Books like 'World Gone By'
Readers who enjoyed World Gone By by Dennis Lehane also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical mystery action / adventure 20th century military, war & conflict thriller historical-fiction crime suspense noir
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Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsBased on the true story of a forgotten hero, Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours. Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He’s a normal Italian teenager—obsessed with music, food, and girls—but his days of innocence are numbered... -
A Fire Sparkling by Julianne MacLean
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsFrom the USA Today bestselling author of A Curve in the Road comes a spellbinding novel about one woman’s love, loss, and courage during wartime.After a crushing betrayal by the man she loves, Gillian Gibbons flees to her family home for a much-needed escape, but when she finds an old photograph of her grandmother in the arms of a Nazi officer, Gillian’s life gets even more complicated... -
Kane & Abel by Jeffrey Archer
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsBorn on the same day near the turn of the century on opposite sides of the world, both men are brought together by fate and the quest of a dream. These two men -- ambitious, powerful, ruthless -- are locked in a relentless struggle to build an empire, fuelled by their all-consuming hatred... -
Tell Me Who I Am by Julia Navarro
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe memoir of an entire century, this novel adds a new, original chapter to Julia Navarro's best-selling career. Tell Me Who I Am surprises and enchants with a captivating and heartrending story... -
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Five Decembers by James Kestrel
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn this novel of World War II, an American police detective trapped while trailing a killer overseas struggles to survive with only the help of a total stranger and his daughter, who risk their lives to protect him. December 1941. America teeters on the brink of war, and in Honolulu, Hawaii, police detective Joe McGrady is assigned to investigate a homicide that will change his life forever... -
The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsSome stories live forever . . .Sage Singer is a baker. She works through the night, preparing the day’s breads and pastries, trying to escape a reality of loneliness, bad memories, and the shadow of her mother’s death. When Josef Weber, an elderly man in Sage’s grief support group, begins stopping by the bakery, they strike up an unlikely friendship... -
Once We Were Brothers by Ronald H. Balson
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsThe gripping tale about two boys, once as close as brothers, who find themselves on opposite sides of the Holocaust.Elliot Rosenzweig, a respected civic leader and wealthy philanthropist, is attending a fundraiser when he is suddenly accosted and accused of being a former Nazi SS officer named Otto Piatek, the Butcher of Zamosc... -
City of Thieves by David Benioff
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 68 ratingsDuring the Nazis’ brutal siege of Leningrad, Lev Beniov is arrested for looting and thrown into the same cell as a handsome deserter named Kolya. Instead of being executed, Lev and Kolya are given a shot at saving their own lives by complying with an outrageous directive: secure a dozen eggs for a powerful Soviet colonel to use in his daughter’s wedding cake... -
Karolina's Twins by Ronald H. Balson
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the author of Once We Were Brothers comes a saga inspired by true events of a Holocaust survivor’s quest to fulfill a promise, return to Poland and find two sisters lost during World War II.Lena Woodward, an elderly woman, enlists the help of both lawyer Catherine Lockhart and private investigator Liam Taggart to appraise the story of her harrowing past in Nazi occupied Poland...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction suspense war ww2 20th-century action-adventure -
The Captains by W.E.B. Griffin
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsIt was more than an incident. It was a deadly assault across the 38th parallel. It was the Korean War. In the fear and frenzy of battle, those who had served with heroism before were called again by America to man the trenches and sandbag bunkers...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction literary-fiction war ww2 thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
In Danger's Path by W.E.B. Griffin
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsDesperate to find someone to unite the warring interests of General MacArthur, Admiral Nimitz, and OSS chief Donovan, FDR puts Fleming Pickering in charge of the OSS's Pacific operations... -
The One Man by Andrew Gross
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratings1944. Physics professor Alfred Mendl is separated from his family and sent to the men’s camp, where all of his belongings are tossed on a roaring fire. His books, his papers, his life’s work. The Nazis have no idea what they have just destroyed. And without that physical record, Alfred is one of only two people in the world with his particular knowledge... -
Call To Arms by W.E.B. Griffin
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe attack on Pearl Harbor swept America into the raging heart of the war. The stormy South Pacific presented a daring new challenge, and the men of the Corps were ready to fight. An elite fraternity united by a glorious tradition of courage and honor, the Marine Raiders were bound to a triumphant destiny... -
The Riviera House by Natasha Lester
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Secret weaves a lush and engrossing novel of World War II inspired by a true story and perfect for fans of Kate Quinn and Pam Jenoff. Paris, 1939: The Nazis think Éliane can't understand German. They’re wrong. They think she’s merely cataloging art in a Louvre museum and unaware they’re stealing national treasures for their private collections...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction war ww2 20th-century action-adventure -
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Close Combat by W.E.B. Griffin, Dick Hill
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBestselling author W.E.B. Griffin's epic sixth novel in THE CORPS series—a powerful, dramatic tribute to the courageous men and women who braved WWII... -
Bluebird by Sharon Cameron
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA historical novel, set in postwar New York City.In 1946, Eva leaves behind the rubble of Berlin for the streets of New York City, stepping from the fiery aftermath of one war into another, far colder one, where power is more important than principles, and lies are more plentiful than the truth... -
The Last Restaurant in Paris by Lily Graham
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsParis 1944. To save her people, she served the enemy.In enemy-occupied Paris, as the locals go to bed starving and defeated by the war, music and laughter spills through the door of a little restaurant, crowded with German soldiers. The owner Marianne moves on weary feet between its packed tables, carrying plates of steaming, wholesome food for the enemy officers...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction war ww2 20th-century action-adventure book female-mc -
Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsOne enemy spy knows the secret to the Allies' greatest deception, a brilliant aristocrat and ruthless assassin -- code name: "The Needle" -- who holds the key to ultimate Nazi victory. Only one person stands in his way: a lonely Englishwoman on an isolated island, who is beginning to love the killer who has mysteriously entered her life... -
Rosa's Gold - A Story of Holocaust Echoes by Ray Kingfisher
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsNicole Sutton is a young girl with problems. A tragic car accident has taken away her brother, and ripped her parents' marriage apart. Together with her mother she moves to a new house, a new town, and a life she never wanted. In the dusty cellar of the house she stumbles upon a well-worn notebook – the scribbled war memoirs of Mac, an old soldier...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction war ww2 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Catching the Wind by Melanie Dobson
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhat happened to Brigitte Berthold? That question has haunted Daniel Knight since he was thirteen, when he and eleven-year-old Brigitte escaped the Gestapo agents who arrested both their parents. They survived a harrowing journey from Germany to England, only to be separated upon their arrival... -
Retreat, Hell! by W.E.B. Griffin
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt is the fall of 1950. The Marines have made a pivotal breakthrough at Inchon, but a roller coaster awaits them. While Douglas MacArthur chomps at the bit, intent on surging across the 38th parallel, Brigadier General Fleming Pickering works desperately to mediate the escalating battle between MacArthur and President Harry Truman... -
Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada, Geoff Wilkes
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsInspired by a true story, Hans Fallada's Alone in Berlin is the gripping tale of an ordinary man's determination to defy the tyranny of Nazi rule. This Penguin Classics edition contains an afterword by Geoff Wilkes, as well as facsimiles of the original Gestapo file which inspired the novel. Berlin, 1940, and the city is filled with fear... -
Dragonfly by Leila Meacham
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Roses comes a gripping new novel about five young spies embedded among the highest Nazi ranks in occupied Paris At the height of World War II, a handful of idealistic young Americans receive a mysterious letter from the government, asking them if they are willing to fight for their country... -
Prussian Blue by Philip Kerr
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom New York Times–bestselling author Philip Kerr, the much-anticipated return of Bernie Gunther, our compromised former Berlin bull and unwilling SS officer. With his cover blown, he is waiting for the next move in the cat-and-mouse game that, even a decade after Germany’s defeat, continues to shadow his life... -
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Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBelfast 1988: A man is found dead, killed with a bolt from a crossbow in front of his house. This is no hunting accident. But uncovering who is responsible for the murder will take Detective Sean Duffy down his most dangerous road yet, a road that leads to a lonely clearing on a high bog where three masked gunmen will force Duffy to dig his own grave... -
Sentinels of Fire by P.T. Deutermann
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsP.T. Deutermann's World War II navy series began with the award-winning Pacific Glory, followed by the brilliantly reviewed Ghosts of Bungo Suido. His new novel Sentinels of Fire tells the tale of a lone destroyer, the USS Malloy, part of the Allied invasion forces attacking the island of Okinawa and the Japanese home islands... -
Black Cross by Greg Iles
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIt is January 1944 — and as Allied troops prepare for D-day, Nazi scientists develop a toxic nerve gas that will repel and wipe out any invasion force. To salvage the planned assault, two vastly different but equally determined men are sent to infiltrate the secret concentration camp where the poison gas is being perfected on human subjects... -
Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Wives comes another riveting novel of the Schuyler sisters—where the epic story of star-crossed lovers in pre-war Europe collides with a woman on the run in the swinging '60s...In the autumn of 1966, Pepper Schuyler's problems are in a class of their own... -
The Skipper's Dog Called Stalin by David Black
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSpring, 1941. France has fallen but the Free French naval forces are in no mood to surrender. Royal Navy Sub-Lieutenant Harry Gilmour is also ready for action, despite the horrors of his first taste of submarine warfare.When he is appointed as British Navy Liaison Officer aboard the Free French submarine Radegonde, he finds it anarchic, disorientating—and very French...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction literary-fiction war ww2 20th-century action-adventure adult -
I Saw Her That Night by Drago Jančar
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsI Saw Her That Night, a love story in time of war, is a novel about a few years in the life and mysterious disappearance of Veronika Zarnik, a young bourgeois woman from Ljubljana, sucked into the whirlwind of a turbulent period in history... -
The Winemaker's Wife by Kristin Harmel
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsThe author of the engrossing international bestseller The Room on Rue Amélie returns with a moving story set amid the champagne vineyards of northern France during the darkest days of World War II, perfect for fans of Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale.Champagne, 1940: Inès has just married Michel, the owner of storied champagne house Maison Chauveau, when the Germans invade...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction war ww2 20th-century action-adventure -
You'll Never See Me Again by Lesley Pearse
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AND WOMAN & HOME BEST BOOKS OF SUMMER 'Compelling, rich in detail and vividly told. Storytelling at its best' Daily Express Betty is running for her life.When Betty's husband returns from the war broken and haunted, she knows her marriage is doomed.Taking a fleeting chance to escape, she goes on the run armed with a new identity... -
The Pearl Thief by Fiona McIntosh
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSeverine Kassel is asked by the Louvre in 1963 to aid the British Museum with curating its antique jewellery, her specialty. Her London colleagues find her distant and mysterious; her cool beauty the topic of conversations around its quiet halls. No one could imagine that she is a desperately damaged woman, hiding her trauma behind her chic, French image... -
The Paris Orphan by Natasha Lester
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFrom the USA Today bestselling author of The Paris Seamstress comes a World War II novel that spans continents and crosses generations as an American soldier and an enterprising Vogue photographer brave war-torn France to help a lost little girl find the one thing she never had: a family...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction war ww2 20th-century action-adventure -
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On the Wings of Hope by Ella Zeiss, Helen MacCormac
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAs World War II draws to a close, can two young people find love, hope—and freedom?February 1942: Terrifying reports of the Wehrmacht’s advance across the Soviet Union spread like wildfire, striking new fear into the already oppressed German families living there.Harri Pfeiffer, now sixteen, is summoned to the forced labour camp in Chelyabinsk...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction war ww2 20th-century action-adventure -
Word of Honor by Nelson DeMille, Brian Murray
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsHe is a good man, a brilliant corporate executive, an honest, handsome family man admired by men and desired by women. But a lifetime ago Ben Tyson was a lieutenant in Vietnam. There the men under his command committed a murderous atrocity--and together swore never to tell the world what they had done. Now the press, army justice, and the events he tried to forget have caught up with Ben Tyson... -
Across the Winding River by Aimie K. Runyan
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA woman unlocks the mystery of her father’s wartime past in a moving novel about secrets, sacrifice, and the power of love by the bestselling author of Daughters of the Night Sky.Beth Cohen wants to make the most of the months she has left with her elderly father, Max... -
The Great Swindle by Pierre Lemaitre
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsOctober 1918: the war on the Western Front is all but over. Desperate for one last chance of promotion, the ambitious Lieutenant Henri d'Aulnay Pradelle sends two scouts over the top, and secretly shoots them in the back to incite his men to heroic action once more...Categorized as:
crime drama historical-fiction literary-fiction war 20th-century 21st-century action-adventure -
King Rat by James Clavell
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsThe time is World War II. The place is a brutal prison camp deep in Japanese-occupied territory. Here, within the seething mass of humanity, one man, an American corporal, seeks dominance over both captives and captors alike... -
Pacific Glory by P.T. Deutermann
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA thrilling, multi-layered World War II adventure following two men and an unforgettable woman, from Pearl Harbor through the most dramatic air and sea battles of the war Marsh, Mick, and Tommy were inseparable friends during their naval academy years, each man desperately in love with the beautiful, unattainable Glory Hawthorne... -
Dead of Night by Simon Scarrow
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAs Germany strangles under the tight grip of the Nazi Party, the frozen winter of 1940 brings even more reasons to fear the dark in the crackling new WWII crime novel from #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Simon Scarrow – perfect for fans of Philip Kerr’s Berlin Trilogy, Robert Ludlum, Andrew Gross, and William Christie… One freezing night in 1940 Berlin, an SS doctor and his wife return from... -
Blood and Honor by W.E.B. Griffin
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIf you enjoyed W. E. B. Griffin's Honor Bound, you should segue with pleasure into this involving sequel. Set in Buenos Aires in 1943, it follows the adventures of three American soldiers as they think and fight their way through a complex story about Nazi sympathizers, dedicated supporters of the Allied cause, and other people just trying to stay alive... -
A Quiet Flame by Philip Kerr
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPhilip Kerr returns with his best-loved character, Bernie Gunther, in the fifth novel in what is now a series: a tight, twisting, compelling thriller that is firmly rooted in history.A Quiet Flame opens in 1950... -
Prague Fatale by Philip Kerr
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSeptember 1941: Reinhard Heydrich is hosting a gathering to celebrate his appointment as Reichsprotector of Czechoslovakia. He has chosen his guests with care. All are high-ranking Party members and each is a suspect in a crime as yet to be committed: the murder of Heydrich himself... -
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Field Gray by Philip Kerr
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPhilip Kerr delivers a novel with the noir sensibility of Raymond Chandler, the realpolitik of vintage John le Carré, and the dark moral vision of Graham Greene... -
The Berlin Girl by Mandy Robotham
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of The German Midwife comes the heart-wrenching story of a country on the brink of war, a woman who puts herself in the line of fire, and a world about to be forever changed.Berlin, 1938: It’s the height of summer, and Germany is on the brink of war...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction war ww2 20th-century action-adventure -
Dead to Me by Lesley Pearse
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDiscover a compelling story of loyalty, love and the strength of friendship in war-torn Britain, from the international bestselling author Lesley Pearse'Glorious, heartwarming' Woman & Home'Full of love, passion and heartbreak' Best___________Spring 1935.On London's Hampstead Heath, two girls meet by chance: well-mannered and smartly dressed Verity and dishevelled and grubby Ruby... -
The Black Swan of Paris by Karen Robards
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA captivating story of estranged sisters reunited by a devastating war and the race to save their mother’s lifeParis, 1944Celebrated singer Genevieve Dumont is both a star and a smoke screen. An unwilling darling to the Nazis, the chanteuse’s position of privilege also has its advantages—such as going undetected as an ally to undercover British officer Captain Max Ryan as part of the resistance... -
Her Last Flight by Beatriz Williams
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn 1947, photographer and war correspondent Janey Everett arrives at a remote surfing village on the Hawaiian island of Kauai to research a planned biography of forgotten aviation pioneer Sam Mallory, who joined the loyalist forces in the Spanish Civil War and never returned... -
The Woman with the Blue Star by Pam Jenoff, Sanna Majuri
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratings1942. Sadie Gault is eighteen and living with her parents amid the horrors of the Kraków Ghetto during World War II. When the Nazis liquidate the ghetto, Sadie and her pregnant mother are forced to seek refuge in the perilous sewers beneath the city. One day Sadie looks up through a grate and sees a girl about her own age buying flowers...
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