The Foreigner

(written by David Marconi, based on the novel "The Chinaman" by Stephen Leather)

Highly Recommended!  |  crime, drama, mystery, film, action, thriller, film based on novel, Michael McElhatton, Katie Leung, Jackie Chan

Deadwood

(created by David Milch)

Highly Recommended!  |  TV series, crime, drama, historical, Timothy Olyphant, Gerald McRaney, John Hawkes, David Milch, Molly Parker, Brad Dourif, Ian McShane, W. Earl Brown, Paula Malcomson, Dayton Callie, Leon Rippy, William Sanderson, Robin Weigert, Sean Bridgers, Jim Beaver, Jeffrey Jones, Kim Dickens, Powers Boothe, Titus Welliver, Peter Jason, Anna Gunn, Ralph Richeson, Keone Young, Garret Dillahunt, Brent Sexton, Pasha D. Lychnikoff, Michael Harney, Ray McKinnon, Josh Eriksson, Franklyn Ajaye, Ricky Jay, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Brian Cox, Sarah Paulson, Zach Grenier, Cleo King, Stephen Tobolowsky, Allan Graf, Richard Gant

River

(written by Abi Morgan)

Highly Recommended!  |  TV series, British, crime, drama, romance, Stellan Skarsgård, Owen Teale, Abi Morgan, Lesley Manville, Eddie Marsan, Adeel Akhtar, Nicola Walker

"I really dig [Franz Kafka] a lot.  Some of his things are the most thrilling combos of words I have ever read.  If Kafka wrote a crime picture, I’d be there.  I’d like to direct that for sure."

— David Lynch

for Creatives  |  reading, books, crime, film, short stories, language, filmmaking, Franz Kafka, David Lynch

Baby Driver

(written by Edgar Wright)

Highly Recommended!  |  crime, film, Kevin Spacey, action, thriller, music, Ansel Elgort, Jon Hamm, Eiza González, CJ Jones, Lily James, Edgar Wright

Turn of Mind

(written by Alice LaPlante)

Highly Recommended!  |  books, crime, suspense, literary fiction, Alice LaPlante

"I once asked a fan who was a homicide cop, 'Why do you even read this? Isn't it a busman's holiday?'  He said, 'Jon, I get the bad guy 70 percent of the time.  You get him 100 percent of the time.'  People like crime novels because they give a certain sense of—I hate to use the words, but—closure and finality.  To some extent that's why people latch onto forensics, and shows like 'CSI' are so popular.  DNA, whiz-bang science."

— Jonathan Kellerman

for Creatives  |  reading, crime, mystery, writing, reaching your audience, Jonathan Kellerman

Legend

(written by Brian Helgeland, based on the novel "The Profession of Violence" by John Pearson)

Highly Recommended!  |  British, crime, drama, film, thriller, Tom Hardy, historical, biography, Brian Helgeland, Paul Anderson, film based on novel, John Pearson, Christopher Eccleston, Emily Browning, Sam Hoare, Colin Morgan, Chris Mason

Hackers

(written by Rafael Moreu)

Highly Recommended!  |  crime, drama, film, thriller, comedy, Wendell Pierce, Rafael Moreu, Jonny Lee Miller, Angelina Jolie, Jesse Bradford, Matthew Lillard, Renoly Santiago, Laurence Mason, Fisher Stevens, Lorraine Bracco

"Thriller is its own Genre, but it came to be through a mashing up of three primal Genres that came before it: action, horror and crime."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  crime, action, thriller, horror, genre, Shawn Coyne

Criminal

(written by Douglas Cook & David Weisberg)

Highly Recommended!  |  crime, drama, mystery, sci-fi, film, action, thriller, Ryan Reynolds, Gary Oldman, Douglas Cook, David Weisberg, Kevin Costner, Gal Gadot, Tommy Lee Jones, Michael Pitt

Collateral

(written by Stuart Beattie)

Highly Recommended!  |  crime, drama, film, thriller, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Cruise, Stuart Beattie, Jada Pinkett Smith, Barry Shabaka Henley

The Boondock Saints

(starring Willem Dafoe, Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, Billy Connolly)

Highly Recommended!  |  crime, film, action, thriller, Willem Dafoe, Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, Billy Connolly

Reservoir Dogs

(written & directed by Quentin Tarantino)

Highly Recommended!  |  crime, drama, film, thriller, Quentin Tarantino, Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen

Pulp Fiction

(story by Roger Avary & Quentin Tarantino, written & directed by Quentin Tarantino)

Highly Recommended!  |  crime, drama, film, Christopher Walken, Ving Rhames, Roger Avary, Quentin Tarantino, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Amanda Plummer, Phil LaMarr, Bruce Willis, Eric Stoltz, Steve Buscemi, Maria de Medeiros, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Frank Whaley, Paul Calderon, Bronagh Gallagher, Peter Greene

A History of Violence

(written by Josh Olson, based on the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke)

Highly Recommended!  |  crime, drama, film, thriller, Maria Bello, Ed Harris, David Cronenberg, Josh Olson, John Wagner, Vince Locke, Viggo Mortensen, William Hurt, film based on comic/graphic novel

Happy Valley

(created by Sally Wainwright)

Highly Recommended!  |  TV series, British, crime, drama, Adam Long, Derek Riddell, Jill Baker, Charlie Murphy, Rhys Connah, Joe Armstrong, George Costigan, James Norton, Shane Zaza, Siobhan Finneran, Sarah Lancashire, Sally Wainwright

Léon

(written & directed by Luc Besson)

Highly Recommended!  |  crime, drama, film, thriller, Luc Besson, Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman, Thierry Arbogast

Cracker

(created & written by Jimmy McGovern)

Highly Recommended!  |  TV series, British, crime, drama, mystery, Jimmy McGovern, Robbie Coltrane, Geraldine Somerville, Barbara Flynn

Prisoners

(written by Aaron Guzikowski, cinematography by Roger Deakins, music by Jóhann Jóhannsson)

Highly Recommended!  |  crime, drama, mystery, film, Roger Deakins, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Denis Villeneuve, Aaron Guzikowski, Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, Paul Dano

Sicario

(written by Taylor Sheridan, music by Jóhann Jóhannsson, cinematography by Roger Deakins)

Highly Recommended!  |  crime, drama, film, action, Daniel Kaluuya, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt, Roger Deakins, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Denis Villeneuve, Taylor Sheridan

The Drop

(written & based on the short story Animal Rescue by Dennis Lehane)

Highly Recommended!  |  crime, drama, mystery, film, Tom Hardy, James Gandolfini, Noomi Rapace, Dennis Lehane, film based on short story

The Godfather: Part II

(written by Mario Puzo & Francis Ford Coppola)

Highly Recommended!  |  crime, drama, film, Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro

Breaking Bad

(created by Vince Gilligan)

Highly Recommended!  |  TV series, crime, drama, thriller, Bryan Cranston, Vince Gilligan, Jonathan Banks

The Wire

(created by David Simon)

Highly Recommended!  |  TV series, Idris Elba, crime, drama, thriller, David Simon, Dominic West, Wendell Pierce, Lance Reddick, Clarke Peters, Andre Royo, Wood Harris, Michael Kenneth Williams, Frankie Faison, Jamie Hector, Isiah Whitlock Jr.

The Godfather

(written by Mario Puzo & Francis Ford Coppola)

Highly Recommended!  |  crime, drama, film, Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton

Justified

(written & based on the short story "Fire in the Hole" by Elmore Leonard, adapted by Graham Yost)

Highly Recommended!  |  TV series, crime, drama, action, Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins, Graham Yost, Elmore Leonard, film based on short story

Peaky Blinders

(created & written by Steven Knight)

Highly Recommended!  |  TV series, British, crime, drama, Tom Hardy, historical, Cillian Murphy, Steven Knight, Paul Anderson, Helen McCrory, Sophie Rundle, Sam Neill, Annabelle Wallis

The Equalizer

(written by Richard Wenk, based on the TV series created by Richard Lindheim & Michael Sloan)

Highly Recommended!  |  TV series, crime, film, action, thriller, Denzel Washington, Antoine Fuqua, Richard Wenk, Richard Lindheim, Michael Sloan

2 Guns

(written by Blake Masters, based on the graphic novel by Steven Grant)

Highly Recommended!  |  crime, film, action, comedy, Denzel Washington, Baltasar Kormákur, Blake Masters, Steven Grant, Oliver Wood, Mark Wahlberg, film based on comic/graphic novel

Man on Fire

(written by Brian Helgeland, based on novel by A.J. Quinnell, cinematography by Paul Cameron)

Highly Recommended!  |  crime, drama, film, action, Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Tony Scott, Brian Helgeland, A.J. Quinnell, Paul Cameron, Radha Mitchell, Marc Anthony, Christopher Walken, film based on novel

Focus

(written & directed by Glenn Ficarra & John Requa)

Highly Recommended!  |  crime, drama, film, Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Ken Leung, Dominic Fumusa, Brennan Brown, B.D. Wong, Gerald McRaney, Adrian Martinez, John Requa, Glenn Ficarra

Luther

(created by Neil Cross)

Highly Recommended!  |  TV series, Idris Elba, British, crime, drama, mystery, Neil Cross, Ruth Wilson, Michael Smiley, Warren Brown, Dermot Crowley