What would you recommend for favorite spy novels?

[Pithy Cherub]

The art of writing a good - no GREAT spy novel is mastered by a very few. But I know I have missed out on some excellent ones and would really like some suggestions.

Some that I have really enjoyed are Robert Littel's work with The Company and Legends. Two great books by Christopher Whitcomb are tremendously well written and really good plots, Black & the sequel White. Ludlum will always hold a special place in my book collection. Richard Clarke had a good first attempt with Scorpion's Gate.

The intrigue and context has to be multi-layered and the main characters have to be multi-faceted to keep my attention. Otherwise, my attention turns to something else usually another book. An avid reader with ADD is not a pretty sight and I make people crazy reading multiple books at the same time.


Looking forward to reading some interesting fiction about spies!

[madaboutharry]

1. The very best spy novel

I have ever read was The Odessa File by Frederick Forsyth. I read it over 20 years ago and nothing since has come close.

[AndyTiedye]

2. John LeCarre

[Paladin]

8. LeCarre's Smiley Trilogy

It doesn't get any better than that....

[AndyTiedye]

9. Those Also Made The Transition to (British) Television Very Well

With Alec Guiness playing George Smiley.
You can get "Tinker Tailor" and "Smileys People" on DVD now.

[fightingdem]

11. His earlier novels are great, too.

I think his first was "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold".

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Believe or not, "Hopscotch" by Brian Garfield

The movie (ca. 1980 with Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson) based on the novel is nothing compared to the real thing. The prose is wonderful, the story quite credible yet entertaining. Here's a reader's review to whet your curiosity.

http://www.allreaders.com/Topics/info_27919.asp

[yellowdogintexas]

4. "A Pride of Royals" by Justin Scott was just a fantastic

spy read.

Young American Naval Officer is sent to Europe during WWI (USA is still neutral at this point)at the request of King George V to sneak into Germany to convince Kaiser Wilhelm (at war with England but still the King's cousin) to assist in the rescue of Czar Nicholas & family from Revolutionary Russa.

Magnificent read!!!!!

Iloved Ludlum and I have read many other espionage novels, but I do love this book.

[Broken_Hero]

5. I have read only 2

spy novels, and they were both by T. Clancy. The Kardinal of the Kremlin, and Red Rabbit. The Kardinal was by far better than Red RAbbit. Clancy was reaching, and rehashing ideas in red rabbit...and both books do tie in with one another.

But I haven't read any fact based novels in that regard, I would definately like some ideas on good spy books to read.

[pitohui]

6. the soul of vicktor tronko by david quammen

i don't believe you'll ever find one better

yes, it's the same david quammen, obviously he doesn't have time for spy fiction any more, too bad, the world lost a great one in him

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

7. I was going to recommend Littel having just read Legends!

I really like Norman Mailer's Harlot's Ghost, but it seems to really divide people. I'd put some space between it and The Company though as they have several overlapping characters and situations.

I enjoyed Henry Porter's (a British author you may know for his Observer columns's slagging off Blair's authortarianism) first two spy novels, A Spy's Life and Empire State. I also rate David Ignatius' Agents of Innocence.

[babylonsister]

10. Nelson DeMille! nt

[deadcenter]

12. have to second

both Fredrick Forsythe and John LeCarre. Both are outstanding writers and I enjoyed all of their books.

[henslee]

13. Try Graham Greene.

[Pithy Cherub]

14. Thanks to you all, my list is looking great, please keep recommending

titles. Some of these I had never seen before and am very interested in reading all of them. Some one even gave me a hard copy David Corn attempt at the genre because I had run out. The best ideas come from those who enjoy the same type of books, so again, thank you very much!

:toast:

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

15. Just got an email advertising Robert Baer's first spy novel

He's the ex-CIA guy whose (excellent) memoir See No Evil was the basis for the film Syriana. The novel's called Blow the House Down and it comes out at the end of the month.

Veteran CIA officer Max Waller has long been obsessed with the abduction and murder of his Agency mentor. Though years of digging yield the name of a suspect?an Iranian math genius turned terrorist?the trail seems too cold to justify further effort. Then Max turns up a photograph of the man standing alongside Osama bin Laden and a mysterious westerner whose face has been cut out, feeding Max?s suspicion. When the first official to whom Max shows the photo winds up dead, the out-of-favor agent suddenly finds himself the target of dark forces within the intelligence community who are desperate to muzzle him.

Eluding a global surveillance net, Max?in the summer of 2001?begins tracking the spore of a complex conspiracy, meeting clandestinely with suicide bombers and Arab royalty and ultimately realizing the Iranian he?d sought for a decades-old crime is actually at the nexus of a terrifying plot.

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307347459

Here's a Q&A with Seymour Hersh:
http://www.listeninglib.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780739332399&view=qa

I'm a little troubled by the Iranian angle given the current climate, but it sounds pretty interesting.

[McCamy Taylor]

16. DECLARE Tim Powers, this is NOT your usual cold war thriller. Powers

is the best writer of speculative fiction around. He blends sci-fi, fantasy, alternative history into great big epics with plots that make you wonder "How did he come up with that???" His characterizations are first rate.

This is not your granddaddy's cold war. You can not even begin to guess the hows and whys of the cold war according to Tim Powers unless you read this book. However, it is crafted exactly in the style of a cold war thriller which is what makes it so readable.

Warning. This will probably be his only cold war novel. His other novels include one about the Romantic poets and vampires, one about pirates looking for eternal life, a trilogy about Vegas gamblers/Edison/fairies.