Brad Meltzer has been writing thrillers for 20 years. His latest, The Escape Artist (Grand Central), $28, folds in fascinating facts about highly classified military bases and famous magician Harry Houdini, and stars a mortician and the Army’s artist-in-residence. Intrigued? Check out an exclusive excerpt here.

Here are a graphic novel, a comic book collection and a novel that sparked the author’s imagination.

Rivers of London: Volume 1 (Titan Comics), by Ben Aaronovitch

“Real magic exists in London. And here’s the wildly satisfying story of a police officer who handles the supernatural.”

Vision (Marvel), by Tom King

“This was the best comic I read last year. A robot trying to be human. That’s all you need. It still haunts me.”

The Oracle Year(Harper Perennial), available April 3, by Charles Soule

“Will Dando knows the future. But you’ll never predict what he does with the knowledge. Crazy fun.”