Books like 'The Steel Spring'
Readers who enjoyed The Steel Spring by Per Wahlöö also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi mystery action / adventure crime dystopia law-enforcement noir police-procedural
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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... -
![Zero Hour by Mark Walden]()
Zero Hour by Mark Walden
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsOverlord is reborn, and has developed the chilling ability to move from body to body, erasing the host's personality and ultimately killing them, forcing him to hop from victim to victim. He must find Otto, the only host designed to contain him, and for that he needs the location of H.I.V.E...Categorized as:
crime dystopia law-enforcement action-adventure book children children-books espionage -
![Surviving the Collapse by James Hunt]()
Surviving the Collapse by James Hunt
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCaptain Kate Holloway moved her family to New York to start over, and break the barriers that her work had created. But when an EMP brings New York to its knees, Kate must fight to survive amid the terror descending upon the city and rescue her family...Categorized as:
crime dystopia law-enforcement police-procedural action-adventure adult apocalyptic book -
![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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![The Pulse by Skylar Finn]()
The Pulse by Skylar Finn
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn EMP means the end of the world as they know it for a family who fights to survive. When disaster strikes in the form of an EMP, Charlie's family flees to their homestead. They fortify their ranch and prepare to ride out the worst of the chaos. Unfortunately, the gang of scavengers who followed them from the city have other plans...Categorized as:
crime dystopia law-enforcement police-procedural action-adventure adult book contemporary -
![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 Bezzle by Cory Doctorow]()
The Bezzle by Cory Doctorow
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsNew York Times bestseller Cory Doctorow's The Bezzle is a high stakes thriller where the lives of the hundreds of thousands of inmates in California’s prisons are traded like stock shares.The year is 2006. Martin Hench is at the top of his game as a self-employed forensic accountant, a veteran of the long guerrilla war between people who want to hide money, and people who want to find it... -
![Texas Bodyguard: Brax by Janie Crouch]()
Texas Bodyguard: Brax by Janie Crouch
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA baby in his care…A target on their backsA skilled security expert and bodyguard, Brax Patterson is ready for anything…except unexpected custody of his reckless half brother’s baby boy. Someone will kill to take young Walker—and silence his resourceful new nanny, Tessa Mahoney. With her help, Brax is breaking all the rules to keep them safe...Categorized as:
law-enforcement police-procedural crime romance contemporary suspense bodyguard family -
![The Last Cabin by James Hunt]()
The Last Cabin by James Hunt
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA cabin on the outskirts of a city becomes the sanctuary for a mother and her two children during the unfolding crisis of an EMP. Life has hardened Joanna Mercer, and she has spent the past four years since her husband's death preparing herself against the uncertainties of life. After an EMP destroys the nation's power grid, every ounce of that strength will be tested...Categorized as:
crime dystopia law-enforcement police-procedural action-adventure adult apocalyptic book -
![Oranges and Lemons by Christopher Fowler]()
Oranges and Lemons by Christopher Fowler
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratings"The most delightfully, wickedly entertaining duo in crime fiction." The Plain Dealer When a prominent politician is crushed by a fruit van making a delivery, the singular team of Arthur Bryant and John May overcome insurmountable odds to reunite the PCU and solve the case in the brainy new mystery from acclaimed author Christopher Fowler...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural mystery fiction audiobook humor contemporary -
![Shadow Unit 11 by Emma Bull, Leah Bobet]()
Shadow Unit 11 by Emma Bull, Leah Bobet
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit hunts humanity's worst nightmares, but there are nightmares humanity doesn't dream are real. The BAU sends those cases down the hall. There, Stephen Reyes and his team pursue criminals transformed by a mysterious force: the anomaly. Welcome to Shadow Unit, a series created by award-winning authors Emma Bull and Elizabeth Bear...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural action-adventure adult anthologies contemporary feminism -
![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... -
![Blood Brother by Malcolm Rose]()
Blood Brother by Malcolm Rose
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTeenage forensic investigator Luke Harding is back with a brand-newcase. In Blood Brother, Luke and his robotic sidekick, Malc, are assigned toa hospital with a mysteriously high rate of fatalities. As Luke investigates anumber of suspicious patient deaths, he meets his long-lost father, a doctorwho practices alternative medicine at the hospital... -
![Blood of the Faithful by Michael Wallace, Arielle DeLisle]()
Blood of the Faithful by Michael Wallace, Arielle DeLisle
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNow that their latest battle is over, the religious residents of Blister Creek are dealing with their losses and trying to heal—physically and spiritually. Their leader, Jacob Christianson, now feels the full burden of the responsibility and finds himself at a crossroads: keep the believers isolated, or see what lies beyond Blister Creek’s borders... -
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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... -
![Buried Deep by Kristine Kathryn Rusch]()
Buried Deep by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsForensic anthropologist Aisha Costard has been summoned to Mars to examine skeletal remains recently discovered beneath a building erected by the Disty aliens. The bones belong to a human who vanished thirty years ago with her children. She is believed to have been one of the Disappeared, outlaws wanted for crimes against alien civilizations...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural action-adventure adult aliens audiobook book -
![Swipe by Kathy Reichs]()
Swipe by Kathy Reichs
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTory Brennan and her great aunt Tempe join forces to investigate a crime at Comic-Con in this exclusive direct-to-digital short story from Kathy Reichs, author of Bones of the Lost and Virals. A valuable Terminator replica disappears from the nerd nirvana of Comic-Con. Tory Brennan and her great aunt Tempe are on the scene, and join forces to investigate... -
![Shift by Kathy Reichs, Brendan Reichs]()
Shift by Kathy Reichs, Brendan Reichs
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTory's great aunt, Temperance Brennan, visits just in time to investigate a robbery at the Loggerhead Island Research Institute. As a renowned forensic anthropologist, Tempe is obviously qualified to figure out whodunit, but Tory and her Virals pack want to crack the case on their own. Yet the crime is puzzling... -
![Turning Secrets by Brenda Chapman]()
Turning Secrets by Brenda Chapman
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsKeeping secrets is a very bad idea.Former teenage runaway and new single mother Nadia Armstrong moves to Kingston to turn her life around. But six months after she rents a low-end apartment, her body is found on a concrete slab at an isolated construction site.Major Crimes begins piecing together her last days, uncertain if this is a case of suicide or murder...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural mystery fiction suspense romantic-love action-adventure -
![The Final Stand by James Hunt]()
The Final Stand by James Hunt
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsPrepare and survive. An EMP cripples the nation on the day Detective Mike Thorton was supposed to bury his father. Fighting a panic-stricken city, an unknown enemy, and his own grief, Mike must rescue his family before the city devours them all...Categorized as:
dystopia crime law-enforcement police-procedural apocalyptic terrorism survival serial-killers -
![The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester]()
The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsIn a world in which the police have telepathic powers, how do you get away with murder?Ben Reichs heads a huge 24th century business empire, spanning the solar system. He is also an obsessed, driven man determined to murder a rival. To avoid capture, in a society where murderers can be detected even before they commit their crime, is the greatest challenge of his life... -
![World of Trouble by Ben H. Winters]()
World of Trouble by Ben H. Winters
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThere are just 14 days until a deadly asteroid hits the planet, and America has fallen into chaos. Citizens have barricaded themselves inside basements, emergency shelters, and big-box retail stores. Cash is worthless; bottled water is valuable beyond measure. All over the world, everyone is bracing for the end.But Detective Hank Palace still has one last case to solve...Categorized as:
crime dystopia law-enforcement noir police-procedural action-adventure adult apocalyptic -
![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... -
![A Fire in the Sun by George Alec Effinger]()
A Fire in the Sun by George Alec Effinger
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsMarid Audran has become everything he once despised. Not so long ago, he was a hustler in the Budayeen, an Arabian ghetto in a Balkanized future Earth. Back then, as often as not, he didn't have the money to buy himself a drink. But he had his independence.Now Marid works for Friedlander Bey, "godfather" of the Budayeen, a man whose power stretches across a shattered, crumbling world... -
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![Snapshot by Brandon Sanderson]()
Snapshot by Brandon Sanderson
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsSnapshot is a Science Fiction detective story following Anthony Davis, a cop assigned to Snapshot Duty. In this vivid world that author Brandon Sanderson has built, society can create a snapshot of a specific day in time. The experiences people have, the paths they follow—all of them are real again for a one day in the snapshot. All for the purposes of investigation by the court...Categorized as:
crime dystopia law-enforcement noir police-procedural action-adventure audiobook book -
![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... -
![Framed! by Malcolm Rose]()
Framed! by Malcolm Rose
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLuke Harding is excited to become the youngest person ever to qualify as a forensics investigator. He barely has time to celebrate his final exams when Malc, his Mobile Aid to Law and Crime, calls him to their first case. A fellow student has been mysteriously shot dead with an arrow. Two more grisly on-campus murders follow, and all the evidence points to Luke himself... -
![Urban Outlaws by Peter Jay Black]()
Urban Outlaws by Peter Jay Black
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDeep beneath the city live five extraordinary kids: world-famous hacker Jack, gadget geek Charlie, free runner Slink, communications chief Obi, and decoy expert Wren. Orphans bonded over their shared sense of justice, the kids have formed the Urban Outlaws, a group dedicated to outsmarting criminals and handing out their stolen money through Random Acts of Kindness (R.A.K.s)...Categorized as:
crime dystopia law-enforcement action-adventure book children children-books contemporary -
![Corpora Delicti by Manna Francis]()
Corpora Delicti by Manna Francis
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWealth Is the Only RealityOn the surface, stability has returned to Europe. According to all the official metrics released to news feeds, the Administration and the corporations are stronger and more united than ever. Only in the most secret of government surveillance departments and corporate security divisions would anyone suggest otherwise... -
![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... -
![Lost Bullet by Malcolm Rose]()
Lost Bullet by Malcolm Rose
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn the rotting slums of London, Luke and Malc are called to investigate the shocking murder of an attractive young doctor. The investigation eventually leads Luke to a bizarre cult called the World Church of Eternal Vision whose members believe that the entire medical profession is interfering with creation... -
![Blood & Circuses by Manna Francis]()
Blood & Circuses by Manna Francis
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIt's set to be a busy autumn in New London and beyond. With the ripples of the revolt still running through the European Administration, Val Toreth is slowly settling into the new flat he shares with Keir Warrick. But on orders from the very highest levels of the Administration, Toreth finds himself leaving his regular beat far behind and heading over the Atlantic to Washington D.C... -
![A Song for Madame Choi by Anthony Ryan]()
A Song for Madame Choi by Anthony Ryan
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWelcome to the Slab. A vast orbiting slum where rats grow big and sweat falls in rain. In the sequel to Slab City Blues, an old enemy embroils recently widowed Inspector Alex McLeod in the hunt for a kidnapped girl. With no leads he finds himself reluctantly seeking help from drug dealer and fellow war veteran Madame Choi... -
![Final Lap by Malcolm Rose]()
Final Lap by Malcolm Rose
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLuke Harding will need all of his skill and resources to tackle his action-packed fifth case. Set in the highly competitive world of professional track and field, Luke and Malc are tested to their limits with a series of intriguing, mysterious events... -
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![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... -
![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.. -
![Hell's Fortress by Michael Wallace]()
Hell's Fortress by Michael Wallace
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsEnvironmental disaster, war, and government dissolution have plunged the outside world into chaos, leaving the embattled polygamist community of Blister Creek facing a host of dire challenges as their lifesaving resources grow treacherously low. When one of their beloved members gets lost in the desert, Dr. Jacob Christianson agrees to send out an expedition that includes his sister, Eliza...Categorized as:
crime dystopia law-enforcement police-procedural action-adventure adult book classics -
![Burnout by Sean Platt, Johnny B. Truant]()
Burnout by Sean Platt, Johnny B. Truant
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCutter Dunn is a ghost. Unchipped and unregistered he exists as a nonperson, living off-the-grid, unrecognized by the facial recognition software built into every smart glass device that provides everyone with everything they want and need. According to the official system, he doesn't even exist... -
![Waterborne by J. Luke Bennecke]()
Waterborne by J. Luke Bennecke
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA thought-provoking thriller about a very real threat to the essence of life: water. You'll be forced to consider how you'd react if you were cornered and trapped in a terrifying, life-threatening situation... -
![The Dreaming Tree by Matthew Mather]()
The Dreaming Tree by Matthew Mather
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsEverybody wants to live forever, but some people shouldn't live at all ...After a near-fatal car crash, Royce Lowell-Vandeweghe wakes up to find he's one of the first patients to undergo a radical new procedure: a full-body transplant. Convalescing years later and suffering from waking nightmares, he answers the door at his Long Island home and meets Delta Devlin, a New York detective...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement police-procedural action-adventure adult audiobook black-mc book -
![Truth by Robin Wasserman]()
Truth by Robin Wasserman
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSome things are too painful to remember--and too deadly to forget.Found: One girl, age 13. Unconscious. Unharmed. Unclaimed. Unidentified.Lost: Everything.J.D. can't run from her past any longer. She knows the truth now: that she's dangerous, a weapon. If she can't learn to control her powers, there's no telling what...or who...she'll destroy next...Categorized as:
dystopia law-enforcement action-adventure book fiction middle-grade mystery paranormal -
![The Unknown (The Unknown, #1) by J.W. Lynne, Jenny Lynne]()
The Unknown (The Unknown, #1) by J.W. Lynne, Jenny Lynne
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEIGHT CHILDREN WERE KIDNAPPED.BUT WHY?Eight kids, ages nine to seventeen, awaken to find that almost everything they have ever known has been stolen from them. They were ripped from their beds in the middle of the night and transported to an unfamiliar and unforgiving new world where there are strict rules, and they are punished if they refuse to obey... -
![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... -
![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... -
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![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...Categorized as:
dystopia law-enforcement noir action-adventure adult alternate-history book cyberpunk -
![Android: Golem by Mel Odom]()
Android: Golem by Mel Odom
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen a talented New Angeles Detective wakes up in bed with a woman whose name he can't recall, this seemingly harmless mystery indicates a much larger problem. After all, as one of the few bioroids in the New Angeles Police Department, Drake 3GI2RC isn't accustomed to forgetting... or even sleeping... -
![By the Pricking of Her Thumb by Adam Roberts]()
By the Pricking of Her Thumb by Adam Roberts
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPrivate Investigator Alma is caught up in another impossible murder. One of the world's four richest people may be dead - but nobody is sure which one. Hired to discover the truth behind the increasingly bizarre behaviour of the ultra-rich, Alma must juggle treating her terminally ill lover with a case which may not have a victim... -
![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... -
![Body Politic by Paul Johnston]()
Body Politic by Paul Johnston
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"Gorky Park" meets "Brave New World" in this award-winning debut novel of a serial killer lost in a supposedly perfect society overtaken by the Enlightenment... -
![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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