Techno-Thrillers discussion

Post your suggestions here for the October 2026 Book of the Month, like this:

Format: (TITLE) by (AUTHOR)
Example: Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

All nominees:
- must be a techno-thriller
- must not be your own book
- must be less than 900 pages
- must not be a recent book of the month
- must have at least 1,000 ratings, or … to accommodate new books coming out … can be less than 1,000 ratings if it is by a “well-known author” which is defined as an author having prior techno-thriller books with 100,000+ ratings.

I’ll put the nominees in a poll as soon as we get enough nominees.

Nominees are taken first-come first-serve. I prefer broad participation, so if 5 people nominate, I take the first book (that fits the criteria) from the first five people. If less than 5 people nominate, I take the second nominee from the first person with at least 2 nominations, and so on. About half the time, no one else nominates a book other than me, so all nominees end up being mine. I would prefer it to be a group effort. Please feel free to suggest books for the group.

The Breach by Patrick Lee (2009)
Pages: 372 | Rated: 4.01 | Ratings: 10K

Why? Jed voted for it high on the Technothrillers: Best of All Time list … and I haven’t read it! 😱 This can’t stand. I’ve gotta read it.

Since then, some spammers have pushed it up the list and pushed Project Hail Mary down. Is The Breach really better than Project Hail Mary … the book … which is way better than the movie. Let’s put it to the test. See what the group says.

Cold Zero by Brad Thor (2026)
Pages: 352| Rated: 4.47 | Ratings: 8K

Why? An actual current (2026) read. I have not read Brad Thor before. I'm not a believer that every spy thriller / James Bond / Jason Bourne is a techno-thriller, just because Red October had a spy. That is a colossal misunderstanding in the definition of technothriller genre. It was about the stealth submarine technology providing first strike capability, not … just spies. This guy writes those books, and is well regarded in that vein. But, this one actually has science/technology at the core of it, so ... game on.

The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe (1979)
Pages: 369| Rated: 4.23 | Ratings: 57K

Why? How did space technology evolve and affect society. Take a look at it from the inside as it emerged.

A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick (1977)
Pages: 220 | Rated: 4.02 | Ratings: 113K

Why? Philip K. Dick

The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy (1984)
Pages: 432 | Rated: 4.12 | Ratings: 393K

Why? It’s “my kind of yarn.” With this book, the technothriller genre was born. It wasn’t the first book, but it wasn’t a genre before this one. This put it on the map. There be dragons here.

We've gone to a vote. The poll is at the bottom of the main group page. You need to be in Desktop version to vote. You can't do that from the app, but you can do it from a mobile phone browser. Go to the bottom left corner of the screen and click on Desktop version.

Winner by a wide margin:
A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick