The Greatest Crime and Political Books Since 1980

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 488 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
282 Bonfire of the Vanities Tom Wolfe 1987 American English
1090 A Brief History of Seven Killings Marlon James 2014 Jamaican English
1796 What a Carve Up! Jonathan Coe 1994 British English
2297 Say Nothing Patrick Radden Keefe 2018 American English
2305 In the Time of the Butterflies Julia Alvarez 1994 Dominican English
2510 The White Tiger Aravind Adiga 2008 Indian English
2528 The Zone Sergei Dovlatov 1982 Russian Russian
2563 The Witness Juan José Saer 1983 Argentinian Spanish
3047 Freakonomics Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner 2005 American English
3307 Dreamland Sam Quinones 2015 American English
3403 Our Lady of the Assassins Fernando Vallejo 1994 Colombian Spanish
3633 The Emperor Of Ocean Park Stephen L. Carter 2002 American English
3672 There Are No Children Here Alex Kotlowitz 1991 American English
3725 De Niro's Game Rawi Hage 2006 Canadian English
4328 The Late-night News Petros Markaris 1995 Greek Greek
4604 Gomorrah Roberto Saviano 2006 Italian Italian
4993 News Of A Kidnapping Gabriel García Márquez 1996 Colombian Spanish
5029 One Of Us Asne Seierstad 2013 Norwegian Norwegian
5235 The Constant Gardener John le Carré 2001 British English
5424 Carbide Andriy Lyubka 2014 Ukrainian Ukrainian
5583 American Prison Shane Bauer 2018 American English
5884 Other Russias Victoria Lomasko 2017 Russian Russian
6223 Locking Up Our Own James Forman 2017 American English
6281 The Spirit Level Richard Wilkinson 2009 British English
6704 Slavery by Another Name Douglas A. Blackmon 2008 American English
7759 Rogue Forces Mark Willacy 2021 Unknown English
7885 419 Will Ferguson 2012 Canadian English
8352 When The Clock Broke John Ganz 2024 Unknown English
8885 Soldiers And Kings Jason De León 2024 Unknown English
8949 The Border Don Winslow 2019 American English
9149 Gb84 David Peace 2004 British English
9413 Money To Burn Ricardo Piglia 1997 Argentinian Spanish
10439 The Siege Ben Macintyre 2024 Unknown English
11671 Shadow Country Peter Matthiessen 2008 American English
12453 Billion Dollar Whale Tom Wright, Bradley Hope 2018 American English
14371 The Ghost Robert Harris 2007 British English
14371 Red Notice Bill Browder 2015 American English
14371 Consent To Kill Vince Flynn 2005 American English
14371 Blowback Brad Thor 2005 American English
14371 Cadillac Jukebox James Lee Burke 1996 American English
14371 L'ange Gardien Jérôme Leroy 2014 French French
14371 Murder In Memoriam Didier Daeninckx 1984 French French
14371 Show Me The Bodies Peter Apps 2022 Unknown English