I’ve been into spy stories for many years. I love the intrigue, the deception, the secrecy of that world. Of course, real spying may involve lots of periods of doing nothing, possibly followed by manic, dangerous action. All while dealing with the anxiety of hiding the fact that you might be a traitor to your country or simply not the person the world thinks you are. It’s a fascinating world, and that fascination is what draws me in.
I love this book because it captures the essence of cold war espionage when the wall was still up in Berlin. It’s a tale of a time in recent history that no longer exists. It’s written with humour, the characters are well represented, and it’s believable in an English, often eccentric way.
'Masterly ... dazzlingly intelligent and subtle' Sunday Times
'Deighton's best novel to date - sharp, witty and sour, like Raymond Chandler adapted to British gloom and the multiple betrayals of the spy' Observer
Embattled agent Bernard Samson is used to being passed over for promotion as his younger, more ambitious colleagues - including his own wife Fiona - rise up the ranks of MI6. When a valued agent in East Berlin warns the British of a mole at the heart of the Service, Samson must return to the field and the city he loves to uncover the traitor's identity. This…
I love the fact that Le Carre’s books are written by a man who was actually a member of MI6, if only for a short while. He takes real-world scenarios and writes a compelling story around them.
This book is about a Russian mafia moneyman who wants out and the interest that arises from British intelligence. Le Carre can be a slow-burner type of author, but he’s always compulsive, and this particular book was made into an excellent movie.
From the New York Times bestselling author of A Legacy of Spies.
In this exquisitely told novel, John le Carré shows us once again his acute understanding of the world we live in and where power really lies.
In the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and with Britain on the brink of economic ruin, a young English couple takes a vacation in Antigua. There they meet Dima, a Russian who styles himself the world’s Number One money-launderer and who wants, among other things, a game of tennis. Back in London, the couple is subjected to an interrogation by…
My book is fantastical historical fiction about two characters who're wrestling with the monstrosity of their grief.
It takes you into London high society, where Ambrose tries to forget about how much he misses Bennett and how much he dreads becoming as cold as their Grandfather. It takes you to…
This is another book written by an ex-spy, in this case, the CIA. So, you can pick up a few authentic tips on how to run surveillance detection, for example, but I think there’s only so much of the real stuff McCloskey can include without some comeback from his previous employers. This is a fast-paced, action-packed thriller, which delivers.
CIA case officer Sam Joseph is dispatched to Paris to recruit Syrian Palace official Mariam Haddad. The two fall into a forbidden relationship, which supercharges Haddad's recruitment and creates unspeakable danger when they enter Damascus to find the man responsible for the disappearance of an American spy.
But the cat and mouse chase for the killer soon leads to a trail of high-profile assassinations and the discovery of a dark secret at the heart of the Syrian regime, bringing the pair under the all-seeing eyes of Assad's spy catcher, Ali Hassan, and his brother Rustum, the head of the feared…
This is a great book if you want plenty of non-stop action. Daniel Silva has written a lot of books featuring Israeli spy Gabriel Allon, but you can pick up any of them in the series and enjoy the story without knowing what’s happened in the past.
Israeli intelligence has a fearsome reputation, so it’s interesting to read Silva’s take on how they work, even if it’s somewhat exaggerated. Or maybe not …
Gabriel Allon brought down the most dangerous man in the world. But he made one mistake. Leaving him alive . . .
'Kept me on the edge of my seat until the last page' 5***** Reader Review 'A heart-stopping thriller which you can't put down until you're finished' 5***** Reader Review ________
Spy turned art restorer Gabriel Allon is trying to resume his honeymoon in the secluded hills of Umbria with his new wife, Chiara, when shocking news reaches him from London.
The defector and former Russian intelligence officer, who saved Gabriel's life in Moscow Rules, has vanished without a…
A traditional mystery with a touch of cozy, The Alchemy Fire Murder is for those who like feisty women sleuths, Oxford Colleges, alchemy, strong characters, and real concerns like trafficking, wildfires, racism, and climate change. This book especially works for those fascinated by myth and witches in history. Read for…
I really love the characters in this book. It’s the fourth book in a series, but I read this out of order, which meant I didn’t have the benefit of some of the backstory for one or two people. This is a story of treachery and betrayal, and spies that stay in the game for years before getting out or getting caught.
From "quite possibly the best historical novelist we have" (Philadelphia Inquirer), the fourth Joe Wilderness spy thriller, moving from Red Scare-era Washington, D.C. to a KGB prison near Moscow's Kremlin
In Moscow Exile, John Lawton departs from his usual stomping grounds of England and Germany to jump across the Atlantic to Washington, D.C., in the fragile postwar period where the Red Scare is growing noisier every day.
Charlotte is a British expatriate who has recently settled in the nation's capital with her second husband, a man who looks intriguingly like Clark Gable, but her enviable dinner parties and soirees aren't…
Nick Severance is an experienced police inspector in London who is drawn into more than he bargained for when he investigates what he thinks is a straightforward murder. The investigation takes him away from London to India and then Japan, and what happens there leads to a personal tragedy that changes his life.
Historical fiction inspired by the story of Mary Leakey, who carved her own path to become one of the world's most distinguished paleoanthropologists.
It's 1983 and seventeen-year-old Grace Clark has just lost her mother when she begrudgingly accompanies her estranged father to an archeological dig at Olduvai Gorge on the…
Liveaboard sailor Cass Lynch thinks her big break has finally arrived when she blags her way into skippering a Viking longship for a Hollywood film. However, this means returning to the Shetland Islands, the place she fled as a teenager. When a corpse unexpectedly appears onboard the longship, she can…
