Still building up your summer reading list? Haven't even started yet? Don't worry.
We're constantly on the search for page-turning recommendations. Luckily, Brad Thor, a New York Times bestselling thriller author of "Dead Fall," shared five books with the 3rd Hour of TODAY that are worth diving into during the month of August.
From thrillers to a thriller, Thor breaks down each read — and why you won't be able to put it down.
Best airplane read
"After the Funeral and Other Stories" by Tessa Hadley
12 short stories — each like "a novel unto itself," Thor says. "The exploration of family, love, and the most intimate of relationships, range from a teenager looking to escape her helicopter parents while on vacation in Florence to an adrift ex-wife trying to seduce her happily remarried ex-husband. This is deft storytelling from a master of her craft," he says.
Best beach read
"The Stolen Coast" by Dwyer Murphy
Brad Thor says this novel has been called a "vintage noir thriller" set in a present day — and "rightly so." In the book, Jack and his ex-spy father rehabilitate bad guys in a small tourist town near Cape Cod in a kind of witness protection program. "When an old flame of Jack’s pops up with a plan to rip off a bad guy dripping in uncut diamonds, you know very, very bad things are about to happen. Fabulous characters and dialogue so sharp, you’re going to be cutting your fingers whipping through the pages," he says.
Best book-to-screen
"American Prometheus" by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin
"American Prometheus" inspired "Oppenheimer," the Christopher Nolan biopic that tells the story of the father of the atomic bomb. Thor calls it a "massive book," and not only because it's 721 pages. "It takes in every aspect of Robert Oppenheimer’s life," Thor says, going back to his teenage years, and his "charm, stoicism, and the humiliation he suffered during the McCarthy era." It's "an absolutely fascinating book from start to finish."
Best romance
"The One That Got Away" by Charlotte Rixton
"This is not your typical romance novel," Thor says. This book "will break your heart and then put it back together." Clara and Ben have a strong relationship — until their last night in college tears them apart. "Twenty years later, Clara has a great job and a wonderful husband, but she’s unhappy and unfulfilled. When a bomb goes off in a stadium where Ben holds season tickets, she sets out to find him. Along the way, she relives everything that had been and wonders what might yet still be," he says.
Best thriller
"Chameleon" by Remi Adeleke
Thor sees a movie adaptation in this book's future. "Former Navy SEAL, ex-CIA operative, screenwriter, director and actor, Remi Adeleke can now add first class thriller writer to his list of achievements," Thor says. "In 'Chameleon,' master of disguise Kali Kent is part of a top-secret program that handles some of the CIA’s most dangerous assignments. When a crooked South African commando is recruited by the Russians to help them expand their goal of global conquest, Kent is brought in to unravel the plot and bring every last bad actor to justice."