The Beach (novel) The Beach (novel) The Beach is a 1996 novel by English author Alex Garland. Set in Thailand, it is the story of a young backpacker's search for a legendary, idyllic and isolated beach untouched by tourism, and his time there in its small, international community of backpackers. In 2000, it was adapted into a film directed by Danny Boyle and starring Leonardo DiCaprio. In 2003, the novel was listed on the BBC's survey The Big Read. In a cheap hotel on the Khao San Road in Bangkok, Richard, a young American backpacker, meets a mentally disturbed Scotsman going by the
The Big Bounce (novel) "The Captives." Jack Ryan returned in the novel "Unknown Man No. 89". The novel, set in the Thumb area of Michigan, tells the story of a young thief named Jack Ryan who gets a new shot at life with the help of a justice of the peace named Mr. Majestyk (Leonard later wrote a novel called "Mr. Majestyk," with a title character that is completely unrelated to the character of the same name in "The Big Bounce"), who hires Jack to work at his beach resort. During this time, Jack gets involved with a psychotic woman named Nancy, a young