Good spy fiction - any recommendations

Can anyone recommend any good modern-ish spy fiction? I don't mind if it's Spooks-esque thriller stuff or something more realistic.

I'm going to try some John le Carré, but was wondering if there were any other suggestions.

Thanks!

You won't go wrong with Le Carre, but Ian Fleming (James Bond) is still a great read. For a newer writer, you might look at Alex Berenson.

Happy reading. :-)

Try these authors:

Fredrick Forsyth
Simon Conway
Gerald Seymour
Philip Kerr
Alan Furst
Jed Rubenfeld
Graham Greene
James Sallis - Death will have your Eyes.

I can't guarantee that everything they write is about spies, but I think that you will find some that are.

James Sallis - Death will have your eyes
Peter Wright - Spycatcher
Ipcress File and also Funeral in Berlin and many more - Len Deighton
The Vienna Assignment - Olen Steinhauer
Epitaph for a Spy - Eric Ambler
The Company - Robert Littell
The Rhinemann Exchange - Robert Ludlum

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Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll be putting them on my Christmas list!

Good evening.
Try Francis Smith's "Fury From Within"
Fury From Within
It topped the UK charts at #41 today and is still available fo ronly .72P!11

Book Length - 296 pages.

In May 1975, at the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union strategically buried 32 small, briefcase sized nuclear weapons in and around prominent civilian targets in the United States.

It was also happened to be Michael Forsythe's first month on the job as an FBI agent.

Thirty-five years later, Forsythe is just weeks from retirement until he recognizes an old KGB nemesis surface in the US, one that was supposedly murdered many years before, only now he was operating in the company of known terrorists.

When Forsythe discovers his nemesis was originally responsible for burying most of the nuclear weapons on US soil he alerts his counterparts in the British MI-6 and Russian GRU - now all hot on the terrorists trail hoping to put a stop to their actions before it's too late.

Francis Smith's novel has received positive reviews with Bookpage saying, "Smith is very talented, and Fury From Within is another fast-moving, nuanced novel that will keep you up at night."

Try Ross Thomas: see http://paulonbooks.blogspot.com/2010/12/ross-thomas.html for some comments I've recently posted.

If you do read some of his books, please let me know on the blog what you think.

I tried kathleens suggestion. "Fury From Within" was a great read. Many thanks.

Lester/Kathleen<
I too followed your suggestion. Glad I did. Thanks.

My favourite Le Carré, apart from the classic The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (Coronet Books) is The Little Drummer Girl which is most gripping after a slowish start, and also gives an insight into the problems of the middle east.

Lexi
Remix

Kathleen, I read your summary of Fury From Within with a smile. In 1994 my publisher produced my first hardback novel, Dangerous Legacy. It is the story of an old Soviet era plot wherein Khruschev had several suitcase bombs strategically placed throughout the US, England, Japan, and Spain, with the intent to embarrass the US when one of these bombs exploded. They would claim a US military accident. (All weapons were hidden near US bases abroad) The plot was the result of Kennedy making Khruschev back down over the Cuban missile crisis. Forty years later, only one person remains who remembered the original plot . . . and the location of the bombs. He sells the secret - and the weapons - to Saddam Hussein.

So, plots come and go, but the creative mind is always thinking. I might have to read Fury from Within to see the similarities.

Cheers,

Gordon Ryan - - New Zealand
State of Rebellion | Uncivil Liberties
Book Trailer Videos on Amazon book page under Reviews

To be very loose about 'spies', you could try Lionel Davidson, Alan Furst (excellent prose, possibly better than Le Carré) or Daniel Easterman. Easterman is a rationalist who recognizes that human affairs are driven more by irrationality than by reason. His stories concern the work of reasonable people to undo the harm caused by religious and other fanatics. That preponderance of irrationality is something missing in Le Carré and other 'spy' writers. All the above are wonderfully written, readable but with a touch of literary style.

Bit of blatant self-promotion I'm afraid, but my new thriller, The Chicken Shak Spy, has just been published! I think you'd like it if you're into spy thrillers.

The Chicken Shak Spy (The Chicken Shak Spy Novels)

more modern writers try Vince Flynn ----- CIA
Kyle Mills ------- FBI
Catherine Coulter ---------FBI
Duncan Falconer --------- SBS
and of course the new Tom Clancy

Fist of God - Fred Forsyth - Just finished it, bit slow but probably spying as it really is.

After Le Carre (Tinker, Tailor), Greene and Deighton you could try The Private Sector by Joseph Hone

Hey PT,

here's two
Witch Doctor's Vengeance
and
Eden Prime

If you are a reader of action thriller novels from great authors like Robert Ludlum, Lee Child, Matthew Reilly and David Rollins then you'll like these two.

Have a look at my new thriller, Maximum Discretion on Kindle at 92p!

Six days that rocked the special relationship.

In 1997 a newly elected Prime Minister faced the toughest test of his first year in office, against the established American President. It all began when an elite group of British agents led by John Peterson, stumble across a relic of the Second World War. It was this discovery of a sunken "lost" U-Boat in the Atlantic Ocean, which opened the door to a hidden world of undiscovered relics, protected by a small group of men, who have watched over them since 1945.

It was the unearthing of Nazi relics that threatened to fracture the special relationship. The Americans had benefitted the most from the exiled Nazis after the war, and they were not going to pass on further undiscovered Nazi scientific knowledge. What followed was a brutal test of strength and willpower. A new Cold War beckons between the world's closest countries, United States of America and the United Kingdom.

After witnessing a horrific event, John Peterson is forced on the run, which gets him slap-bang in the middle of a power struggle for knowledge, between the world's most powerful men, and as a result becomes a wanted man, by the Americans. With the Americans hot on his tail only he knows the truth.

Eves of DestructionIs a great new book by a first time author who has been compared to Clancy and Forsyth. It is a fast paced contemporary thriller that you will not be able to put down

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Just released for 86p on Kindle.

The Assassin's Wife - For drama professor Meg Coles, Shakespeare's quote "All the world's a stage" has just become a horrible reality. After witnessing her husband's termination, she is running for her life. To evade the snare of the black ops death teams she must learn fast how to play the role of hunted prey. From a ship on the icy expanse of the Bering Sea to a jet boat in the depths of Hell's Canyon, will Meg be able to outfox her pursuers and find the dirt on them she needs to survive?

Librarian review:
"The master of assassin novels, Vince Flynn, now has serious competition. Roger Weston uses the opening paragraph, even the first sentence, to grab your attention and hold on to you till the end of the first chapter. Drawing you from the edge of your seat into the second chapter, Roger continues the exciting pace of the story, never slowing down, till he reaches the end." The Golden Catch

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The Depths of Deception (11 five-star reviews)

"Exceptional ALMOST Captures How Good this book is!"

America has disappeared some years ago. A neo-fascist Party has come to power in the UK. China is on the rise. A submarine hurtles through the cold dark waters of the Atlantic en route to an unknown destination. Only the ship's doctor knows its true mission, but he is not who he appears to be.

A sweeping tale moving from the violent heart of Apartheid South Africa, to the ruins of the United Kingdom, and down to the edge of the world in the frozen Antarctic landscape, The Depths of Deception is a tale of revenge, served as a shatteringly cold dish.

"An adventure tale on the order of LeCarre's The Spy Who Came in from the Cold..."

"...one of the most remarkable books I've ever had the pleasure of reading"

"You get the sense that this author understands the "Human Condition" all too well. Our weaknesses, our hopes and our failures."

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There's an awful lot of old stuff being reccomended, nothing wrong with that, but I've just read a brilliant new book called 'Loose Cannon' by a completely unknown author, called Ian Okell. It's a real page turner about rogue MI6 operation going horribly wrong. I don't know if the author is (ex) Military Intelligence himself, but it has a very realistic feel to it.
I've even kept it out of the charity shop pile, on the basis that I'm probably going to read it again - it's that good. (And no - I'm not his agent)
Here's a product link - Loose Cannon