Adventure/Western Fiction

New and recommended adventure and western fiction

Updated October 6, 2025
Rochester Public Library RPL Staff
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Adventure/Western Fiction

New and recommended adventure and western fiction

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Don't let the devil ride : a novel
Atkins, Ace
Paper Book
"An instant Southern noir classic" -S.A. Cosby  S.A. Cosby meets Don Winslow in the breakout thriller from New York Times bestselling author Ace Atkins. A Memphis woman hires a PI to find her missing husband, only to discover that he is involved in a dangerous web of international...
The heart in winter : a novel
Barry, Kevin
Audiobook
A BEST BOOK OF 2024 FROM THE ECONOMIST AND THE MINNESOTA STAR TRIBUNE Award-winning writer Kevin Barry's first novel set in America, a savagely funny and achingly romantic tale of young lovers on the lam in 1890s Montana. "A wedding of Cormac McCarthy with Flann O'Brien;...
The scent of burnt flowers : a novel
Bazawule, Blitz
Paper Book
Fleeing persecution in 1960s America, a Black couple seeks asylum in Ghana, but fresh dangers and old secrets threaten their newfound freedom in this hypnotic debut novel. "I am truly blown away by this novel."--Jacqueline Woodson, New York Times bestselling author of Red...
The wildest ride
Bell, Marcella
Paper Book
"Filled with deep emotion and intense spark, Marcella Bell brings grit, spark and brilliance to western romance! Marcella Bell is one to watch!"--Maisey Yates, New York Times bestselling author The world watches on as reality TV meets rodeo in this competition like no...
Without sanction
Bentley, Don
Paper Book
Defense Intelligence Agency operative Matt Drake broke a promise. A promise that cost three people their lives and crippled his best friend. Three months later, he's paralysed by survivor's guilt. Matt may have left Syria, but Syria hasn't left him. In the midst of his self-imposed exile, Matt is...
Northern spy
Berry, Flynn
Paper Book
Reese's Book Club Pick Instant New York Times Bestseller A New York Times Book Review Top 10 Thriller of 2021 A Washington Post Top 10 Thriller or Mystery of 2021   "If you love a mystery, then you'll devour [Northern Spy] . . . I...
The peacock and the sparrow : a novel
Berry, I. S.
Paper Book
THRILLER OF THE YEAR: The Times (London) * The Telegraph BEST FIRST NOVEL WINNER: Edgar Awards * International Thriller Writers Awards * Barry Awards * Macavity Awards A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker * NPR * The Times...
The Warsaw protocol
Berry, Steve
Paper Book
In New York Times bestseller Steve Berry's next Cotton Malone adventure, one by one the seven precious relics of the Arma Christi, the weapons of Christ, are disappearing from sanctuaries across the world. After former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone witnesses...
Small game : a novel
Braverman, Blair
Paper Book
A gripping debut novel about a survival reality show gone wrong that leaves a group of strangers stranded in the northern wilds  Four strangers and six weeks: this is all that separates Mara from one life-changing payday. She was surprised when reality TV producers came...
Arctic storm rising : a novel
Brown, Dale
Paper Book
First in a new series from New York Times bestselling author Dale Brown, featuring U.S. Air Force intelligence officer Nick Flynn on the hunt for Russian commandos in the mountains of Alaska. After a CIA covert mission goes badly awry, U.S. Air Force intelligence...
Rednecks
Brown, Taylor
Paper Book
Winner of the Southern Book Prize for Fiction An NPR Best Book of 2024 An Atlanta Journal-Constitution Best Southern Book of 2024 Co-winner of the 2024 Weatherford Award in Fiction Audie Award for Best Fiction A historical drama based on the...
Silverview
Le Carré, John
Paper Book
An instant New York Times bestseller! In his last completed novel, John le Carré turns his focus to the world that occupied his writing for the past sixty years--the secret world itself. "[Le Carré] was often considered one of the finest novelists, period, since...
Deep as the sky, red as the sea : a novel
Chang-Eppig, Rita
Paper Book
A Good Morning America Buzz Pick For readers of Outlawed, Piranesi, and The Night Tiger, a dazzling historical novel about a legendary Chinese pirate queen, her fight to save her fleet from the forces allied against them, and the dangerous price of...
The secret lives of country gentlemen
Charles, KJ
Paper Book
Abandoned by his father, Gareth Inglis grew up lonely, prickly, and well-used to disappointment. Still, he longs for a connection. When he meets a charming stranger, he falls head over heels-until everything goes wrong and he's left alone again. Then Gareth's father dies, turning the shabby London...
The boy from the woods
Coben, Harlan
Paper Book
A man with a mysterious past must find a missing teenage girl in this shocking thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Run Away. Thirty years ago, Wilde was found as a boy living feral in the woods, with no memory of his past....
Sharpe's assassin : Richard Sharpe and the occupation of Paris, 1815
Cornwell, Bernard
Paper Book
New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell returns with his iconic hero, Richard Sharpe. SHARPE IS BACK. Outsider. Hero. Rogue. And the one man you want on your side. Sharpe's Assassin is the brand-new novel in the bestselling historical series...
Lucky Red : a novel
Cravens, Claudia
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A thrilling, raucous, and gloriously queer debut about a scrappy orphan bent on making her own luck in the American West--and finding friendship, romance, and her true calling along the way, now in paperback. "A powerful feminist battle cry . . . [and]...
The devil's sea
Cussler, Dirk
Paper Book
Fearless adventurer Dirk Pitt must unravel a historical mystery of epic importance in the latest novel in the beloved New York Times bestselling series created by the "grand master of adventure" Clive Cussler. In 1959 Tibet, a Buddhist artifact of immense importance was...
Where coyotes howl
Dallas, Sandra
Paper Book
Now a Denver Post bestseller "Addictive. Highly recommended!"--Paulette Jiles, New York Times bestselling author of News of the World Beautifully rendered, Where Coyotes Howl is a vivid and deeply affecting ode to the...
Haven : a novel
Donoghue, Emma
Paper Book
In this beautiful story of adventure and survival from the New York Times bestselling author of Room, three men vow to leave the world behind them as they set out in a small boat for an island their leader has seen in a dream, with only faith to guide them. In seventh...
I cheerfully refuse : a novel
Enger, Leif
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A BARNES & NOBLE BOOK CLUB PICK * A career defining tour-de-force from New York Times bestselling, award-winning and "formidably gifted" (Chicago Tribune) author of Peace Like a River Leif Enger. "A rare, remarkable book to be kept and...
Iron star
Estleman, Loren D.
Paper Book
Set against the sprawling landscape of the Wild West, this riveting adventure by Spur Award-winning author Loren D. Estleman follows a man on a journey to set his legacy, and the men dedicated to bringing his story to life. From his youth as a revolutionist to his time as a...
James : a novel
Everett, Percival
Paper Book
A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view. From the "literary icon" (Oprah Daily), Pulitzer Prize Finalist, and one of the most decorated writers of our...
Into the jungle
Ferencik, Erica
Paper Book
Featured in the New York Times Book Review Summer Reading Guide * A Crime by the Book "Most Anticipated" Novel * Featured in the New York Post Summer Round Up * Starred Publishers Weekly Review * A Publishers Weekly "Big Summer Books" * A Kirkus Reviews...
Winter work
Fesperman, Dan
Paper Book
An exhilarating spy thriller inspired by a true story about the precious secrets up for grabs just after the fall of the Berlin Wall--from the acclaimed author of The Cover Wife "Fesperman accurately depicts the corrosive effect of life under a surveillance society, debasing...
Never
Follett, Ken
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller The new must-read epic from master storyteller Ken Follett: more than a thriller, it's an action-packed, globe-spanning drama set in the present day.   "A compelling story, and only too realistic." --Lawrence H. Summers, former U.S....
Hold fast : a novel
Gelernter, J. H.
Paper Book
It's 1803. The Napoleonic Wars are raging, Britain is on her heels, and His Majesty's Secret Service has just lost its best agent, Thomas Grey. Deeply depressed by his wife's untimely death, Grey resigns from the service and accepts an offer to join a lumber firm in Boston. But when a sea battle...
Alias Emma : a novel
Glass, Ava
Paper Book
"A thrilling read . . . I could not have loved it more."--LISA JEWELL "Emma Makepeace is a worthy heir to the James Bond mantle."--JAMES PATTERSON In this "high-octane spy thriller in the Ian Fleming mold" (CrimeReads), a British spy has twelve hours to deliver her asset...
The bullet swallower : a novel
Gonzalez James, Elizabeth
Paper Book
A "mesmerizing...wildly entertaining" (The Boston Globe) magical realism western in the vein of Cormac McCarthy meets Gabriel García Márquez, The Bullet Swallower follows a Mexican bandido as he sets off for Texas to rob a train, only to encounter a mysterious figure who has come,...
Relentless
Greaney, Mark
Paper Book
The Gray Man's search for missing intelligence agents plunges him deep into a maelstrom of trouble in the latest entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series. The first agent disappearance was a puzzle The second was a mystery The...
The vaster wilds
Groff, Lauren
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2023 NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPR, TIME, ESQUIRE, VOGUE, LA TIMES, SLATE, HARPER'S BAZAAR and others "Part historical, part...
Precipice : a novel
Harris, Robert
Paper Book
"Robert Harris is, simply put, masterful."--Karin Slaughter A spellbinding novel of passion, intrigue, and betrayal set in England in the months leading to the Great War from the bestselling author of Act of Oblivion, Fatherland, The Ghostwriter, and Conclave. Summer 1914. A world...
The guide : a novel
Heller, Peter
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * The best-selling author of The River returns with a heart-racing thriller about a young man who is hired by an elite fishing lodge in Colorado, where he uncovers a plot of shocking menace amid the natural beauty of sun-drenched streams and forests.
The secret hours
Herron, Mick
Paper Book
A gripping spy thriller from the bestselling author of Slow Horses, about a disastrous MI5 mission in Cold War Berlin--an absolute must-read for Slough House fans. Set in the MI5 world of Slow Horses, now an Apple Original series from Apple TV+ starring Gary...
Targeted
Hunter, Stephen
Paper Book
Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times bestselling author Stephen Hunter returns with a taut, white-knuckled thriller featuring master sniper Bob Lee Swagger as he protects a group of political hostages during a perilous standoff and once again proves his title of "...
The devil takes you home : a barrio noir
Iglesias, Gabino
Paper Book
This genre-defying, Shirley Jackson and Bram Stoker award-winning thriller follows a father desperate to salvage what's left of his family--even if it means a descent into violence. Buried in debt due to his young daughter's illness, his marriage at the...
Phantom orbit : a thriller
Ignatius, David
Paper Book
David Ignatius is known for his uncanny ability, in novel after novel, to predict the next great national security headline. In Phantom Orbit, he presents a story both searing and topical, with stakes as far-reaching as outer space. It follows Ivan Volkov, a Russian student in Beijing, who...
Chenneville : a novel of murder, loss, and vengeance
Jiles, Paulette
Paper Book
Consumed with grief, driven by vengeance, a man undertakes an unrelenting odyssey across the lawless post-Civil War frontier seeking redemption in this fearless novel from the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of News of the World.  Union soldier John Chenneville...
The fervor : a novel
Katsu, Alma
Paper Book
In an internment camp in Idaho in 1944, American-born Meiko Briggs and her daughter Aiko dream of their home in Seattle and the safe return of Meiko's husband who is away with the Air Force. A sickness starts to spread amongst those in the camp and though it starts as a minor cold it triggers...
The forest of lost souls
Koontz, Dean R.
Paper Book
A fearless woman, raised in the forest, fights against a group of powerful men in a novel about good versus evil, the enduring nature of myth, and the power of love by #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz. Raised in the wilderness by her late great-uncle, Vida is...
Whalefall : a novel
Kraus, Daniel
Paper Book
A USA TODAY BESTSELLER Named a Best Book of 2023 by Book Riot, Shelf Awareness, and NPR The Martian meets 127 Hours in this "astoundingly great" (Gillian Flynn, #1 New York Times bestselling author) and scientifically...
Fire season : a novel
Krow, Leyna
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE "Devilishly funny and endlessly inventive." --Jess Walter, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins "This story is darkly funny, deliciously devious and hugely inventive, a magical twist...
Creation lake : a novel
Kushner, Rachel
Paper Book
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 BOOKER PRIZE* *LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD* *LONGLISTED FOR THE 2025 PEN FAULKNER AWARD FOR FICTION* *AN INSTANTNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* *NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2024 BYTHE NEW YORK TIMES, THE ATLANTIC, VULTURE, VOGUE, THE...
Joe Hustle : a novel
Lange, Richard
Paper Book
From an award-winning author, a "lean and gritty, thoughtful and nuanced" neo-noir. Joe Hustle has never had much luck--but things start looking up when he meets an intriguing new woman and scores a rare windfall. Can he outrun disaster long enough to turn things around? ...
The thousand crimes of Ming Tsu : a novel
Lin, Tom
Paper Book
Winner of the Carnegie Medal for Excellence Finalist for the Young Lions Fiction Award A Chinese American assassin sets out to rescue his kidnapped wife and exact revenge on her abductors in this New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice: a twist...
A mask of flies
Lyons, Matthew (Short story writer)
Paper Book
In Matthew Lyons' pulse-pounding crime horror, A Mask of Flies, a criminal on the run after a failed heist must confront dark family secrets and demons from her past made flesh. One of Lit Hub's Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Books of 2024! |...
The Arctic fury : a novel
Macallister, Greer
Paper Book
A dozen women join a secret 1850s Arctic expedition-and a sensational murder trial unfolds when some of them don't come back. Eccentric Lady Jane Franklin makes an outlandish offer to adventurer Virginia Reeve- take a dozen women, trek into the Arctic, and find her husband's lost...
Damascus Station : a novel
McCloskey, David
Ebook
Finalist for the 2022 ITW Thriller Award for Best First Novel "Damascus Station is simply marvelous storytelling....[A] stand-out thriller and essential reading for fans of the genre." --Financial Times A CIA officer and his recruit arrive in...
Once there were wolves
McConaghy, Charlotte
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Blazing...Visceral" (Los Angeles Times) · "Exceptional" (Newsweek) · "Bold...Heartfelt" (New York Times Book Review) · "Thought-provoking and thrilling" (GMA) · "Suspenseful and poignant" (...
Drowning : the rescue of Flight 1421 : a novel
Newman, T. J.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES * "Reads like Apollo 13 underwater." --Don Winslow * "Masterful." --Patricia Cornwell * "A stunningly vivid tour de force!" Gripping. Shocking." --Brad Thor Flight...
Blood in the cut
Nodarse, Alejandro
Paper Book
"Blood in The Cut brims with dangerous energy in the face of existential entropy. A fantastic story." --S. A. Cosby, New York Times bestselling author of All the Sinners Bleed "A confident, hard-boiled debut. . . introducing a new talent."...
Outlawed : a novel
North, Anna
Paper Book
Look for Bog Queen, the new novel by Anna North-the story of a monumental discovery that sets off a clash of worlds, past and present, over the fate of the land that holds us. Coming October 2025. A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK * INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER *...
My father's house
O'Connor, Joseph
Paper Book
From inside the Vatican, Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty makes a daring attempt to smuggle thousands of innocents out of Nazi-occupied Rome in this World War II "literary thriller of the highest order" (The Guardian), the first in a series by New York Times bestselling author, Joseph O'Connor...
Dixon, descending : a novel
Outen, Karen
Paper Book
Dixon was once an Olympic-level runner. But he missed the team by two-tenths of a second, and ever since that pain decades ago, he hasn't allowed a goal to consume him. But when his charming older brother, Nate, suggests that they attempt to be the first Black American men to summit Mount Everest,...
Picnic in the ruins : a novel
Petersen, Todd Robert
Paper Book
Anthropologist Sophia Shepard is researching the impact of tourism on cultural sites in a remote national monument on the Utah-Arizona border when she unexpectedly crosses paths with two small-time criminals. The Ashdown brothers were hired to steal maps from a 'collector' of Native American...
The Helsinki affair : a novel
Pitoniak, Anna
Paper Book
One of The Washington Post's Best Thrillers of 2023 It's the case of Amanda's lifetime but solving it will require her to betray another spy--who just so happens to be her father in this "delicious spy novel" (People). Spying is the family...
Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter
Pook, Lizzie
Paper Book
For readers of The Light Between Oceans and The Island of Sea Women, a feminist adventure story set against the backdrop of the dangerous pearl diving industry in 19th-century Western Australia, about a young English woman who sets off to uncover the truth about the disappearance of...
Extinction : a novel
Preston, Douglas J.
Paper Book
With Extinction, #1 New York Times bestselling author Douglas Preston has written a page-turning thriller in the Michael Crichton mode that explores the possible and unintended dangers of the very real efforts to resurrect the woolly mammoth and other long-extinct animals.
Ridgeline : a novel
Punke, Michael
Paper Book
The thrilling, long-awaited return of the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Revenant Winner of the 2022 Spur Award for Best Western Historical Novel Winner of the 2021 David. J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction ...
The rose code : a novel
Quinn, Kate
Paper Book
Don't miss the thrilling new novel from Kate Quinn, The Briar Club, coming July 9th! "The reigning queen of historical fiction" -- Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue   The New York Times and USA Today bestselling...
The cellist : a novel
Silva, Daniel
Paper Book
#1 New York Times Bestseller "The pace of "The Cel­list" never slack­ens as its ac­tion vol­leys from Zurich to Tel Aviv to Paris and be­yond. Mr. Silva tells his story with zest, wit and su­perb tim­ing, and he en­gi­neers enough sur­prises to star­tle even the most at­ten­tive reader."-...
Legacy of war
Smith, Wilbur A.
Paper Book
A Courtney Series adventure. An action-packed book in the Courtney Series and the sequel to Courtney's War. The war is over, Hitler is dead - and yet his evil legacy lives on. Saffron Courtney and her beloved husband Gerhard only just survived the...
Termination shock : a novel
Stephenson, Neal
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller From Neal Stephenson--who coined the term "metaverse" in his 1992 novel Snow Crash--comes a sweeping, prescient new thriller that transports readers to a near-future world in which the greenhouse effect has inexorably resulted in a whirling-dervish...
The lamplighters
Stonex, Emma
Paper Book
"Transported me effortlessly...Haunting, harrowing and heartbreaking, this is a novel that will stay with you." --Ashley Audrain, New York Times bestselling author of The Push "A ghost story and fantastically gripping psychological investigation rolled into one. It...
Seed on the wind
Stout, Rex
Paper Book
WHO WAS THE FIFTH MAN? The lawyer, the jeweler, the art critic, and the oil-company man...self-possessed, independent Lora Winter has had a child with each of them. But when one of these men drives up to her house with a fifth man in the car, Lora runs to hide. That's how this...
The puzzle master : a novel
Trussoni, Danielle
Paper Book
Reality and the supernatural collide when an expert puzzle maker is thrust into an ancient mystery--one with explosive consequences for the fate of humanity--in this suspenseful thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Angelology "This novel has it...
Hard by a great forest
Vardiashvili, Leo
Paper Book
ONE OF NPR's "BOOKS WE LOVE" 2024 NAMED ONE OF THE OBSERVER'S 10 BEST NEW NOVELISTS FOR 2024 "The stakes could barely be higher in Leo Vardiashvili's propulsive page-turner...It's a spellbinding achievement."--The Financial Times "Has a...
Harlem shuffle
Whitehead, Colson
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, this gloriously entertaining novel is "fast-paced, keen-eyed and very funny ... about race, power and the history of Harlem all disguised as a thrill...
Properties of thirst : a novel
Wiggins, Marianne
Paper Book
A National Bestseller A New Yorker Best Book of 2022 Fifteen years after the publication of Evidence of Things Unseen, National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize finalist Marianne Wiggins returns with a novel destined to be an American classic: a...
All the white spaces : a novel
Wilkes, Ally
Paper Book
A Bram Stoker Award nominee "Some of the best survival horror we've read in years, with a uniquely menacing adversary at its heart." --Vulture, The Best Horror Novels of 2022 "Epic." --Esquire, The 22 Best Horror Books of 2022 ...
The beach at Summerly : a novel
Williams, Beatriz
Paper Book
"There are few more skilled practitioners of the craft of summer fiction than Beatriz Williams." -- The New York Times Book Review A ravishing summer read from New York Times bestseller Beatriz Williams, sweeping readers back to a mid-century New England rich with...
City in ruins : a novel
Winslow, Don
Paper Book
Instant New York Times Bestseller! "The final shattering installment in a gangland trilogy to equal The Godfather. If you like Scarface and Goodfellas, this is where it's at." -- Stephen King "City in Ruins is Don Winslow showing the rest of us how it's done. Winslow has saved the...
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