Way Too Late 2024 Book List

I’m a little late getting my list together this year but… 

Could this be one of the biggest years for thrillers? International Bestseller Terry Hayes returns, James Patterson steps in to complete a Crichton novel, and we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of “The Hunt For Red October”.

Terry Hayes

The Year of the Locust

(Feb 6, 2024)

It’s been a decade since I Am Pilgrim. Hayes returns in an 800, page-busting spy thriller the world has been eagerly waiting for. Terry blessed me with an appearance on Course of Action Podcast this year to talk about his absence and what he was bringing with The Year of the Locust.

Watch the interview and be ready to zip through 800 burning pages!

Brad Thor

Shadow of Doubt (July 23, 2024)

Brad Thor is one of my favorite authors. He’s a master at the craft and an author I unconditionally follow to pick up his newest book each year. We talked on the podcast last year like we’d known each other for decades. He’s incredible, and there’s no doubt that Shadow of Doubt, will be another NY Times Bestseller.

A shadowy Russian defector. A beautiful Norwegian intelligence officer. A deadly American spy. In the fog of war, only one thing is certain—when in doubt, there is no doubt.

Fresh off last summer’s hit Deadfall, which saw Thor back in action blistering through Ukraine with Harvath joining the Ukraine armed services, Thor appears to be throwing it back to his Spymaster days, and I’m ready for it.

There’s one thing I can always count on—Brad Thor heating up the summer with a new Harvath thriller.

Mark Greaney

The Chaos Agent (Feb 20, 2024)

One of this generation’s most brilliant authors, Greaney is taking on Artificial Intelligence in the newest Gray Man novel, and I can’t wait.

This time around, someone is killing the world’s leading experts in robotics and AI. Is it a rival tech company looking to kill off the competition, or something worse?

Gentry is in Central America enjoying life under a new alias when he and Zoya, his lover, are offered a job from one of her former acquaintances. They reject the offer, but the offer put them on the radar again, forcing them to run, but someone always seems to be one step ahead of them.

Looking forward to seeing how Greaney meshes Court Gentry with Artificial Intelligence.

Jack Stewart

Outlaw (Feb 20, 2024)

His debut, Unknown Rider, put you in the cockpit of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter like you were Maverick in Top Gun. You could literally feel the G-forces. Now Stewart returns in book 2 of the Battle Born Series, Outlaw, and ups the ante.

CIA officers are missing, a rogue terrorist faction is running rampant, and a bioweapon unlike anything the world has ever seen. I told you, Stewart kicks it up a notch.

Get ready for more fighter action as Top Gun pilot Colt Bancroft is tasked with providing air support to a group of Navy SEALs as a Chinese bioweapon is deployed against Bancroft’s very own aircraft carrier.

Jerome Preisler

First to Jump: How the Band of Brothers Was Aided by the Brave Paratroopers of Pathfinder Company

Jerome was nice enough to send me a copy of First to Jump, and man is it good! I’d expect nothing less from a NY Times Bestseller!

This book is for the history buffs, as Preisler dives into the Pathfinders of Pathfinder Company, the jumpers who aided the Band of Brothers. Sporting Mohawk haircuts, war paint, and an attitude of brash confidence, they were the best of the best. 

This is the story of the U.S. Army Pathfinders—their training, bonding, and battlefield exploits—told from the perspectives of the daring men who jumped and the equally bold transport crews who risked everything to fly them into action.

Jack Carr

Red Sky Mourning (May 14, 2024)

Terminal List #7 is coming in hot!

Hard to believe that Carr is already on book 7, closing in on double digits and we haven’t even gotten a second season of the Amazon Prime series yet! The prequel series has been announced, I think I speak for everyone when I say I’m pumped.

In Red Sky Mourning, Jack is cranking it up on notch and weaving three disconnected events into a story of chaotic forces threatening to destroy the United States. Will these events light the fuse to Reece’s resurrection? We’ll see in May!

Andrews & Wilson

4 Minutes

(April 2, 2024)

Even if you know the future, is four minutes enough time to change it?

I love A&W. I don’t think anybody works harder than these guys, which is why they have two books on the list this year.

Last summer’s The Sandbox was one of my favorite books of 2023, and I loved how the dynamic duo of Brian Andrews and Jeff Wilson stepped outside their norms and crafted an A.I.-infused crime thriller that felt way too real. Now they return with a Spring offering of Four Minutes, a brilliant future-leaning techno-thriller.

No plan survives first contact with the enemy, but what if you could remove control of uncertainty about the future with mind-bending tech that lets you peak ahead in time?

Sounds like five-stars already. Right now it’s a STEAL on Kindle for $6.99!

Andrews & Wilson

Tom Clancy’s Act of Defiance (May 21, 2024)

The buzz for this one is off the charts!

On the 40th anniversary of legendary book by Tom Clancy, The Hunt for Red October, Brian Andrews and Jeff Wilson ready us for a second helping of submersible thrills with Act of Defiance.

When a Russian superweapon is let loose under the waves, it’s up to President Jack Ryan to find a countermove. This has all the makings of a classic Clancy story with plenty of callbacks to Red October and a fresh appearance of an underutilized character in Katie Ryan—the youngest Ryan daughter.

Plus, The Real Book Spy Ryan Steck called this one, “The best Jack Ryan book since Clancy was in his prime.”

Is it May yet?

Michael Crichton

Eruption by James Patterson (June 3, 2024)

Jurassic Park is one of my favorite books of all time. It’s in my Top 5. Crichton is thriller royalty, and I think many would agree, but James Patterson is a legendary storyteller. That’s why it’s so amazing that the Crichton estate tagged Patterson to finish a thriller Crichton had in his notes for years before his unfortunate death.

A passion project he’d been pursuing turns into a gripping thriller about a volcano about to erupt that will destroy Hawaii’s main island, and a deadly military secret far more terrifying than the eruption itself.

With Patterson at the helm with a stack of notes from Crichton himself, this has the makeup to be the thriller of the year.

Ryan Steck

Out for Blood

(June 4, 2024)

Out For Blood is the third book in the Matthew Redd series, and I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy (Maybe the first?) Like the two previous books, Steck levels up the action and pulls the emotion out of every word. All Redd wants this time around is peace, but to have peace, he must make war.

When Redd realizes he’s in the crosshairs again, he sends his family into hiding and he heads into the mountains.

Outnumbered, Redd fights for survival in the harshest, and coldest, conditions. I had chills reading this, and not because I read it over Christmas in 2023 with historically low temps, but because it truly was chilling. Loved every page!

Don Bentley

Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp Series

(3 Sept 2024)

UPDATED:

The entire world wants to know what Bentley has up his sleeve now that he’s taken over Vince Flynn’s popular series of legendary character Mitch Rapp–myself included. Very few details on this one, but I can only expect a barn burner from Bentley.

Recently he teased a video (Here), and dropped a few hints, including a callback to Flynn’s own Protect and Defend. According to Bentley, Protect and Defend is essential reading to prepare for the next Rapp book we’ll get in late 2024.

It’s only February and I can’t take the teasers anymore! And we still have a title and cover to reveal!

UPDATE:

Bentley graced us this spring with a cover reveal, as well as a synopsis! Click the link below to read the full synopsis!

M.P. Woodward

Tom Clancy’s Shadow State (Aug 20, 2024)

I was wondering who would take over the Ryan Jr. series when I heard Don Bentley was done with his Jr. books.

Enter, M.P. Woodward, author of The Handler, and Dead Drop, two great spy thrillers. Woodward is an excellent surprise to take over the Jack Ryan Jr. series and I’m excited to see what he does with Shadow State.

In this one Ryan Jr. finds himself cut off from his comrades just when he needs them most, and smack dab in the middle of an international conspiracy, maybe even too much for him to handle.

Sounds like Woodward is putting Jack Jr. up against a wall, with a flare of dark-corner espionage at the core.

Jeneva Rose

Home Is Where The Bodies Are (April 30, 2024)

When three siblings come home after their mother passes to settle the family affairs, they stumble upon a box of old home videos and decide to revisit the happier days. However, nostalgia is cut short when a video reveals their father covered in blood, a dead body, and a verbal pact between their parents to get rid of the body as the video cuts off. The three kids must decide if they should pursue their parents’ dark secret, or leave it in the past. Rose is my guilty pleasure, and I really enjoyed last year’s You Shouldn’t Have Come Here (With a twist ending I didn’t see coming!).

Nick Petrie

The Price You Pay (Feb 6, 2024)

Peter Ash must follow his closest friend, Lewis, into the criminal underworld when secrets from the past threaten everything they hold dear in this propulsive new thriller from the bestselling and award-winning series.

I love Nick Petrie and again, this one sounds fantastic. In the search for stolen notebooks that contain details on Lewis’s criminal antics of the past–it’s either find the notebooks or risk the life of Lewis’s wife.

A.J. Tata

The Phalanx Code (Feb 27, 2024)

The third Garrett Sinclair novel is heating up to be one of the best. Retired General A.J. Tata is back at it again with a tech-centric story with a dark secret looming in the background.

Garrett Sinclair escapes from prison to rescue his team from the manipulations of two tech moguls and learns of a devastating family secret in the process. When an ambitious endeavor empowers citizens to protect their financial info becomes a liability, it threatens The Phalanx Corporation.

Assassins, big tech, and a scary storyline about personal financial security make this one the most compelling and high-stakes books in the series to date.

TR Hendricks

The Infiltrator (April 23, 2024)

His debut, The Instructor, was one of my favorite reads of 2023, and I’m ready for more.

One year after the clash with his former students in upstate New York, retired Marine Derek Harrington is back in the saddle, this time with the FBI to eradicate a domestic terrorist group.

Another tale of survival, which Hendricks excels at, but this time Hendricks has Harrington in the Kentucky backwoods to sniff out—and snuff out–the last remaining members of the domestic terrorism group for good.

Guns, survival, and sneaking around the Kentucky backwoods. Does it get better?

Tess Gerritsen

The Spy Coast

This one actually came out in November 2023, but I read it in January and highly recommend it for fans of true spy thrillers. Gerritsen is an M.D. with a long history of best-selling thrillers. You might know her from a little show based on her novels called “Rizzoli & Isles” on TNT.

A retired CIA operative in small-town Maine tackles the ghosts of her past. Former spy Maggie Bird came to the seaside village of Purity, Maine, eager to put the past behind her after a mission went tragically wrong. Settling down on a small farm, things are all good until a body turns up in her driveway, and the authorities start asking questions.

Thrust back into the clandestine life she left behind, Maggie revisits her globe-traveling days in order to preserve what she’s built for her future.

STEVE URSZENYI

Out In The Cold

(Nov 12, 2024)

UPDATED:

Last year’s Perfect Shot, Steve’s debut thriller, was exactly that—perfect. If you haven’t yet, go pick up the book I described as “Cinematic, and beautifully detailed”, and then preorder his next one, Out in the Cold, because you are going to want more of lead protagonist Alex Martel!

This time, Martel is thrown back into the action that could even kick off World War 3! What!!!

Steve is a great guy, a former tactical medic, a gifted author, and has given me some great advice in pursuing my aspirations of bringing my books to life.

Follow Steve on X/Twitter and standby for the cover reveal (Urszenyi X/Twitter)

Juan Gomez-Jurado

Red Queen

Another 2023 release, Red Queen was an Amazon Editor’s Pick for last year. And it sounds so good.

Antonia Scott―the daughter of a British diplomat and a Spanish mother―has a gifted forensic mind, whose ability to reconstruct crimes and solve baffling murders is legendary. But after a personal trauma, she’s refused to continue her work or even leave her apartment.

A framed police officer faces the end of his career unless he can convince Scott to come out of her self-imposed retirement in this break-neck, frenetic page-turner (NY Times).

I love unique stories, and this is one of them that I’m looking forward to.

Douglas Preston

Extinction (April 23, 2024)

On a thousand-acre valley deep in the Colorado Rockies, a real effort is being made to resurrect the woolly mammoth and other long-extinct animals, but with dangerous consequences.

With help from genetic manipulation animals like the mammoth, Irish Elk, and giant sloths roam in their natural habitat, brought back from the dead when a billionaires wife and son are kidnapped and murdered, prompting an evacuation of the valley. The company behind the resurrection is revealed with ill intentions, and it’s not about resurrection—but extinction.

This one sounds like Jurassic Park, with a new-age twist on genetic engineering and a sprinkle of crime-thriller. I’m in.

Zac Topping

Rogue Sequence (June 11, 2024)

A US Army veteran, Zac’s debut Wake of War, was described as “breathtaking”. A firefighter by trade, Zac now lives in Connecticut penning awesome new stories for Macmillan (Call me jealous).

Now it’s 2091 and independent contract companies around the world are producing genetically modified soldiers…to be sold to the highest bidders.

But when the World Unity Council bans genetically modified humans, suddenly an entire faction of people become outlaws for simply existing.

This one sounds very interesting. I love the twist on genetically modified soldiers not just being sold, but being outright dismissed from society. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in a book, and I like it. 

Zac sent me an advanced copy already (be jealous of me!), and I’m ready to dig in.

Joshua Hood

Burn Out (Aug 13, 2024)

UPDATED:

The “master of action” is back in Burn Out, his latest action-packed thriller.

I’m a big fan of Hood, and I hope to get him on the podcast this year. If you haven’t read one of his books, go now and order Burn Out ASAP.

Jake Slade always wanted to become a US Forest Service elite smokejumper, and after completing the grueling 6-week course, he thinks he’s ready for anything. But an old friend turned CI is wanted and a DEA Special Agent is determined to hunt him down. Slade is offered a chance to lay demons of his past to rest once and for all, but at what cost?

Joshua Hood is a mandatory pre-order every year. Stop reading and click below to order.

Also, how sweet is that book cover? I think they nailed it!

Taylor Moore

Cold Trail (Sep 17, 2024)

UPDATED:

A new cover complete with Garrett holding. a long bow. Not a compound, a traditional long bow. I already love it.

Taylor Moore’s Garrett Kohl novels are action-packed thrill rides. They are western, with a kick of military and spy thriller action. Plus, they take part down in Texas, my second home.

Special Agent Kohl is on leave from the DEA and preparing to settle down and protect the family business and ranch. To get out of crippling debt and to support the family, Kohl inks an energy deal with his nemesis, and a deal with his aloof sister Grace to connect the energy play to a coastal Texas pipeline.

But Kohl begins to suspect foul play when incidents arise and threaten the larger Texas energy sector, and he partners with an old friend to uncover a sinister overseas conspiracy.

Moore is a former CIA Intel Officer and consultant for the Department of Defense. That should tell you why you should be following Taylor Moore.

Order all 4 Garrett Kohl books below.

James Rollins

Arkangel (Aug 6, 2024)

Arkangel is the 18th book in the Sigma Force Series, a testament to what Rollins brings, and has brung, to the table for years now.

Rollins, a #1 NY Times Bestselling author, is a master of international spy thrillers. Arkangel brings a hunt across the globe pitting nation against nation, as ancient myths of a lost continent prove all too real.

Historical fiction, and alternate fiction are two genres I like to dip into from time to time, and Rollins appears to be painting something similar with Sigma Force 18. A hybrid of history and blazing military fiction this one has bestseller written all over it.

Robert Swartwood

Enemy of the State (Aug 20, 2024)

Robert has a long list of work, with his latest The Killing Room being a personal favorite.

Enemy of the State is a rare sequel that Robert didn’t necessarily see coming, but had an idea for. He teased some of it on Course of Action, so check out the podcast episode on YouTube here.

The world believed Daniel Burke was dead.

At least, the few people in the government who knew he existed did. Once part of an elite black op team, Burke faked his death so he could avenge his brother. Now that those responsible have been brought to justice, he plans to leave the country and start a new life.

But before Burke can even get on the plane, his old team has tracked him down.

The CIA believes Daniel Burke is a traitor–an enemy of the state–who must answer for his crimes. But others in government simply want him dead.

Who’s ready for part 2?

Elle Grawl

What Still Burns

Another 2023 book that makes the list, Elle Grawl is a force to be reckoned with. I’m having her on the podcast soon, so hopefully I can get her to spill the tea on her 2024 plans.

What Still Burns brings a haunting story of a young woman’s return home to face her tragic past, the fire that killed her family, and what remains in the ashes.

Grawl can be found on social media flexing her skills as an author and talking all things fiction. So go follow her!

Raymond Benson

Zero Minus Ten

Another 2023 entry, Benson crafts an epic bond thriller.

Plus, he’s worked on the first two Tom Clancy Splinter Cell books, and Metal Gear Solid novelizations. So, he knows action.

Just 10 days before the handover of Hong Kong from British to Chinese rule, 007 is sent to investigate the infamous Chinese underworld of Triad. Discovering a diabolical plot of revenge that threatens to derail the return of the former British colony to China, Bond penetrates a deadly high-stakes game of intrigue and treachery.

Donovan Webster

The Burma Road: The Epic Story of the China-Burma-India Theater in WWII

It might be nonfiction, but it made my list. My grandfather Clyde Fleenor was a Weather Specialist in the Army Air Corp deployed to the China-Burma-India Theater during WWII, and I have many of his uniform items and mementos. Will be cool to read more about that specific period and area that he served in.