Books like 'The Assignment'
Readers who enjoyed The Assignment by Matz & Walter Hill also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi mystery action / adventure crime pulp noir hard-boiled western
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Neural Wraith 2 by K.D. Robertson
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFinance isn't Nick Waite’s strong suit as a detective, but he’s learning fast as he investigates the cover-up of a murder inside Neo Babylon’s oldest bank. The winds of conspiracy whirl around him, and everyone from the police commissioner to gang lords warn him to step back.Taking the easy way out isn’t in his nature, however... -
![The First City by Joe Hart]()
The First City by Joe Hart
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsIn the thrilling conclusion to Joe Hart’s Dominion Trilogy, Zoey discovers who she truly is—and who she must become. Zoey has only ever known a world with few women and a society capable of unimaginable evil. Now she’s about to learn she may be the only hope it has for salvation... -
![The Final Trade by Joe Hart]()
The Final Trade by Joe Hart
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsThe thrilling sequel to the runaway bestseller The Last Girl.Zoey is not the woman she once was. She’s watched her friends die at the hands of their captors, been hunted, and returned from the brink of death. Now she must find the truth about who she is... -
![Angel City Blues by Jeff Edwards]()
Angel City Blues by Jeff Edwards
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLos Angeles: 2065 A wealthy young woman vanishes from her high-security apartment without leaving a single strand of DNA behind. No trace of the victim’s disappearance is recorded on any of the building’s many cameras or security sensors. Her apartment’s memory cores have been destroyed beyond any hope of recovery... -
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![Time of Death by Nathan Van Coops]()
Time of Death by Nathan Van Coops
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsREVISITING THE PAST CAN BE MURDERPrivate detective Greyson Travers has a secret, but he isn’t the only one. When a stunning widow asks him to investigate the suicide of her husband, Greyson plans for an easy resolution. But a quick look into the past gets dangerous for his future. He isn’t the only person interested in the case, and the longer he’s involved, the more victims turn up dead... -
![The Face by Jack Vance]()
The Face by Jack Vance
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsKirth Gersen tracks Lens Larque across several worlds, most notably Aloysius, the desert world Dar Sai and the more temperate Methel. He eventually learns that Larque is a Darsh, born Husse Bugold. He had been deprived of an earlobe and made a rachepol or outcast from his clan for a crime considered "repulsive but not superlatively heinous... -
![Lane: A Case For Willows And Lane by Peter Grainger]()
Lane: A Case For Willows And Lane by Peter Grainger
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratings“So I thought I might take up para-gliding. You know, buy one on eBay and just jump off the cliff one morning.” Emily Willows is middle-aged, widowed, wealthy and bored. When she makes those flippant remarks to her son over coffee one Friday, she has no inkling that within a few hours she will be facing the most terrifying situation of her life... -
![Homeboy: A Novel by Seth Morgan]()
Homeboy: A Novel by Seth Morgan
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSeth Morgan’s frenzied, addictive walk on the wild side of 1980s San Francisco When strip-joint barker Joe Speaker unwittingly steals a sixty-nine-carat blue diamond, he becomes enmeshed in a blackmail-and-murder conspiracy that begins with the savage slaying of high-priced call girl Gloria Monday. Suddenly Joe’s a wanted man... -
![The Ballad of Bad Jack by Anthony Ryan]()
The Ballad of Bad Jack by Anthony Ryan
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Asteroid Belt, home to mining corporations and those who prefer to live beyond the heavily policed habitats of Earth orbit - the perfect hunting ground for Bad Jack, captain of the Dead Reckoning and the most feared pirate in the solar system... -
![Colter's Journey by William W. Johnstone, J.A. Johnstone]()
Colter's Journey by William W. Johnstone, J.A. Johnstone
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTHE GREATEST WESTERN WRITERS OF THE 21ST CENTURY In this thrilling epic of the American West, bestselling authors William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone capture the human side of the frontier experience in all its glory, grit, and grandeur—through the eyes of one remarkable teenage boy .. -
![Seven Days To Die by J.A. Johnstone]()
Seven Days To Die by J.A. Johnstone
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHe wasn't born to the gun. But a gunman's blood ran in his veins--and it was only a matter of time before there would be hell to pay. . . Six Days Of Killing. No Day Of Rest. . . Once he was a young, happily married businessman... -
![Thorn and Talon: Eisenhorn and Ravenor by Dan Abnett]()
Thorn and Talon: Eisenhorn and Ravenor by Dan Abnett
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsThe Inquisition is the most powerful and secretive organisation within the Imperium. Its agents, the Inquisitors, are the last line of defence for mankind. Gregor Eisenhorn, dedicated servant of the Inquisition, takes to the field again in three audio dramas. Regia Occulta finds him on a world wracked by ethereal storms and haunted by a terrifying beast... -
![Blowback by Kristine Kathryn Rusch]()
Blowback by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Moon, shaken by the Anniversary Day tragedies, deals with devastation. The Earth Alliance believes another attack imminent, but no one knows where or when it will strike. Just like no one knows who ordered the attacks in the first place.The Moon’s chief security office, Noelle DeRicci, does her best to hold the United Domes government together... -
![Country of the Bad Wolfes by James Carlos Blake]()
Country of the Bad Wolfes by James Carlos Blake
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA page-turning epic about the making of a borderland crime family, Country of the Bad Wolfes will appeal both to aficionados of family sagas and to fans of hard-knuckled crime novels by the likes of Donald Pollack, Elmore Leonard, James Lee Burke and James Ellroy... -
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![Paloma by Kristine Kathryn Rusch]()
Paloma by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAs a Retrieval Artist, Miles Flint helps the Disappeared, saving the lives of those oppressed under the Earth Alliance regime. He owes his livelihood, and his very sense of honor, to a woman known as Paloma. It was she who was responsible for setting him on this path—and now she has been murdered.Summoned by Paloma’s desperate call, Miles reaches her apartment too late... -
![Tainted Trail by Wen Spencer]()
Tainted Trail by Wen Spencer
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsUkiah Oregon, half-man and half-alien raised by wolves, is hired to track a missing hiker. When her trail grows cold, Ukiah discovers the woman has actually been kidnapped. He then stumbles upon another mystery related to the unsolved disappearance in 1933 of a legendary wolf boy. The hiker's abduction may hold the key to Ukiah's past... -
![Thin Air by Richard K. Morgan]()
Thin Air by Richard K. Morgan
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsRichard Morgan has always been one of our most successful SF authors with his fast-moving and brutal storylines, blistering plots and a powerful social conscience behind his work.And now he's back, with his first SF novel for eight years . . . and it promises to be a publication to remember... -
![Travel by Bullet by John Scalzi, Zachary Quinto]()
Travel by Bullet by John Scalzi, Zachary Quinto
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Audible and New York Times best-selling "Dispatcher" series returns with a brand-new mystery, performed by Zachary Quinto.The world has changed. Now, when someone is murdered, they almost always come back to life—and there are professionals, called "dispatchers," who kill in order to save lives, to give those near the end a second chance... -
![The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything by John D. MacDonald, Dean Koontz]()
The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything by John D. MacDonald, Dean Koontz
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsFrom John D. MacDonald, one of the enduring American novelists of the twentieth century, comes a science fiction classic with a timeless premise. An aimless young man discovers a way to stop the world in its tracks—and that’s when his life truly begins... -
![The Palace of Love by Jack Vance]()
The Palace of Love by Jack Vance
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn the midpoint novel of the "Demon Princes" series, Kirth Gersen sets his sights upon the mysterious Viole Falushe. Vance describes this murderous creature as a "sybarite." "Sadistic pervert" would probably be a more apropos phrase... -
![Duplicate Effort by Kristine Kathryn Rusch]()
Duplicate Effort by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsRetrieval Artist Miles Flint is on a personal mission—to bring down the corrupt law firm of Wagner, Stuart, and Xendor. Then a journalist working with him is found dead—murdered, along with the bodyguard she had hired to protect her. And Miles may be next.But before he can begin to investigate the death, he has a more personal crisis to deal with—his daughter Talia is missing... -
![Effendi by Jon Courtenay Grimwood]()
Effendi by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMasterfully blending speculative fiction and hard-boiled mystery, Jon Courtenay Grimwood's acclaimed Arabesk series plunges readers into a world eerily familiar and shockingly unpredictable. Here a troubled detective follows a trail of clues through a city where innocence itself may be a thing of the past. . . -
![Felaheen by Jon Courtenay Grimwood]()
Felaheen by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn a world where secrets kill, an ex-cop discovers he's got the biggest secret of all. . . .Set in a 21st-century Ottoman Empire, Jon Courtenay Grimwood's acclaimed Arabesk series is a noir action-thriller with an exotic twist. Here an ex-cop with nothing to lose finds himself on the trail of a man he doesn't believe in: his father. Ashraf Bey has been a lot of things--and most of them illegal...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled 21st-century action-adventure adult alternate-history book cyberpunk -
![Anniversary Day by Kristine Kathryn Rusch]()
Anniversary Day by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe long-awaited return of the Retrieval Artist series!Four years ago, a bomb destroyed part of the dome protecting Armstrong, the largest city on the Moon. Now, as the city celebrates its survival with an event it calls Anniversary Day, a larger threat looms—one that begins with the murder of the mayor, and spreads across the Moon itself... -
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![Dome City Blues by Jeff Edwards]()
Dome City Blues by Jeff Edwards
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFor fans of William Gibson, Phillip K. Dick, and Jak Koke…Los Angeles: 2063David Stalin was one of the best detectives in the business, running head-to-head with data-jackers, organ thieves, and the tech-enhanced gangs who ruled the shadowy streets of Los Angeles... -
![Tropical Punch by S.C. Jensen]()
Tropical Punch by S.C. Jensen
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsStrippers, Drugs, and Headless Corpses…All in a day’s work for Bubbles Marlowe, HoloCity’s only cyborg detective.What do an anti-tech cult, a deadly new street drug, and the corrupt Chief of Police have in common?It’s a question Bubbles can’t afford to ask. Last time she got curious it cost her job, a limb, and almost her life.She vows to stay out of police business... -
![The Organ Scrubber by Jason Werbeloff]()
The Organ Scrubber by Jason Werbeloff
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWelcome to the Bubble, where orphans are used for spare parts, and transplanting organs is like changing a pair of socks.They harvested Daniel’s body when he was a child, leaving him with cheap cybernetic replacements. Now that he's grown, his body is failing. The gears in his knee grind, his synthetic cornea weeps, and his 3D-printed lungs spasm in winter.Daniel needs the organs he was born with... -
![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... -
![Shadow of a Broken Man by George C. Chesbro]()
Shadow of a Broken Man by George C. Chesbro
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMeet Dr. Robert Frederickson, or "Mongo" to his friends. He's a former circus tumbler, black belt in karate, doctor of Criminology, and professor at a New York City university. And he's quite an unusual fellow as well, not only because he's a private investigator but also because he's a dwarf.. -
![Phoenix Rising by William W. Johnstone, J.A. Johnstone]()
Phoenix Rising by William W. Johnstone, J.A. Johnstone
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"The Land Of The Free" Is No Longer FreeThe new President of the United States is sharing the wealth, rewriting the Constitution, and changing the National Anthem. America's liberals are thrilled with the election of the first foreign-born candidate... -
![Rapture: The Big Daddy by Dustin Brubaker]()
Rapture: The Big Daddy by Dustin Brubaker
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsArthur Winter, his wife and daughter move to Rapture with the promise of a better life and more importantly a new start. He intends to work hard and one day be wealthy just like Ryan promises everyone who moves to Rapture. He opens a small business. For a few years things are good, almost idyllic. The good life is shattered when one day his daughter mysteriously vanishes without trace... -
![The Killing Machine by Jack Vance]()
The Killing Machine by Jack Vance
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsHaving brought arch-villain Malagate the Woe to justice, Gersen now sets his sights on Kokor Hekkus, another of the Demon Princes... -
![Woken Furies by Richard K. Morgan]()
Woken Furies by Richard K. Morgan
Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsThis is high action, ideas driven noir SF of the highest order. Morgan has already established himself as an SF author of global significance.Takeshi Kovacs has come home. Home to Harlan's World. An ocean planet with only 5 percent of its landmass poking above the dangerous and unpredictable seas... -
![Ex-KOP by Warren Hammond]()
Ex-KOP by Warren Hammond
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn this hardboiled science fiction thriller, Juno, having been booted off the police force, is barely getting by as a low-level bagman and photographer for the scandal rags. But it gets worse: his wife is in critical condition at the hospital and Juno doesn’t have the money to pay her bills. Desperate for cash, Juno agrees to help his ex-partner, Maggie Orzo, solve a difficult case... -
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![Irontown Blues by John Varley]()
Irontown Blues by John Varley
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom a master of science fiction comes a brand-new noir novel set in the Eight Worlds universe, where a detective hunts for the biohackers who have created a dangerous new disease.Christopher Bach was a policeman in one of the largest Lunar cities when the A.I. Lunar Central Computer had a breakdown. Known as the Big Glitch, the problem turned out to be a larger war than anyone expected... -
![Forests of the Night by S. Andrew Swann]()
Forests of the Night by S. Andrew Swann
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSet in Cleveland 100 years in the future, this debut novel is the story of Nohar Rajasthan, Private Eye, who's a moreau--descended from genetically manipulated tiger stock. When Nohar is hired by a being illegally created from human stock to look into a murder, he finds himself caught up in a conspiracy of awesome proportions... -
![Neat by Russell Zimmerman]()
Neat by Russell Zimmerman
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Meanest StreetsJames Kincaid is the type of guy who might be described as down on his luck, if only he’d had some luck to begin with. Like so many people in the shadows of Seattle, he’s trying to get by with what he has... -
![The Lost Oasis by Kenneth Robeson, Lester Dent]()
The Lost Oasis by Kenneth Robeson, Lester Dent
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhile seeking to solve the mystery of "the trained vampire murders," Doc Savage and his amazing crew suddenly find themselves prisoners of Sol Yuttal and Hadi-Mot aboard a hijacked Zeppelin. Their deadly destination is a fabulous lost diamond mine guarded by carnivorous plants and monstrous, bloodsucking bats... -
![KOP Killer by Warren Hammond]()
KOP Killer by Warren Hammond
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsKOP Killer, a darkly dystopian science fiction thriller from Warren HammondJuno Mozambe once had a life. That was when he was a dirty cop, married to a woman who suffered such profound abuse that she murdered her vile, drug kingpin father. Juno loved his wife and did his best to help her survive her guilt, her drug habit, and her desire to end her life on the dead-end planet of Lagarto... -
![The Frost-Haired Vixen by John Zakour]()
The Frost-Haired Vixen by John Zakour
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn the year 2060, Zach Johnson, the world's only freelance private investigator, tackles his strangest case yet--solving the murders of two elves at the North Pole. Santana Clausa, the micro-mini skirt clad bombshell and frost-haired mutant who runs the Pole hires Zach to stop the killer or killers before they strike again, destroying the Holiday for billions... -
![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.. -
![Wealth of Time by Andre Gonzalez]()
Wealth of Time by Andre Gonzalez
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHow much would you sacrifice to learn the truth?Martin Briar drags himself through life. The 54 year old has lost the will to live since the disappearance of his 12-year-old daughter two decades ago.Unable to pull the trigger on himself, again, he later encounters a time-traveling antique dealer who offers him the chance to find out what happened to his only child... -
![Take Back Tomorrow by Richard Levesque]()
Take Back Tomorrow by Richard Levesque
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsEddie Royce thinks he's got things all figured out. He's managed to cheat the system and gotten himself published in the sci fi pulps by "borrowing" plots from Shakespeare. He doesn’t mind being a cheat and a plagiarist as long as no one finds out... -
![Grim Repast by Marc Collins]()
Grim Repast by Marc Collins
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA Quillon Drask NovelTormented by his past, Probator Quillon Drask’s reputation as the go-to detective for strange crimes has led him to the Polaris district of Varangantua. Warring families, corrupt officials, and a monstrous hunger stalk these streets, and Drask must overcome his own inner agonies to bring justice to the tormented city... -
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![Prime Suspects: A Clone Detective Mystery by Jim Bernheimer]()
Prime Suspects: A Clone Detective Mystery by Jim Bernheimer
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsUpon waking up in a new city on a different planet, homicide detective David Bagini discovers that he is in fact the forty-second clone of David Bagini. He's been created to solve a murder ... specifically the murder of his prime. Standing in the way is the clues point directly at the other Bagini clones and they already know all his tricks... -
![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.. -
![The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez]()
The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsEven in Empire City, a town where weird science is the hope for tomorrow, it’s hard for a robot to make his way. It’s even harder for a robot named Mack Megaton, a hulking machine designed to bring mankind to its knees. But Mack’s not interested in world domination... -
![Pashazade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood]()
Pashazade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsPart mystery, part speculative fiction, and wholly unforgettable, Jon Courtenay Grimwood’s celebrated Arabesk series portrays the dark, hard-boiled story of a man out to prove his innocence in an alternate world where the facts aren’t always the same as the truth . . . and murder isn’t the worst that can happen... -
![Liquid Cool: The Cyberpunk Detective Series by Austin Dragon]()
Liquid Cool: The Cyberpunk Detective Series by Austin Dragon
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLiquid Cool is the debut cyberpunk detective series!It’s cyberpunk re-imagined—science fiction meets the detective thriller in an ever-rainy world of colossal skyscrapers. Hover-cars fly above in the dark, bustling skies and gray people walk below on the grimy, flashy streets of this “neon jungle.” Metropolis isn’t a bad place, but it isn’t a good one either... -
![Expiration Date by Duane Swierczynski]()
Expiration Date by Duane Swierczynski
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn this neighborhood, make a wrong turn and you're history. Mickey Wade is a recently-unemployed journalist who lucked into a rent-free apartment – his sick grandfather's place. The only problem: it's in a lousy neighborhood. The one where Mickey grew up, in fact. The one he was so desperate to escape.But now he's back. Dead broke...
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