Books Like Billy Summers

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Paul Sparks narrates Stephen King's hitman novel with a flat, watchful quality that fits a protagonist who has built his whole survival strategy around not being noticed — the 17-hour runtime benefits from that stillness, which makes the moments of violence and psychological disruption more startling when they arrive. Sparks keeps Billy's interior monologue readable without softening it into something sympathetic it isn't quite. Three picks return to King's other novels with different narrators, and most of the rest sit in the same long-form psychological crime thriller range.

10 books for fans of Billy Summers

  1. 1
    The Outsider cover

    The Outsider

    Holly Gibney • Book 1

    by Stephen King

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    Baseball coach Terry Maitland's impossible murder case—with evidence placing him in two locations simultaneously—challenges everything detective Ralph Anderson believes about reality. King seamlessly merges police work with cosmic horror.

    4.02 Goodreads (386.6K ratings)
  2. 2
    Misery cover

    Misery

    by Stephen King

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    Writer Paul Sheldon crashes his car and wakes up captive to Annie Wilkes, a nurse obsessed with his romance novels. King's claustrophobic thriller about creative control and toxic fandom.

    4.23 Goodreads (847.7K ratings)
  3. 3
    Only the Dead cover

    Only the Dead

    Terminal List • Book 6

    by Jack Carr

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    A 1980 political assassination connects to a present-day conspiracy threatening global stability, forcing Navy SEAL James Reece to confront enemies embedded in America's power structure.

    4.54 Goodreads (24.0K ratings)
  4. 4
    Red Sky Mourning cover

    Red Sky Mourning

    Terminal List • Book 7

    by Jack Carr

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    A rogue Chinese submarine navigates toward the US West Coast while a Silicon Valley mogul's quantum computing breakthrough threatens America's very existence.

    4.48 Goodreads (20.4K ratings)
  5. 5
    New York to Dallas cover

    New York to Dallas

    In Death • Book 33

    by J.D. Robb, Susan Ericksen

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    The monster from Eve's first case as a rookie cop escapes prison and heads straight for her, forcing her to confront the childhood horrors that made her a cop. Robb digs deep into her protagonist's origin story.

    4.45 Goodreads (34.8K ratings)
  6. 6
    Consent to Kill cover

    Consent to Kill

    Mitch Rapp • Book 8

    by Vince Flynn

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    Mitch Rapp's ruthless counterterrorism methods finally provoke retaliation when foreign agents target his personal life, testing whether America's deadliest operative can protect those closest to him.

    4.41 Goodreads (53.1K ratings)
  7. 7
    Imitation in Death cover

    Imitation in Death

    In Death • Book 17

    by J.D. Robb

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    Summer 2059: A caped figure murders a prostitute and leaves Lieutenant Eve Dallas a signed letter from 'Jack,' beginning a twisted game where the killer imitates famous serial murderers throughout history.

    4.39 Goodreads (32.8K ratings)
  8. 8
    American Dirt cover

    American Dirt

    by Jeanine Cummins

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    After cartel members murder her journalist husband and most of her family, Lydia grabs her eight-year-old son and joins the migrant trail toward the American border.

    4.37 Goodreads (700.6K ratings)
  9. 9
    The Power of the Dog cover

    The Power of the Dog

    Power of the Dog • Book 1

    by Don Winslow

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    Art Keller's three-decade pursuit of cartel leaders becomes a sprawling epic of the drug war, tracking how violence corrupts everyone from priests to politicians in this unflinching crime saga.

    4.37 Goodreads (49.4K ratings)
  10. 10
    Transfer of Power cover

    Transfer of Power

    Mitch Rapp • Book 3

    by Vince Flynn

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    Flynn's explosive thriller traps the President in the White House bunker while CIA assassin Mitch Rapp becomes the last line of defense against Middle Eastern terrorists.

    4.35 Goodreads (61.0K ratings)