The most recommended spy thriller books

Who picked these books? Meet our 421 experts.

421 authors created a book list connected to spy thrillers, and here are their favorite spy thriller books.
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Book cover of The Lion's Game

John L. DeBoer Author Of The Girl from Belgrade

From my list on thrillers that don’t skimp on character development.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a retired surgeon and have no expertise in espionage, law enforcement, or the legal system. But I enjoy thriller novels that feature these things, and I follow the adage, “Write what you like to read.” But I do have medical/surgical expertise and have followed another adage: “Write what you know,” so I have inserted medical situations into many of my stories and one of my published books is a medical thriller. What I like about thrillers is the ability to show each side of the conflict. The good guys against the bad guys, neither side knowing what the other is doing. But the reader knows, and this adds to the suspense.

John's book list on thrillers that don’t skimp on character development

John L. DeBoer Why did John love this book?

Besides being a page-turning terrorism thriller, what gives the novel even more life is the protagonist, John Corey. He’s a bit of a wise-ass, and his sarcastic humor, despite dire situations, appeals to me. You just know he’ll get the bad guy(s) and do it with devil-may-care determination. His pugnacious attitude often gets him in trouble, but he’s a character easy to like and root for.

By Nelson DeMille,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

April 1986 : American F - 111 warplanes bomb the Al Azziyah compound in Libya where President Gadhafi is residing. A 16-year-old youth, Asad - Arabic for 'lion ' - loses his mother, two brothers and two sisters in the raid. Asad sees himself as chosen to avenge not only his family but his nation, his religion and the Great Leader - Gadhafi. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Twelve years later, Asad arrives in New York City, intent on killing all five surviing pilots across America who participated in the bombing , one by one.…


Book cover of An Officer and a Spy

Simon Worrall Author Of Star Crossed: A True WWII Romeo and Juliet Love Story in Hitlers Paris

From Simon's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Investigative reporter Writer with National Geographic Travel and book lover Passionate reader Cooking enthusiast

Simon's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Simon Worrall Why did Simon love this book?

I am a great fan of Robert Harris. I have read nearly all his books, including his excellent Roman trilogy about poet and statesman, Cicero. I particularly like this book about the Dreyfus affair. There have been numerous versions of this story, both non-fiction and novels, but Harris tops them all imho. I am the author of a Holocaust themed love story called Starcrossed: A True Romeo and Juliet Story in Hitler's Paris, which required a huge amount of historical research to bring WW2 Paris to life, so I appreciate the way Harris has brilliantly researched this book, to make you feel you are there in France. Second, Dreyfus is a wonderful character, complex and intelligent. His antagonists from the army are suitably Machiavellian. He is fitted up, partly because he is Jewish. But in the end he is exonerated. I felt like cheering when the guilty verdict was overturned.…

By Robert Harris,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked An Officer and a Spy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

National Book Awards Popular Fiction Book of the Year 2013

They lied to protect their country. He told the truth to save it. A gripping historical thriller from the bestselling author of FATHERLAND.

January 1895. On a freezing morning in the heart of Paris, an army officer, Georges Picquart, witnesses a convicted spy, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, being publicly humiliated in front of twenty thousand spectators baying 'Death to the Jew!'

The officer is rewarded with promotion: Picquart is made the French army's youngest colonel and put in command of 'the Statistical Section' - the shadowy intelligence unit that tracked down…


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Book cover of We Are Made

We Are Made by John Ludlam,

You’re grieving, you’re falling in love and you’re skint. On top of it all, Europe’s going to Hell in a handcart. Things can’t get any worse, can they?

London, 1938. William is grieving over his former teacher and mentor, killed fighting for the Republicans in Spain. As Europe slides towards…

Book cover of Three Hours in Paris

Rhys Bowen Author Of The Paris Assignment

From my list on brave women in WWII.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am Rhys Bowen, New York Times best selling author of two historical mystery series and several Internationally best selling historical novels. Many of these take place in and around World War II. I have particularly focused on the bravery of ordinary women, the unsung heroines who risked their lives against impossible odds. My stories take place in France, Italy, as well as, England so these books resonated with me.

Rhys' book list on brave women in WWII

Rhys Bowen Why did Rhys love this book?

I’m not normally a thriller reader, but I’ve loved Cara Black’s Aimee Leduc mystery series, so I tried this. Oh, my goodness. You will hold your breath from page one until the climax.

A young woman suffers unbearable loss and then trains as a sharpshooter, sent to Paris with the goal of assassinating Hitler.

Based on the knowledge that Hitler only came to Paris for three hours and left abruptly, Cara fills in the why for us.

By Cara Black,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Three Hours in Paris as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In June of 1940, when Paris fell to the Nazis, Hitler spent a total of three hours in the City of Light—abruptly leaving, never to return. To this day, no one knows why.

Kate Rees, a young American markswoman, has been recruited by British intelligence to drop into Paris with a dangerous assignment: assassinate the Führer. Wrecked by grief after a Luftwaffe bombing killed her husband and infant daughter, she is armed with a rifle, a vendetta, and a fierce resolve. But other than rushed and rudimentary instruction, she has no formal spy training. Thrust into the red-hot center of…


Book cover of Hard Rain

Bryant Wieneke Author Of Priority One

From my list on political thrillers promoting peaceful solutions.

Why am I passionate about this?

I quit my job in 1994 to write. Fiction. It took me a while to find my niche, but what I realized is that I wanted to write political thrillers that were about more than how to stop the bad guys from killing the good guys by killing them first. There is another way. Starting with Priority One, and continuing to what is currently my tenth novel in the series, I imagine an American foreign policy that promotes the building of a more peaceful world through a combination of economic justice and humanitarianism, applied practically and pragmatically. It’s my dream for my fiction, as well as the real world.

Bryant's book list on political thrillers promoting peaceful solutions

Bryant Wieneke Why did Bryant love this book?

As I set about the task of writing political thrillers, I read many gifted novelists in this genre. I found that the plots often revolved around shoot-‘em-ups and egregiously evil militant groups. Barry Eisler is an exception. He is a superb writer who casts a talented and likeable character into a career as an assassin. John Rain chooses this life because his actions deter greater acts of violence. And isn’t that the choice many of us face in the modern world? Isn’t going to war about saving lives by killing the bad guys? In my books, I try to be sensitive to the issue that peace does not come easy in a violent world, and sometimes the trade-offs to secure peace are not at all pleasant.

By Barry Eisler,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Previously published as Hard Rain and Blood from BloodAll John Rain wants is to get out of the killing business. But with his discretion, his reliability, and his unique talent for death by "natural causes," no one is willing to let him just retire. So when an old nemesis from the Japanese national police force comes to him with a new job-eliminate Murakami, a killer even more fearsome than Rain himself-Rain knows he can't refuse.Aided by an achingly desirable half Brazilian, half Japanese exotic dancer he knows he shouldn't trust, Rain pursues his quarry through underground no-holds-barred fight clubs, mobbed-up…


Book cover of The Marching Season

Ray C Doyle Author Of Defection in Prague

From my list on mystery thrillers ripped from news headlines.

Why am I passionate about this?

I guess my real interest in writing about the good and bad in crime and politics and the good and bad characters involved started with my first job as a junior in a local newspaper. The 60s was a time of great change. I was in the right place at the right time and got involved in reporting local government politics. I graduated later to cover Britain’s role within the EU in Brussels. I was fascinated, not so much by the politics but by the politicians and fellow news reporters involved. They inspired the creation of my fictional character, Pete West, a hardboiled political columnist. 

Ray's book list on mystery thrillers ripped from news headlines

Ray C Doyle Why did Ray love this book?

This book moved me at a time when the Irish question was still an open sore. It has a great but simple plot centered around the peace process in Northern Ireland.

Ex CIA agent, Osbourne is involved after his father-in-law is sent to the UK as Ambassador. With three atrocities carried out by protestants and a plot to assassinate the ambassador, the clock starts ticking. Osbourne faces his old enemy, Russian KGB killer October.

It is obvious that de Silva did a lot of research on the Irish situation, and I found the story very exciting as well as thought-provoking.

By Daniel Silva,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A brilliantly tense what-if thriller about the sabotage of the Ulster peace process.

From the No.1 bestselling author of THE CELLIST

During the first uncertain years of the Northern Ireland peace process three simultaneous terrorist attacks in Belfast, Dublin and London shatter the hope that the bloodshed is finally over. The perpetrators are a new terror group called the Ulster Freedom Brigade. And they have one goal: to destroy the peace process.

Michael Osbourne, hero of THE MARK OF THE ASSASSIN, has quit the CIA, bitter and disillusioned. But when the President chooses his father-in-law to be the next American…


Book cover of The Accomplice

Josh Weiss Author Of Sunset Empire

From Josh's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Creative Enterprising Funny Culinarily inclined Spontaneous

Josh's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Josh Weiss Why did Josh love this book?

I picked this book up during my honeymoon in Italy and could barely put it down. And that’s saying a lot when you’re sitting on a balcony in picturesque Positano! In any case, anyone who knows me knows that I’m a sucker for anything to do with tracking down Nazi war criminals after World War II, and this book checks all the boxes.

When his famed Nazi-hunting uncle suddenly dies with unfinished business, CIA analyst Aaron Wiley travels to South America to bring justice to a sadistic German doctor who escaped. There’s just one problem: he begins to fall in love with his target’s daughter.

It’s part spy thriller and part noir tragedy!

By Joseph Kanon,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

'Gripping and authentic' NEW YORK TIMES

'Heartrending . . . An engrossing read' FINANCIAL TIMES

SEVENTEEN YEARS AFTER THE FALL OF THE THIRD REICH

Max Weill has never forgotten the face of Otto Schramm, a doctor who worked with Mengele on appalling experiments and who sent Max's family to the gas chambers.

A NAZI WAR CRIMINAL WHO IS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD

When Schramm escaped to South America after the war, Max swore to one day bring him back to Germany to stand trial. With his life now nearing its end, he asks his nephew Aaron Wiley - a CIA…


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Book cover of Cold Warrior

Cold Warrior by Robert Tucker,

During the 1970s and 80s, the Soviet Union penetrated the corporate economy and financial systems of the United States to engage in industrial espionage.

Cold Warrior is the story of Kasia Kerenski, a street mime who is “discovered” to work as a Hollywood actress. Coerced into becoming a double agent…

Book cover of Berlin Game

Mark McKay Author Of A Terminal Agenda

From my list on the authentic world of espionage.

Why am I passionate about this?

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.

Mark's book list on the authentic world of espionage

Mark McKay Why did Mark love this book?

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.

By Len Deighton,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Berlin Game as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'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…


Book cover of Transfer of Power

John Casey Author Of Devolution

From my list on complex characters and philosophical undercurrents.

Why am I passionate about this?

I began reading spy and political thrillers at a young age—I was captivated by the thrill and mysteriousness of the clandestine world. I would go on to earn my Master’s in International Affairs, learning French and German along the way. I was a combat pilot and flew all over the globe. At the Pentagon, I regularly liaised with foreign diplomats to create and improve international cooperation and security. I then became a diplomat myself, working for the Defense Intelligence Agency. It was my time with the DIA and working at U.S. embassies in Europe and Africa that was the inspirational capstone for writing Devolution and The Devolution Trilogy.

John's book list on complex characters and philosophical undercurrents

John Casey Why did John love this book?

It was Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp series that, for me, was the most fun to read. As I described the action and adventure of Madsen’s Searching for Eden, so would I describe the same for Transfer of Power and subsequent Rapp stories. This #1 New York Times bestselling series was #1 for a reason—uncompromised action and edge-of-your-seat writing throughout. It was Flynn’s style of writing that gave me the best ideas about how to write my own thrillers. If you love spy novels, do not pass this one up.

By Vince Flynn,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

On a busy Washington morning, the stately calm of the White House is shattered as terrorists gain control of the executive mansion, slaughtering dozens of people. The president is evacuated to an underground bunker, but not before nearly one hundred hostages are taken. One man is sent in to take control of the crisis. Mitch Rapp, the CIA's top counterterrorism operative, determines that the president is not as safe as Washington's power elite had thought. Moving among the corridors of the White House, Rapp makes a chilling discovery that could rock Washington to its core: someone within his own government…


Book cover of Dark Star

Patrick W. O'Bryon Author Of Corridor of Darkness

From my list on espionage and resistance in Hitler's Third Reich.

Why am I passionate about this?

While a graduate student and then an army interpreter in Germany, I listened to reminiscences from both Third Reich military veterans and former French resistance fighters. Their tales picked up where my father's stories of pre-war European life always ended, and my fascination with this history knew no bounds. On occasion I would conceal my American identity and mentally play the spy as I traversed Europe solo. A dozen years later upon the death of my father, I learned from my mother his great secret: he had concealed his wartime life as an American spy inside the Reich. His private journals telling of bravery and intrigue inspire each of my novels.

Patrick's book list on espionage and resistance in Hitler's Third Reich

Patrick W. O'Bryon Why did Patrick love this book?

As the first in his series of novels on the 1930s in Europe, Alan Furst's Night Soldier tends to earn the most critical praise, but Dark Star remains my personal favoriteFurst masters the noir ambiance and moral ambiguity of Europe as war approaches, where everyday people are drawn into the world of espionage and intrigue. His settings often lie outside the main urban centers of Paris and Berlin in the remote reaches of Eastern Europe. Furst's novels are impeccably researched for accurate detail-one of my must-haves in historical fiction-and each book will draw you to read the next in his series.

By Alan Furst,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Andre Szara, survivor of the Polish pogroms and the Russian civil wars, is a journalist working for Pravda in 1937. War in Europe is already underway and Szara is co-opted to join the NKVD, the Soviet secret intelligence agency. He does his best to survive the tango of pre-war politics by calmly obeying orders and keeping his nose clean. But when he is sent to retrieve a battered briefcase the plot thickens and is drawn into even more complex intrigues.

Szara becomes a full-time spymaster and as deputy director of a Paris network, he finds his own star rising when…


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Book cover of Magical Disinformation

Magical Disinformation by Lachlan Page,

This book is a spy novel with a satirical edge which will take you on a heart-pumping journey through the streets, mountains, jungles, and beaches of Colombia. Our Man in Havana meets A Clear and Present Danger.

Book cover of The Defector

Mark McKay Author Of A Terminal Agenda

From my list on the authentic world of espionage.

Why am I passionate about this?

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.

Mark's book list on the authentic world of espionage

Mark McKay Why did Mark love this book?

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 …

By Daniel Silva,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

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…


Book cover of The Lion's Game
Book cover of An Officer and a Spy
Book cover of Three Hours in Paris

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