Kapow! Bang! Zap! The best action novels can be some of the most exhilarating reads, with the ability to transport us to the most thrilling of places. From crowded trains, epic car chases, to eerie woods at midnight on the run from shady figures in the dark…

Action and adventure novels take us away from the comfort of our armchairs. They remove us from the everyday and conventional. They use the tools of adrenaline and excitement to drop us into extraordinary places, faced by impossible problems. Protagonists risk death, confront extreme perils, they fight for their lives… and usually return wiser than before.

So get ready to re-vamp your bookshelf, because we’ve compiled a list of the best action novels to keep an eye out for and add to your Goodreads reading list!

Our Recommendations For The Best Action Novels…

1. Final Girls

by Riley Sager

Final Girls is a young adult novel, but don’t be fooled – this book is like something straight out of a slasher film. Offering a blend of horror and action, Riley Sager’s gripping tale introduces us to victims of separate massacres.

Dubbed the Final Girls by the press, something terrible happens when Lisa, Quincy, and Sam eventually meet. They influence each other in strange ways. Dark, mysterious secrets abound.

All three of them have some, and after the past reaches into their present to shake them up, things will never be the same again.

2. The Gender Game

by Bella Forrest

Here’s one for fans of dystopian novels like The Hunger Games and Divergent. In The Gender Game, a toxic river cuts through nineteen-year-old Violet Bates’ world. On either side, lie Matrus and Patrus, where women rule the east and men rule the west.

Violet’s life is preoccupied with the disappearance of her younger brother. She has anger she struggles to control, is a prisoner in her own country, and has now been sentenced to death.

Only one thing might save her, crossing the river to Patrus, a nation where men rule and women submit. In a world divided by gender, only the strong and willful survive.

3. The Last Train To Istanbul

by Ayse Kulin

From one of Turkey’s most beloved authors comes this international bestseller. Selva is the daughter of one of Turkey’s last Ottoman pashas, and beautiful enough to win the heart of any man in Ankara.

Wild at heart with a fire in her soul, this gem of Ankara only has eyes for Rafael Alfandari. The handsome Jewish son of an esteemed court physician, Rafael whisks Selva away in defiance of both their families. They marry and flee to Paris to start a new life together.

However, fear strikes their hearts when the Nazis invade France. The strength of family ties is proven when a group of brave Turkish diplomats plans to save the couple, along with many other innocent Jewish lives.

An inspirational tale of love, family, and adventure in a perilous time across a war-torn continent – The Last Train To Istanbul is one book you won’t be able to put down.

4. The Girl On The Train

by Paula Hawkins

Recently adapted into a film starring Emily Blunt, The Girl on the Train is one #1 New York Times Bestseller you’ll probably have already heard of. If you haven’t read it yet, fix that immediately!

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning, and even sometimes likes to think she knows the people in the houses that pass her by on her journey every day.

But one day she sees something horrifying, that she does not expect. It only takes a moment before the train moves again, but what she saw will change things forever.

Now she’s implicated, and she’s much more than just the girl on the train…

5. Extracted

by RR Haywood

It’s 2061. A young scientist has invented the time machine to fix a tragedy in his past. But good intentions are soured when his invention reveals catastrophic news: the apocalypse.

A plan is formulated, three heroes recruited. Ordinary humans capable of incredible things that could change the course of the future.

Safa Patel is a police officer, on the job when Downing Street is targeted by a terror attack.

‘Mad’ Harry Madden is WW2 legend, and Ben Ryder is but an insurance investigator. But, as a young man, he witnessed a gang assault a woman and her child. In rescuing them, he killed all five in the gang.

Extracted from their respective timelines, can these three heroes save the world?

So go on and sink your teeth into our list of best action novels, give your brain a treat as you explore these new worlds and characters. And hey, why not give us a shout on Facebook to let us know what you think?

Where Can I Find more of the Best Action Novels?

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