The Ultimate Cheap Thrills Guide

They line the airport bookstore shelves. They're action-packed and full of beloved tough-guy heroes.

With easy-to-moderate reading levels, they're written for the masses, which is why they habitually frequent the bestseller lists and are churned out by the dozen by skillful, yet for some silly reason, mostly old, white, male authors.

We've dubbed them Cheap Thrills.

They're certainly not of the highest quality of literature on the block, which is why you won't see many reviews from us on The Bookshelf. The majority of them are series, so once you find an author or sub-genre you like, you're set for a while.

While we think there's plenty better books out there, we know that Cheap Thrills, like beach reads,

offer a certain comfort and ease to readers who love them.

As the daughter and the wife of a man who prefers Cheap Thrills over most other genres, we dedicate this page to him.

Crime Junkie

Police procedurals, private investigators, murders, mysteries, and all the crime in between

Crime

Read more about Cheap Thrills on The Blog

Jump to: Crime Historical Legal Espionage Mixed Bag

Barb and Chuck's Favorites The Top 10 Cheap Thrill Authors Cheap Thrill Blog Posts

*Clearly a personal favorite of mine since 1993

Michael Connelly • Try the Harry Bosch series

Tess Gerritsen • Try the Rizzoli and Isles series

John Sanford • Try the Lucas Davenport series*

Craig Johnson • Try the Longmire series

Karin Slaughter • Try the Will Trent series

Peter Robinson • Try the Inspector Banks series

Dennis Lehane • Try the Kenzie-Genaro series

James Patterson • Try the Alex Cross series

Jeffrey Deaver • Try the Lincoln Rhyme series

C.J. Box • Try the Joe Pickett series

Robert Brown Parker • Try the Jesse Stone series

Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child • Try the Pendergast series

Greg Iles

Try: Black Cross

WWII thrillers

Clive Cussler

Try: The Issac Bell series

Early 20th century

Brad Meltzer

Try "The Book of..."

History with a twist

Jeffrey Archer

Try: The Clifton Chronicles

WWI & WWII

Historical

Kickin' Ass & Takin' Names Since 1776

Historical thrills--All the ass-kicking and adventure, just in a different era

Espionage

Spies, Lies & Bad Guys

Responsible for keeping our fictional world safe one morally-questionable, elite spy guy at a time,

these political/espionage/international cheap thrills are the o.g. and most recognizable.

Westerns

Craig Johnson

Robert Brown Parker

C.J. Box

Nelson DeMille • Try the John Corey series

Ben Coes • Try the Dewey Andreas series

Brad Thor • Try the Scot Harvath series

Robert Ludlum • Try the Jason Bourne series

Vince Flynn • Try the Mitch Rapp series

David Baldacci • Try the Will Robie series

Lee Child • Try the Jack Reacher series

Matthew Reilly • Try the Shane Schofield series

Tom Clancy • Try the Jack Ryan series

Actual look at Barb and Chuck's bookshelf

Legal

I Object!

Justice fighting and thrills, in and out of the courtroom

Steve Martini • Try the Paul Madriani Series

Michael Connelly • Try the Mickey Haller series

Brad Meltzer • Try The Tenth Justice

Lisa Scottoline • Try the Rosato and Associates series

Greg Iles • Try the Penn Cage series

Mixed Bag

Mixed Bag:

The Book Bitches aren't much into sci-fi or romance, but every once in awhile we'll dip our toes into something outside of our comfort zones.

Here's a little taste of some more sub-genres that we may not read as widely, but love all the same.

Westerns

C.J. Box

Robert Brown Parker

Craig Johnson

Techno-Thrillers & Sci-Fi

Clive Cussler

Douglas Preston &

Lincoln Child

Medical

Robin Cook

Tess Gerritsen

Action & Adventure

Clive Cussler

Nelson DeMille

Humor

Nelson DeMille

Barb & Chuck's Favorites:

Barb and Chuck's Favs

If their upstairs library is any indication, it’s really all Barb and Chuck read--downstairs is where she keeps the good stuff.

In no particular order, here are Barb’s five and Chuck’s ten (he just couldn’t decide!) favorite Cheap Thrill authors.

Nelson DeMille

Chuck: Humor, sarcasm + intricate plots, foreign + domestic

Barb: Ditto! John Corey is hysterical!!

Vince Flynn

C: Mitch Rapp is an international badass/protector of the US

B: Ditto again. We love Mitch.

C.J. Box

C: Montana game warden in local + national mysteries/crimes

Brad Thor

Chuck: Very similar to Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp. Secret Service agent ensures America is safe at night.

Tom Clancy

Chuck: Jack Ryan – President, Jack Ryan Jr. – spy.

Mr. Clark and Ding Chavez are their teachers and confidants on international mayhem

John Grisham

Barb: I love all of his books and am looking forward to A Time for Mercy, the follow up to A Time to Kill. I recommend Camino Island and Camino Winds to friends that are looking for a great beach read.

Michael Connelly

Chuck: A veteran LAPD sleuth always looks for the truth.

Barb: I love Harry Bosch. He also does the Lincoln Lawyer books, who's related to Bosch.

John Sandford

Chuck: A Minneapolis police detective turned Fed, hunts down bad guys in the cold

David Baldacci

Chuck: Has several protagonists including: the leader of a ragtag group that helps protect US interests, an international assassin, and a man who has total memory recall that works with the FBI

Ben Coes

Chuck: Another badass protagonist fights international threats

Lee Child

Chuck: Jack Reacher-: Neighborhood Badass and all-around good guy

Karin Slaughter

Barb: As I looked through the list of her books, none of the titles jumped out at me. I just know when one of her books comes out, I will read it and never be disappointed!