Author Lisa Wilkes is something of an expert on adventure books. She’s taking us through her top 5, explaining why they are unmissable for adventure book readers.
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Quench your thirst for adventure with these whirlwind novels.
Tired of books that leave you uninspired? Dreading another run-of-the-mill setting you’ve visited a thousand times before? Adventurers, rejoice! Your bookshelf is slated for a major glow-up. At long last, your reading list will match your exploratory spirit.
Below are five hand-picked selections for those with a daring heart. Wanderlust takes center stage in these tales of intrigue and excitement. Whether you’re an aviator, a perpetual traveler, or a self-professed free spirit, these books are sure to satisfy. Hum-drum characters have been replaced by dynamic heroes. Generic locations have been tossed aside in favor of unique and exceptional destinations. Each protagonist is on the journey of a lifetime, and you’re invited to join the fun.
Kiss boredom goodbye with these non-stop thrill rides. From global treks to time travel to inter-dimensional transcendence, adventure awaits. So buckle up and enjoy the journey.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue – V.E. Schwab (2020)
France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever―and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.
But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.
You’ll love this book if you’re a fan of metamorphosis over different eras. Think: Time Traveler’s Wife meets Cloud Atlas.
Looking for a new summer read?
Dark Matter – Blake Crouch (2016)
“Are you happy with your life?”
Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious.
Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.
Before a man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.”
In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.
Is it this world or the other that’s the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could’ve imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.
You’ll love this book if you enjoy bending the rules of time and space.
Falling – T.J. Newman (2021)
You just boarded a flight to New York.
There are one hundred and forty-three other passengers onboard.
What you don’t know is that thirty minutes before the flight your pilot’s family was kidnapped.
For his family to live, everyone on your plane must die.
The only way the family will survive is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane.
Enjoy the flight.
Daredevils and plot twist fans, this one’s for you.
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When We Believed in Mermaids – Barbara O’Neal (2019)
Her sister has been dead for fifteen years when she sees her on the TV news…
Josie Bianci was killed years ago on a train during a terrorist attack. Gone forever. It’s what her sister, Kit, an ER doctor in Santa Cruz, has always believed. Yet all it takes is a few heart-wrenching seconds to upend Kit’s world. Live coverage of a club fire in Auckland has captured the image of a woman stumbling through the smoke and debris. Her resemblance to Josie is unbelievable. And unmistakable. With it comes a flood of emotions—grief, loss, and anger—that Kit finally has a chance to put to rest: by finding the sister who’s been living a lie.
After arriving in New Zealand, Kit begins her journey with the memories of the past: of days spent on the beach with Josie. Of a lost teenage boy who’d become part of their family. And of a trauma that has haunted Kit and Josie their entire lives.
Now, if two sisters are to reunite, it can only be by unearthing long-buried secrets and facing a devastating truth that has kept them apart far too long. To regain their relationship, they may have to lose everything.
Goodreads Rating: 4.18/5 stars
You’ll love this book if nostalgic voyages and long-lost connections inspire you.
Mid-Flight – Lisa Wilkes (2023)
2037 was a really bad year.
Lexi Brennan’s best friend was killed in a plane crash. Two weeks later, an intergalactic crisis threatened the fate of humanity. Authorities responded by launching a genocide.
Lexi opposed this vicious attack. Then again, what could she do? An eccentric flight attendant drawn to glamorous trysts, she felt powerless to incite change.
Until tragedy struck close to home. Suddenly, Lexi was forced to acknowledge the widespread atrocities. She uncovered a network of lies along with an opportunity to restore basic human rights. To protect others, Lexi would have to launch a movement that could destroy everything important to her, including her promising new romance.
Fans of The Handmaid’s Tale will love this near-future dystopian thriller with an aviation twist.