Waiting for the latest installment of Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon saga? You don’t have to wait in vain. These nine authors, like Dan Brown, penned terrific novels. Who are they? Let’s find out.
Daniel Silva
First on our list of authors like Dan Brown is Daniel Silva. He is an American author and journalist. With encouragement and support, he secretly began writing the first draft of The Unlikely Spy. The book eventually became an instant bestseller and remained on The New York Times bestseller for five weeks.
This novel explores Britain’s counterintelligence operations, which involved finding the most unlikely agent, a history professor, whom Churchill chose to expose an unknown traitor.
Michael Crichton
Also included in our list of authors like Dan Brown is Michael Crichton. His works fall under the science fiction, techno-thriller, and medical fiction genres. Like Dan Brown, he exhibited meticulous research in all of his novels. As a matter of fact, many of his books have scientific or medical underpinnings, reflecting his scientific training and medical background.
One of his best-known novels was A Case of Need. The plot of this novel revolves around several history students who travel to 14th-century France to save their professor. With this book, Crichton continues his tradition of blending science, technical details, and action in his novels.
Michael Crichton died of lymphoma. He was 66 years old.
John Grisham
John Grisham is an American attorney and author best known for his legal thrillers. Like Dan Brown, Grisham received many accolades, including winning the highly-coveted Harpe Lee Prize and the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award.
Fun fact: Grisham penned 28 number one bestsellers.
The Pelican Brief put Grisham in the company of authors like Dan Brown. The novel chronicles the timeline of the assassinations of two supreme court justices with opposing ideologies.
Sidney Sheldon
Sidney Sheldon won awards in three different careers: a novelist, Broadway playwright, and movie and TV screenwriter.
Sheldon’s novel that makes him like Dan Brown is Naked Face and Master of the Game. Naked Face tells the story of an aspiring Manhattan psychoanalyst who faces a terrible prospect: someone wants to kill him. Suddenly, his patients start dying in mysterious ways, and the authorities suspect him.
On the other hand, Master of the Game follows the incredible story of a rich and powerful woman who uses her vast fortune to create an empire through backroom deals, heartbreak, triumph, and vengeance.
David Baldacci
David Baldacci is a best-selling American writer. Baldacci, an attorney by training, specializes in legal thrillers and suspense novels.
Fun fact: Baldacci has authored 40 books for adults and seven children’s books.
While practicing law, he wrote Absolute Power, which became an international bestseller. Another famous Baldacci novel is the Christmas Train, which came to life on the Hallmark Channel.
Baldacci’s Wish You Well is also an excellent read. The plot starts in New York, where the Cardinals plan to relocate to California due to financial problems.
Ian Caldwell
Ian Caldwell is one of the best authors like Dan Brown. Caldwell is an American novelist who co-authored The Rule of Four.
Caldwell met Dustin Thomason, his collaborator, in his hometown in Virginia. They began working together on The Rule of Four after graduating from their respective colleges.
The Rule of Four became a New York Times bestseller and was an international phenomenon. But what is it about? Four Princeton seniors and their friends are trying to solve the mystery contained within an extremely rare and mysterious book called the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili.
Also, Caldwell’s second book, The Fifth Gospel, has been compared to books such as The Da Vinci Code. In this solo piece, two brothers, both priests, explore the Diatessaron, the Fifth Gospel, and its potential to reconcile the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches.
Jeffrey Archer
Jeffrey Archer is an English author, playwright, short-story writer, and former politician. After a financial scandal that almost bankrupted, he rebuilt his fortunes as a best-selling author; his books have sold over 275 million copies worldwide.
It is rare to find a writer with bestselling novels in fiction (19 times), short stories (4), and nonfiction (The Prison Diaries). His first best-selling book was Kane and Abel, which reached the top of the New York Times bestseller list.
However, Archer’s bestseller, First Among Equals, piqued the interest of Granada TV, which adapted it into a 10-part series. This Dan Brown-like novel chronicled the struggles of four men to become prime ministers.
Frederick Forsyth
Frederick Forsyth is an author and a journalist. As a journalist, he covered French affairs, including Charles de Gaulle’s attempted assassination. As a writer, Forsyth decided to use similar research techniques.
Most of his works are on the best-selling lists, with over a dozen adapted into films.
Forsyth’s The Day of the Jackal was a bestseller worldwide and earned Forsyth the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel. Later, the book was made into a movie.
In this first full-length novel, The Day of the Jackal, the Organisation Armée Secrète commissions an English assassin to kill Charles de Gaulle, the French President at the time.
Harlan Coben
Harlan Coben is an American author of thrillers and mystery novels. In his books, the plot often revolves around resurfacing unresolved issues or murders, misinterpreting past events, and fatalities with multiple turns.
Corben’s Tell No One is similar to Dan Brown’s work. This standalone thriller follows David and Elizabeth Beck celebrating at a secluded lake. Then, Elizabeth is abducted and later murdered. Although the killer is brought to justice, David finds out that an unidentified source sent him an email in which they mention a phrase that only he and Elizabeth should know.
Conclusion
Once you begin searching for authors similar to Dan Brown, you want to experience the same thrill every time you turn a page. The above authors will give you an excellent storyline with intrigue, exciting plots, and fast-paced action.
