Brad THor

Edge of Honor (July 1, 2025)

Nothing says “Patriotic” like America’s birthday and a new Brad Thor novel. Buckle up, because Thor promises the fireworks to be epic with this one, and Scot Harvath always brings the fireworks!

Taken from Amazon:

After six months abroad, America’s top spy returns to a new administration, a new set of global priorities, and a power struggle—the likes of which the United States has never experienced.

Drawn into a web of deceit and deadly politics, Scot Harvath is thrust into a high-stakes conspiracy that could change the course of history. A cabal of shadowy elites is maneuvering for control and if they succeed, they will bring the country to its knees.

When trust is fleeting and survival means making impossible decisions, Harvath finds himself at the precipice. The actions he takes will shape the future of America—and might cost him everything he holds dear.

With enemies at every turn, one wrong move could push the nation over the edge.

Jack Carr

Cry Havoc (June 10, 2025)

Carr has been on a roll, steamrolling through. the thriller landscape the last eight years. We’ve gotten 7 James Reece books, the Amazon Prime visualization of THE TERMINAL LIST, and massive updates on DARK WOLF, and THE TERMINAL LIST Season 2.

Now, for book number 8, Carr is taking us back. Back to 1968. With Tom Reece. CRY HAVOC might be an origin story, but readers better get ready for more.

Yes, a Tom Reece prequel-style story.

From Amazon:

#1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr brings the worlds of special operations and CIA paramilitary units into direct collision in the jungles of Vietnam with his explosive new thriller introducing young Navy SEAL Tom Reece, a man torn between the blurred lines and allegiances of the military and the increasingly murky world of intelligence. This is how it all began…

Get Ready for More

tom clancy

by MP Woodward

Line of Demarcation (May 20, 2025)

Book 13 in the Jack Ryan Jr. series brings in author M.P. Woodward back again, and rightfully so.

It starts with the destruction of a US Coast Guard cutter and the loss of the entire crew, who was opening a sea lane between an oil field off the coast of South America and the refineries of southern Louisiana in the US.

It’s up to Jack Ryan Jr. to find out who sacrificed the crew to slow down the plan. Enter, Russia’s Wagner Group and a pack of Venezuelan narco-terrorists with other ideas, including risking all-out war with the US to see their plans through.

Watch MP discuss SHADOW STATE on COURSE OF ACTION on YouTube

Carter wilson

Tell Me What You Did (Jan 28, 2025)

 SheReads (shereads.com) is calling this one of the most anticipated thrillers of 2025…

I have to agree.

From Amazon:

She gets people to confess their crimes for a living. He knows she’s hiding a terrible secret. It’s time for the truth to come out…

Poe Webb, host of a popular true crime podcast, invites people to anonymously confess crimes they’ve committed to her audience. She can’t guarantee the police won’t come after her “guests,” but her show grants simultaneous anonymity and instant fame―a potent combination that’s proven difficult to resist. After an episode recording, Poe usually erases both criminal and crime from her mind.

But when a strange and oddly familiar man appears on her show, Poe is forced to take a second look. Not only because he claims to be her mother’s murderer from years ago, but because Poe knows something no one else does. Her mother’s murderer is dead.

Poe killed him.

vince flynn

by Don Bentley

TBD (Sep 2025)

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

After penning four TOM CLANCY books, Don took off on an adventure with the infamous Mitch Rapp in Capture or Kill, and we are eagerly awaiting what he’s going to do next with Rapp.

Details are in short-supply, but I guarantee Don is cooking up something worth the wait!

Stay tuned for news on this one.

Chad Robichaux & Jack Stewart

Silent Horizons (May 13, 2025)

Get your tissues ready, because this one is an emotional, action-packed, 5-Star read that will hit you right in the feel goods and having you turning the pages all night long.

Robichaux, along with Stewart, perfectly capture what coming home from war is like, and how devotion to family, brotherhood, and being an elite warrior is a battle all its own.

Foster Quinn is a former Force Recon Marine who gets a chance to step in where his best friend left off, assuming a cover identity in Iran that will get him close to an arms dealer and pave the way for a critical mission. But he’s on his own with a ticking clock. His success will determine the luck of a set of tier-one warriors parachuting through the sky into enemy territory.

simon gervais

The Elias Enigma (July 8, 2025)

This new series by Simon Gervais is lightning quick and snappy. I love it. The Elias Network was fantastic, and took readers on a very wild ride. This one promises more of the same. And that’s a good thing.

So good, book 3 has already gotten the green light…

Simon Gervais & Ryan Steck

Second Son (Fall 2025)

Not many details on this one, but Ryan Steck has promised me that alongside Gervais they are bringing the heat like never before. I don’t know how you argue with either of these guys, so a team up is bound to be explosive. I’ll report back if I get more details on this one, but it’s one to watch out for and pre-order ASAP.

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

Ryan Steck

Ted Bell’s MONARCH (Mar 25, 2025)

I got to read this one early too! (Sorry, I’ll stop rubbing it in.) Ryan Steck picks up the helm for the late Ted Bell and impresses. I mean, impresses big time. The first chapter alone throws you right into the action with no relenting. Ted would be proud. Very proud.

From Amazon:

Following a successful but costly mission to destroy an enemy outpost in Antarctica, Alex Hawke is looking forward to some quiet time at Teakettle Cottage, his home in Bermuda, along with his family. But he’s not a man who can avoid trouble.

Former Chief Inspector of Scottland Yard Ambrose Congreve calls him with stunning news. Just days away from a controversial vote threatening to tear the United Kingdom apart at the seams, King Charles has disappeared while vacationing at Balmoral Castle. The prime minister believes she can keep the news quiet for no more than 72 hours. After that, Britain will be plunged into chaos.
 
With the fate of the kingdom hanging in the balance, it’s up to Lord Hawke to find and rescue the missing monarch before it’s too late.

Ryan Steck

Gone Dark (June 17, 2025)

Ryan Steck has become not just a colleague and mentor, but a really good friend. He’s on this list multiple times because he’s going to have an explosive year. One of the most supportive people in the business, and I owe him a lot. That’s why it’s fun to say that I got this advanced copy before even he did!

Matty Redd doesn’t go looking for trouble. But this time it found him anyway, and he’s not the only one in the crosshairs.

Get ready for Redd to go all-out on this one. Spoiler free commentary here. Just go order it. Trust me!

Mark Greaney

Midnight Black (Feb 18, 2025)

When you search “midnight black” on Amazon, the first result is “midnight black PS5 controller”.

The second is Mark Greaney.

I had the pleasure of reading this one over Christmas break (be jealous!), and wow, Greaney is on top of his game without question. This is the bar that has been set for 2025, and many of the authors in this blog are going to try and damn hard to surpass it. Court had made it his life’s mission to track down his lover Zoya, even if that takes him to Russian Penal Colony IK22.

If the Russians think a thousand miles of frozen wasteland combined with the power of Russian police is going to stop him, then they just don’t know the Gray Man.

Ward Larson

Dark Vector (Feb 4, 2025)

Larsen brings us a new series in Dark Vector, with protagonist David Slaton.

From Amazon:

In the wilds of Siberia, a top-secret Russian fighter goes missing on a test flight. The Russian Air Force begins a search, oblivious to their error: they are looking in the wrong spot. The pilot, Colonel Maxim Primakov, has crash landed during an attempted defection.

The new chief of CIA clandestine operations, David Slaton, wants desperately to find him, but only one man is in a position to reach Primakov—Tru Miller, a rookie operator. Slaton plots a rescue deep inside Russia, not realizing that he will have to outfox the one other man who knows the truth. Victor Dubonin is a general in Russian intelligence. His search for Primakov is deeply personal—and if he doesn’t succeed it will cost him his life.

Soon a small group of Americans, including its top female test pilot, Kai Drake, find themselves hunted in the wilds of Russia. Their survival will depend on one thing—just how resourceful and lethal they can be.

Gregg Hurwitz

Nemesis (Feb 11, 2025)

The Orphan X Series is one of my favorite series in publishing Evan Smoak (Smoke), is the blue collar version of an assassin with skills like John Wick.

Tommy Stojack is one of Evan’s best friends in the world, and a gifted gunsmith who has helped Evan on more than one occasion. Now, he’s crossed the line. One of Evan’s hardest lines and their argument explodes into all-out war.

With Tommy out of town fulfilling a promise to save a friend’s son, Evan arrives with vengeance on his mind. But neither man realizes the danger that awaits them.

Connor Sulivan

Red Falcon (Nov 2025)

Connor Sullivan is blessing us with a second Brian Rhome book in late 2025. 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.

Jack stewart

Declared Hostile (Aug 5, 2025)

Jack Stewart’s Battle Born Series is a rip-roaring tale of espionage, military action, and pure thrills. Book number 4, Declared Hostile, isn’t more of the same. It’s better than that. It’s bigger than that.

When a US Marine is arrested, Punky is on the case. As she peels back the layers, she uncovers a connection between the US president and a clandestine corporation playing a game that threatens more than just national security.

Meanwhile, across the world Colt Bancroft and the Black Ponies are thrust into a high-stake mission to prevent nuclear war (See, I told you Declared Hostile was BIGGER). Both Punky and Colt don’t realize it, but both of their missions are headed for a deadly collision course that could plunge the world into chaos.

Brad Taylor

Into the Gray Zone (April 22, 2025)

Brad Taylor has Pike Logan and the Taskforce on book number 19 this year and doesn’t appear to be looking back or slowing down.

Pike Logan is on a routine security assessment in India when he foils an attack on the CIA and India’s intelligence service. After more attacks commence, Logan starts to believe India is under attack from a state actor waging war on the gray zone between peace and war, leveraging terrorist groups for economic gain.

Jeneva Rose

The Perfect Divorce (April 15, 2025)

The follow-up to the multi-million copy bestseller, The Perfect Marriage, is here, and Jeneva promises to bring the drama once again.

It’s been over a decade since Sarah Morgan has defended her estranged husband Adam. Sarah has since moved on to a new husband, but when he cheats it prompts an immediate divorce.

But the divorce gets messy quick, especially when new DNA evidence reopens her estranged husband’s case again. Now Sarah is fighting for a former husband while fighting her current one.

This one might end exactly how marriages are supposed to end. Till Death Do Us Part.

Jakob Kerr

Dead Money (Jan 28, 2025)

Dead Money is a walk through the wild side of California’s Silicone Valley’s darkest corners. In a wild turn of events, a big-time CEO is murdered and the company’s lawyer finds herself at a crossroads of investigation and opportunity.

And she’ll do anything to seize it. Anything at all.

If you like sleight-of-hand mysteries, this is your 2025 best pick.

Wes Browne

They All Fall the Same (Jan 7, 2025)

Organized crime in Southern Fiction is one of the best things in publishing. This noir thriller is part SA Crosby and part Eli Cranor.

From Amazon:

An organized crime boss in Kentucky believes money and power are everything until his enterprise collides with a family tragedy in this gripping noir thriller perfect for fans of S.A. Cosby and Eli Cranor.

When his daughter overdoses on heroin laced with fentanyl and one of his employees is murdered, Burl’s retaliation against Clovis Begley, the patriarch of the heroin-dealing family involved in both deaths, is inevitable. As Burl’s plan spirals into a firestorm of vengeance that threatens the safety of his granddaughter, his drive for revenge conflicts with his longing for redemption.

Tom Clancy

By Brian Andrews and Jeff Wilson

Jack Ryan #26 (Fall/Winter, 2025)

Details are scarce on this one, but if it’s anything like the first two novels Brian and Jeff cooked up, it’s going to deliver big time. They gave us a present-day follow-up to the legendary Hunt For Red October, and then a glimpse into the China/Taiwan conflict that inevitably seems like it takes placed in the not-so-distant future.

So what can Brian and Jeff be cooking up this time? Let’s hope that news breaks soon!

Watch closely for the preorder news, and catch up with Act of Defiance and Defense Protocol.

Andrews & Wilson

Dark Rising (April 8, 2025)

Two of the most talented guys in the business are back with another round of action in the Shepherds Series. The 4th book is due in April 2025, 2.5 years after the release of book 3 (Nov, 2022).

It’s been a long time coming, but the guys have a pass. They’ve been busy.

Here’s what they’ve putt out since:

2 Clancy novels. The Sandbox. 4 Minutes. Ember. Dempsey. Jeff put out Julian’s Numbers, and they’ve been heavily involved in film adaptations of easily a dozen projects.

Jedidiah Johnson and the team are back and tasked with their biggest challenge yet–take a vacation. But when they hit the beach in the Dominican Republic, they find out that orphans are being abducted right off the streets, and jump into action.

Michael Grumley

Cold Storage (Jan 7, 2025)

The Revival Series is a standalone series that Grumley has penned into a fan favorite. Book 2, Cold Storage, is another standalone that chills to the bone.

From Amazon:

Technology never works well the first time. Or even the second. Army veteran John Reiff is living proof.
John is revived in the back of a dilapidated ambulance, on the run from a shadowy organization that is desperate to take him back. He is the first one, their archetype, and they need to know what happened after his escape. What is happening to his body and his mind. And they need to know now.

Because Reiff knows things he shouldn’t. About them and about what they are hiding. A secret that has been in cold storage for several hundred years. And the insidious, methodical plan that has been in motion for half a century.

John Reiff is their key—a problem and the solution. A lab rat gone rogue at the worst possible time. But they will find him. They have to. And they will stop at nothing to get what they want.

Jason Kasper

Rogue Frontier (April 15, 2025)

Jason Kasper isn’t just a former Green  Beret, but he’s also a USA Today Bestselling author and keeps cranking out some damn good books.

Rogue Frontier, is his 9th book in the Shadow Strike Series with protagonist David Rivers. Rivers and his paramilitary team descend upon Pakistan to neutralize a rogue general who is selling nuclear secrets to the highest bidder.

If you haven’t read a Kasper book yet, you should. Like Joshua Hood, Kasper brings the action and intensity with every page.

James Patterson

The Texas Murders (Jan 14, 2025)

Everything is bigger in Texas, including a James Patterson story.

The legendary Texas Rangers (law enforcement. Their baseball team is far from legendary), go on a no-holds-barred pursuit of the most ruthless and destructive killer in Texas history. Combating the unrelenting Texas landscape, from the barren west Texas desert to the thick greenery of east Texas, these Rangers are up against a wall, with a killer on the loose.

Tamara Miller

Into the Fall (Feb 1, 2025)

Debut author Tamara Miller shocks with this psychological thriller of a mundane life tracking mysteries in the Canadian wilderness. But there are buried secrets deep in the granite of her marriage ready to rise to the surface.

From Amazon:

For better or for worse, Sarah Anderson has it all: a thriving career, a nice home in Ottawa, two young kids…and a marriage coming apart at the seams.

Then her husband, Matthew, vanishes without a trace during a family vacation up north. Sarah and her children are nearly lost among the slumbering lakes, treacherous cliffs, and brooding forests of the Canadian Shield. A glacier-scraped realm of ancient beauty and terror, it’s a world away from the safety of the suburbs. And a big storm is brewing.

A kind rural lawman comes to their aid and takes an interest in the case. The trail goes cold, however, launching Sarah into a yearlong odyssey to find her husband. On the way, she must reconnect with her estranged sister and duck the suspicions of a slick city police officer. But that’s nothing compared to unearthing the dark secrets buried deep in the granite of her marriage—and in herself.

lee goldberg

Hidden in Smoke (April 22, 2025)

Considering Los Angeles is currently on fire (Jan ’25), Lee Goldberg almost predicted. the future. Hidden in Smoke follows a serial arsonist setting fire to Hollywood apartments when the blaze gets out of hand and destroys a highway and threatens to burn LA to the ground.

While LA burns, the detectives must find out if the fires are intentional, or just a massive accident when an old foe emerges and ignites a race against time to stop another attack.

CJ Box

Battle Mountain (Feb 25, 2025)

CJ Box is considered one of the best thriller authors in the business, and with Joe Picket #25 on the way, Battle Mountain promises to deliver the thrills once again.

From Amazon:

Outlaw falconer Nate Romanowski is off the grid and out for revenge in this riveting new novel from #1 New York Times bestseller C. J. Box.

As Nate and fellow falconer Geronimo Jones circle closer to their prey, Joe and Susan follow the nearly cold trail to Warm Springs. Little do Nate and Joe know that their separate journeys are about to converge . . . at Battle Mountain.

Tess Gerritsen

The Summer Guests (Mar 18, 2025)

Book 2 in the Martini Club series takes off like a rocket. Maggie Bird and her group of ex-CIA friends in their cocktail-sipping club survived the attack from her former enemies, and now a dead body throws an investigation into turmoil when that body links to long-past dark secrets.

Her first book in the Martini Club series, The Spy Coast, has almost 80,000 reviews on Amazon with a 4.5 Star rating. I devoured the first one in a weekend.

Marc Cameron

Dead Line (July 29, 2025)

Marc is cut from the Clancy cloth, having written several Jack Ryan books himself. But Marc is best known for his gripping Arliss Cutter novels. This 7th offering takes survival to a new level when Arliss has to protect a government witness from lethal assassins in the cold tundra of Alaska.

If you like CJ  Box and Tom Clancy novels, Marc is smack-dab in between them both with storytelling that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Ryan Pote

Blood and Treasure (July 22, 2025)

US Navy veteran and special operations helicopter pilot Ryan Pote blows the doors off in his debut, Blood and Treasure. Action, adventure, and wild rides are all wrapped up in this crossover thriller. Trust me, it’s damn good.

Ryan was also on the LIVE SHOW this January, and you can watch the replay here.

From Amazon:

The destruction of the International Space Station and the discovery of an ancient scroll are inextricably intertwined in this debut crossover thriller from a former Navy helicopter pilot.