75 books like The Warrior Spy

By Dony Jay,

Here are 75 books that The Warrior Spy fans have personally recommended if you like The Warrior Spy. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Twelfth Imam

Luana Ehrlich Author Of One Night in Tehran: A Titus Ray Thriller

From my list on international espionage intertwined with faith.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was eleven years old when I read my first adult spy novel. I was only able to get my hands on it after receiving permission from my father, who brought home three to four espionage books from the library every week. By the time I was halfway through the book, I was hooked on the genre forever. Since faith plays an important role in my life, I’m always delighted to discover authors whose books reflect a strong belief system yet who can tell a compelling, action-packed adventure without sounding preachy.

Luana's book list on international espionage intertwined with faith

Luana Ehrlich Why did Luana love this book?

I love thrillers that make me think, keep me on the edge of my seat, and put me in the very center of the action. This book did all of these and more.

This book is the first book in a three-book series by an author who is well-qualified to write about the Middle East and the threat Iran poses to Israel. Rosenberg speaks regularly with both Israeli and American government officials, and one of the things I enjoyed most about this book was the knowledge I gained about Iran’s nuclear capabilities, information that I couldn’t read in a newspaper. In addition, his protagonist is a man of faith, which I found very inspiring. 

By Joel C. Rosenberg,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Twelfth Imam as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Book 1 in the best-selling 3-book espionage and spy thriller series that has sold 700,000 copies!

“Rosenberg is the go-to novelist for Christian political fiction.”
―Publisher’s Weekly

The Twelfth Imam is the first novel of a new political thriller series by Joel C. Rosenberg, the New York Times bestselling author of the award-winning Last Jihad series. Rosenberg takes you inside a world few will ever enter. Hold on to your seat―the twists and turns never stop coming.

Tensions are rising in the Middle East. Iran’s president vows to annihilate the United States and Israel. Israel’s prime minister says someone must…


Book cover of Operation Joktan

Luana Ehrlich Author Of One Night in Tehran: A Titus Ray Thriller

From my list on international espionage intertwined with faith.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was eleven years old when I read my first adult spy novel. I was only able to get my hands on it after receiving permission from my father, who brought home three to four espionage books from the library every week. By the time I was halfway through the book, I was hooked on the genre forever. Since faith plays an important role in my life, I’m always delighted to discover authors whose books reflect a strong belief system yet who can tell a compelling, action-packed adventure without sounding preachy.

Luana's book list on international espionage intertwined with faith

Luana Ehrlich Why did Luana love this book?

I love thrillers with in-depth character development and realistic situations involving clandestine operations, and this book hits both of those marks.

This is the first book in a three-book series featuring the Mossad, the Israeli foreign intelligence service. I’ve always been fascinated by books that give me a behind-the-scenes look at how an intel agency operates and the tech gadgets that make the business of spying possible, and these authors describe both extremely well while giving me insights into how a Messianic Jew lives out his faith. 

By Amir Tsarfati, Steve Yohn,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Operation Joktan as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A USA Today and Publishers Weekly Bestseller
#1 Fiction (ECPA) Christian Bestseller

"It was the perfect day-until the gunfire."

Nir Tavor is an Israeli secret service operative turned talented Mossad agent.

Nicole le Roux is a model with a hidden skill.

A terrorist attack brings them together, and then work forces them apart-until they're unexpectedly called back into each other's lives.

But there's no time for romance. As violent radicals threaten chaos across the Middle East, the two must work together to stop these extremists, pooling Nicole's knack for technology and Nir's adeptness with on-the-ground missions. Each heart-racing step of…


Book cover of Shadow Operative

Luana Ehrlich Author Of One Night in Tehran: A Titus Ray Thriller

From my list on international espionage intertwined with faith.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was eleven years old when I read my first adult spy novel. I was only able to get my hands on it after receiving permission from my father, who brought home three to four espionage books from the library every week. By the time I was halfway through the book, I was hooked on the genre forever. Since faith plays an important role in my life, I’m always delighted to discover authors whose books reflect a strong belief system yet who can tell a compelling, action-packed adventure without sounding preachy.

Luana's book list on international espionage intertwined with faith

Luana Ehrlich Why did Luana love this book?

I love thrillers with a bit of romance mixed in with them, although I don’t want the romantic elements to overwhelm the story, and this book’s focus is definitely on the story’s intense action, with the romance only adding depth to the characters.

This book is the first book in the Shadow Agency series and introduces the protagonist, an agency operative, and a female employee of a tech firm who could possibly be a murderer but who ultimately helps the operative find the real killer by relying on her faith in God. While the plot sounds predictable, it wasn’t, which is something I really enjoy in a thriller.

What keeps me reading past midnight is an unanticipated twist—this novel had several of those—along with another one of my favorites, an unpredictable ending. 

By Christy Barritt,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Shadow Operative as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

She woke with blood on her hands, a dead man beside her, and no memory of how she got there . . .

As CEO of a successful technology firm, Nia Anderson routinely makes split-second decisions. But now, every choice she makes could lead to life in prison or to her own untimely death. She knows freedom lies in finding the real killer. But the evidence is stacked against her, and just when Nia thinks things can’t get any worse, everything spins even more out of control.

Trained by the military in a top-secret program and now an operative for…


Book cover of Lion of Babylon

Luana Ehrlich Author Of One Night in Tehran: A Titus Ray Thriller

From my list on international espionage intertwined with faith.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was eleven years old when I read my first adult spy novel. I was only able to get my hands on it after receiving permission from my father, who brought home three to four espionage books from the library every week. By the time I was halfway through the book, I was hooked on the genre forever. Since faith plays an important role in my life, I’m always delighted to discover authors whose books reflect a strong belief system yet who can tell a compelling, action-packed adventure without sounding preachy.

Luana's book list on international espionage intertwined with faith

Luana Ehrlich Why did Luana love this book?

I love thrillers that teach me about the culture of the Middle East, but it’s rare to find a novel that also includes how Christianity can be shared with such cultures. However, both of these are present in this novel, which is what makes the story so enjoyable.

This is book one in the Marc Royce Thriller Series and features intel officer, Marc Royce who’s sent on a secret mission to Iraq. Since I don’t like too much description in a novel, I admire Davis Bunn’s ability to portray the setting in this story, while not neglecting the characters and dialogue. There’s also a faith element to the narrative, which adds a lot of depth to the plot.

By Davis Bunn,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Lion of Babylon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Marc Royce works for the State Department on special assignments, most of them rather routine, until two CIA operatives go missing in Iraq--kidnapped by Taliban forces bent on generating chaos in the region. Two others also drop out of sight--a high-placed Iraqi civilian and an American woman providing humanitarian aid. Are the disappearances linked? Rumors circulate in a whirl of misinformation.

Marc must unravel the truth in a covert operation requiring utmost secrecy--from both the Americans and the insurgents. But even more secret than the undercover operation is the underground dialogue taking place between sworn enemies. Will the ultimate Reconciler…


Book cover of The Company: A Novel of the CIA

Luca Trenta Author Of The President's Kill List: Assassination and Us Foreign Policy Since 1945

From my list on the CIA real stories and histories.

Why am I passionate about this?

Green tracers in the sky over Baghdad. My first political memory is the start of the Gulf War in 1991. I remember writing angry essays criticizing the US decision to invade Iraq in 2003 for my high-school assignments. I have always been interested in US foreign policy and in how presidents make decisions. During my PhD, as I was working on a chapter on the origins of the Cuban Missile Crisis, I discovered the extent and–frankly–the madness of some of the plots the CIA and the White House concocted against Fidel Castro. More recently, the US government’s use of assassination and “targeted killings” have become the focus of my research. 

Luca's book list on the CIA real stories and histories

Luca Trenta Why did Luca love this book?

The book's subheading reads A Novel of the CIA. I would go further. This is ‘The Novel of the CIA,’ especially of the CIA between its founding and the early 1990s. It is a masterful combination of real and fictitious spies and covert operations.

The portrayal is so precise, the blending so seamless, that I found myself–and yes, I am supposedly an expert on this–double-checking whether certain operations had taken place. Nonfiction books on the CIA are one of my favorite things, but here, you experience the characters from much closer. I felt their desperation when operations collapsed, or agents were betrayed, or their elation after the rarer successes.

I felt the smoke in James Angleton’s room as he hunted for the missing mole; whether he managed to capture the mole or not will be for you to discover, but the book will stay with you both literally (it’s…

By Robert Littell,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Company as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The New York Times bestselling spy novel The Company lays bare the history and inner workings of the CIA. This critically acclaimed blockbuster from internationally renowned novelist Robert Littell seamlessly weaves together history and fiction to create a multigenerational, wickedly nostalgic saga of the CIA-known as "the Company" to insiders. Racing across a landscape spanning the legendary Berlin Base of the '50s, the Soviet invasion of Hungary, the Bay of Pigs, Afghanistan, and the Gorbachev putsch, The Company tells the thrilling story of agents imprisoned in double lives, fighting an amoral, elusive, formidable enemy-and each other-in an internecine battle within…


Book cover of A Question of Standing: The History of the CIA

Yakov Ben-Haim Author Of The Dilemmas of Wonderland: Decisions in the Age of Innovation

From my list on making decisions when you don’t know what’s going on.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a retired university professor. My research, in which I am still actively engaged, deals with decision-making under deep uncertainty: how to make a decision, or design a project, or plan an operation when major relevant factors are unknown or highly uncertain. I developed a decision theory called info-gap theory that grapples with this challenge, and is applied around the world in many fields, including engineering design, economics, medicine, national security, biological conservation, and more.

Yakov's book list on making decisions when you don’t know what’s going on

Yakov Ben-Haim Why did Yakov love this book?

This is an interesting collection of essays on the history of the CIA.

A spy agency thrives on deceit and uncertainty, making plans and taking actions when the adversary also thrives on those same elements.

Arranged in chronological order, the essays cover nearly 20 different incidents, describing the challenges, uncertainties, goals, and decisions made by both high-level political decision-makers and practitioners in the field.

Topics covered include early stages in the development of the CIA (founded in 1947), including covert action against the Soviet Union in the 1950s, the Bay of Pigs (1961), the Iran-Contra affair (mid-1980s), up to more recent events with bin Laden, fake news, and more.

By Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked A Question of Standing as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A Question of Standing deals with recognizable events that have shaped the history of the first 75 years of the CIA. Unsparing in its accounts of dirty tricks and their consequences, it values the agency's intelligence and analysis work to offer balanced judgements that avoid both celebration and condemnation of the CIA.

The mission of the CIA, derived from U-1 in World War I more than from World War II's OSS, has always been intelligence. Seventy-five years ago, in the year of its creation, the National Security Act gave the agency, uniquely in world history up to that point, a…


Book cover of Cold Warrior: James Jesus Angleton - The CIA's Master Spy Hunter

Hugh Wilford Author Of The CIA: An Imperial History

From my list on history about the CIA.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a British-born American historian, currently residing in Long Beach, California. I’ve published four books on the CIA and lectured about it for the Great Courses. Why spies? I’ve always loved spy novels and movies but my historical interest was piqued years ago when I stumbled across the weird story of how the CIA secretly funded various American artists and writers in the so-called Cultural Cold War. Decades on, I’m still fascinated by the subject: there’s so much human drama involved, and it’s a great lens through which to examine recent American and world history.

Hugh's book list on history about the CIA

Hugh Wilford Why did Hugh love this book?

The history of the CIA features many fascinating personalities and there are several excellent spy biographies, Thomas Powers on Richard Helms, for example, or Randall Woods on William Colby. But the most complex and compelling of all figures in the Agency’s past must surely be the legendary head of counterintelligence, James Angleton. Again, there are numerous works on Angleton and his obsessive hunt for a top-level Soviet agent in the CIA, but I enjoyed and benefited most from Tom Mangold’s Cold Warrior, an astonishingly detailed and penetrating portrayal of America’s real-life George Smiley.

By Tom Mangold,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Cold Warrior as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A biography of the spymaster who ran the CIA's counterintelligence operation for twenty years until his downfall


Book cover of American Spy

Luca Trenta Author Of The President's Kill List: Assassination and Us Foreign Policy Since 1945

From my list on the CIA real stories and histories.

Why am I passionate about this?

Green tracers in the sky over Baghdad. My first political memory is the start of the Gulf War in 1991. I remember writing angry essays criticizing the US decision to invade Iraq in 2003 for my high-school assignments. I have always been interested in US foreign policy and in how presidents make decisions. During my PhD, as I was working on a chapter on the origins of the Cuban Missile Crisis, I discovered the extent and–frankly–the madness of some of the plots the CIA and the White House concocted against Fidel Castro. More recently, the US government’s use of assassination and “targeted killings” have become the focus of my research. 

Luca's book list on the CIA real stories and histories

Luca Trenta Why did Luca love this book?

Spies, lies, love, coups, what more do you want? In the book we encounter Marie Mitchell, now under threat of assassination, but previously a CIA spy who had fallen in love with–and collaborated in the downfall of–Thomas Sankara.

For Marie, the transition to the CIA is a way of escaping the stifling and misogynistic FBI of the 1980s. For the CIA, a black, attractive woman is ideal to snoop in and undermine a charismatic leader. The book, told by Marie as a letter to her children, moves back and forward between her spying missions and her (self)exile in Martinique.

It is fast-paced, realistic, and able to portray the daring aspects, the bureaucratic obstacles, and the moral compromises of spying for the CIA.

By Lauren Wilkinson,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked American Spy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A BARACK OBAMA SUMMER READING 2019 PICK

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2019 CENTRE FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE

'A whole lot more than just a spy thriller, wrapping together the ties of family, of love and of country' BARACK OBAMA

'There has never been anything like it' MARLON JAMES (GQ)

'A compelling read' MAIL ON SUNDAY

'Pacy and very exciting' DAILY TELEGRAPH
__________________________________

What if your sense of duty required you to betray the man you love?

It's 1986, the heart of the Cold War. Marie Mitchell is an intelligence officer with the FBI. She's brilliant and talented, but she's also…


Book cover of For Your Ears Only

Robin King Author Of Remembrandt

From my list on spy books for Ally Carter fans.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I realized I didn’t have what it takes to join the CIA, I made it my life mission to find out everything it takes to be a spy—which, of course, made it necessary to watch every show and read every espionage story ever told. In the process, I discovered a passion for uncovering truth, as well as a love of writing. After writing three young adult spy novels, I feel like I’ve found the linguist, code breaker, and crime fighter in myself. My work for LitJoy Crate has given me the ability to know a good story when I read it, and then recommend that book to book lovers everywhere.

Robin's book list on spy books for Ally Carter fans

Robin King Why did Robin love this book?

I fell in love with the main character, Loveday (no pun intended), in the first few pages. She’s strong and tough, like all spies should be, and sarcastic—which is so fun to read.

I love her motivation as a spy, but she does have one flaw: she's in love with another member of the team and has been keeping him off missions to keep him safe. This makes me like her even more because she wants to protect him. Overall, the action, explosions, love story between Loveday and Vale, and the spy world had me reading until the very end.

I can’t wait to jump into the next book in the series.

By Emily Kazmierski,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked For Your Ears Only as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A spy caught between her duty, and her heart.

Known only to the CIA and her handler father, Loveday aspires to be the greatest teenage spy who ever lived. In a hidden bunker under a swanky hotel, she and her team train and execute missions without being noticed by the outside world.

When Loveday and her team are recruited for their first international mission, it's their big chance to prove their worth to the CIA. But when her comms specialist boyfriend, Vale lobbies for a shot at field work, Loveday is caught between duty and forbidden passion. She knows putting…


Book cover of The Tears of Autumn

James Stejskal Author Of A Question of Time

From my list on spies by Americans who really know the score.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a military historian and an author. To get inspiration for my writing, I spent 35 years in Special Forces (as a "Green Beret") and as a CIA officer in strange places working with interesting people. I first wrote non-fiction but I needed US Government approval for everything. So, following the saying “Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth,” I tell my tales as “faction”—stories reflecting a reality most people don’t know or understand. I write about “Us Versus Them”—stories about teamwork—and the result is The Snake Eater Chronicles. I leave it to the reader to decide where fact ends and fiction begins.

James' book list on spies by Americans who really know the score

James Stejskal Why did James love this book?

I love McCarry’s books because not only are they true to the genre, they are historically accurate (and often quite humorous).

Moreover, his spy “tradecraft” works because he was a deep-cover CIA officer—the ones who get shot if they’re caught. His characters are realistic, not supermen—they have feelings, fears, and families—and they struggle against enormous odds.

In Tears of Autumn, American spy Paul Christopher believes he knows who assassinated JFK, a theory that pits him against a Vietnamese family seeking revenge for the death of its patriarch, as well as his bosses in the CIA. To survive, Christopher must stay one step ahead of all of them in this totally plausible tale of political intrigue. 

By Charles McCarry,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Tears of Autumn as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A re-release of the best-selling thriller originally published twenty years ago finds influential secret agent Paul Christopher pursuing a dangerous theory about the assassination of JFK, an investigation that threatens American foreign policy. By the author of Old Boys. 20,000 first printing.


5 book lists we think you will like!

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