The 15 best espionage novels reviewed

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Over the past decade, I’ve read and reviewed more than 150 espionage novels (not counting a great many more I never finished). My 15 favorites are listed immediately below. Though my preliminary list included multiple titles by several of the authors included here, I’ve arbitrarily limited myself to a single title from every writer. And I gave every one of these 15 titles a score of ★★★★★ on its review. I’ve listed them in alphabetical order by the authors’ last names.

This post was updated on August 9, 2022.

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a lot of finalists

Below my top 15 list, you’ll find reviews of the full list of the best spy novels I’ve ever reviewed with ratings of at least ★★★★☆. those titles are also listed in alphabetical order by the last names of the authors. There you’ll find several titles by several of the authors featured here: Alex Berenson, Charles Cumming, Alan Furst, Mick Herron, Joseph Kanon, John Le Carré, Jason Matthews, Stella Rimington, Ross Thomas, Paul Vidich, and Edward Wilson.

As you’ll see below, many of the books listed here are in series. and for the most part you will find all the novels in each series listed below. there are a few exceptions for titles I read before I started reviewing books, others I’ve rated below ★★★★☆, and others I just haven’t read yet.

A word of warning: I’m not claiming that these 15 books are the best spy novels ever written, just that they’re the best I’ve ever read and reviewed on this site. There may well be tens of thousands of spy novels in print, and no one, not even a group of people, could hope to identify the best among all those stories.

the 15 best espionage novels reviewed here

This image bears little resemblance to the practice of espionage today, but it makes for compelling fiction. Image: einvestigator.com

A Coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler (1939) 309 pages ★★★★★ – Still a lively read among classic spy novels

First published in 1939, A Coffin for Dimitrios is widely considered one of the best spy novels ever written. that reputation is well deserved. But it would be a mistake to pigeonhole what may be Eric Ambler’s most accomplished work as simply a spy novel, since it features few of the familiar devices of that genre, which may be why it is so highly regarded. However, A Coffin for Dimitrios is best seen as a historical novel depicting Europe between the two world wars, and it does so masterfully.

The novel is structured as an account of a wide-ranging investigation into the life and death of a notorious international criminal named Dimitrios Makropoulos. after surviving one of the horrific massacres of armenians and greeks perpetrated by kemal ataturk, the legendary founder of modern turkey, makropoulos is said to have participated in assassination plots in at least two countries, engaged in espionage as a freelance agent, and assassinated to various men. . The unlikely investigator is Charles Latimer, “a professor of political economy at a small English university” who has left academic life behind and become a successful author of formulaic crime novels. read the review.

Transcription by Kate Atkinson (2018) 331 pages ★★★★★ – Kate Atkinson’s latest is a beautifully written spy story

strange. after reading his previous books, the last thing she would have expected is humor. However, Kate Atkinson’s latest transcript is surprisingly funny. well, maybe clever is a better word. this is British humour, after all. dry humour. the kind of thing most Americans frown on.

atkinson unfolds his story in sections that change abruptly through the years, from 1981, to 1950, then to 1940, and so on. almost all the action takes place in those three years. The story revolves around Juliet Armstrong. We meet her in 1981 when he is approaching 60 years old. But the formative events in the plot occur three or four decades earlier, when MI5 hired Juliet as a typist.

Ten years later, we find her working as a children’s radio producer for the BBC, when her wartime job comes back to haunt her. however, we don’t know the full story until near the end of the book. if you read it, prepare for a scare. Although Atkinson’s story seems to be fairly pedestrian throughout much of the book, with only his brilliant use of language to carry the story, it’s nothing of the sort. trust me. this book is a thriller, and a good one. read the review.

Three Hours in Paris by Cara Black (2020) 361 pages ★★★★★ — A suspenseful World War II espionage thriller set in Paris

england shuddered with terror in the summer of 1940. following the evacuation of the british expeditionary force from dunkirk in may, nazi germany’s submarine campaign threatened to starve the british people, and an invasion was imminent. preparations for Operation Sea Lion were well under way, revealed by a growing chorus of conversation on German radio communications. In response, a shadowy British intelligence unit known as Section D sent a wave of agents to France on desperate, often suicidal missions to thwart Hitler’s plans. San Francisco mystery novelist Cara Black writes convincingly about one such mission in her poignant new World War II espionage thriller, Three Hours in Paris. the story she tells never happened. but she could have.

It’s a high stakes cat and mouse game. The cat is Gunter Hoffman, a brilliant former Munich homicide detective who entered service in the Reichssicherheitsdienst, a branch of the SS, as a member of the Führer’s elite protective detail. the mouse is kate rees, a young widow, american rifle champion, sent by the d section to paris to assassinate adolf hitler. In three hours in Paris, Black introduces the game over the two-day period of June 23-24, 1940. The suspense, and the surprises, don’t stop until the very end. read the review.

charles cumming’s trinity six (2011) 421 pages ★★★★★ – a stellar new spy story by charles cumming

Much of latter-day spy literature is based, directly or indirectly, on the notorious Cambridge Five: brilliant young Cambridge men seduced by the lure of Communism as college students during the tumultuous 1930s who spied for the soviet union throughout the world. war ii. His defection to the USSR after the war created what was arguably the biggest espionage scandal in modern history. For many years afterward, rumors of a “sixth man” continued to rock the British secret intelligence service. The Trinity Six tells a witty story about that sixth man and his longest and even more momentous career.

The protagonist of this strictly written novel is an English scholar of modern Soviet and Russian history named Sam Gaddis. Heavily in debt and under pressure from his ex-wife for more money to support their daughter, Gaddis finds himself faced with what seems to be the opportunity of a lifetime: the opportunity to learn the truth about the sixth man and publish a hit of sales that will cure your financial problems once and for all. The problem is that almost everyone Sam talks to ends up dead, and Sam soon finds himself on the run desperately from his killers. read the review.

ken follett’s eye of the needle (1978) 364 pages ★★★★★ – the 40th anniversary edition of ken follett’s classic WWII spy novel

British author Ken Follett is best known to a wide audience these days for the Kingsbridge Trilogy, his gigantic multi-generational account of an English cathedral city. together, the three books are nearly 3,000 pages long (and a fourth, a more recent prequel, brings the total to nearly 4,000). they have reportedly sold over 80 million copies worldwide. But that’s only half of the 160 million books that Follett has sold since the publication of his first novel in 1974. And he’s been at the top of bestseller lists since the publication of his classic spy novel. World War II, The Eye of the Needle, in 1978. The book sold 10 million copies and frequently appears on lists of the best spy novels of all time. so it’s no surprise that Penguin has published a 40th anniversary edition of the novel. It deserves all the attention it gets. read the review.

kingdom of shadows (night soldiers #6) by alan furst (2001) 274 pages ★★★★★ – one of the best spy novels in recent years

Welcome to Night Soldiers, the brilliant series from one of our most accomplished writers of espionage novels. Here you will meet Nicholas Morath, 44, a Hungarian aristocrat who lives in Paris, where he is a partner in an advertising company. his uncle, count janos polanyi, is a senior diplomat at the hungarian mission in france who is dedicated to organizing the resistance against hitler in eastern europe. the second world war has not yet begun in earnest. Germany’s Anschluss with Austria is still weeks away, and the occupation of the Czech Sudetenland on the distant horizon. But Polanyi sees the future clearly. he pressures his nephew to take on a dangerous mission in budapest. . . and the problem begins.

morath, known as nicky by face, his young Argentinian lover, is one of those world-weary Europeans that surely abounded on the continent during the fateful 1930s. He “he was doomed to live with a certain heaviness of soul, not despair, but the heavy weight of pushing back against her. he had cost him a wife, long ago, an engagement that never led to marriage, and had put an end to more than one affair since.” As war draws near, Morath’s already complicated life becomes increasingly challenging. his work for his uncle exposes him to grave danger. the stakes grow as the months go by. and the suspense increases by leaps and bounds. read the review.

graham greene’s the quiet american (1955) 232 pages ★★★★★ — graham greene’s classic vietnam novel

Graham Greene (1904-91) ranks near the top of any list of the most readable and insightful spy novelists of the 20th century. He was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1966 and 1967, confirming his good faith as an author who wandered far beyond the boundaries of the genre. and of more than two dozen novels by him, The Quiet American is widely credited as one of the few to retain his power more than half a century later. In its portrayal of a hopelessly naïve CIA officer blindly following a distorted ideological view of the insurrection against the French in Indochina, this classic Vietnam novel proved prescient just a decade later, as the United States plunged headlong into a deep war. wrong there.

The Quiet American is set in Vietnam during the French’s desperate effort to maintain control in the face of a nationalist rebellion they didn’t understand. chaos reigned. Private armies and drug traffickers operated freely during the French-Vietminh war. As Greene describes it, “This was a land of rebellious barons. It was like Europe in the Middle Ages. but if the French were deaf to the realities on the ground, a newly arrived American is even more naive.

Alden Pyle works in the economic aid mission of the US Embassy, but it soon becomes clear that he is an officer of the (unnamed) CIA. Pyle, a committed anti-colonialist, is determined to advance the half-baked “third force” theory professed by some academics and journalists at the time. In all innocence, hoping to supplant both the colonialists and the communists, he supplies weapons to a corrupt warlord named General Thé, with predictably disastrous consequences. he reads the review.

an officer and a spy by robert harris (2020) 361 pages ★★★★★: the dreyfus case, recreated in a suspenseful spy novel

the dreyfus case. In the closing years of the nineteenth century and for decades thereafter, that notorious case was seen as an indelible stain on the varnish of European civilization, much as the Holocaust came to represent half a century later. A Jewish officer in the French Army was found guilty of treason on trumped-up charges and relegated to solitary confinement on the notorious Devil’s Island for several years before a brave fellow officer discovered the truth and, with the help of the country’s most famous writer, forced on the conscience of an unhappy nation. Dreyfus was only exonerated and restored to the rank of major in the French army in 1906, twelve years after his conviction.

robert harris has retold the story of the dreyfus affair in a brilliantly suspenseful novel based heavily on historical fact. An Officer and a Spy reads more like a contemporary espionage novel than a reconstruction of real-life events. read the review.

Slough House (Slough House #10) by Mick Herron (2021) 247 pages ★★★★★ — British secret intelligence muddles through a crisis of its own making

lady di has painted herself in a corner. oh no that lady di. This is Diana Taverner, the newly anointed CEO of Her Majesty’s Secret Service. (well, she and everyone else refer to the job as the first president, but we all know what’s going on) and, acting purely out of patriotic motives, mind you, she turned to the private sector to fund an off-the-book mission. that her parsimonious controllers in government have proven unwilling to support. These days, British secret intelligence is on the dole. and now the private sector wants its pound of meat.

Worse yet, on that off-the-record mission, Lady Di sent a hit man to Russia to eliminate one of the group’s most feared assassins. The assassin in question, the Russian, not the mercenary, had recently been to England, where he had killed one of Lady Di’s agents. so the mission was revenge. and it was successful. Unfortunately, now the Gru insists on taking revenge for that impertinence. The Russians have sent in a team of assassins, who are now in the process of escalating the conflict by assassinating the former residents of Slough House. and threatening those who work there now. read the review.

david ignatius siro (1991) 625 pages ★★★★★ – the smartest spy novel I’ve read in many years

The 1970s brought little more than trouble for the CIA. The legacy of Allen Dulles’ long tenure at the helm of the agency was a scandal. One after another, congressional investigators exposed the ugly reality of the nation’s most visible intelligence service: Watergate, the botched operations, the assassinations and attempted assassinations of heads of state, the meddling in internal affairs. the directors appointed to reform the agency ousted much of the old guard, and the heaviest toll fell on the clandestine directorate of operations.

In 1979, the few survivors of the CIA’s early years viewed the agency as dysfunctional. one of those survivors is one of the three central characters of siro. and the world he faces is plagued by large-scale change.

1979 was a watershed year in world affairs. Islamic forces led by Ayatollah Khomeini overthrew the Shah of Iran and imprisoned 90 hostages at the US Embassy in Tehran. Meanwhile, at the White House, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel signed a peace treaty.

Almost at the same time, civil war broke out in El Salvador and the Sandinista National Liberation Front overthrew the Anastasio Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua. Provisional IRA terrorists killed Lord Mountbatten in Ireland. The United States and the People’s Republic of China established full diplomatic relations. and the soviet union invaded afghanistan.

This is the tumultuous historical setting in the background of David Ignatius’s dazzling espionage novel, Siro. It’s the smartest spy novel I’ve read in years. read the review.

leaving berlin by joseph kanon (2014) 385 pages ★★★★★ – one of the best spy novels today

Joseph Kanon’s spy novels reek of authenticity. Set in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, they evoke the fear and despair that hung over Europe in the early days of the Cold War, when it seemed that open war might break out between the two emerging superpowers, formerly allies. to leave berlin, kanon has chosen the bleakest time and place possible: rubble-strewn berlin in 1949, when the allied airlift to besieged west berlin was underway.

to leave berlin, kanon has chosen as the setting the bleakest possible time and place: rubble-strewn berlin in 1949, when the allied airlift to besieged west berlin was underway. it was before west germany was created, before the wall went up, when the border between east and west was still porous and the east german regime of walter ulbricht had not yet started shooting at will at everyone who they crossed into the American, British, or French zones. read the review.

The Spy Who Came In From the Cold by John le Carré (1963) 228 pages ★★★★★ — Is this the best spy novel ever written?

if a general reader can remember the title of a single spy novel, it seems likely that it is the spy who came from nowhere. John Le Carré’s iconic 1963 story and the 1965 film on which it was based have cemented in generations of readers a view of the Cold War espionage game as a dirty business waged between ruthless and amoral adversaries who know each other. each. it is often thought to be the best spy novel ever written. Many other popular authors in the genre have followed le carré’s example, portraying spies who will do almost anything to gain a point in opposition. whether there is much truth in this representation is uncertain. but it’s what we’re led to believe espionage is all about. today the reality is different.

Cynicism oozes from the pages of this novel, both from the author’s acknowledged sentiments expressed in his introduction and from his portrayal of Alec Leamas. As Carré asks in his introduction, “How far can we go in justly defending our Western values without abandoning them along the way?” In The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, he tells us that MI6, and by extension western intelligence services, have proven to be as ruthless and amoral as the East German Stasi and the Soviet KGB. read the review.

red sparrow (red sparrow trilogy #1) by jason matthews (2013) 577 pages ★★★★★ – Authentic espionage craft in this gripping novel written by a CIA veteran

Red Sparrow is not a conventional espionage story. it is true that it is well written, with a clever plot and endless suspense. For that alone, fans of John Le Carré, Joseph Kanon, or Alan Furst should appreciate it. But the book rises above the level of the genre because the author has infused it with detailed and intimate knowledge of the very craft of espionage employed by both the CIA and Russia’s foreign intelligence service, the SVR. red sparrow also reveals much about the structure and practices of the svr. I was so amazed at the level of detail that I went through a number of random details; all proved to be accurate. I can easily imagine this novel circulating in the CIA training facility known as The Farm as a fictional (though admittedly exaggerated) account of what an officer might encounter in the field. read the review.

the sympathizer of viet thanh nguyen (2015) 351 pages ★★★★★ – vietnam war through vietnamese eyes

Viet Thanh Nguyen’s extraordinary debut novel, The Sympathizer, has won a host of literary awards, including the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It was also a finalist for several other prestigious awards and has been named Best Book of the Year at More than twenty listings, including those from the New York Times Book Review, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. if there is a great Vietnamese novel, as there supposedly is a great American novel, this book would certainly be a candidate.

The Sympathizer opens in April 1975 as troops from the North Vietnamese Army and the National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) approach Saigon. remnants of the US mission and many thousands of South Vietnamese officials and other aides are frantically fighting to claim the few remaining slots on US planes available for evacuation. In the midst of this chaos we meet the narrator, a captain in the South Vietnamese Army.

is presented like this in the first line of his story: “I am a spy, a sleeper, a ghost, a man with two faces”. He is, in fact, the sympathizer of the title: a secret NLF agent who actually lives in the house of the general who commands the South Vietnamese Security Police, the Special Branch. he is Eurasian, the son of a French priest and a poor Vietnamese woman, and is regularly abused as a result. read the review.

The Coldest Warrior by Paul Vidich (2020) 222 pages ★★★★★ – Project MK-Ultra and the scientist who fell to his death

On November 28, 1953, an American scientist named Frank Olson, who had been working on biological weapons for the United States Army, “fell or jumped” to his death from the thirteenth floor of a city hotel from New York. Paul Vidich, author of four other superb historical espionage novels, imagines what really could have happened that day in The Coldest Warrior. The story is set twenty-two years later, as both the United States Senate and the CIA launch investigations into the agency’s notorious MK-Ultra “human behavior modification” project, which administered LSD to Olson and others without their knowledge or consent. .

after an introductory chapter set in 1953 in the hotel where “dr. Charles Wilson” (Frank Olson) dies, the scene changes to 1975 at a United States Senate hearing exploring that death.

during that period, all the chickens came home to sleep for the cia. his many crimes—assassinating foreign leaders, overthrowing governments, corrupting labor and student groups, and project mk-ultra—were brought to light in an orgy of recriminations. read the review.

all the best espionage novels I’ve reviewed

a coffin for dimitrios by eric ambler: still a lively read amongst the classic spy novels

kate atkinson transcript: a beautifully written espionage story

alex berenson’s john wells series

the faithful spy (john wells #1) – al qaeda inside out: a suspenseful thriller
the phantom war (john wells #2) – north korea, afghanistan , china, iran all in one superb spy novel
the silent man (john wells #3): a clever spy story on terrorism, nukes and russia
midnight house ( john wells #4) – the pentagon and cia take a lot of punishment for rendition
the secret soldier (john wells #5) – jihadis, the saudi royal family and a soldier-spy american
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the shadow patrol (john wells #6) – a suspenseful thriller about the war in afghanistan
the night ranger (john wells #7 ) – an outstanding thriller set in the midst of the refugee crisis in kenya and somalia
the counterfeit agent (john wells #8) – john wells faces off against a rogue ex-cia operative
twelve days (john wells #9) – on a nail -thriller mo rdaz, john wells must stop a us war with iran
the prisoner (john wells #11) – going undercover for r the cia in isis
the deceivers (john wells #12) – russia takes the next step in john wells latest spy novel

three hours in paris by cara black: a suspenseful world war ii espionage thriller set in paris

the hot country (christopher marlowe cobb #1) by robert olen butler—american vs. german spies in the mexican revolution

Robert Olen Butler’s Star of Istanbul (Christopher Marlowe Cobb #2): An American spy in World War I takes on the German Empire

Anna Castle’s Death by Dispute (Francis Bacon #2): Religious conflict in Elizabethan England fuels this gripping spy story

a single william christie spy – a soviet spy in nazi germany

suspenseful spy thrillers by charles cumming

a spy by nature – a valuable spy story that predicts more good reads to come
the trinity six – a stellar new spy story by charles cumming
typhoon – a right-wing washington cabal seeks to destabilize china
the hidden man: an espionage-worthy novel from a latter-day master of the trade
a foreign country (thomas kell # 1 ) – spies in conflict in contemporary europe
a colder war (thomas kell #2) – espionage takes center stage in this espionage novel
a divided spy ( thomas kell #3) – the latest from a last days john le carre
the moroccan girl – a spy novelist takes up espionage in charles cumming’s excellent new novel
box 88 (box 88 #1) – a top secret Anglo-American spy agency

berlin game (bernard samson #1) by len deighton: a classic cold war espionage novel reminiscent of john le carré

mexico set (bernard samson #2) by len deighton—in len deighton’s classic spy series, bernard samson goes to mexico

A spy in the fight for Aya de León—from Aya de León, a brilliant thriller that exposes the illegal tactics of the FBI

a prisoner in malta (christopher marlowe #1) by phillip depoy – a delightful historical mystery novel starring christopher marlowe

moscow sting (anna resnikov #2) by alex dryden: a former british intelligence officer imagines a russian super-spy

helen dunmore exhibition: gay life in britain in a suspenseful thriller

murder in the queen’s wardrobe (jaffrey lover #1) by kathy lynn emerson—intrigue and murder in elizabeth’s court

joseph finder espionage thrillers

high crimes: a tense thriller about special forces running amok in 1983 el salvador
extraordinary powers: a standout among espionage thrillers
paranoia : a devilishly clever story

ken follett’s classic espionage novels

the eye of the needle: the 40th anniversary edition of ken follett’s classic world war ii spy novel
the key to rebecca by ken follett: one of the best WWII Spy Stories
ken follett’s hornet: the danish resistance and a secret nazi base

frederick forsyth’s fox: a great new spy novel from the author of “the day of the jackal”

the night soldiers historical series by alan furst

red gold (soldiers of the night #5) – a brilliant french resistance novel
kingdom of shadows (soldiers of the night #6) – one of the best novels of espionage of recent years
blood of victory (night soldiers #7) – spies working in the second world war istanbul and romania
dark voyage (night soldiers #8) — a gripping spy story set on an ocean freighter in world war ii
the foreign correspondent (night soldiers #9) – an excellent historical espionage novel
balkan spies (night soldiers #9) night soldiers #11) – the excellent novel by alan furst, “balkan spies”
mission to paris (night soldiers #12) – at the dawn of the second world war, a movie star from hollywood in a spy novel
midnight in europe (soldiers of the night #12) 13) – arms dealers and spies in a thriller set in the spanish civil war
a hero of france (night soldiers #14) – long live the resistance!
under occupation (night soldiers #15) – alan furst on the french resistance

alex gerlis’s outstanding wartime espionage novels

the best of our spies (spies #1) – an extraordinary WWII spy story based on historical fact
the swiss spy (spies #2) – spies from the world war ii switzerland
spies from vienna (spies no. 3): a moving story of spies in the vienna war
spies from berlin (spies no. 4) : the best spy novelist you’ve ever read
prince of spies (richard prince #1)—British spies and the Nazi v-2 rocket
agent in berlin (wolf pack #1)—a new series about British spies in Nazi Germany

Robert Goddard’s The Ways of the World (James Maxted #1) – a superb espionage novel set in 1919 Paris

graham greene’s the quiet american: graham greene’s classic vietnam novel

an officer and a spy by robert harris: the dreyfus affair, recreated in a suspenseful spy novel

Intelligence: A Tale of Terror and Civil Service by Susan Hasler: A satirical take on the dysfunctional CIA under George W Bush

mick herron’s clever slough house novels

slow horse (slough house #1) – British satire on misfit spies in mi5
dead lions (slough house #2) – Russian sleeper agents and the misfits of mi5
The List (Slough House #3): Goofy Spies Again in Mick Herron’s Slough House Series
Royal Tigers (Slough House #4): The Ghosts of Slough House Are Walking on the loose again
spook street (slough house #5) – mi5 spies in slough house uncover a decades-old conspiracy
london rules (slough house #6) – the spies mi5’s misfits outdo themselves in this hilarious novel</li
the marylebone drop (slough house #7) – mick herron scores with another entry in the slough house series
joe country (slough house #8)—mick herron’s latest spy thriller will keep you guessing
the catch (slough house #9)—about that billionaire who killed himself in prison
slough house ( slough house #10)—British secret intelligence was l as he manages to overcome a crisis of his own by making
bad actors (slough house #11)—mischie f and misadventure galore in slough house

jack higgins classic espionage novels

The Eagle Has Landed: A classic espionage thriller well worth a reread
Eye of the Storm (Sean Dillon #1): Reinvents the role of Saddam hussein in history
thunder point (sean dillon #2) – one of the best jack higgins thrillers
touch the devil (liam devlin #2) – the anger, the kgb , the MI5 and the Corsican mafia are in conflict

clean hands by patrick hoffman, a fiendishly clever thriller about corporate espionage

David Ignatius’ moving espionage stories

the rise – a gripping novel about iran and the cia
the bank of fear – saddam hussein, secret foreign banks and a dissolute saudi prince
syrian – the smartest spy novel i’ve read in years
a shooting offense: a suspenseful espionage story about journalists and spies
agents of innocence: the cia and the plo in the cold war beirut
the paladin: the latest from david ignatius is a little hard to believe

a map of ha jin’s betrayal: the betrayal is in the eye of the beholder

joseph kanon’s superb espionage stories

Leaving Berlin: One of Today’s Best Spy Novels
The Prodigal Spy: An Espionage Novelist Who Rivals John Le Carre
Deserters: A excellent new novel about deserters in moscow
stardust: intrigue between german émigrés in post-war hollywood
the berlin exchange: a witty story about a spy exchange in berlin oriental

Red Widow Soul Katsu: A Poisoned CIA Asset and the Hunt for a CIA Mole

Who is Vera Kelly? by rosalie knecht: a puzzling spy story set in argentina at the time of the generals

the classic espionage novels of john le carré

the spy who came in from the cold: is this the best spy novel ever written?
a legacy of spies: the cold war re-examined in john le carré’s excellent new novel< /li
our game – john le carré about British espionage at the end of the cold war
our kind of traitor – the spy who never left the cold
agent running in the field – john le carré doesn’t like donald trump
silverview: a nostalgic look at espionage by john le carré

the salzburg connection by helen macinnes: nazis, communists and western spies collide in this classic spy novel

too bad to die by francine mathews: ian fleming stars in this delicious espionage story worthy of james bond

jason matthews’ brilliant red sparrow trilogy

Red Sparrow (Red Sparrow Trilogy #1): Authentic espionage craft in this gripping novel written by a CIA veteran
Palace of Treason (Red Sparrow Trilogy #2) – Non-stop action in the sequel to the best-selling Red Sparrow
The Kremlin’s Candidate (Red Sparrow Trilogy #3) – The gripping conclusion to the Red Sparrow Trilogy

prague spring by simon mawer – a story of love and espionage during the prague spring

The Colonel’s Mistake (Mark Sava #1) by Dan Mayland: A Fascinating Middle Eastern Spy Story

dan mayland’s leveling up (mark sava #2): a captivating tale of central asian intrigue

damascus station by david mccloskey: a fascinating novel about espionage in syria

an expensive education by nick mcdonell: special forces are up to no good in somalia

the viet sympathizer thanh nguyen – the vietnam war through vietnamese eyes

warlight by michael ondaatje: a mystery of war shrouded in mist

Jason Overstreet’s Fighter’s Row Spy (Revival #1): Black history comes to life in this compelling spy novel

State Secrets of Matthew Palmer: A Deep State Conspiracy to Spark a Pakistani-Indian War

heresy (giordano bruno #1) by s. J. parris—a historical spy thriller in the Elizabethan era

Chris Pavone’s attractive espionage novels

The Expats: A Truly Suspenseful Novel of Cyber Theft
The Accident: Rogue Spies On The Loose
The Travelers: A Clever Spy Story That Will Keep You on edge
the paris detour: the cia, a crumbling marriage, and terrorist threats in paris

the secrets we keep by lara prescott—doctor zhivago and the women in the cia typing group

east of hounslow (jay qasim #1) by khurrum rahman: undercover, small time drug dealer becomes accidental jihadist for mi5

the well-crafted novels of stella rimington’s liz carlyle

At Risk (liz carlyle #1) – the stakes are high in an excellent espionage thriller
secret resource (liz carlyle #2) – a gripping novel about British counterintelligence
Illegal Deed (Liz Carlyle #3): An engaging spy novel from former MI5 director Stella Rimington
Deadline (Liz Carlyle #4): Liz Carlyle stars in an outstanding british espionage novel
present danger (liz carlyle #5) – do the best espionage novels come from britain?
raging tides (liz carlyle #6) – pirates somalis, al qaeda and local terrorists in england
the gin trap (liz carlyle #7) – former mi5 director tells a fascinating story of espionage
close call (liz carlyle # 8) – former mi5 director tells another great espionage story
Breaking the cover (liz carlyle #9) – undercover russian agents in the uk
moscow sleepers ( liz carlyle #10) — a new interesting twist on russian sleeper agents

provisionally yours by antanas sileika—a captivating espionage story set in lithuania after the first world war

the cairo affair by olen steinhauer: a complex spy novel worthy of john le carre

All Olen Steinhauer’s Old Knives: A Terrorist Kidnapping, the CIA, and Two Ex-lovers at Dinner

the witty spy stories of ross thomas

the cold war exchange: making the cold war look fun
casting a yellow shadow: a murder novel that’s a lot of fun
wink from singapore: a captivating crime and espionage novel set in 1960s singapore and a philippine rebellion

brad thor’s spymaster (scot horvath #18): brad thor shows his anti-russian perspective in this novel

paul vidich’s disturbing historical spy novels

An Honorable Man – The Cold War, the Beginnings of the CIA and the McCarthy Era
The Good Assassin – A captivating spy novel set during the Cuban Revolution
la the coldest warrior: project mk-ultra and the scientist who fell and died
the mercenary: an excellent cold war thriller from paul vidich
the matchmaker: a spy in berlin: a dangerous spy game in berlin before the fall of the wall

Lauren Wilkinson’s American Spy: An African American Spy in the Maelstrom of Cold War Rivalry in Africa

our woman in moscow by beatriz williams: american deserters in moscow reflect the cambridge five

the william catesby novels by edward wilson

the envoy (william catesby #1) – the cia, the kgb, british intelligence and the h-bomb
the whitehall mandarin (william catesby #4) – in the early days of the cold war, nuclear espionage in search of the h-bomb
a very british ending (william catesby #5) – a hard look at post-war british intelligence

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The 15 best espionage novels reviewed | Mal Warwick on Books