Books like 'Smoke'
Readers who enjoyed Smoke by Donald E. Westlake also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi mystery comedy action / adventure humor crime
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Saving Time by Jodi Taylor
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsLife is good for Team Weird, now heroes and fully fledged Time Police officers. Luke can't wait to bear arms. Jane has a date. And Matthew still hasn't had his hair cut.But Time waits for no one and neither do criminal masterminds. A major threat to the Timeline is looming, one far deadlier than mere idiots who want to change history... -
![Exit Strategy by Martha Wells]()
Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 57 ratingsMurderbot wasn’t programmed to care. So, its decision to help the only human who ever showed it respect must be a system glitch, right?Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr... -
![Hard Time by Jodi Taylor]()
Hard Time by Jodi Taylor
Rated: 4.53 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsA time slip in Versailles, problems in the Ice Age and illegal time travellers in need of rescue. Must be a job for the Time Police. Luke, Jane and Matthew are back and ready to cause havoc, inadvertently or otherwise, in their latest adventures, moving towards the end of their grunt work and towards becoming fully fledged Time Police officers... -
![Artificial Condition by Martha Wells]()
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 65 ratingsIt has a dark past – one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot”. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A” stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue... -
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![Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells]()
Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 46 ratingsNo, I didn’t kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn’t dump the body in the station mall... -
![Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells]()
Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 59 ratingsSciFi’s favorite crabby A.I. is again on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah's SecUnit is.And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good... -
![A Perfect Storm by Jodi Taylor]()
A Perfect Storm by Jodi Taylor
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe brand new short story in the bestselling series, The Chronicles of St Mary’s... -
![The Mad Scientists' Club by Bertrand R. Brinley]()
The Mad Scientists' Club by Bertrand R. Brinley
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 15 ratings"The following three stories have appeared earlier in Boys' Life: 'The Unidentified Flying Man of Mammoth Falls,' 'The Strange Sea Monster of Strawberry Lake,' and 'Night... -
![Doing Time by Jodi Taylor]()
Doing Time by Jodi Taylor
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsIntroducing The Time Police, the brand-new series by international bestselling author, Jodi Taylor - an irresistible spinoff from the much-loved Chronicles of St Mary's series. Perfect reading for fans of Doctor Who, Terry Pratchett and Jasper Fforde. 'The best way to describe this book: lots of fun' British Fantasy Society'Inventive and entertaining..Categorized as:
crime humor action-adventure alternate-history alternate-universe audiobook book comedy -
![Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsContains: Cetaganda Ethan of Athos Labyrinth.Diplomat, soldier, spy - Lieutenant Lord Miles Naismith Vorkosigan of the Barrayarayan Empire, a.k.a. Admiral Naismith of the Dendarii Free Mercenaries, is a young man of many parts... -
![Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsCaptain Ivan Vorpatril is happy with his relatively uneventful bachelor’s life as a staff officer to a Barrayaran admiral. Cousin to imperial troubleshooter Miles Vorkosigan, Ivan is not far down the hereditary list for the emperorship. Thankfully, new heirs have directed that headache elsewhere, leaving Ivan to enjoy his life on Komarr, far from the byzantine court politics of his home system... -
![Killing Time by Jodi Taylor]()
Killing Time by Jodi Taylor
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA ghost train, lost in Time, hurtles through the night...Two members of Team 236 are trapped on board. Not ideal under any circumstances but catastrophic when they're at each other's throats...Categorized as:
humor time-travel sci-fi audiobook fiction historical-fiction action-adventure historical -
![The Battersea Barricades by Jodi Taylor]()
The Battersea Barricades by Jodi Taylor
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt's not easy being a rebel. So many new skills to assimilate. Never mind strategic planning, weapons expertise and the like - there's bicycle-stealing, oil-stain removal and boat steering to be mastered first. And quickly. It's the time of the Civil Uprisings and two young women set out to make a difference. Their only problem? They don't know where they are. Or where they're going... -
![My Name is Markham by Jodi Taylor]()
My Name is Markham by Jodi Taylor
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsLike a smaller and much scruffier Greta Garbo – finally – Markham speaks!It’s Christmas and time for the first (and almost certainly last) St Mary’s Annual Children’s Christmas Party – attendance compulsory, by order of Dr Bairstow... -
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![Doctor Who: Shada by Gareth Roberts]()
Doctor Who: Shada by Gareth Roberts
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the unique mind of Douglas Adams, the legendary "lost" Doctor Who story has been completed at last by Gareth Roberts and narrated by Lalla Ward.The Doctor’s old friend and fellow Time Lord Professor Chronotis has retired to Cambridge University—where nobody will notice if he lives for centuries. But now he needs help from the Doctor, Romana and K-9... -
![Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith]()
Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsStark lives in Colour, a neighbourhood whose inhabitants like to be co-ordinated with their surroundings – a neighbourhood where spangly purple trousers are admired by the walls of buildings as you pass them. Close by is Sound, where you mustn’t make any, apart from one designated hour a day when you can scream your lungs raw... -
![The Rings of Grissom by Julia Huni]()
The Rings of Grissom by Julia Huni
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsShe thought being a space janitor was chaotic. Now she’s really in for a cleanup.Triana Moore lost her job as a maintenance technician when her boss discovered her true identity. But decluttering the galaxy isn’t just for janitors. When she visits the ringed planet Grissom with security agent Ty O’Neill for his sister’s wedding, Triana discovers just how messy life can get... -
![Dead in the Water by Barry J. Hutchison]()
Dead in the Water by Barry J. Hutchison
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDan Deadman's afterlife just hit an all new low. When a suspect explodes mid-interrogation and his office is taken over by an intergalactic despot, undead detective, Dan Deadman, reckons he's finally hit rock bottom. Banished to a dangerous underground hostel network, Dan becomes embroiled in a mass-murder investigation that will take him from the bowels of Down Here to the depths of the ocean... -
![The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death by Daniel Pinkwater]()
The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death by Daniel Pinkwater
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWalter and Winston set out to rescue the inventor of the Alligatron, a computer developed from an avocado which is the world's last defense against the space-realtors... -
![ঘনাদা সমগ্র ১ by Premendra Mitra]()
ঘনাদা সমগ্র ১ by Premendra Mitra
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsঘনাদা বাংলা সাহিত্যের একটি জনপ্রিয় কাল্পনিক চরিত্র। ১৯৪৫ সালে প্রেমেন্দ্র মিত্র এই চরিত্রটি সৃষ্টি করেন। ঘনাদার প্রকৃত নাম ঘনশ্যাম দাস। ঘনাদা তাঁর মেসের প্রতিবেশী চার যুবককে নিজের জীবনের নানা অভিযান সম্পর্কে অবিশ্বাস্য ও আজগুবি গল্প মুখে মুখে বানিয়ে শোনান। ঘনাদার গল্পগুলি বানানো হলেও, এর অধিকাংশ তথ্যই বাস্তব ভিত্তিতে গৃহীত।সূচী: ১. ঘনাদার গল্প২. অদ্বিতীয় ঘনাদা ৩. আবার ঘনাদা৪. ঘনাদাকে ভোট দিন৫... -
![All In A Name by Honor Raconteur]()
All In A Name by Honor Raconteur
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSomeone left Jamie a prezzie and she would like to return it with a no thank you.It all starts with a dead Robert Martin, the man who killed RM Burtchell. Jamie doesn’t know how, but it’s obvious he was yanked out of high security prison, murdered, and dumped on her front doorsteps.Now the situation is entirely out of control... -
![A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor]()
A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsBook Two in the madcap time-travel series based at the St Mary's Institute of Historical Research that seems to be everyone's cup of tea...Categorized as:
crime humor 21st-century action-adventure adult alpha-mc alternate-history audiobook -
![Melt by J.J. Pike, Mike Kraus]()
Melt by J.J. Pike, Mike Kraus
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA new, frighteningly realistic series from #1 best-selling post-apocalyptic author Mike Kraus. A bold scientific breakthrough? Or an end to modern society as we know it It was supposed to be a ground-breaking demonstration: "Melt" a newly created compound, promised to revolutionize waste processing... -
![Dial D for Deadman by Barry J. Hutchison]()
Dial D for Deadman by Barry J. Hutchison
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Space Team Universe just got a whole lot darker. In an alien city torn apart by crooked cops and ruthless criminals, private detective, Dan Deadman, specializes in cases unusual and bizarre... -
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![The Case of the Damaged Detective by Drew Hayes]()
The Case of the Damaged Detective by Drew Hayes
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsA mystery/road trip/buddy comedy/action adventure from the author of Second Hand Curses. A dance club full of bodies. Cause of death - a mystery. The lone survivor - a man, raving like a lunatic, wearing only a deerstalker hat. Now, the man who calls himself Sherman Holmes is being studied like a lab rat by a top-secret government agency... -
![Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman]()
Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis humorous tale describes how aliens, rather than visiting Earth to take over the planet, really visit to steal your pants... -
![All Systems Red by Martha Wells]()
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 84 ratings"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern... -
![Winterfair Gifts by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Winterfair Gifts by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsThis Hugo-nominated novella adds a delightful extra chapter to Bujold's Vorkosigan series, describing the wedding of Miles and Ekaterin and events leading up to it. In the festive season of Winterfair on the planet Barrayar, Lord Miles Vorkosigan is making elaborate preparations for his wedding... -
![Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIn the wake of unexpected planetary peace and the disappearance of the Dendarii payroll, mercenary captain Miles Naismith attempts to discover the link between the insufferable Captain Galeni and the Komarran rebel expatriates. Reissue. AB... -
![Operation Sherlock by Bruce Coville]()
Operation Sherlock by Bruce Coville
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen their scientist parents are assigned to a top secret project on a small, remote island, the five members of the A.I. Gang have to come along, and find themselves trying to stop a spy from destroying the project... -
![সায়েন্স ফিকশান সমগ্র ৪ by Muhammed Zafar Iqbal, Muhammed Zafar Iqbal]()
সায়েন্স ফিকশান সমগ্র ৪ by Muhammed Zafar Iqbal, Muhammed Zafar Iqbal
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsবাংলাদেশ ও বাংলা ভাষার কিংবদন্তী বৈজ্ঞানিক কল্পকাহিনী লেখক মুহম্মদ জাফর ইকবাল- এর আরো ৮ টি বৈজ্ঞানিক কল্পকাহিনী গ্রন্থের সংকলন।*ত্রাতুলের জগৎ*বেজি*ফিনিক্স*সায়রা সায়েন্টিস্ট*সুহানের স্বপ্ন*অবনীল*নায়ীরা*বিজ্ঞানী অনিক... -
![House of Shards by Walter Jon Williams]()
House of Shards by Walter Jon Williams
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsDrake Maijstral, the most daring Allowed Burglar in the galaxy, is now setting his sights on the Eltdown Shard, a spectacular necklace embodying the flame of a dying star. Through the media vids, the audience watches him--in an intricate plot designed to both steal the necklace and foil his major rival... -
![The Blonde Hurricane by Jenő Rejtő]()
The Blonde Hurricane by Jenő Rejtő
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA combination of thriller and love story, The Blonde Hurricane centers around the race to find a priceless family jewel concealed in a statuette of Buddha that an international band of crooks are after -- and so is Miss Evelyn Weston, the Blonde Hurricane, and without her knowledge, Eddy Rancing, who is in love with her, plus a host of others... -
![The Vacuum of Space by Julia Huni]()
The Vacuum of Space by Julia Huni
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen her maintenance bot found a body, Triana lost her lunch. Then she lost the body. How did she lose her memory? When a highly connected security agent interrupts her routine with stories of murder and missing bodies, Triana can’t ignore him; it’s cooperate or find a new job. A girl has to pay the rent, even on a crappy studio compartment... -
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![Memoirs of an Invisible Man by H.F. Saint]()
Memoirs of an Invisible Man by H.F. Saint
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA freak accident renders an ordinary stock analyst invisible, and though invisibility has its pitfalls, he is able to eavesdrop his way into amassing a fortune in this side-splitting, tear-jerking mixture of fantasy and nightmare... -
![The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross]()
The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsBob Howard, from The Laundry, secret UK agency against evil forces, narrates boarding yacht of Ellis Billington for Gravedust device that talks with dead. Ellis plans to raise Jennifer Morgue, monster from deep sea, rule world. U.S. Black Chamber sends lethal Ramona Random, in conflict with her bosses. Includes: Pimpf tale - Bob in virtual game; Afterword; Glossary... -
![The Radioactive Redhead by John Zakour, Lawrence Ganem]()
The Radioactive Redhead by John Zakour, Lawrence Ganem
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn this final title in a hilarious trilogy--following "The Plutonium Blonde" and "The Doomsday Brunette"--the last freelance private detective has a new case to solve involving androids, future tech wizards, out-of-control artificial intelligence, and futuristic mayhem. Original... -
![City of the Dead by S.D. Perry, Timothy Stahl]()
City of the Dead by S.D. Perry, Timothy Stahl
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsLeon Kennedy, a rookie cop on a new assignment, and Claire Redfield, sister of the still-missing S.T.A.R.S. member Chris, arrive at Raccoon City to discover a necropolis. A botched attempt by the Umbrella Corporation to retrieve a devastating mutagenic weapon has resulted in a horrifying viral outbreak, transforming the city's population into the living dead. And all of them are hungry... -
![I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin]()
I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsA standalone darkly humorous thriller set in modern America's age of anxiety, by New York Times bestselling author Jason Pargin.Outside Los Angeles, a driver pulls up to find a young woman sitting on a large black box. She offers him $200,000 cash to transport her and that box across the country, to Washington, DC.But there are rules:He cannot look inside the box.He cannot ask questions... -
![Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits by David Wong, Jason Pargin]()
Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits by David Wong, Jason Pargin
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNightmarish villains with superhuman enhancements.An all-seeing social network that tracks your every move.Mysterious, smooth-talking power players who lurk behind the scenes.A young woman from the trailer park.And her very smelly cat.Together, they will decide the future of mankind... -
![A Stainless Steel Rat is Born by Harry Harrison]()
A Stainless Steel Rat is Born by Harry Harrison
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIn this prequel to the Stainless Steel Rat, Slippery Jim is a brash 17-year-old who has left his parents' porcuswine farm, planning to embark on a life of crime. The book opens with Jim bungling a bank job so that he can be arrested and sent to prison, where he plans to learn the art of being a master criminal... -
![Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway]()
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFrom the acclaimed author of The Gone-Away World, blistering gangster noir meets howling absurdist comedy as the forces of good square off against the forces of evil, and only an unassuming clockwork repairman and an octogenarian former superspy can save the world from total destruction.Joe Spork spends his days fixing antique clocks... -
![Space Taxi: Archie Takes Flight by Wendy Mass, Michael Brawer]()
Space Taxi: Archie Takes Flight by Wendy Mass, Michael Brawer
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsArchie Morningstar learns a big family secret and helps save the universe. All before breakfast! It's not every day a regular kid like Archie gets to wake up at midnight. But today is Take Your Kid to Work Day, and Archie is finally allowed to ride along in his dad's taxi cab. He has been waiting eight years, eight months, and eight days for this moment to arrive... -
![Kraken My Heart by K.L. Hiers]()
Kraken My Heart by K.L. Hiers
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIt’s just Ted’s luck that he meets the love of his life while covered in the blood of a murder victim. Funeral worker Ted Sturm has a foul mouth, a big heart, and a knack for communicating with the dead. Unfortunately the dead don’t make very good friends, and Ted’s only living pal, his roommate, just rescued a strange cat who’s determined to make his life even more miserable... -
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![Tigerman by Nick Harkaway]()
Tigerman by Nick Harkaway
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsSergeant Lester Ferris is a good man in need of a rest. After a long career of being shot at, he’s about to be retired. The mildly larcenous, backwater island of Mancreu is the ideal place to serve out his time, a former British colony in legal limbo, belching toxic clouds of waste and facing imminent destruction by an international community concerned for their own safety... -
![Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire by G.M. Nair]()
Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire by G.M. Nair
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMichael Duckett is fed up with his life. His job is a drag and his roommate and best friend of fifteen years, Stephanie Dyer, is only making him more anxious with her lazy irresponsibility. Things continue to escalate when they face the threat of imminent eviction from their palatial 5th floor walk-up and find that someone has been plastering ads all over the city for their Detective Agency... -
![The Blue-Haired Bombshell by John Zakour]()
The Blue-Haired Bombshell by John Zakour
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe world's last freelance detective, Zach Johnson, must find the assassin who murdered Sexy Sprocket and two other members of the World Council. His investigation leads him to the Moon-and to a tall, sensuous, blue-haired beauty named Lea who possesses psychic powers, and powerful ambitions.. -
![Gamedec. Granica rzeczywistości by Marcin Przybyłek]()
Gamedec. Granica rzeczywistości by Marcin Przybyłek
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLudzkość końca XXII wieku jest podzielona: jedni żyją w realium, inni wybierają sieć. Gry zaspokajają wszelkie ludzkie potrzeby. To kosmiczne loty i baśniowe przygody, areny e-sportowe, nawiedzone domy, nielegalne tereny łowieckie i miasta zboczeńców... Tam, gdzie są ludzie, pojawiają się problemy.Rozwiązuje je Torkil Aymore. Gierczany detektyw.GAMEDEC... -
![Earth Vs. Everybody by John Swartzwelder]()
Earth Vs. Everybody by John Swartzwelder
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOne of a series of comedy science fiction novels featuring slow-witted detective Frank Burly. By John Swartzwelder, the writer of 59 episodes of The Simpsons... -
![The Doomsday Brunette by John Zakour, Lawrence Ganem]()
The Doomsday Brunette by John Zakour, Lawrence Ganem
Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsThe hilarious sequel to The Plutonium Blonde. In the year 2057, the last freelance private investigator, partnered with an experimental A.I. named Harv, solves cases involving androids, future tech wizards, and all sorts of mayhem..
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