Brad Thor

with Ward Larsen (Feb 10th, 2026)

COLD ZERO

I’m not going to lie, I heard about this a year ago (before it was announced), and was just waiting to see if it was true. I’m glad it was.

In a teamup that i’m sure nobody saw coming, Brad Thor shares the pen with rockstar Ward Larsen in what is poised to be Thor’s most edge-of-your-seat thriller to date. Using Thor’s crystal ball and breakneck storytelling with Larsen’s pilot expertise and edgy writing, we get Cold Zero in early Feb to heat. up the late winter months.

And I couldn’t be more excited. There’s a reason why it’s the featured selection–it very well could be the book of the year.

From Amazon:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brad Thor and USA TODAY bestselling author Ward Larsen, comes a heart-pounding thriller of survival, espionage, and global brinkmanship, where the frozen Arctic becomes the deadliest battlefield on Earth.

A vanished plane. An earth-shattering secret. A countdown to World War III.

Hemisphere Airlines Flight 777—the most advanced jetliner ever built—disappears without a trace over the North Pole. Crippled by sabotage, it crash-lands on the ice, stranding the surviving passengers in a wasteland of frigid cold and chaos.

The real storm, however, is still coming.

Hidden inside the wreckage is the prototype for a revolutionary piece of technology that could upend the balance of world power. Now Washington, Moscow, and Beijing are racing to be the first on scene to retrieve it—at any cost.

Trapped in the middle of the world’s most dangerous flashpoint are CIA operative Kasey Sheridan and former fighter pilot turned first officer, Brett Sharpe. Hunted by enemy forces, they must spirit both the device and its creator across the ice to safety—before rival superpowers turn the Arctic into a war zone.

With the clock ticking and the temperature dropping, the fate of the free world is about to be decided at the top of the globe.

Matthew Quirk

The Method (Jan 20, 2026)

Matthew Quirk is a lone-gunslinger with an excellent track record. Yes, The Night Agent was great, as was the Netflix series that came of it, but have you read any of his other books?

No? You should!

Quirk is another one of those silent authors who you don’t hear much from on social media, prefferring to stay quiet and just keep cranking out great books, many of which are standalone books so you can read them in whatever order you want.

Now, Quirk is a prime-time author who’s become a more household name. The Night Agent is rolling into a secon and third season, and now he’s back with The Method.

From Amazon:

From the author of The Night Agent—the #1 global Netflix sensation—comes an edge-of-your-seat thriller about a young actress who must go undercover in a deadly world of espionage to save her best friend…and herself.

A silent war.

An unlikely spy.

She’s done playing by their rules.

Actress Anna Vaughn is fearless—on screen, at least. She tends to play doomed brunettes with a badass streak, and has put in countless hours training for parts and learning how to fight, shoot, and drive like a pro.

She likes to believe she is as tough as her characters, but off-camera she leads a far quieter life: trying to keep her acting career alive so she can take care of her younger sister.

When her best friend Natalie, her rock, disappears after a night out with a mysterious new man, the signs point to foul play and a circle of spies operating in Manhattan. Anna must use all the tricks she’s learned for her roles to hunt for her missing friend. She quickly learns the dangers are all too real.

She crosses paths with Kevin Matthews, an FBI agent on the same trail, tracking a string of killings and disappearances and a powerful clique of oligarchs. With Matthews as her handler, she has only days to prepare for the greatest performance of her life—going undercover. She will follow in her friend’s footsteps through the gilded mansions, yachts, and secret clubs of New York to infiltrate the conspiracy and bring Natalie home.

As the killers close in, her only chance for survival is to become as lethal as the characters she once played.

No camera. No script. Just instinct.

Brian Freeman

The Bourne Revenge (Jan 20, 2026)

This is book 22 in the Jason Bourne series, and Brian Freeman keeps it moving at a blistering pace with Bourne Revenge. This time, Bourne has to go face-to-face with a foe he’s met before, but can’t remember.

He has to, because the stakes have never been higher.

From Amazon:

The identity of a deadly Chinese spy lies hidden in Jason Bourne’s lost memory in this latest entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

Shadow – the head of Treadstone – has found evidence of massive Chinese espionage activity in the U.S. The spy running the operations is a shadowy American known only by the codename Bai Ze. No one knows who he is, but when Shadow consults the Files – the hacked AI database she stole from the Chinese – she discovers that Jason Bourne encountered Bai Ze during an operation eight years earlier.

The trouble is, Bourne doesn’t remember him.

As Bourne hunts for the elusive spy, he meets a reporter named Laney Reese who shares his strange affliction: eight years ago, Laney lost her entire memory, too. For Bourne, that can’t be a coincidence. He’s convinced that whatever happened to both of them is at the heart of the Chinese espionage operation.

With Laney at his side, Bourne follows a zigzagging trail of clues to a quirky billionaire and his ex-wife, both of whom may have ties to Bai Ze. As he gets closer to his shadowy adversary, Bourne begins to suspect that he’s walking into a trap. But it’s a trap with an almost irresistible bait – the chance to recover his forgotten memories.

Now Bourne must decide how far he’ll go to get his life back.

Gregg Hurwitz

Antihero (Feb 10, 2026)

Book 11 in the Evan Smoak series makes February 2026 a hot month for book releases. Orphan X is one of my favorite series, and it should be on everyone’s TBR stack ASAP. Gregg Hurwitz is one of those authors you should preorder every single year.

Hurwitz gave the series a kind “soft reboot” with the last book, so I expect this eleventh offering to feel more fresh, new, and clean. Not that the last book was dirty or anything, but it was clear Hurwitz was trying to make a means for an end and turn the page on Orphan X to give the series a fresh feeling.

I dig it.

Hurwitz has a style of writing that is dry but unintentionally humorous at times, matching perfectly with his character Evan Smoak. A big reason why this. isone of my favorite series.

It shoud be yours too. Preorder right now!

Mark Greaney

The Hardline (Feb 17, 2026)

This list is full of authors who have been at it for years and years, and Mark Greaney is one of those guys. He doesn’t brag, doesn’t boast, and stays to himself. But keeps cranking out NY Times Bestsellers every year. Considered by many to be one of teh greats (myself included), Mark is showing no signs of slowingn down.

In 2026, the Grey Man is back in the most shocking entry in the series yet. Court Gentry’s family operates out of a ghost town in Virginia, with a father he’s rarely seen. When members of the counterintelligence community are threatened worldwide, the threats tie right back to that ghost town and Court’s father.

I got to read this one early, and wow, just when you think Greaney can’t crank it up much further, he does it again.

Ted Bell

by Ryan Steck

Warmonger (March 31, 2026)

I can’t imagine it being easy to step into the shoes of legends. No way can it be easy to pick up that mantle and try to live up to expectations. Authors have done it for Flynn, Clancy, Cussler, and more, and while those authors did remarkable jobs, nobody has captured the late-authors voice like Steck did for Bell.

It was like Ted wrote Monarch himself.

Steck is back with round two of Bell’s Lord Alexander Hawke in Warmonger. 

From Amazon:

Lord Alexander Hawke is used to going after big game, but his pursuit of a mysterious figure code-named Warmonger brings him up against his most deadly foe—Vladimir Putin—in the latest entry in this New York Times bestselling series.

Hawke will soon discover that he is a pawn in the Warmonger’s Byzantine plot to bring the world to the brink of total war and resurrect a fallen empire.

Brad Taylor

Shadow Strike (April 21, 2026)

One of the longest running thriller authors is bringing back fan favorite Pike Logan to bless us with an early spring release guranteed to shockand awe.

This time, Pike is going up against an old enemy and a renowned assasin in a political thriller that ties back to the American heartland as Pike and the team uncover the details.

Nobody writes interconnected political thrillers like Taylor, who’s insight into modern day events is more than just an opinion. He formulates it from syears of service, common sense, and strategic neutrality.

For more, read Brad’s blog on the drug cartel targetings here.

Chad Robichaux & Jack Stewart

Riptide (May 12, 2026)

Chad Robichaux, along with Jack Stewart, hit the USA Today Bestseller list with last years’ Silent Horizons. Now they are back with Riptide, the seond Foster Quinn thriller.

Action and tissue-snatching moments are promised yet again as Robichaux and Stewart dig into life post-service yet again, hammering home the importance of taking care of our nation’s heros.

From Amazon:

A shadow war rages. Only one man can drag it into the light.

Still haunted by his former teammate’s betrayal and the unveiling of a conspiracy that runs deeper than he imagined, Foster Quinn is once more thrust back into the world he thought he left behind. In the sweltering heat off the coast of Key West, a mission to seize a billionaire’s yacht ends in a chilling revelation: America’s enemies aren’t just beyond our borders―they might be sitting in Congress.

When a powerful Texas businessman recruits Foster to investigate the political malfeasance behind the death of his son, Foster is pulled into a web of corruption that leads him from a luxury megayacht in the Caribbean to a tech mogul’s grand estate in the Pacific Northwest. As he hunts down the men pulling the strings, Foster must resist the temptation in his search for justice to be swept away by revenge. He’ll need all his training and resilience to unravel a plot driven by greed and masked by patriotism. Especially when the war becomes personal, and he realizes it’s coming to his own turf.

Kim Sherwood

The Hurricane Room: James Bond Is Alive (May 19, 2026)

James Bond is alive.

Kim Sherwood returns in the final installment of her Double-O trilogy, pitting Bond up against & with the rest of the Double-O’s to stop a threat inside MI6 itself.

How cool is the the title “The Hurricane Room”? I think it is the perfect Bond title!

While we await news about the next Bond film from Amazon, satisfy the pallete with this newest installment from Sherwood.

From Amazon:

After mental and physical torture at the hands of Colonel Mora, the diabolical head of private military company Rattenfänger, 007 is not the same man he once was. Has the unbreakable agent finally been broken? Or is MI6’s most lethal spy simply waiting for the right moment to exact revenge? Johanna Harwood, 003, has made it her mission to convince him to trust her again, because MI6 needs their deadliest weapon now more than ever…

There’s a traitor inside the gates

Bond may be back, but the Double O division is barely holding on. Conrad Harthrop-Vane, 000, has turned traitor. He has been systematically taking out his fellow agents right under the noses of those in power, and now he has abducted Moneypenny. To make matters worse, he may have had help from inside the organization. Joseph Dryden, 004, is left to hold down the fort in Moneypenny’s absence, but enemies are closing in on all sides.

The final showdown is about to begin

Rattenfänger is planning a cyberattack on an unimaginable scale— one that would sever the internet, leaving the Western world at Mora’s mercy. It’s up to Bond, the rest of the Double O’s, and a few other trusted allies to unmask the traitors working with Mora. Can they save the world—and the soul of 007?

Tom Clancy

by Ward Larsen

Rules of Engagement (May 19, 2026)

2026 is poised to be a big year for Larsen. With a collab with Brad Thor in February destined to burn up the bestseller charts, he takes over the Jack Ryan Sr Series in May’s Rulse of Engagement.

I have no doubt a seasoned author like Larsen is going to crush the next President Ryan novel.

From Amazon:

When a member of his Cabinet is killed in a plane President Jack Ryan suspects that the “accident” is anything but in this latest shocking entry in this #1 New York Times bestselling series.

The quest for answers will lead the team deeper and deeper into a quagmire of lies and deception that will force President Ryan to face an unprincipled enemy with global ambitions.

Jack Carr & MP Woodward

The Fourth Option (May 25, 2026)

First, he gives us a Tom Reece origin story ladden with 60s and 70s vibes, classic Seiko watches, and tiger stripe camo, then Jack Carr drops news that he’s going outside The Terminal List/Reece series to bring us something entirely new! And he’s sharing the workload with MP Woodward!

Is this the beginging of the Jack Carr Universe?

I am really, really excited for this one. Not just because Carr is teaming up with Woodward, but also because the plot sounds fire!

PLOT DETAILS!

From Amazon:

When law enforcement, the courts, and the prison system fail, there is a fourth and final option. #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr launches a new thriller series cowritten with New York Times bestselling author M.P. Woodward.

Disillusioned by the government and institutions he dedicated his life to serving, former Navy SEAL and CIA ground branch operative Chris Walker is about to end his life when he receives a call that saves it. The wife of a teammate he lost in Afghanistan has now lost her son to the opioid crisis and needs Walker’s help. Thrust into a conspiracy that goes deeper than he ever imagined, Walker must go up against the system and the very Constitution he once swore an oath to support and defend in order to find justice for his friend’s widow.

With ambitious FBI agent Jarrett Stanton on his tail, Walker—accompanied by his loyal Belgian Malinois K-9 and using his off-the-grid VW pop-up camper filled with a hidden cache of weapons—takes justice into his own hands, exposing corruption and issuing a long-forgotten brand of lethal outlaw justice.

In the tradition of the great “stranger comes to town” Westerns of the past comes a modern interpretation of the mysterious vigilante gunslinger legend from “the hottest author on the thriller scene today” (The Real Book Spy). Get ready for a new kind of hero. Justice is coming.

Get updates straight from The Real Book Spy himself, Ryan Steck at therealbookspy.com

Ryan Steck

Matthew Redd Release (June, 2026)

No details on release yet, but Matty Redd #5 has the green light, and I have it on good authority that this is going to be the most explosive and chart-topping Redd book yet!

Steck usually drops the Redd books in June(ish), so check back for more info once the publisher breaks the news.

From Amazon:

PENDING

Simon Gervais

The Elias Conspiracy (July 7, 2026)

If you’ve noticed a lot of duplicate names on this list, that’s because guys like Simon Gervais are dominating the thriller genre right now. And for readers who just can’t get enough–that’s a good thing.

Get ready for more thrills and chills as book #3 in the Caspian Anderson drops mid-summer ’26. If you haven’t read the first two, order them as well! Simon is a bestselling author at the top of his game!

From Amazon:

In this international thrill ride from the author of The Elias Network, an investigative journalist’s abduction unravels an intricate conspiracy of corruption—both deadly and deeply personal.

After a brutal mission in France, former assassin Caspian Anderson recovers in the arms of German agent Liesel Bergmann on the shores of Mallorca. But their peace is short-lived. Just when he thinks he could get used to the quiet, a journalist is abducted before his eyes—and Caspian is pulled back into a world he thought he’d escaped.

The trail leads to Hearts United, a global humanitarian organization whose noble facade conceals something far more sinister. As loyalties fracture and allies vanish, Caspian and Liesel chase the truth across Europe, uncovering a network of corruption capable of reshaping nations—and destroying anyone who stands in its way.

As the pieces of the puzzle start coming together, more players enter the game, each one more unlikely than the last. Liesel’s sister. Caspian’s brother. A former police officer. A wealthy philanthropist. Caught between family and duty, Caspian and Liesel must expose the conspiracy and risk everything to protect the people who never saw it coming.

Brad Thor

Scot Harvath 25 (July, 2026)

The man with perhaps the longest running track record in the thriller genre is serving up his 25th Harvath novel in 2026, and we all want to know what Thor has planned for Harvath #25.

Thankfully, The Real Book Spy dropped all the details (here) just before Thanksgiving and it looks like Harvath and Thor are back. to their old ways of international action once again.

With the focus lately on the Chinese interest in Taiwan, the news headlines aren’t focusing on other Chinese business that is just as critical, if not more. For example, the Chinese business in most of Africa, or their interest in European banks, or US land grabs.

So Thor, with his thriller-crystal-ball, takes us on a proxy-ride as China takes a stab at as liver of land around Thailand to help them capture leverage over not just the South China Sea, but the Indian Ocean as well. Sound like a bunch of geopolitics? Well, it sure is. And that’s what Thor does best.

And to be honest, as someone who has been studying the Chinese moves in the Asia-Pacific, a play for Thailand is right on the money.

The only real question is, will Harvath be able to stop it?

Find out June 2026!

Simon Gervais & Ryan Steck

The Marked Son (Fall/Winter 2026)

If you put Jason Bourne into a blender with James Bond and James Reece, you’d get Chase Burke. Sophistication and style meets in-your-face action and grit. A perfect blend of Gervais and Steck as they pull details from each of their bestselling series into a new character that has blown the doors off the thriller genre.

In this second Chase Burke thriller the action picks up where the refreshing The Second Son left off.

If you like spy/crime thrillers with a more sophisticated edge, this series from the unexpected duo of Simon Gervais and Ryan Steck is perfect. A great blend of action and who-dun-it, mixed with Gervais’ finer things-in-life living style and Steck’s hometown grit to create a new thriller that really delivers.

The Marked Son is going to deliver round two like a undefeated boxer with the heavyweight title on the line. You should preorder it now!

Tom Clancy

by Jack Stewart

Jack Ryan Jr #15 (Fall/Winter 2026)

If you are fan of Jack Stewart’s, you know this news is not really surprising. He was born to write in the Jack Ryan series. His Battle Born Series is an introduction to the deep espionage and techno-thrills of the longprunning Jack Ryan and Jack Jr. Series, one which Stewart is perfect for.

There was a little shift in things, with Andrews and Wilson stepping away, Ward Larsen filling in, and Stewart jumping in to the Jr. Series, but they made it work, and fans will be glad they did.

I”ve sworn to secrecy not to divuldge details, but Stewart gave me a glimpse of the forthcoming Jack Jr. book he’s penning, and fans better buckle up. It’s nothing like what has been done before, and Stewart is taking Ryan Jr. on one hell of a ride.

From Amazon:

DETAILS AND COVER REVEAL COMING SOON. CHECK BACK FOR ALL THE INFO!

Jack Carr

James Reece #8 (Fall/Winter, 2026)

In 2025 Carr delivered The Terminal List: Dark Wolf on Prime TV, and Cry Havoc, Tom Reece’s debut into the fiction world with an excellent origin story that had fans salivating for more backstory about the Reece family.

The Watch Community went nuts. I bought a few extra classic vintage Seiko’s because of it.

Sales of tiger stripe camo skyrocketed.

Old rock music dominated Spotify.

That’s what Jack Carr does to entertainment. It’s a massive shift every time he releases something, and we still get to wait for not only James Reece #8, but for The Terminal List: True Believer which has wrapped filiming and is in post production (Carr himself has even stated he’s in the middle of post-edits as of early Nov ’25).

2026 is going to be another banner year where Mr. Carr captivates us all again. We can only assume that we are going to get James Reece #8, but who knows what Carr, Inc has up their sleeve?

Tom Reece #2? James Reece #8? Raife Hastings #1? (That’s my hope!)

CHECK BACK FOR ALL THE DETAILS SOON!

Connor Sulivan

Red Falcon (2026)

Amazon has the release date set for this as December 2045. It’s hopefully just a joke and Connor Sullivan blesses us with a second Brian Rhome book in late 2026.

It’s been awhile since Sullivan has released a book, but he gets a pass because starting a family is no joke!

In Red Falcon, three NATO scientists are murdered in Europe. Two more are assassinated in the US. The all share a big secret that intertwines their fates, and pasts through a medical epidemic running like wildfire through the American diplomatic and intelligence communities called the Havana Syndrome.

Let’s just hope CIA paramilitary operations officer Brian Rhome can stop it.

Andrews & Wilson

Tier One, The Shepherds, Sons of Valor (Summer/Fall/Winter, 2026)

Two of the busiest authors in teh business have had banner years lately, and now they started their own imprint under Blackstone Publishing.

Hopefully that still means we are getting new Tier One, Shepherds, and Sons of Valor books (at a minimum. I personally want to see follow ups to Four Minutes and The Sandbox if Blackstone is reading this…).

Brian and Jeff have stepped away from the Tom Clancy series, which is understandable, but a little dissapointing. They had some great offerings in Act of Defiance, Executive Power, and Defense Protocol, but with a new imprint and three existing series doing really well, it’s hard to see how they could also crank out 1-2 Clancy books a year on top of all that.

Vince Flynn

By Unnanounced

Mitch Rapp #25 (Sep, 2026)

The Flynn estate has been quiet after the release of Denied Access by Don Bentley. Hopefully they are just riding the tidal wave of Denied Access until early 2026 and we’ll get an update. It usally comes from Bentley himself, so I’d stay tuned to his social media accounts after the turn of the year and expect something from him.

As for Rapp #25, I expect another Mitch Rapp book in September as usual, and I expect Bentley to be behind the pen again to deliver another banger. Not many books reach double-digit releases, let alone 25. So I expect this to be one of the biggest Rapp offerings to date.

Get caught up on all things Mitch Rapp on Vince Flynn’s website here. Check out Don Bentley’s website here for all his socials.