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This page lists novels and short story collections by Robert Ryan.

Novels published using the pen name Tom Neale are included.

Note that there are a number of authors named Robert Ryan. Hopefully books have been correctly included and excluded from this list!

Underdogs

Robert Ryan

1999

"A lot of people know that the city of Seattle burned down in 1889. And it’s common knowledge that when it was rebuilt, much of the old city remained, buried beneath the modern streets. But nobody really knows what’s down there any more... Now a suspected psycho and the eight-year-old girl he’s taken hostage during a bungled heist are about to find out, when they crash through the floor of an abandoned warehouse into a street no one has walked down for a hundred years. Pursued by an ex-Vietnam Tunnel Rat brought in by the Seattle PD - a man with one or two mental problems of his own - Hilton Badcock has no choice but to drag young Ali further into the underground maze in search of a way out. But the deeper they go into this strange, secret world, the weirder and more dangerous things get."

Nine Mil

Robert Ryan

2000

"For gamblers and fun-seekers, Atlantic City is a place to chase your dreams. But for taxi driver Ed Behr, it's where his personal nightmare is all too real. He is haunted by violent flashbacks to his time in prison and sustained only by his obsession with finding Honey, the girl who promised him everything. Then he recognises one of the old gang from the days before the bad things happened that got them all sent down. Except for Billy Moon, that is, who went on to bigger and better things while they were left to rot. And now Ed has a plan that's going to reunite the gang, make enough dough, and sort out Billy Moon once and for all. Maybe even get Honey back too. That's if he doesn't get them all killed first."

Trans Am

Robert Ryan

2001

"Jim Barry is a family man and proud of it. He's already begun educating his five-year-old son Tommy on the finer points of ball games. But when a tragic accident at a kids' practice session leaves another boy dead, the bereaved father decides to seek his own special brand of restitution. Unless Jim and his wife Belle hand over Tommy as a replacement, Stefan Sebastyen swears he will kill them all. And pretty soon they realise that this is a guy who's more than capable of keeping his word. With their backs to the wall, it's Belle who comes up with a desperate plan to save her family."

Early One Morning

Robert Ryan

2002

A Morning, Noon and Night novel.

"In the flamboyant Twenties, Englishman William Grover-Williams and Frenchman Robert Benoist were fierce rivals racing their elegant Bugattis on the glittering European race circuits. Not only is the World Championship in their sights, but they have both fallen for the sensuous charms of the extravagantly beautiful Eve Aubicq. But when war breaks out, everything changes. Paris is in the iron-grip of German occupation and Robert and William join the Special Operations Executive to help the French Resistance undermine the brutal occupying regime. Their missions involve utmost courage and daring in the face of the horrors of war."

Blue Noon

Robert Ryan

2003

A Morning, Noon and Night novel.

"Paris, 1945. A manhunt is raging across the liberated city. Airey Neave, head of Room 900, the ultra-secret M19 department, is desperate to track down Harry Cole. Harry is a rogue. He's an East End charmer and as sharp as a switchblade. But traitor? He did break a few rules and hearts along the way... but that was before he met French nurse Odile. Together they are the best clandestine operatives in northern France, heroes of the Resistance, rounding up downed pilots and ferrying them to safety. The beautiful Odile nurtures Harry's talents for the greater good. His mistake is to try and make a little money on the side. And when he gets in the way of M19, Airey Neave has a very good reason to want him silenced."

Night Crossing

Robert Ryan

2004

A Morning, Noon and Night novel.

"In 1938, Ulrike Walter, a beautiful young German musician, is engaged to be married to Erich Hinkel, a member of the Hitler Youth. But when she meets Inspector Cameron Ross, a Scotland Yard policeman, whose father is a colonel in British Intelligence, her life will be changed for ever. When war is declared, Ulrike flees Germany for the safety of England but is instead cruelly imprisoned as an enemy alien. Her only hope of rescue is Cameron, who, despite his better judgement, is falling in love with her. Then Erich is captured by the British and incarcerated in a prisoner of war camp in England. He faces interrogation by Cameron Ross, the one man who stands between him and Ulrike, the woman who means more to Erich than life itself."

After Midnight

Robert Ryan

2005

A Morning, Noon and Night novel.

"In 1964, a young Australian girl, Linda Carr, is trying to track down the wreckage of the Liberator bomber in which her father died when it crashed in North Italy in 1944 during World War Two. She employs the help of Jack Kirby, a British Mosquito fighter pilot who was on operations in the area when her father died. He is now a motorcycle racer competing in the Isle of Man TT, but he is finding it hard to adjust to life during peacetime. He too was shot down during the war and spent some time helping the Italian partisans on the ground so he knows a great deal about Nazi brutality, betrayal, corruption and the settling of scores that was the partisan's life in Italy at the time. He also fell in love with Francesca, one of the partisan leaders, and he is keen to find out what happened to her and renew their affair. However, what they uncover is more dangerous and complex than either Linda or Jack could ever have imagined."

Steel Rain

Tom Neale

2005

A Vince Piper novel.

"Special Agent Vincent Piper is an FBI Field Officer based in London. Any crime involving Americans is his business. He's estranged from his wife and he loves his only daughter Martha, but she is drifting away from him. A terrorist bomb goes off in Barnes & Noble bookshop in Charing Cross road and as Vincent surveys the carnage, he starts to weep. He had arranged to meet Martha in the bookshop. She dies in his arms. Vincent vows revenge and relentlessly pursues all the leads he can find on active anti-capitalist groups. But what he discovers is even more shocking than his daughters' death."

Copper Kiss

Tom Neale

2006

A Vince Piper novel.

"FBI Agent Vince Piper is back in London and determined not to screw up this time. But the woman he loves, high-class call girl Celeste Young, is in danger. Her brother is running an on-line sex blog and the girls involved are being murdered. Terrified Celeste could be next, Piper starts his own investigation. But the line between the good guys and the bad quickly becomes blurred when he realises that the American Government is involved. And as the trail leads him from London to the bleak mudflats of the North Norfolk coast the mayhem intensifies. As do the rumours that Piper is no longer the agent he once was, until even he's starting to think they might be right. The question is, has he gone too far to go back...?"

The Last Sunrise

Robert Ryan

2006

"1948: INDO-CHINA. Lee Crane is an American pilot flying transport planes across South-East Asia for the highest bidder. He'll fly anywhere, carry anything, if the money is right. But his experiences during World War Two still haunt him, and when he meets a woman from the past, memories of a time when his innocence was shattered threaten to ground him. 1941: BURMA. Crane is a young and carefree pilot flying fighter planes for the notorious Flying Tigers against the Japanese. He's one of the best pilots in the air. But when he falls for the charms of a beautiful Anglo-Indian girl, she has a devastating effect on him. As the war ignites across the region, Crane is separated from her, and, caught up in a world of death and corruption, he desperately needs to return to find his lover, no matter what the cost."

Dying Day

Robert Ryan

2007

"Laura McGill is determined to track down her missing sister, but is in danger of getting caught up in a country on the brink of the Cold War. She is waiting on a street corner in Piccadilly, London, with a Colt .32 in her handbag. Laura is desperate to find out what happened to her sister Diana. Both were Special Operation Executive spies during World War Two. One night in 1944, Diana was flown into occupied France but never returned. Could she still be alive? James Hadley Webb, the man who sent Diana on her final mission, is now a spy in Berlin. Despite attempts to stop her, Laura travels to Germany to confront him and soon becomes caught in the crossfire of a bloody turf war fought between the East and the West for control of the city."

Empire of Sand

Robert Ryan

2008

"1915: While the war in Europe escalates, a young intelligence officer named Thomas Edward Lawrence is in Cairo, awaiting his chance for action. His superiors, however, have consigned him to the Map Room at GCHQ. But there's more to Lieutenant Lawrence than meets the eye. A man of immense energy, he runs a network of agents across the Levant. Lawrence is convinced that an Arab revolt is the only way to remove the Ottoman presence, and leave a free, self-governed Arabia. Soon alarming reports reach him of trouble in Persia, orchestrated by infamous German agent Wilhelm Wassmuss. Intent on taking down Wassmuss, Lawrence assembles a small group and travels to Persia. Little does he know that his actions will bring about a resolution that might just save the lives of millions of men in the trenches of Europe."

Death on the Ice

Robert Ryan

2009

"January 18, 1912: Captain Robert Falcon Scott's expedition reaches the South Pole. Just a few weeks later, trapped in one of the worst blizzards Antarctica has ever known, Scott and his four companions perish in subzero temperatures. How did the icy conditions overwhelm Scott, Captain Oates and their party on the fateful return journey? The story of Scott and Oates, their incredible journey and their tragic final days, combines ambition, national pride and the kind of bravery and dignity most men can only dream of."

Signal Red

Robert Ryan

2010

"1963: an unarmed gang led by the dapper Bruce Reynolds holds up a Royal Mail train at a remote bridge in Buckinghamshire, escaping with millions. The group lay low in a nearby farm but, panicked by the police closing in they clear out, leaving behind numerous fingerprints. Outraged by the gang's audacity and under political pressure for quick arrests, the police move into top gear. As huge quantities of money start to turn up in forests and phone boxes, dumped by nervous middlemen, Scotland Yard begin to track down the robbers, one by one."

Dead Man's Land: A Dr. Watson Thriller

Robert Ryan

2013

"Deep in the trenches of Flanders Fields, men are dying in their thousands every day. So one more death shouldn't be a surprise. But then a body turns up with bizarre injuries, and Sherlock Holmes' former sidekick Dr John Watson - unable to fight for his country due to injury but able to serve it through his medical expertise - finds his suspicions raised. The face has a blue-ish tinge, the jaw is clamped shut in a terrible rictus and the eyes are almost popping out of his head, as if the man had seen unimaginable horror. Something is terribly wrong. But this is just the beginning. Soon more bodies appear, and Watson must discover who is the killer in the trenches. Who can he trust? Who is the enemy? And can he find the perpetrator before he kills again? Surrounded by unimaginable carnage, amidst a conflict that's ripping the world apart, Watson must for once step out of the shadows and into the limelight if he's to solve the mystery behind the inexplicable deaths."

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The Dead Can Wait: A Dr. Watson Thriller

Robert Ryan

2014

"Dr John Watson is back home, fresh from his time in the trenches of Flanders Fields. The horrors of war weigh heavy on his mind, and now his task is to help rehabilitate soldiers suffering from the crippling effects of shell-shock. But the war is not yet over and in one corner of England lies a secret, one that the establishment is determined to keep under wraps. For in the woodlands of the lush countryside, the government is building the secret weapon which will win the war for Britain. Here, they are developing the land ship - never-before-seen 'tanks' which the army is convinced will end the stalemate on the Western Front. But then disaster strikes. After a training exercise in one of the tanks, eight men are mysteriously struck down, seven of them dead. There is just the one survivor, and he's not talking. It is clear something is horribly wrong, and the army calls in the only man who will know how to solve the mystery: Dr John Watson."

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A Study In Murder: A Dr. Watson Thriller

Robert Ryan

2015

"The year is 1917 and Doctor John Watson is held in a notorious POW camp deep in enemy Germany, there as Medical Officer for the British prisoners. With the Allied blockade, food is perilously short in the camp and when a new prisoner is murdered all assume the poor chap was killed for his Red Cross parcel. Watson, though, isn't so sure. Something isn't quite what it seems and a creeping feeling of unease tells Watson there is more to this than meets the eye. And when an escape plot is apparently uncovered in his hut and he is sent to solitary confinement, he knows he has touched a nerve. If Watson is to reveal the heinous crimes that have occurred at the camp, he must escape before he is silenced for good. All he needs is some long-distance help from his old friend, Sherlock Holmes."

The Case of the Six Watsons

Robert Ryan

2015

This collection of six short stories was only published electronically. The stories feature Dr. Watson but the book is not part of the Dr. Watson Thriller series.

"A collection of six stories, inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle's originals and adapted to feature much-loved Dr John Watson, Sherlock Holmes's long-suffering sidekick."

The Sign of Fear: A Dr. Watson Thriller

Robert Ryan

2016

"Autumn, 1917. London is not the city that Dr John Watson and Sherlock Holmes once bestrode like giants. Terror has come from the sky and Londoners are scurrying underground in fear. Then a twin tragedy strikes Watson. An old friend, Staff Nurse Jennings, is on a boat-ambulance torpedoed in the Channel with no survivors. And his concert-going companion, Sir Gilbert Hardy, is kidnapped. Then comes the gruesome ransom demand, for Sir Gilbert and four others, which will involve terrible mutilation unless the demands are met. Help comes from an unlikely source when Watson finds himself face-to-face with his old ruthless adversary, the 'She Wolf' Miss Pillbody. She makes him a remarkable offer and so an unlikely partnership is formed - the enemy spy and Sherlock Holmes's faithful companion, a detective duo which will eventually uncover a shocking case of state-sponsored murder and find Watson on board a German bomber, with a crew intent on setting London ablaze."