Paul McEuen's six favorite books

Paul McEuen is a professor of physics at Cornell University and author of the debut sci-fi thriller, Spiral. He named his six favorite books for The Week magazine.

One book on the list:

Marathon Man by William Goldman

When I was in the 9th grade, my English teacher slipped me this classic about runner Babe Levy and his mysterious brother, Doc, setting off a lifetime of thriller reading. Goldman's versatility is amazing — how do you write Marathon Man and The Princess Bride in the space of a year?

Read about the other books on McEuen's list.

Marathon Man is on Howard Gordon's list of the five best thriller plots with terror themes.

--Marshal Zeringue