Novels
- Judith (c. 800) — Old English poem based on the Book of Judith (c. 100 BC)
- Edward Grim, Vita S. Thomae aka Life of Thomas Becket (1180) — eyewitness account of Thomas à Becket
- Das Nibelungenlied (c. 1200) — German epic poem
- Marko Marulić, Judita (1521) — Croatian epic poem
- Alexandre Dumas, père, The Black Tulip (1850) — historical novel about Johan and Cornelis de Witt
- Bolesław Prus, Pharaoh (1895)
- Henryk Sienkiewicz, Quo Vadis: A Tale of the Time of Nero (1895) — historical novel about SS. Peter and Paul, Pisonian conspirators and Empress Poppaea, Emperor Nero
- Anthony Hope, Rupert of Hentzau (1898) — adventure novel and sombre finale to The Prisoner of Zenda (1894)
- J.M. Barrie, Better Dead (18??) — novella about a plot against Lord Randolph Churchill
- Jack London, The Iron Heel (1908) — violent dystopian novel
- Jack London, The Assassination Bureau, Ltd (c. 1910, published 1963) — novel half-written by London, completed by Robert L. Fish, possibly influenced by the J.M. Barrie novella, Better Dead.
- Joseph Conrad, Under Western Eyes (1911)
- Baroness Orczy, The Laughing Cavalier (1913) — historical novel about Maurice of Nassau
- John Buchan, The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915) — suspense novel about a Greek Prime Minister
- André Malraux, Man's Fate (1933) — existential political novel
- Robert Graves, I, Claudius (1934), Claudius the God (1935) — historical novels about Roman Emperors Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero
- John Steinbeck, In Dubious Battle (1936) — social realist novel about a Communist labour organizer supporting a strike by fruit pickers
- Geoffrey Household, Rogue Male (1939)
- Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon (1940) — political novel about "Nikolai Rubashov" (Nikolai Bukharin, et al.)
- Robert A. Heinlein, If This Goes On (serialized in 1940, published in the 1953 compilation Revolt in 2100)
- Bart Lytton, Hangman's Village (1943?) — topical novel about Reinhard Heydrich
- Pär Lagerkvist, The Dwarf (1944)
- Robert Penn Warren, All the King's Men (1946) — political novel about a Southern governor (Huey Long)
- Samuel Shellabarger, Prince of Foxes (1947) — historical novel about Cesare Borgia
- Josephine Tey, The Daughter of Time (1951) — historical novel about the Princes in the Tower
- Ian Fleming, James Bond series (1953–1966) — spy novel series featuring a "licensed to kill" protagonist who is described as having carried out assassinations, but rarely actually does so in the books themselves
- From Russia, With Love (1957) — references Andrés Nin
- Philip K. Dick, Solar Lottery (1955) — science fiction novel with assassination as political system
- Graham Greene, The Quiet American (1955)
- Richard Condon, The Manchurian Candidate (1959)
- Elie Wiesel, Dawn (1961)
- Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) — science fiction novel about a Messianic character
- Emeric Pressburger, Killing a Mouse on Sunday (1961) — filmed as Behold a Pale Horse
- Manuel Mujica Laínez, Bomarzo (1962) — historical novel about Pier Francesco Orsini
- Vassilis Vassilikos, Z (1967) — political novel about an opposition politician (Gregoris Lambrakis)
- Mario Puzo, The Godfather (1969)
- Frederick Forsyth, The Day of the Jackal (1971) — suspense novel about Charles de Gaulle
- Loren Singer, The Parallax View (1972)
- Trevanian, The Eiger Sanction (1972)
- Michael Crichton (as John Lange), Binary (1972) — suspense novel about a US President
- George Shipway, The Paladin (1972), The Wolf Time (1973) — historical novels about Walter Tyrell, the presumed assassin of King William Rufus in 1100
- Trevanian, The Loo Sanction (1973)
- Richard Condon, Winter Kills (1974)
- Jack Higgins, The Eagle Has Landed (1975) — war novel about a plot by Himmler to capture Churchill
- Sjöwall and Wahlöö, The Terrorists (1975) — suspense novel about a Swedish Prime Minister (not Olof Palme)
- Gerald Seymour, Harry's Game (1975)
- David Littlejohn, The Man Who Killed Mick Jagger (Little, Brown, 1977)
- Matthew Eden, The Murder of Lawrence of Arabia (1979)
- Trevanian, Shibumi (1979)
- Stephen King, The Dead Zone (1979)
- Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Identity (1980)
- Mary Renault, Funeral Games (1981) — historical novel about Roxana, Alexander IV, and others
- Harry Mulisch, The Assault (1982)
- Alan Moore, V for Vendetta (1982–1988) — graphic novel featuring numerous assassinations of governmental and quasi-governmental officials by the eponymous character, V.
- Jean Van Hamme (and William Vance), XIII (1984) — graphic novel about a US President
- Tom Clancy, Patriot Games (1987) — suspense novel about the Prince and Princess of Wales
- Don DeLillo, Libra (1988)
- Roderick Thorp, Devlin (1988) — suspense novel about a New York mayoral candidate
- Jack Higgins, The Eagle Has Flown (1991) — war novel about a plot by Himmler to assassinate Hitler, Rommel and Canaris
- Jack Higgins, Eye of the Storm (1992) — suspense novel about an attack on John Major
- J. C. Pollock, Threat Case (1992)
- Tom Clancy, Debt of Honor (1994)
- Frederick Forsyth, The Fist of God (1994) — factual novel about supergun designer Gerald Bull
- Nicholas Shakespeare, The Dancer Upstairs (1995)
- James Ellroy, American Tabloid (1995) — novel about John F. Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs invasion
- Tom Clancy, Executive Orders (1996)
- Vince Flynn, Term Limits (1997)
- Vince Flynn, Transfer of Power (1999) — suspense novel about a US President and the White House
- Boris Akunin, The State Counsellor (2000) — historical mystery novel about a Moscow governor
- Tom Clancy, The Bear and the Dragon (2000)
- Jack Higgins, Edge of Danger (2001) — suspense novel about a US President and a Russian Prime Minister
- Günter Grass, Crabwalk (2002) — investigative novel about Wilhelm Gustloff
- Lee Child, Without Fail (2002)
- Tom Clancy, Red Rabbit (2002) — suspense novel about Pope John Paul II and Georgi Markov
- Ismail Kadare, The Successor (2003) — novel about Mehmet Shehu
- Barry Eisler, Hard Rain (2003)
- Nicholson Baker, Checkpoint (2004) — political novel about George W. Bush
- Jack Higgins, Dark Justice (2004) — suspense novel about a US President
- Tim Green, Fourth Perimeter (2005)
- Malay Roy Choudhury, Naamgandho (2005) — Bengali novel
- Brian Josepher, What the Psychic Saw (2005)
- Thomas A. Taylor, Mortal Shield (2008)
- Brent Weeks, The Night Angel Trilogy (2008) — fantasy series
- Jack Higgins, Sharp Shot (2009) — suspense novel about a US President
- Jack Higgins, First Strike (2009) — suspense novel about a US President
- Barbara Kingsolver, The Lacuna (2009) — novel about Leon Trotsky
- Leonardo Padura Fuentes, El hombre que amaba a los perros (The Man Who Loved Dogs) (2009) — novel about Leon Trotsky
- Nathan M. Farrugia, The Chimera Vector (2012) — technothriller featuring deniable operatives programmed to assassinate
Read more about this topic: Assassinations In Fiction
Famous quotes containing the word novels:
“Compare the history of the novel to that of rock ‘n’ roll. Both started out a minority taste, became a mass taste, and then splintered into several subgenres. Both have been the typical cultural expressions of classes and epochs. Both started out aggressively fighting for their share of attention, novels attacking the drama, the tract, and the poem, rock attacking jazz and pop and rolling over classical music.”
—W. T. Lhamon, U.S. educator, critic. “Material Differences,” Deliberate Speed: The Origins of a Cultural Style in the American 1950s, Smithsonian (1990)
“The novels are as useful as Bibles, if they teach you the secret, that the best of life is conversation, and the greatest success is confidence, or perfect understanding between sincere people.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Some time ago a publisher told me that there are four kinds of books that seldom, if ever, lose money in the United States—first, murder stories; secondly, novels in which the heroine is forcibly overcome by the hero; thirdly, volumes on spiritualism, occultism and other such claptrap, and fourthly, books on Lincoln.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)