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Dec 4, 2021 · Tim shares the spy writers who will likely not make his top 125 ranking of spy authors. 104. DAVID WOLSTENCROFT. Active: 2004-06 Key works: Good News Bad News, Contact Zero David Wolstencroft is the creator of Spooks, the BBC series about the British Security Service, which was renamed MI5 in America.
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- The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré. Buy on Amazon. Le Carré’s name has come to be synonymous with the spy genre, and it was this very book that propelled him to international acclaim.
- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré. Buy on Amazon. Another well-known title from le Carré, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy continues in the same fictional realm set up in le Carré’s previous spy books.
- The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum. Buy on Amazon. Jason Bourne is rescued by fishermen, the sole survivor of an attack at sea. When he comes to, he’s suffering from amnesia, unable to remember anything about himself or his past life outside of the intermittent flashback.
- Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett. Buy on Amazon. This award-winning classic (and Ken Follett’s first bestseller) follows a German spy, nicknamed ‘The Needle’ due to his signature use of a needle-pointed blade when killing his victims.
The 1305th Greatest Book of All Time. 10. Cause for Alarm by Eric Ambler. "Cause for Alarm" is a thrilling novel set in the backdrop of pre-World War II Europe. The protagonist, a British engineer, gets entangled in a dangerous world of espionage and international politics when he is sent to Italy for work.
- The Best Spy Novelists of Yesteryear
- The Best Spy Novelists Actively Writing Today
- Charles Cumming
- Alan Furst
- Alex Gerlis
- Mick Herron
- David Ignatius
- Joseph Kanon
- Paul Vidich
- For Related Reading
During the 1930s, 40s, and 50s the genre blossomed with the novels of Eric Ambler, Graham Greene, and Helen MacInnes. These authors, all British, brought literary talent and a realistic approach to their writing. However, it was Ian Fleming who elevated the field in the public consciousness with the James Bond novels. He began with Casino Royale in...
More demanding readers with a taste for the spy genre have followed the career of the late John le Carré(1931-2020), whose 30 widely-read novels spanned the five decades from 1961 to 2021. And Le Carré’s many disciples are hard at work today, turning out spy fiction that is solidly based on historical events and a realistic portrayal of espionage t...
I’ve reviewed most of the eleven spy novels Charles Cumming has written. You’ll find those reviews at Charles Cumming’s first-rate spy thrillers. As a young man, he was briefly a “support agent” for Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), as reflected in his first novel, A Spy by Nature (A worthy spy story that foretells more good reading to c...
Alan Furst writes historical novels about espionage in Europe during the years leading up to and during the Second World War. You’ll find my reviews of his 15 novels in The evocative Night Soldiers series from Alan Furst. All were published from 1988 to 2019. Furst is American but writes knowledgeably about events and people in Central and Eastern ...
Alex Gerlisis the author of nine Second World War espionage thrillers. He was a BBC journalist for nearly thirty years. He now lives in west London with his wife and two black cats. Alex has two daughters and two grandsons. As his publisher notes in his bio online, “He’s frequently asked if he’s ever worked for an intelligence agency but always dec...
Mick Herron began his career as a mystery writer in 2003 with the publication of the first of four novels about an Oxford-based private eye name Zoë Boehm. In 2010, he brought out the first of the eleven Slough House novels published to date. The fictional Slough House is where the misfits and rule-breakers of MI5 are sent to molder until retiremen...
The eleven spy novels David Ignatius has written (to date) are a sideline. Ignatius is a columnist and editor for the Washington Post, where he has worked for all but three years since 1986. He was born into America’s East Coast elite, the son of a former Secretary of the Navy, and educated at Harvard and King’s College, Cambridge. He remains assoc...
Joseph Kanon was a major figure in the publishing industry for many years before writing his first novel, Los Alamos, in 1997. To date, he has written nine novels, all spy thrillers set in the aftermath of World War II. I’ve reviewed many of Kanon’s novels. I particularly enjoyed The Good German (The cost of total war was clear in Berlin after Worl...
Although he has been writing for many years, Paul Vidich’s first novel, An Honorable Man, appeared in 2016. Five others have followed to date. I’ve reviewed them all on this site. My favorite is The Coldest Warrior (Project MK-Ultra and the scientist who fell to his death). Vidich has yet to disappoint me. He’s truly gifted. And his gifts seem even...
You might also enjoy my posts: 1. The 10 top espionage novels 2. 30 good nonfiction books about espionage 3. Top 10 mystery and thriller series If you read spy thrillers, consider dipping into the work of these other excellent authors: 1. Dame Stella Rimington’s Liz Carlyle series of top-notch espionage novels 2. The spellbinding thrillers of Rober...
May 9, 2024 · Masquerade (Liz Sansborough #1) by Gayle Lynds. With Masquerade, Gayle Lynds was one of the first female authors to become a major player in the spy novel game. The first in the Liz Sansborough series, the novel opens with CIA Agent Sansborough having no memory of who she is or how she came to work for the CIA.
The well-crafted Liz Carlyle novels by Stella Rimington. At Risk (Liz Carlyle #1) – High stakes in an excellent espionage thriller. Secret Asset (Liz Carlyle #2) – An engrossing novel about British counter-espionage. Illegal Action (Liz Carlyle #3) – An engaging spy novel from former MI5 director Stella Rimington.
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Sep 22, 2024 · The Best Ian Fleming Books, recommended by Charlie Higson. Ian Fleming wrote the James Bond novels late in his life, before dying of a heart attack at the age of just 56. Charlie Higson, author of the Young Bond series and a novella, On His Majesty’s Secret Service, introduces us to the man and his life and talks us through his five favourite ...
