Books like 'Priest'
Readers who enjoyed Priest by Ken Bruen also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
mystery action / adventure thriller crime noir law-enforcement suspense drama investigator sad
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Firewalk by L.T. Ryan, Brian Christopher Shea
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsStarting over is never easy.For Hatch nothing ever is.Seeking a connection to her past,Hatch crosses paths with a girl in need.And she'll risk everything to save her.In the most intense novel to date, ex-military police officer Rachel Hatch faces off with a criminal enterprise trafficking girls. Hatch can't look the other way and is called by her code of justice to seek resolution... -
Damned by Jana Deleon
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen young priest Nicolas Chatry took his vows, he thought the hardest thing he’d have to deal with was accomplishing his duties from a wheelchair. Until a murderer steps into the confessional. Unable to recognize the voice or maneuver quickly enough to get a look at the killer, Nicolas has no way of identifying who admitted to such a horrific deed... -
The Harry Bosch Novels, Volume 2: The Last Coyote / Trunk Music / Angels Flight by Michael Connelly
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe Last Coyote: LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch is suspended from the force for attacking his commanding officer. Unable to remain idle, he investigates the long-unsolved murder of a Hollywood prostitute — his mother. Trunk Music: Harry returns to the force to investigate the murder of a movie producer with Mafia ties... -
The Crossing by Michael Connelly
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsDetective Harry Bosch has retired from the LAPD, but his half-brother, defense attorney Mickey Haller, needs his help. A woman has been brutally murdered in her bed and all evidence points to Haller's client, a former gang member turned family man. Though the murder rap seems ironclad, Mickey is sure it's a setup.Bosch doesn't want anything to do with crossing the aisle to work for the defense... -
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Missing Persons by James Patterson, Adam Hamdy
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIn Afghanistan, a US Special Forces pilot is shot down during a covert mission.In New York, a mother is forced to flee with her two young children.A wealthy businessman approaches Jack Morgan, head of Private - the world's largest investigation agency - with a desperate plea to track down his daughter and grandchildren, who have disappeared without a trace... -
The Alchemy Fire Murder by Susan Rowland
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFormer Archivist Mary Wandwalker hates bringing bad news. Nevertheless, she confirms to her alma mater that their prized medieval alchemy scroll, is, in fact, a seventeenth century copy. She learns that the original vanished to colonial Connecticut with alchemist, Robert Le More. Later the genuine scroll surfaces in Los Angeles... -
Indigo Slam by Robert Crais
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsLife in the California sun suits Elvis Cole—until the day a fifteen-year-old girl and her two younger siblings walk into his office. Then everything changes. Three years ago, a Seattle family ran for their lives in a hail of bullets. Hired by three kids to find their missing father, Elvis now must pick up the cold pieces of a drama that began that night... -
The Depth of Darkness by L.T. Ryan, Sean Patrick Hopkins
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsDetective Mitch Tanner's life hangs in the balance. He clings to the daughter in his care. He agonizes over the disappearance of his son and estranged wife. Twelve months has yet to turn up a solid lead.While investigating the apparent accidental death of Dusty Anne Miller, Mitch and his partner Sam Foster find themselves in the middle of a fiendish plan that strikes too close to home... -
No Way Back by Rick Mofina, Christian Rummel
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSan Francisco crime reporter Tom Reed is burned out. On the day he decides to finally quit the news business, a sensational story breaks. A heart-stopping robbery-homicide at a jewelry store. The suspects have shot and killed a police officer before fleeing with a female hostage. Reed rushes to the scene, his passion resurrected for one last big story...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
Dark Night of the Soul by Kristi Belcamino, Sonja Field
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsGia Santella, the fast-driving, hard-drinking, karate-trained free spirit, has finally put her dark past behind her. UNFORTUNATELY, the past isn't done with her yet. The third book in a new, exciting series featuring an unforgettable new character by the Anthony, Barry & Macavity finalist and crime writer .. -
Last Breath by Tom Barber
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen is violence necessary?A Federal manhunt is underway across the United States. A sniper has killed three people in three different cities during the last seventy two hours and he’s gone to ground somewhere in Washington D.C. No-one can find him, and riots have erupted on the streets in response to the shootings.The lead suspect is a police officer... -
The Glass Rainbow by James Lee Burke
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsJames Lee Burke's eagerly awaited new novel finds Detective Dave Robicheaux back in New Iberia, Louisiana, and embroiled in the most harrowing and dangerous case of his career. Seven young women in neighboring Jefferson Davis Parish have been brutally murdered... -
Tell No One / Gone For Good by Harlan Coben
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben comes an unforgettable duet of classic novels—two top-notch thrillers filled with the author’s signature storytelling genius.TELL NO ONEFor Dr. David Beck, the loss was shattering. And every day for the past eight years, he has relived the horror of what happened. The gleaming lake. The pale moonlight. The piercing screams... -
Blueblood by Matthew Iden
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFour unrelated murders. Nothing special in Washington DC. Not even good enough to make the evening news. But then a concerned police lieutenant approaches retired homicide detective Marty Singer with a simple fact that changes everything. They were all cops... -
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Cold Kill by Stephen Leather
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 17 ratings"While investigating a crew of people-traffickers…Dan Shepherd discovers a cross-Channel currency-smuggling operation. Posing as a low-level criminal, Shepherd infiltrates the gang, befriending its London soldiers and establishing contact with the Albanian gangster who masterminds the business from his swank Paris flat...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
The Lonely Silver Rain by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"Travis McGee is back in action and he is in fine, fine form....What a treat. It is John D. MacDonald's 21st Travies McGee book and, without reservaton, his best."THE SAN DIEGO TRIBUNESearching for a wealthy friend's yacht, Travis McGee puts himself square in the center of the international cocaine trade, and finds himself the target of some of the most ruthless villains he's ever met... -
Blood of Others by Rick Mofina
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe disappearance and murder of a lonely San Francisco insurance clerk puts a relentless crime reporter and legendary homicide cop on separate tracks in their pursuit of a killer.The suspect lures solitary women out of their quiet worlds and into his nightmare as he races the clock and travels the globe searching for the one woman who will forgive the unforgivable...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
Lockstep by Robert P. French
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA mysterious kidnapping. A political ransom. To save a child, an ex-cop with a dark past must risk his future… Recovering addict Cal Rogan would do anything to preserve his relationship with his daughter. So when one of her friends disappears, Cal splits his efforts between three separate cases... -
Sunset Express by Robert Crais
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsProminent restaurateur Teddy Martin is facing charges in his wife’s brutal murder. But he’s not going down without spending a bundle of cash on his defense. So his hotshot attorney hires P.I. Elvis Cole to find proof that Detective Angela Rossi tampered with the evidence. Rossi needs a way back to the fast track after falling hard during an internal investigation five years ago... -
The Forgotten Man by Robert Crais
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsElvis Cole is back...With his acclaimed bestsellers, Hostage (a New York Times Notable Book) and Demolition Angel, Robert Crais drew raves for his unstoppable pacing, edgy characterizations, and cinematic prose...Categorized as:
crime drama hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure -
Lullaby Town by Robert Crais
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsHollywood's newest wunderkind is Peter Alan Nelson, the brilliant, erratic director known as the King of Adventure. His films make billions, but his manners make enemies. What the boy king wants, he gets, and what Nelson wants is for Elvis Cole to comb the country for the airhead wife and infant child the film-school flunkout dumped en route to becoming the third biggest filmmaker in America... -
Voodoo River by Robert Crais
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsL.A. private eye Elvis Cole is hired by popular television star Jodie Taylor to delve into her past and identify the biological parents who gave her up for adoption thirty-six years before. Cole's assignment is to find out their biological history and report back.It seems all too clear cut. But when he gets to Louisiana and begins his search, he finds that there's something much darker going on... -
Family Values by G.M. Ford
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsReturning to Seattle after a business trip, retired PI Leo Waterman is shocked to find his girlfriend, Rebecca Duvall, unconscious on the bathroom floor, her house filled with gas. Officials believe it was a suicide attempt in the wake of a humiliating scandal. Under investigation for dereliction of duty, she’d been suspended from her job as medical examiner for King County... -
The Dead Tracks by Tim Weaver
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratings"The Dead Tracks" is the second in the David Raker series from Tim Weaver. A serial killer more terrifying than you could ever imagine...Seventeen-year-old Megan Carver was an unlikely runaway. A straight - a student from a happy home, she studied hard and rarely got into trouble. Six months on, she's never been found. Missing persons investigator David Raker knows what it's like to grieve...Categorized as:
crime investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
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Misery Bay by Steve Hamilton
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt's a beautiful place to die... The latest superb novel from EDGAR AWARD-winning author of THE LOCK ARTIST. In the dead of winter a young man is found hanging from a tree on a remote shore of Lake Superior known as Misery Bay. There's no evidence of foul play. Nothing to suggest it's anything other than a tragic teenage suicide...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
Free Fall in Crimson by John D. MacDonald, Carl Hiaasen
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMcGee tracks killers who brutally murder an ailing millionaire. He renews unfinished adventure with Hollywood actress who leads him into a nasty nest of murderers involving a motorcycle gang, porn movies, and mad balloonists. And Mcgee relearns old lesson. Only close to the edge of death does he feel completely alive...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement noir suspense thriller action-adventure -
Flamingo by James Lee Burke
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA routine assignment transporting two death-row prisoners to their executions goes fatally wrong, leaving Dave Robicheaux brutally wounded and his partner dead. Obsessed with revenge, Dave is persuaded by the DEA to go undercover into the torrid sleepy depths of New Orleans, a volatile world of Mafia drug-running and Cajun voodoo magic...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement noir suspense thriller action-adventure -
Crusader's Cross by James Lee Burke
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsCritically acclaimed and bestselling crime writer James Lee Burke delivers his most exciting thriller ever featuring beloved hero Dave Robicheaux, and this time he's sleuthing his way through Louisiana's hotbed of sin and uncertainty.In Crusader's Cross, a deathbed confession from an old schoolmate reminds Dave Robicheaux of a girl he once knew, sending him on a hunt for her whereabouts...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement noir suspense thriller action-adventure -
Eight Million Ways to Die by Lawrence Block
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNobody knows better than Matthew Scudder how far down a person can sink in this city. A young prostitute named Kim knew it also—and she wanted out. Maybe Kim didn't deserve the life fate had dealt her. She surely didn't deserve her death. The alcoholic ex-cop turned p.i. was supposed to protect her, but someone slashed her to ribbons on a crumbling New York City waterfront pier...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement noir suspense thriller action-adventure -
When the Sacred Ginmill Closes by Lawrence Block
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDowning a bourbon or two with a couple of cronies, Scudder witnesses a heist. The Morrisey brothers who run the joint are strangely submissive during the raid, but eager to see Scudder track down the thieves without involving the regular forces of law and order...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement noir suspense thriller action-adventure -
The Long Lavender Look by John D. MacDonald, Darren McGavin
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMcGee has become part of our national fabric." SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER A lovely young girl steps in front of Travis McGee's headlights. McGee misses the girl but lands in ten feet of swamp water. As he's limping along the deserted road, someone in an old truck takes a few shots at him... -
A Dance At The Slaughterhouse by Lawrence Block
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn Matt Scudder's mind, money, power, and position elevate nobody above morality and the law. Now the ex-cop and unlicensed p.i. has been hired to prove that socialite Richard Thurman orchestrated the brutal murder of his beautiful, pregnant wife. During Scudder's hard drinking years, he left a piece of his soul on every seedy corner of the Big Apple... -
Free Fall by Robert Crais
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsJennifer Sheridan's fiance, Mark Thurman, is a decorated LA cop with an elite plainclothes unit, but Jennifer is sure he's in trouble - the kind of serious trouble that only Elvis Cole can get him out of... -
The Watchman by Robert Crais
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsTo pay back an old debt, Pike is coerced into protecting Larkin Barkley, a hard-partying young heiress whose life is in danger after a "wrong place wrong time" encounter that quickly escalates and spins out of control. The enemy is shadowy, violent and relentless—but the fierce, focused Pike, one of the strongest characters in modern crime fiction, is equal to the challenge...Categorized as:
crime drama hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure -
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The Insider by Craig Schaefer
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMove over, Jack Reacher and Kinsey Millhone: cast-iron bodyguard Charlie McCabe is back in Craig Schaefer’s gritty sequel to The Loot.Hard-bitten bodyguard Charlie McCabe is lucky to be alive after her recent foray into Boston's criminal underworld... -
Riptide / Mount Dragon by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsRiptide: Seit 200 Jahren liegt der Schatz des Piraten Edward Ockham in einem raffinierten Stollensystem auf der Insel Ragged Island versteckt. Unzählige Abenteurer versuchten ihn zu bergen - und bezahlten dafür mit ihrem Leben. Denn auf Ragged Island lastet ein tödlicher Fluch. Als der Mediziner Malin Hatch das Geheimnis lüften will, bringt er sich unwissentlich in höchste Gefahr .. -
Salvation Lake by G.M. Ford
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAt the end of an especially raucous day at his neighborhood bar, private eye Leo Waterman is surprised to see his old flame, Rebecca Duval, walk in the door. But King County’s medical examiner is here on business, not pleasure. Two dead bodies, covered by an old coat that once belonged to Leo’s father, have turned up in the trunk of a car...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense action-adventure adult amateur-sleuth -
The Camel's Back Lib/E by Brian Christopher Shea, Conner Goff
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThree people, each at their own breaking point, collide. The resulting impact will forever change their lives ... if they can manage to survive it.Declan Enright, a former police officer recently fired over a controversial shooting, has reached a breaking point in his life...Categorized as:
crime drama hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure -
The Outfit by Richard Stark
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen the Outfit tries to kill him, Parker declares war. Ripping off the syndicate is easy, but going one-on-one with Bronson, the Outfit's big boss, is the hard part. Hard for anyone but Parker, because the entire underworld understands that whatever Parker does -- he does for keep... -
The Green Ripper by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBeautiful girls always grace the Florida beaches, strolling, sailing, relaxing at the many parties on Travis McGee's houseboat, The Busted Flush. McGee was too smart--and had been around too long--for many of them to touch his heart. Now, however, there was Gretel. She had discovered the key to McGee--to all of him--and now he had something to hope for. Then, terribly, unexpectedly, she was dead...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement noir suspense thriller action-adventure -
Blood is the Sky by Steve Hamilton
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBefore Blood is the Sky, the Alex McKnight series had already hit bestseller lists and won awards, but this novel took it to a whole new level. Set in the forests of northern Ontario, a land of savage beauty and sudden danger, Blood is the Sky shows why Steve Hamilton is one of the most acclaimed crime novelists writing today...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
A Ticket to the Boneyard by Lawrence Block
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTwelve years ago, Matthew Scudder lied to a jury to put James Leo Motley behind bars. Now the ingenious psychopath is free. And the alcoholic ex-cop-turned-p.i. must pay dearly for his sins. Friends and former lovers -- even strangers unfortunate enough to share Scudder's name -- are turning up dead...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement noir suspense thriller action-adventure -
The Reluctant Detective by Tom Fowler
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA novice PI. A ruthless old acquaintance. Will C.T. Ferguson's first case be his last? Three weeks in a brutal prison—that was hacker C.T. Ferguson's punishment for helping Americans and dissidents evade the Chinese government. Deported home, C.T. uses his digital skills as a private investigator.Suspecting her husband is cheating on her, Alice hires C.T. to investigate... -
Her Last Wish by Blake Pierce
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFBI Agent Rachel Gift, 33, unparalleled for her ability to enter the minds of serial killers, is a rising star in the Behavioral Crimes Unit—until a routine doctor visit reveals she has but a few months left to live.Not wishing to burden others with her pain, Rachel decides, agonizing as it is, not to tell anyone—not even her boss, her partner, her husband, or her seven-year-old daughter... -
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Pale Gray for Guilt by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTush Bannon was in the wrong spot at the wrong time. His measly plot of land just so happened to sit right in the middle of a rich parcel of five hundred riverfront acres that big-money real estate interests decided they simply must have.It didn’t matter that Tush was a nice guy with a family, or that he never knew he was dealing with a criminal element... -
Purple Cane Road by James Lee Burke
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDave Robicheaux has spent his life confronting the age-old adage that the sins of the father pass onto the son. But what has his mother's legacy left him? Dead to him since youth, Mae Guillory has been shuttered away in the deep recesses of Dave's mind. He's lived with the fact that he would never really know what happened to the woman who left him to the devices of his whiskey-driven father...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement noir suspense thriller action-adventure -
Early Autumn by Robert B. Parker
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"[Robert B.] Parker's brilliance is in his simple dialogue, and in Spenser."--The Philadelphia InquirerA bitter divorce is only the beginning. First the father hires thugs to kidnap his son. Then the mother hires Spenser to get the boy back. But as soon as Spenser senses the lay of the land, he decides to do some kidnapping of his own...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement noir suspense thriller action-adventure -
Bad To The Bones by James Harper
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratings**Alternative cover edition for ASIN: B076H9C28F here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...**What would you give, how far would you go, to find a lost child and redeem your soul? And will it ever be far enough? Ten years ago, Linda Clayton's son Daniel disappeared. The love and support of her husband Robbie was all that kept her sane—until the day he ran away... -
Cinnamon Skin by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen Travis McGee's friend Meyer lent his boat to his niece Norma, and her new husband Even, the boat exploded out in the waters of the Florida Keys. Travis McGee thinks it's no accident, and clues lead him to ponder possibilities of drugs and also to wonder where Evan was when his wife was killed...."Proves again that MacDonald keeps getting better with each new adventure...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement noir suspense thriller action-adventure -
The Empty Copper Sea by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"The professional's professional of suspense writers."THE NEW YORK TIMESVan Harder, once a hard drinker, has found religion. But that doesn't keep folks from saying he murdered his employer, Hub Lawless, whose body hasn't been found. To clear his name, and cear up the mystery, Van asks friend-in-need Travis McGee to find out what really happened...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled investigator law-enforcement noir suspense thriller action-adventure
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