Anthony Horowitz Popular Books

Anthony Horowitz Biography & Facts

Anthony John Horowitz (born 5 April 1955) is an English novelist and screenwriter specialising in mystery and suspense. His works for children and young adult readers include the Alex Rider series featuring a 14-year-old British boy who spies for MI6, The Power of Five series (known as The Gatekeepers in the US), and The Diamond Brothers series. Horowitz's works for adults include the play Mindgame (2001); two Sherlock Holmes novels, The House of Silk (2011) and Moriarty (2014); two novels featuring his own detective Susan Ryeland, Magpie Murders (2016) and Moonflower Murders (2020); and five novels featuring a fictionalised version of himself as a companion and chronicler to private investigator Daniel Hawthorne: The Word Is Murder (2017), The Sentence Is Death (2018), A Line to Kill (2021), The Twist of a Knife (2022), and the upcoming Close to Death (2024). The estate of James Bond creator Ian Fleming chose Horowitz to write Bond novels utilising unpublished material by Fleming, starting with Trigger Mortis in 2015, followed by Forever and a Day in 2018, and a third and final novel With a Mind to Kill in May 2022. Horowitz has also written for television, contributing scripts to ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot and adapting Midsomer Murders from the novels of Caroline Graham. He was the creator and writer of the ITV series Foyle's War, Collision and Injustice, and the BBC series Crime Traveller and New Blood. Early life Horowitz was born in Stanmore, Middlesex, into a Jewish family, and in his early years lived an upper middle class lifestyle. An overweight and unhappy child, Horowitz enjoyed reading books from his father's library. As a child, Horowitz used to go to Instow, where his nanny took him boating on the River Torridge. He also had a stuffed monkey named Benjamin (which was later eaten by his dog).Horowitz started writing at the age of eight or nine and he instantly knew he would be a professional writer. This was because he was an underachiever in school and was not physically fit, and found his escape in books and telling stories. In a 2006 interview Horowitz stated "I was quite certain, from my earliest memory, that I would be a professional writer and nothing but."At age 13 he went to Rugby School, a public school in Rugby, Warwickshire. He graduated from the University of York with a lower second class degree in English literature and art history in 1977, where he was in Vanbrugh College.Horowitz's mother introduced him to Frankenstein and Dracula. She gave him a human skull for his 13th birthday. Horowitz said in an interview that it reminds him to get to the end of each story since he will soon look like the skull.Horowitz's father was associated with some of the politicians in the "circle" of prime minister Harold Wilson, including Eric Miller. Facing bankruptcy, he moved his assets into Swiss numbered bank accounts. He died from cancer when Horowitz was 22, and the family was never able to track down the missing money despite years of trying. This left the family bankrupt, requiring sale of the large family home. Literary career Early literary work (1979–1991) Anthony Horowitz's first book, The Sinister Secret of Frederick K Bower, was a humorous adventure for children that was published in 1979 and later reissued as Enter Frederick K Bower in 1985. In 1981 his second novel, Misha, the Magician and the Mysterious Amulet was published and he moved to Paris to write his third book.In 1983, the first novel in the Pentagram series was released. Entitled The Devil's Door-Bell, the story saw thirteen-year-old Martin Hopkins trying to adjust to a new life with a foster mother on a Yorkshire farm, but it quickly becomes a nightmare when he ends up having to battle an ancient evil that threatens the whole world. Only three of the four remaining novels in the series were ever released: The Night of the Scorpion (1984), The Silver Citadel (1986) and Day of the Dragon (1986). In 1985, he released Myths and Legends, a collection of retold tales from around the world. In 1988, Groosham Grange was published. Its central character is a thirteen-year-old "witch", David Eliot, gifted as the seventh son of a seventh son. This book went on to win the 1989 Lancashire Children's Book of the Year Award. Some similarities were made between this book and J K Rowling's newer Harry Potter series, but Horowitz did not choose to take action because of this.Despite this, the most major release of Horowitz's early career was The Falcon's Malteser (1986). This book was the first in the successful Diamond Brothers series, and was followed in 1987 by Public Enemy Number Two, and by South by South East in 1991. Early children's fiction success (1992–1999) Horowitz wrote many stand-alone novels in the 1990s. His 1994 novel Granny, a comedy thriller about an evil grandmother, was Horowitz's first book in three years, and it was the first of three books for an audience similar to that of Groosham Grange. The second of these was The Switch, a body swap story, first published in 1996. The third was 1997's The Devil and His Boy, which is set in the Elizabethan era and explores the rumour of Elizabeth I's secret son. In 1999, The Unholy Grail was published as a sequel to Groosham Grange. It was later renamed Return to Groosham Grange in 2003, possibly to help young readers understand the connection between the two books. In 2021, Horowitz revealed to a fan on Twitter that he had plans to write a third book, but was dissuaded after the success of the Harry Potter series. In the same year, Horowitz publishing a collection of several short horror stories aimed for children and young adults, entitled Horowitz Horror (1999). This was an opportunity for Horowitz to further explore a darker side of his writing. Some time before the new millennium, Horowitz attempted to reach out to an adult audience with a novel called Poisoned Pen. The novel is based around Martin Holland, who is a childhood friend of a 21st century incarnation of William Shakespeare. In the novel, William Shakespeare is reimagined as a Hollywood screenwriter who is murdered in a set of circumstances that Martin Holland finds rather odd, despite attempts from a Los Angeles detective to dissuade him. The novel follows Martin's attempts to solve the ever-growing mystery through a series of rather unusual circumstances and a number of people who seem rather glad that Shakespeare was murdered. The novel has never been published in the UK or even in English, but copies in Spanish and Dutch have been released (retitled as El asesinato de Shakespeare and William S. respectively). As of June 2021, despite Horowitz's recent successes in adult literature, there are no plans to get the novel republished. Mainstream children's fiction success (2000–2010) Horowitz began his most famous and successful series in the new millennium with the Alex Rider novels. These books are about a 14-year-old boy becoming a spy, a member of the Bri.... Discover the Anthony Horowitz popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Anthony Horowitz books.

Best Seller Anthony Horowitz Books of 2024

  • The Cthulhu Casebooks - Sherlock Holmes and the Sussex Sea-Devils synopsis, comments

    The Cthulhu Casebooks - Sherlock Holmes and the Sussex Sea-Devils

    James Lovegrove

    The stunning new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Age of Odin, in which the worlds of Arthur Conan Doyle and H.P. Lovecraft collide.It is the autumn of 1910,...

  • One Monday We Killed Them All synopsis, comments

    One Monday We Killed Them All

    John D. MacDonald

    Step by step, Dwight McAran built a wall of vicious hate around himself. It was easy. He was a man who could slap one woman to death because she loved him, and hum a love song to a...

  • Granny synopsis, comments

    Granny

    Anthony Horowitz

    Twelveyearold Joe Warden isn't happy. Sure, he's rich, but his parents don't care about him. His grandmother should make everything better, except that Joe's granny is a nightmare....

  • Soft Touch synopsis, comments

    Soft Touch

    John D. MacDonald

    Jerry Jamison wants out: out of a sloppy marriage, a dull job and the empty suburban rat race. Once Jerry had a beautiful bride and a good salary at her old man's successful busine...

  • The Sleepwalker synopsis, comments

    The Sleepwalker

    Robert Muchamore

    Teen special agents investigate a deadly plane crash in the ninth book of the CHERUB series, which Rick Riordan says has “plenty of action.”CHERUB agents are highly trained, extrem...

  • Mycroft and Sherlock synopsis, comments

    Mycroft and Sherlock

    Kareem Abdul-Jabbar & Anna Waterhouse

    The new novel by NBA AllStar Kareem AbdulJabbar, starring brothers Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes.It is 1872, and a series of gruesome murders is the talk of London. Mycroft Holmesnow...

  • The Killing synopsis, comments

    The Killing

    Robert Muchamore

    CHERUB agents are all seventeen and under. They wear skate tees and hemp, and look like regular kids. But they're not. They are trained professionals who are sent out on missions t...

  • A Flash of Green synopsis, comments

    A Flash of Green

    John D. MacDonald

    James Wing was only trying to help his friend's widow. At least that's what he told himself after he warned Kat Hubble that the beautiful bay that she and her neighbours had strugg...

  • Death Trap synopsis, comments

    Death Trap

    John D. MacDonald

    In life, Jane Ann never had much use for a halo, but in her violent death she finally earned one. When they found a suspect, everyone relaxed except Hugh MacReedy.Maybe he should h...

  • One More Sunday synopsis, comments

    One More Sunday

    John D. MacDonald

    Welcome to the Eternal Church of the Believer, where devout workers operate stateoftheart computer equipment to process the thousands of dollars that pour in daily and where hundre...

  • House of War synopsis, comments

    House of War

    Scott Mariani

    The edgeofyourseat thriller from the #1 bestseller.‘A gripping tale that will have you turning the pages well into the night’ MARK DAWSONA DEADLY TERROR PLOT. A RACE AGAINST THE CL...

  • With a Mind to Kill synopsis, comments

    With a Mind to Kill

    Anthony Horowitz

    "It’s almost uncanny how well Mr. Horowitz summons Bond’s mindset . . . Yet this Bond also feels the winds of change: 'He had his licence to kill. But was it possible that in this ...

  • The Neon Jungle synopsis, comments

    The Neon Jungle

    John D. MacDonald

    The Varaki family run the local grocery store, but tragedy hits the family hard. The sudden death of the matriarch of the clan is followed by the favourite son's death in Korea. Th...

  • Nightshade synopsis, comments

    Nightshade

    Anthony Horowitz

    Alex Rider is now an IMDb TV/Amazon Original Series! From internationally bestselling author Anthony Horowitz comes the twelfth thrilling installment of the Alex Rider series!...

  • Ark Angel synopsis, comments

    Ark Angel

    Anthony Horowitz

    Alex Rider is now an IMDb TV/Amazon Original Series!Alex Rider is an orphan turned teen superspy who's saving the world one mission at a timefrom #1 New York Times bestselling auth...

  • The Only Girl in the Game synopsis, comments

    The Only Girl in the Game

    John D. MacDonald

    Her employers are the high priests of Las Vegas and she is their handmaiden. Her job is to lead the lambs to the sacrifice, to keep them happy at the tables, where her partners sla...

  • Stormbreaker synopsis, comments

    Stormbreaker

    Anthony Horowitz

    Alex Rider is now an IMDb TV/Amazon Original Series!Meet the orphan turned teen superspy who's saving the world one mission at a timefrom #1 New York Times bestselling author!...

  • Porterhouse Blue synopsis, comments

    Porterhouse Blue

    Tom Sharpe

    The 'endlessly funny' novel widely regarded as a classic of comic English literaturePorterhouse College is world renowned for its gastronomic excellence, the arrogance of its Fello...

  • The Drowner synopsis, comments

    The Drowner

    John D. MacDonald

    Lucille Hanson had rid herself of the wrong man her rich husband who lived casually and loved carelessly. Then she found another man she hoped would be right. She was putting toge...

  • The Real Anthony Fauci synopsis, comments

    The Real Anthony Fauci

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

    #1 on AMAZON, TWENTY WEEKS on the NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LIST, and a WALL STREET JOURNAL, USA TODAY and PUBLISHERS WEEKLY NATIONAL BESTSELLEROver 1,000,000 copies sold despite c...

  • The Fall synopsis, comments

    The Fall

    Robert Muchamore

    In this actionpacked CHERUB novel, two siblings on separate special agent missions both end up in deadly danger.CHERUB agents are highly trained, extremely talentedand all under th...

  • The Recruit synopsis, comments

    The Recruit

    Robert Muchamore

    In this actionpacked CHERUB novel, two siblings on separate special agent missions both end up in deadly danger.CHERUB agents are all seventeen and under. They wear skate tees and ...

  • Point Blank synopsis, comments

    Point Blank

    Anthony Horowitz

    Alex Rider is now an IMDb TV/Amazon Original Series!Alex Rider is an orphan turned teen superspy who's saving the world one mission at a timefrom #1 New York Times bestselling auth...

  • On the Run synopsis, comments

    On the Run

    John D. MacDonald

    Sid Shanley couldn't stay in one place very long. He had to keep on the run, changing towns, changing jobs, changing women. He worked out the perfect setup no attachments, no trai...

  • A Key to the Suite synopsis, comments

    A Key to the Suite

    John D. MacDonald

    Corporate hatchetman Hubbard is on his way to an industry convention to carry out a termination a fancy way of saying he's about to toss a man and his family out in the street. Bu...

  • Hurricane synopsis, comments

    Hurricane

    John D. MacDonald

    A hurricane of terrifying intensity is looming over Florida. Along a state highway, a handful of foolhardy souls trying to outrun the storm are forced to seek shelter in an abandon...

  • The Deceivers synopsis, comments

    The Deceivers

    John D. MacDonald

    Her name was Cindy, and she was his neighbour's wife the woman next door in the kind of suburbia that didn't make headlines. These were real people, nice people like Cindy and Car...

  • The Unwanted Dead synopsis, comments

    The Unwanted Dead

    Chris Lloyd

    'A gripping murder mystery and a vivid recreation of Paris under German Occupation.' ANDREW TAYLORWINNER OF THE HWA GOLD CROWN AWARD FOR BEST HISTORICAL FICTIONSHORTLISTED FOR THE ...

  • Mad Dogs synopsis, comments

    Mad Dogs

    Robert Muchamore

    Gang warfare gets gruesome in the eighth book of the CHERUB series, which Rick Riordan says has “plenty of action.”CHERUB agents are highly trained, extremely talentedand all under...

  • Skeleton Key synopsis, comments

    Skeleton Key

    Anthony Horowitz

    Alex Rider is now an IMDb TV/Amazon Original Series!Alex Rider is an orphan turned teen superspy who's saving the world one mission at a timefrom #1 New York Times bestselling auth...

  • Border Town Girl synopsis, comments

    Border Town Girl

    John D. MacDonald

    Contains the two novellas Border Town Girl and Linda. Border Town GirlOnce, Lane Sanson had been a Somebody war correspondent and a bestselling author. Now he was a ...

  • The Beach Girls synopsis, comments

    The Beach Girls

    John D. MacDonald

    Leo Rice seems like a nice enough guy, but why does he have to choose their beach? He could head ten miles up the Florida strip and everyone could just live happily ever after no ...

  • Murder for the Bride synopsis, comments

    Murder for the Bride

    John D. MacDonald

    Dillon Bryant, a successful engineer, is off on assignment after finishing his honeymoon. But news from home comes that his new bride, Laura, a beautiful woman whom he had met only...

  • The Price of Murder synopsis, comments

    The Price of Murder

    John D. MacDonald

    On the surface, they seem like three very different people: Danny Bronson, a cunning excon struggling to go straight; his brother, Lee, a former Gridiron star turned college profes...

  • Maximum Security synopsis, comments

    Maximum Security

    Robert Muchamore

    CHERUB agents are all seventeen and under. They wear skate tees and hemp, and look like regular kids. But they're not. They are trained professionals who are sent out on missions t...

  • Cancel All Our Vows synopsis, comments

    Cancel All Our Vows

    John D. MacDonald

    Fletcher Wyant and his wife Jane had been married for fifteen years. They had built the perfect marriage two wonderful kids, a warm beautiful home, and their own private neverendi...

  • Never Say Die synopsis, comments

    Never Say Die

    Anthony Horowitz

    Alex Rider is now an IMDb TV/Amazon Original Series!The world’s greatest teen spy is back in action in a thrilling new mission: destroy once and for all the terrorist organization ...

  • Slam the Big Door synopsis, comments

    Slam the Big Door

    John D. MacDonald

    When Mike Rodenska, a former journalist and recent widower, visits his old friend Troy Jamison in Florida, he's shocked at what he finds. For despite the parties, the shapely women...

  • The Dealer synopsis, comments

    The Dealer

    Robert Muchamore

    CHERUB agents are all seventeen and under. They wear skate tees and hemp, and look like regular kids. But they're not. They are trained professionals who are sent out on missions t...

  • Area of Suspicion synopsis, comments

    Area of Suspicion

    John D. MacDonald

    Four years ago Gevan Dean found his fiancée Niki Webb in his brother Ken's arms and fled his hometown for a peaceful life in the Florida sun. But now Ken is dead murdered by a thi...

  • The General synopsis, comments

    The General

    Robert Muchamore

    Teen special agents James and Lauren travel to the US in the tenth book of the CHERUB series, which Rick Riordan says has “plenty of action.”CHERUB agents are highly trained, extre...

  • Eagle Strike synopsis, comments

    Eagle Strike

    Anthony Horowitz

    Alex Rider is now an IMDb TV/Amazon Original Series!Alex Rider is an orphan turned teen superspy who's saving the world one mission at a timefrom #1 New York Times bestselling auth...

  • A Man of Affairs synopsis, comments

    A Man of Affairs

    John D. MacDonald

    Sam Glidden owed all his success to the opportunities he'd received from Thomas McGann, president of the Harrison Corporation. But now McGann was dead, and Mike Dean, a wildly flam...

  • The Shroud synopsis, comments

    The Shroud

    Ian Wilson

    Two decades after radiocarbon dating declared the Turin Shroud a mediaeval fake, brandnew historical discoveries strongly suggest that this famous cloth, with its extraordinary pho...