter Author: Bill Clinton & James Patterson Publisher: Century ISBN: 9781529125665

After their successful collaboration in The President is Missing, Bill Clinton and James Patterson follow it up with the thriller, The President's Daughter. 

coolreads# Sooley

Sooley

Author: John Grisham

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

ISBN: 9781529368000

After writing many books that feature action in a courtroom, John Grisham’s latest novel, Sooley, sees him taking the action to a different court - the basketball court.

coolreads# The Deserter

The Deserter

Author: Nelson DeMille

Publisher: Little Brown

ISBN: 9780751565768

Nelson DeMille’s The Deserter is co-written with his son Alex and it takes place in Venezuela. In itself a tragic story of greed and corruption, especially in a country with enormous petroleum assets, the book offers an interesting insight into the tumultuous political situation there.

coolreads# The Message

The Message

Author: Mai Jia (Translated by Olivia Milburn)

Publisher: Head of Zeus

ISBN: 9781789543025

The scene is set at the height of World War II and Japan rules over China. In the beautiful city of Hangzhou, a puppet government propped up by the Japanese is waging an underground war against the Chinese resistance movement.

coolreads# Eldest Son and the Making of Modern China

Eldest Son

and the Making of Modern China

Author: Han Suyin

Publisher: Pimlico

ISBN: 9780712674157

Zhou Enlai was one of the greatest statesmen of the 20th century. Always overshadowed by the more visible and charismatic Mao Zedong during their time together, Zhao and his extraordinary accomplishments remain little recognised outside China where he is still held in high regard as the father of the modern nation.

coolreads# Sting of the Wasp

Sting of the Wasp

Author: Jeff Rovin

Publisher: St Martin’s Paperbacks

ISBN: 9781250156914

In Jeff Rovin’s sixth entry in the thriller series created by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik, US President Wyatt Midkiff disbands the Op-Center because its director, Chase Williams, and his staff failed to detect a major terrorist attack, resulting in the bombing of Manhattan’s floating Sea - the Air and Space Museum - aboard the USS Intrepid. The perpetrator is a Middle Eastern mastermind whose previous terrorism plot was foiled by the Op-Center.

coolreads# Lost

Lost

Author: James Patterson

Publisher: Arrow Books

ISBN: 9781787461932

Then the story shifts to Hanna Greete’s perspective. The woman runs a human trafficking ring in Amsterdam and she needs to pay back a debt to the Russian mob Emile Rostoff. However, her plans are derailed when Hans gets arrested. 

coolreads# Written in Blood

Written in Blood

Author: Chris Carter

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

ISBN: 9781471179600

The plot for this thriller is simple. But as the story pans out, it gets complicated and scary. There’s a serial killer on the loose and he writes down details of what he has done. Unfortunately, his diary is stolen by a skilful pickpocket in a club. And the diary eventually ends up with the police.

coolreads# The Red Book

The Red Book

Author: James Patterson & David Ellis

Publisher: Century

ISBN: 9781529125375

The Red Book begins with a notorious K-Town drive-by shooting in Chicago that takes the lives of three gang members and two innocents. One of the innocents is a woman who appears to be in the wrong place at the wrong time; the other is a young girl who was killed by a stray bullet. 

coolreads# A Time for Mercy

A Time for Mercy

Author: John Grisham
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 9781529342321

John Grisham’s novel A Time for Mercy is timely as it explores the ways that violence committed by or against law enforcement officials can complicate the pursuit of justice. In this book, he brings back Jake Brigance, the small-time legal eagle star.

coolreads# The Kaiser’s Web

The Kaiser’s Web

Author: Steve Berry

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

ISBN: 9781529363951

Cotton Malone, a former Justice Department operative who finds solace and succour in an antique bookstore in Denmark, once again teamed up with his love interest/colleague, and international agent, Cassiopeia Vitt in yet another exciting adventure in Steve Berry’s 16th novel of the series. The Kaiser’s Web is full of intrigue, political banter, and historical “what ifs” in the middle of an important election in Germany.