Clive Cussler for Kids - fantasy, fiction, beginner adventure/thriller

Clive Cussler (yes, the same one who writes adult books) - 


The Adventures of Vin Fiz - a magical plane and two kids fly across the country; good guys, bad guys, etc.


The Adventures of Hotsy Totsy - a magical boat and the two kids go on an adventure


(I am hoping he will write more of these as it is a market with a great deficiency for very early readers. I have included the label "children" as there are many 5-7 year olds who read quite well, but are not sufficiently emotionally mature to handle much of what is written for 8-12 year olds.  My 7-year old grandson LOVES them.)

Thriller - horse racing - Francis

Dick Francis CBE (b. Richard Stanley Francis, 1920, Wales); British horse racing crime writer and retired jockey. Son of a jockey and stable manager.

He flew fighters and bombers in the RAF for six years. After WWII, he won more than 350 races in British National Hunt racing and was Champion Jockey in 1953 and 1954.

From 1953 to 1957 he was jockey to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. In 1957 a serious fall forced his retirement. His most famous jockey moment came as he rode the Queen Mother's horse, Devon Loch, in the 1956 Grand National. The horse inexplicably fell when close to winning the race.

In 1957, his autobiography, The Sport of Queens led him to become racing correspondent for the London Sunday Express for 16 years. In 1962, he published Dead Cert. His books are all set in horse racing environs.

His wife, Mary, did much research and editing of his later novels. After her death in 2000, Francis wrote nothing until Under Orders. Dead Heat and Silks were co-written by his son Felix, his manager and now research assistant. Felix was the inspiration for a character in Twice Shy. His son, Merrick, racehorse trainer and later horse transporter, inspired Driving Force.

Autobiography:

· The Sport of Queens (1957)

Collections:

• Field of Thirteen (1998)

Anthologies:

• Winter's Crimes 5 (1973)
• Gourmet Crook Book, the (1976)
• Best Crime Stories, the (1977)
• Best of Winter's Crimes Volume 1, the (1986)
• Masterpieces of Mystery and Suspense (1988)
• Great Tales of Crime & Detection (1991)
• Murders for the Fireside: The Best of Winter’s Crimes (1992)
• 1st Culprit: A Crime Writers' Association Annual (1992)
• Murder at the Races (1995)
• Crime Movies II (1997)
• Mysterious Pleasures (2003)

Novels:

• Dead Cert (1962)
• Nerve (1964)
• For Kicks (1965)
• Odds Against (1965) – Sid Halley
• Flying Finish (1966)
• Blood Sport (1967)
• Forfeit (1968)
• Enquiry (1969)
• Rat Race (1970)
• Bonecrack (1971)
• Smokescreen (1972)
• Slayride (1973)
• Knockdown (1974)
• High Stakes (1975)
• In the Frame (1976)
• Risk (1977)
• Trial Run (1978)
• Whip Hand (1979) – Sid Halley
• Reflex (1980)
• Twice Shy (1981)
• Banker (1982)
• The Danger (1983)
• Proof (1985)
• Break In (1985) – Kit Fielding
• Bolt (1986) – Kit Fielding
• Hot Money (1987)
• The Edge (1988)
• Straight (1989)
• Longshot (1990)
• Comeback (1991)
• Driving Force (1992)
• Decider (1993)
• Wild Horses (1994)
• Come To Grief (1995) – Sid Halley
• To the Hilt (1996)
• 10lb Penalty (1997)
• Second Wind (1999)
• Shattered (2000)
• Under Orders (2006) – Sid Halley

With Felix Francis:

• Dead Heat (2007)
• Silks (2008)
• Even Money (2009)

Series:

• Sid Halley
• Kit Fielding
• Winter's Crimes

Thriller - Lee Child - Jack Reacher novels

I have only read the novels and I have enjoyed everyone of them so far.  This list is from the author's own website and includes his shorts stories, etc.  I cannot address the content of anything I have not read.


I love to read things in chronological order, but they were not written in that order and are intended to be fully stand-alone in any order (which they are).  Lee Child (pen name of Jim Grant) says he believe one will appreciate the prequels better if one has already read the books in the order written.  (I tend to disagree, but then I did not read the first several in any particular order, which I found frustrating.)

The Jack Reacher novels:

•   #1     Killing Floor (1997) [1998 Barry Award] and [Anthony Award for Best First Novel]
•   #2     Die Trying (1998)
•   #3     Tripwire (1999) 
•   #4     Running Blind: US title/The Visitor: UK title (2000)
•   #5     Echo Burning (2001)
•   #6     Without Fail (2002)
•   #7     Persuader (2003)
•   #8     The Enemy (2004) Prequel set eight years before Killing Floor when he was still in the military.
•   #9     One Shot (2005)
• #10     The Hard Way (2006)
• #11    Bad Luck and Trouble (2007)
• #12    Nothing to Lose (2008)
• #13    Gone Tomorrow (2009)
• #14    61 Hours (Spring 2010)
• #15    Worth Dying For (Fall 2010)
• #16    The Affair (Fall 2011) This is another prequel.
• #17    A Wanted Man   (Sept 2012)

Short story anthologies:

___ Fresh Blood 3 (1999) Lee's story, "James Penney's New Identity", features a

                             pre-Killing Floor Jack Reacher.

___ Like a Charm (2004) Serialized novel; Lee wrote Chapter Six: "The Snake Eater

                             by the Numbers".

___ The Cocaine Chronicles (2005) Lee's story: "Ten Keys".

___ Greatest Hits (2005) Lee's story: "The Greatest Trick of All".

___ Thriller (2006) Contains an edited version of "James Penney's New Identity"

                             originally published in Fresh Blood 3.

___ MWA Presents Death Do Us Part (2006) Lee's story: "Enough".

___ Bloodlines: A Horse Racing Anthology (2006) Lee's story: "The .50 Solution".

___ The Best British Mysteries IV (2007) Lee's story: "The Greatest Trick of All".

___ The Chopin Manuscript (2007) Audio serialized novel; Lee wrote Chapter 15.

___ Killer Year: Stories to Die For (2008) Lee edited but did not contribute a story.

___ Guy Walks Into a Bar (June 7, 2009) published in The New York Times.

___ Phoenix Noir (2009) Lee's story: "Public Transportation".

___ The Copper Bracelet (2009) Audio serialized novel; Lee wrote one chapter.

___ The Line Up (2010) Lee gives the inside story on Reacher and his origins.

___ Watchlist (2010) Print edition of previously audio-only serialized novels

                             The Chopin Manuscript (2007) and The Copper Bracelet (2009).

___ The Dark End of the Street (2010) Lee's story: "Me and Mr. Rafferty".

___ Agents of Treachery (2010) Lee's story: "Section 7 (a) (Operational)".

___ First Thrills (2010) Lee edited but did not contribute a story.

___ The Best American Mystery Stories 2010 (Sept) Lee edited only.

Tim LeHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins - Left Behind Series (fiction)

Thriller novels based on end-time prophecies in the Holy Bible

The box below is from Wikipedia -  (I do not normally include the first three in this series, although they are the prequels to it.  I do not think the story in the prequels is nearly as good, nor as believable, as the series.  But for purposes of completeness, I will copy them here.  I do own them; I just don't care that much for them.)

The "Series" begins with number 4 in this list.

Chron Seq.	Pub Seq.	Title (with subtitle)	Pub Date
1	13	The Rising: Antichrist is Born: Before They Were Left Behind	2005[24]
2	14	The Regime: Evil Advances: Before They Were Left Behind #2	2005[25]
3	15	The Rapture: In the Twinkling of an Eye: Countdown to Earth's Last Days #3	2006
4	1	Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth's Last Days	1995
5	2	Tribulation Force: The Continuing Drama of Those Left Behind	1996
6	3	Nicolae: The Rise of Antichrist	1997
7	4	Soul Harvest: The World Takes Sides	1999
8	5	Apollyon: The Destroyer Is Unleashed	1999
9	6	Assassins: Assignment: Jerusalem, Target: Antichrist	1999
10	7	The Indwelling: The Beast Takes Possession	2000
11	8	The Mark: The Beast Rules the World	2000
12	9	Desecration: Antichrist Takes the Throne	2001
13	10	The Remnant: On the Brink of Armageddon	2002
14	11	Armageddon: The Cosmic Battle of the Ages	2003
15	12	Glorious Appearing: The End of Days	2004
16	16	Kingdom Come: The Final Victory	2007