Government & Law

The Top Spy & Espionage Books Of All-Time

“What are the best books about Espionage & Spying?” We looked at 465 of the top spy books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!

Covertly slide into a world of secrets, lies, warring governments, and espionage. The top 18 books, all appearing 4 or more “Best Spy” lists, are ranked below by how many times they appeared and include images, descriptions, and links. The remaining 400+ titles, all appearing on 3 or fewer lists, as well as the articles we used, are in alphabetical order on the bottom of the page.

Happy Scrolling!



Top 18 Spy & Espionage Books



18 .) Kim by Rudyard Kipling

Lists It Appears On:

  • HiloBrow
  • The Telegraph
  • Medium
  • The Guardian 2

Kim is set in an imperialistic world; a world strikingly masculine, dominated by travel, trade and adventure, a world in which there is no question of the division between white and non-white. Two men – a boy who grows into early manhood and an old ascetic priest, the lama – are at the center of the novel. A quest faces them both. Born in India, Kim is nevertheless white, a sahib. While he wants to play the Great Game of Imperialism, he is also spiritually bound to the lama. His aim, as he moves chameleon-like through the two cultures, is to reconcile these opposing strands, while the lama searches for redemption from the Wheel of Life.

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17 .) The Company by Robert Littell

Lists It Appears On:

  • NPR
  • The Telegraph
  • WHSmith
  • Goodreads

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 the Company itself. A brilliant, stunningly conceived epic thriller, The Company confirms Littell’s place among the genre’s elite.

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16 .) The Tailor of Panama by John le Carré

Lists It Appears On:

  • Share Ranks
  • Goodreads
  • Goodreads 2
  • The Guardian 2

He is Harry Pendel: Exclusive tailor to Panama’s most powerful men. Informant to British Intelligence. The perfect spy in a country rife with corruption and revolution. What his “handlers” don’t realize is that Harry has a hidden agenda of his own. Deceiving his friends, his wife, and practically himself, he’ll weave a plot so fabulous it exceeds his own vivid imagination. But when events start to spin out of control, Harry is suddenly in over his head—thrown into a lethal maze of politics and espionage, with unthinkable consequences. . . .

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15 .) A Coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler

Lists It Appears On:

  • Five Books
  • HiloBrow
  • Goodreads
  • Goodreads 2
  • Electric Lit

A chance encounter with a Turkish colonel leads Charles Latimer, the author of a handful of successful mysteries, into a world of sinister political and criminal maneuvers. At first merely curious to reconstruct the career of the notorious Dimitrios, whose body has been identified in an Istanbul morgue, Latimer soon finds himself caught up in a shadowy web of assassination, espionage, drugs, and treachery that spans the Balkans.

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14 .) Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett

Lists It Appears On:

  • Addictive Boks
  • Share Ranks
  • The Culture Trip
  • Goodreads
  • Goodreads 2

“His code name was “The Needle.” He was a German aristocrat of extraordinary intelligence—a master spy with a legacy of violence in his blood, and the object of the most desperate manhunt in history. . . .

But his fate lay in the hands of a young and vulnerable English woman, whose loyalty, if swayed, would assure his freedom—and win the war for the Nazis. . . . “

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13 .) Berlin Game by Len Deighton

Lists It Appears On:

  • NPR
  • The Telegraph
  • The Strand Magazine
  • The Culture Trip
  • Goodreads
  • Goodreads 2

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12 .) From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming

Lists It Appears On:

  • Bookbub
  • The Strand Magazine
  • Flavorwire
  • Goodreads
  • Goodreads 2
  • The Telegraph

“James Bond is marked for death by the Soviet counterintelligence agency SMERSH in Ian Fleming’s masterful spy thriller, and the novel that President John F. Kennedy named one of his favorite books of all time.

SMERSH stands for “Death to Spies” and there’s no secret agent they’d like to disgrace and destroy more than 007, James Bond. But ensnaring the British Secret Service’s most lethal operative will require a lure so tempting even he can’t resist. Enter Tatiana Romanova, a ravishing Russian spy whose “defection” springs a trap designed with clockwork precision. Her mission: seduce Bond, then flee to the West on the Orient Express. Waiting in the shadows are two of Ian Fleming’s most vividly drawn villains: Red Grant, SMERSH’s deadliest assassin, and the sinister operations chief Rosa Klebb—five feet four inches of pure killing power.”

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11 .) The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad

Lists It Appears On:

  • HiloBrow
  • The Strand Magazine
  • The Culture Trip
  • Goodreads
  • Goodreads 2
  • The Guardian

Mr Verloc, the secret agent, keeps a shop in London’s Soho where he lives with his wife Winnie, her infirm mother, and her idiot brother, Stevie. When Verloc is reluctantly involved in an anarchist plot to blow up the Greenwich Observatory things go disastrously wrong, and what appears to be ‘a simple tale’ proves to involve politicians, policemen, foreign diplomats and London’s fashionable society in the darkest and most surprising interrelations.

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10 .) The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer

Lists It Appears On:

  • This Is Writing
  • WHSmith
  • Bookbub
  • Book Browse
  • Goodreads
  • Goodreads 2

Milo Weaver has tried to leave his old life of secrets and lies behind by giving up his job as a “tourist” for the CIA―an undercover agent with no home, no identity. Now he’s working a desk at the agency’s New York headquarters. But when the arrest of a long-sought-after assassin sets off an investigation into a colleague, exposing new layers of intrigue in his old cases, he has no choice but to go back undercover and find out who’s been behind it allfrom the very beginning.

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9 .) The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth

Lists It Appears On:

  • Addictive Boks
  • This Is Writing
  • Crime Fiction Blog
  • The Strand Magazine
  • The Culture Trip
  • Goodreads
  • Goodreads 2

“The Jackal. A tall, blond Englishman with opaque, gray eyes. A killer at the top of his profession. A man unknown to any secret service in the world. An assassin with a contract to kill the world’s most heavily guarded man.

One man with a rifle who can change the course of history. One man whose mission is so secretive not even his employers know his name. And as the minutes count down to the final act of execution, it seems that there is no power on earth that can stop the Jackal.”

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8 .) The IPCRESS File by Len Deighton

Lists It Appears On:

  • Addictive Boks
  • HiloBrow
  • The Week
  • Crime Fiction Blog
  • Flavorwire
  • Goodreads
  • Goodreads 2

Len Deighton’s classic first novel, whoseprotagonist is a nameless spy – later christened Harry Palmer and made famous worldwide in the iconic 1960s film starring Michael Caine.

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7 .) The Quiet American by Graham Greene

Lists It Appears On:

  • HiloBrow
  • Share Ranks
  • Crime Fiction Blog
  • The Strand Magazine
  • Goodreads
  • Goodreads 2
  • The Guardian

“””I never knew a man who had better motives for all the trouble he caused,”” Graham Greene’s narrator Fowler remarks of Alden Pyle, the eponymous “”Quiet American”” of what is perhaps the most controversial novel of his career. Pyle is the brash young idealist sent out by Washington on a mysterious mission to Saigon, where the French Army struggles against the Vietminh guerrillas.

As young Pyle’s well-intentioned policies blunder into bloodshed, Fowler, a seasoned and cynical British reporter, finds it impossible to stand safely aside as an observer. But Fowler’s motives for intervening are suspect, both to the police and himself, for Pyle has stolen Fowler’s beautiful Vietnamese mistress.”

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6 .) Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene

Lists It Appears On:

  • HiloBrow
  • The Telegraph
  • WHSmith
  • The Culture Trip
  • Goodreads
  • Goodreads 2
  • Flavorwire
  • Addictive Boks

MI6’s man in Havana is Wormold, a former vacuum-cleaner salesman turned reluctant secret agent out of economic necessity. To keep his job, he files bogus reports based on Charles Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare and dreams up military installations from vacuum-cleaner designs. Then his stories start coming disturbingly true…

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5 .) The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John Le Carré

Lists It Appears On:

  • Addictive Boks
  • HiloBrow
  • Share Ranks
  • Crime Fiction Blog
  • The Telegraph
  • The Culture Trip
  • Goodreads
  • Goodreads 2

In the shadow of the newly erected Berlin Wall, Alec Leamas watches as his last agent is shot dead by East German sentries. For Leamas, the head of Berlin Station, the Cold War is over. As he faces the prospect of retirement or worse—a desk job—Control offers him a unique opportunity for revenge. Assuming the guise of an embittered and dissolute ex-agent, Leamas is set up to trap Mundt, the deputy director of the East German Intelligence Service—with himself as the bait. In the background is George Smiley, ready to make the game play out just as Control wants.

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4 .) The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers

Lists It Appears On:

  • HiloBrow
  • Share Ranks
  • Crime Fiction Blog
  • The Telegraph
  • WHSmith
  • Goodreads
  • Goodreads 2
  • The Guardian 2
  • The Guardian

The classic spy novel by Erskine Childers, credited as the first work of modern espionage fiction. Set in pre-World War I Europe, two British subject, Carruthers and Davies, uncover secret German activity suggesting a prelude to war.

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3 .) The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum

Lists It Appears On:

  • Best Science Fiction Books
  • HiloBrow
  • Share Ranks
  • Crime Fiction Blog
  • The Telegraph
  • Bookbub
  • The Strand Magazine
  • The Culture Trip
  • Goodreads
  • Goodreads 2

His memory is a blank. His bullet-ridden body was fished from the Mediterranean Sea. His face has been altered by plastic surgery. A frame of microfilm has been surgically implanted in his hip. Even his name is a mystery. Marked for death, he is racing for survival through a bizarre world of murderous conspirators—led by Carlos, the world’s most dangerous assassin. Who is Jason Bourne? The answer may kill him.

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2 .) The 39 Steps by John Buchan

Lists It Appears On:

  • HiloBrow
  • Oregon Live
  • The Telegraph
  • The Strand Magazine
  • The Culture Trip
  • The Guardian
  • Share Ranks
  • Crime Fiction Blog
  • Goodreads
  • Goodreads 2

Hanney, an expatriated Scot, returns from a long stay in South Africa to his flat in London. One night he is buttonholed by an American who appears to know of an anarchist plot to destabilise Europe, and claims to be in fear for his life. Hannay lets the American hide in his flat, and returns later to find that another man has been found shot dead in the same building, apparently a suicide. Four days later Hannay finds the American stabbed to death…

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1 .) Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré

Lists It Appears On:

  • Cool Material
  • HiloBrow
  • Oregon Live
  • The Culture Trip
  • The Guardian
  • The Week
  • This Is Writing
  • WHSmith
  • The Strand Magazine
  • Goodreads
  • Goodreads 2
  • Flavorwire
  • NPR

The man he knew as “Control” is dead, and the young Turks who forced him out now run the Circus. But George Smiley isn’t quite ready for retirement—especially when a pretty, would-be defector surfaces with a shocking accusation: a Soviet mole has penetrated the highest level of British Intelligence. Relying only on his wits and a small, loyal cadre, Smiley recognizes the hand of Karla—his Moscow Centre nemesis—and sets a trap to catch the traitor.

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The Additional Best Books About Spies and Espionage



 

# Book Author Lists
(Titles Appear On 3 Lists Each)
19 A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal Ben Macintyre Early Bird Books
Mal Warwick On Books
Medium
20 Above Suspicion Helen MacInnes HiloBrow
Share Ranks
Crime Fiction Blog
21 Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal Ben Macintyre Early Bird Books
Goodreads 2
Library Thing
22 Ashenden: Or the British Agent W. Somerset Maugham The Telegraph
Cool Material
The Guardian
23 Blowback Valerie Plame and Sarah Lovett Cool Material
Oregon Live
The Big Thrill
24 Casino Royale Ian Fleming Cool Material
Goodreads
Goodreads 2
25 Death of a Citizen Donald Hamilton HiloBrow
The Culture Trip
Flavorwire
26 Masquerade Gayle Lynds Share Ranks
Crime Fiction Blog
Bookbub
27 Mexico Set Len Deighton NPR
Goodreads
Goodreads 2
28 Operation Mincemeat Ben Macintyre The Week
Library Thing
Mal Warwick On Books
29 Red Sparrow Jason Matthews Oregon Live
Bookbub
Goodreads
30 Six Days of the Condor James Grady Goodreads
Goodreads 2
HiloBrow
31 Slow Horses Mick Herron Addictive Boks
The Telegraph
Medium
32 The Constant Gardener John le Carré Five Books
Goodreads
Goodreads 2
33 The Eye of the Needle Ken Follett HiloBrow
Crime Fiction Blog
Bookbub
34 The Human Factor Graham Greene The Week
Goodreads 2
Electric Lit
35 The Hunt for Red October Tom Clancy Flavorwire
Goodreads
Goodreads 2
36 The Kill Artist Daniel Silva NPR
Goodreads
Goodreads 2
37 The Little Drummer Girl John LeCarre WHSmith
Goodreads
Goodreads 2
38 The Manchurian Candidate Richard Condon Addictive Boks
Goodreads 2
Flavorwire
39 The Spy who Loved Me Ian Fleming Share Ranks
Crime Fiction Blog
Goodreads 2
40 The Unlikely Spy Daniel Silva Share Ranks
Crime Fiction Blog
Goodreads 2
(Titles Appear On 2 Lists Each)
41 A Death in Vienna Daniel Silva NPR
Goodreads 2
42 A Murder of Quality John le Carré Goodreads
Goodreads 2
43 A Perfect Spy John le Carre Oregon Live
Goodreads
44 Agent Storm: My Life Inside Al Qaeda and the CIA Morten Storm Mal Warwick On Books
The Guardian 2
45 Assignment in Brittany HiloBrow
The Telegraph
46 At Risk Stella Rimington Oregon Live
Bookbub
47 Bad Luck and Trouble Lee Child Book Browse
Goodreads
48 Call for the Dead John le Carré Goodreads
Goodreads 2
49 Clear and Present Danger (Jack Ryan Universe, #6) Tom Clancy Goodreads
Goodreads 2
50 Close Quarters Adrian Magson The Big Thrill
The Big Thrill
51 Code Name Verity Elizabeth Wein Bookbub
Cheshire Library Blog
52 Dark Star (Night Soldiers, #2) Alan Furst The Strand Magazine
Goodreads 2
53 Debt of Honor (Jack Ryan Universe, #8) Tom Clancy Goodreads
Goodreads 2
54 Deception Adrian Magson The Big Thrill
The Big Thrill
55 Declare Tim Powers Best Science Fiction Books
Medium
56 Doctor No (James Bond, #6) Ian Fleming Goodreads
Goodreads 2
57 For Your Eyes Only (James Bond, #8) Ian Fleming HiloBrow
Goodreads 2
58 Goldfinger (James Bond, #7) Ian Fleming Goodreads
Goodreads 2
59 Gorky Park (Arkady Renko, #1) Martin Cruz Smith Goodreads
Goodreads 2
60 Greenmantle (Richard Hannay #2) John Buchan Goodreads 2
HiloBrow
61 I Am Pilgrim (Pilgrim, #1) Terry Hayes Goodreads
Book Browse
62 Jackdaws Ken Follett Book Browse
Goodreads 2
63 Journey Into Fear Eric Ambler The Telegraph
Goodreads 2
64 Live and Let Die (James Bond, #2) Ian Fleming Goodreads
Goodreads 2
65 London Match Len Deighton NPR
Goodreads 2
66 Morning Spy, Evening Spy Colin MacKinnon Share Ranks
Crime Fiction Blog
67 Moscow Rules (Gabriel Allon, #8) Daniel Silva Goodreads
Goodreads 2
68 N or M? Agatha Christie HiloBrow
Goodreads 2
69 Night Heron Adam Brooke The Strand Magazine
Medium
70 Night Soldiers Alan Furst WHSmith
Goodreads
71 On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (James Bond, #11) Ian Fleming Goodreads
Goodreads 2
72 Red Harvest Dashiell Hammett Oregon Live
The Guardian
73 Retribution Adrian Magson The Big Thrill
The Big Thrill
74 Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Imperative Eric Van Lustbader The Big Thrill
The Big Thrill
75 Shibumi Trevanian Goodreads
Goodreads 2
76 Smiley’s People John le Carré Goodreads
Goodreads 2
77 The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal David E. Hoffman Early Bird Books
Mal Warwick On Books
78 The Black Tulip Milt Bearden Oregon Live
Cool Material
79 The Bourne Ultimatum (Jason Bourne, #3) Robert Ludlum Goodreads
Goodreads 2
80 The Cardinal of the Kremlin (Jack Ryan Universe, #5) Tom Clancy Goodreads
Goodreads 2
81 The Charm School Nelson DeMille Goodreads
Goodreads 2
82 The Code-Breakers David Kahn Tor
Library Thing
83 The Dogs of War Frederick Forsyth Goodreads
Goodreads 2
84 The Eiger Sanction HiloBrow
Share Ranks
85 The Foreign Correspondent (Night Soldiers, #9) Alan Furst Goodreads
Goodreads 2
86 The Fourth Protocol Frederick Forsyth Goodreads
Goodreads 2
87 The Girl Who Played With Fire (Millennium #2) Stieg Larsson Goodreads 2
Goodreads
88 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1) Stieg Larsson Goodreads
Goodreads 2
89 The Good Spy Jeffrey Layton The Big Thrill
Mal Warwick On Books
90 The Great Impersonation Edward Phillips Oppenheim HiloBrow
NPR
91 The Honourable Schoolboy John le Carré Goodreads
Goodreads 2
92 The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington Jennet Conant Goodreads 2
Library Thing
93 The Key to Rebecca Ken Follett Goodreads
Goodreads 2
94 The Looking Glass War John le Carré Goodreads
Goodreads 2
95 The Messenger Daniel Silva Book Browse
Goodreads
96 The Ministry of Fear Graham Greene HiloBrow
Goodreads
97 The Moscow Club Joseph Finder Share Ranks
Crime Fiction Blog
98 The Night Manager John le Carré Goodreads 2
Independent
99 The Odessa File Frederick Forsyth Goodreads
Goodreads 2
100 The Rembrandt Affair (Gabriel Allon, #10) Daniel Silva Goodreads
Goodreads 2
101 The Russia House John le Carré Goodreads
Goodreads 2
102 The Saladin Strategy Norm Clark Goodreads
Goodreads 2
103 The Spy; or, A Tale of the Neutral Ground James Fenimore Cooper Medium
The Guardian
104 The Sum of All Fears Tom Clancy Addictive Boks
Goodreads
105 The Tears of Autumn Charles McCarry Medium
NPR
106 The Travelers Chris Pavone The Big Thrill
Independent
107 Thunderball (James Bond, #9) Ian Fleming Goodreads
Goodreads 2
108 Too Bad to Die Francine Mathews The Big Thrill
Book Browse
109 Tsunami Connection Michael James Gallagher Goodreads
Goodreads 2
110 Where Eagles Dare Alistair MacLean Share Ranks
Goodreads 2
111 Wild Bill Donovan Douglas Waller The Week
Mal Warwick On Books
112 You Only Live Twice Ian Fleming Oregon Live
Goodreads 2
(Titles Appear On 1 Lists Each)
113 1000 Yards Book Content Ratings
114 61 Hours (Jack Reacher, #14) Lee Child Goodreads
115 9800 Savage Road M. E. Harrigan The Big Thrill
116 A Colder War Charles Cumming Book Browse
117 A Corpse in the Koryo James Church Oregon Live
118 A Delicate Truth John Le Carré Electric Lit
119 A Kill in the Morning Graeme Shimmin The Big Thrill
120 A Life in Secrets: Vera Atkins and the Missing Agents of WWII Sarah Helm Library Thing
121 A Line in the Sand Gerald Seymour Addictive Boks
122 A Man Called Intrepid William Stevenson Library Thing
123 A Murder of Crows Terrence McCauley The Big Thrill
124 A Prince of the Captivity HiloBrow
125 A Rough Shoot HiloBrow
126 A Small Death in Lisbon Robert Wilson Goodreads 2
127 A Small Town in Germany John le Carré Goodreads 2
128 A Spy Charles Cumming Book Browse
129 A Spy for All Seasons Duane R Clarridge The Guardian 2
130 A Spy in the Ointment Donald Westlake NPR
131 A Taste For Death The Telegraph
132 A Time to Die (Victor) Tom Wood Comparaboo
133 A Time to Kill HiloBrow
134 Absolute Friends John Le Carré Addictive Boks
135 Absolute Power David Baldacci Goodreads
136 Afraid of the Dark James Grippando The Big Thrill
137 After the Fall: A Prelude to the Senator’s Son (Among Wolves) Book Content Ratings
138 Agent in Place Helen MacInnes Electric Lit
139 Agents of Innocence David Ignatius The Guardian 2
140 Airframe Michael Crichton Goodreads 2
141 American Assassin (Mitch Rapp, #1) Vince Flynn Goodreads
142 An Ordinary Spy: A Novel Joseph Weisberg Book Browse
143 And West Is West Ron Childress Book Browse
144 Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1) Dan Brown Goodreads 2
145 Anonymous Sources Mary Louise Kelly The Big Thrill
146 Arctic Rising Tobias Buckell Best Science Fiction Books
147 Background to Danger. HiloBrow
148 Between Silk and Cyanide: A Codemaker’s War, 1941-1945 Leo Marks Library Thing
149 Billion-Dollar Brain Len Deighton Best Science Fiction Books
150 Bletchley Park: The Secret Archives Sinclair McKay Independent
151 Blind Man’s Bluff: The Untold Story Of American Submarine Espionage Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew with Annette Lawrence Drew Early Bird Books
152 Blood Oil James Phelan The Big Thrill
153 Blood Tattoo Jude Hardin The Big Thrill
154 Body of Secrets James Bamford Tor
155 Bodyguard of Deception (Book 1 of the World War Two Trilogy) Samuel Marquis Goodreads 2
156 Bonus: They Call Me Alexandra Gastone T.A. Maclagan Bookbub
157 Brandenburg Gate Henry Porter Book Browse
158 Brave New World Aldous Huxley Goodreads 2
159 Bridge of Spies Giles Whittell Library Thing
160 Brute Force Marc Cameron The Big Thrill
161 Caasino Royale Ian Fleming The Week
162 Cause for Alarm Eric Ambler WHSmith
163 Choice of Enemies M.A. Richards The Big Thrill
164 Choice of Weapons Raymond Benson The Big Thrill
165 Cloaks and Veils J.C. Carleson The Big Thrill
166 Code Name Jack Rabbit Elizabeth Noble The Big Thrill
167 Coercion Tim Tigner The Big Thrill
168 Cold Black Alex Shaw The Big Thrill
169 Cold East Alex Shaw The Big Thrill
170 Consent to Kill (Mitch Rapp, #8) Vince Flynn Goodreads
171 Contract to Kill Andrew Peterson The Big Thrill
172 Crown of Slaves David Weber Best Science Fiction Books
173 Dark Asset Adrian Magson The Big Thrill
174 Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War Fred Kaplan Mal Warwick On Books
175 Dark Voyage (Night Soldiers, #8) Alan Furst Goodreads 2
176 Day of the Jackal Share Ranks
177 Dead Line Stella Rimington Addictive Boks
178 Deadly Trust JJ Cooper The Big Thrill
179 Death in Budapest James L. Ross The Big Thrill
180 Decoded The Telegraph
181 Diamonds Are Forever (James Bond, #4) Ian Fleming Goodreads 2
182 Die Trying (Jack Reacher, #2) Lee Child Goodreads
183 Disciples of Death Paul Howard The Big Thrill
184 Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies Ben McIntyre Mal Warwick On Books
185 Elusive Isabe HiloBrow
186 End of Secrets Ryan Quinn The Big Thrill
187 Ender’s Game (Ender’s Saga, #1) Orson Scott Card Goodreads 2
188 Epitaph for a Spy HiloBrow
189 Europe in Autumn Dave Hutchinson Medium
190 Execution (Harry Tate 5) Adrian Magson The Big Thrill
191 Executive Orders (Jack Ryan Universe, #9) Tom Clancy Goodreads
192 Extreme Measures (Mitch Rapp, #11) Vince Flynn Goodreads
193 Fallout: The True Story of the CIA’s Secret War on Nuclear Trafficking Catherine Collins and Douglas Frantz The Guardian 2
194 Fear and Spear The Telegraph
195 Flashback Jenny Siler Bookbub
196 Flight From Berlin: A Novel David John Book Browse
197 Forced To Kill Andrew Peterson The Big Thrill
198 From London Far HiloBrow
199 Funeral in Berlin Len Deighton WHSmith
200 George Smiley John Le Carre Best Science Fiction Books
201 Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 Steve Coll Library Thing
202 Go Softly All My Years (Braddock Family Book 1) Book Content Ratings
203 Gravity’s Rainbow HiloBrow
204 H.I.V.E. Higher Institute of Villainous Education Mark Walden Cheshire Library Blog
205 Hard Cover Adrian Magson The Big Thrill
206 Hard Kill (Riz #1) Charlie Flowers Goodreads 2
207 Hard Road (A Jon Reznick Thriller) J. B. Turner Comparaboo
208 HARLOT’S GHOST Norman Mailer Crime Fiction Blog
209 Harriet the Spy HiloBrow
210 Hazardous Duty E. Howard Hunt Oregon Live
211 His Last Bow: 8 Stories Arthur Conan Doyle Goodreads 2
212 Hitler’s Spy Chief: The Story of Wilhelm Canaris, the Most Dangerous Intelligence Man of WWII Richard Bassett Early Bird Books
213 Homeland: Carrie’s Run Andrew Kaplan The Big Thrill
214 Homeland: Saul’s Game Andrew Kaplan The Big Thrill
215 Hoodwink Dominic Torr The Big Thrill
216 Hopscotch HiloBrow
217 Hunt for Red October Tom Clancy The Culture Trip
218 Hunter: Intrepid 2 Chris Allen The Big Thrill
219 Huntingtower HiloBrow
220 I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You Ally Carter Cheshire Library Blog
221 Ice Station Zebra Alistair McLean Flavorwire
222 In Pursuit of Platinum: The Shocking Secret of World War II Vic Robbie Goodreads
223 Independence Hall Roland Smith Cheshire Library Blog
224 Inside the Company: CIA Diary Philip Agee The Guardian 2
225 Intelligence Susan Hasler Oregon Live
226 Intercept: The Secret History of Computers and Spies Gordon Corera Independent
227 Ipcress File Share Ranks
228 Istanbul Passage Joseph Kanon Electric Lit
229 It Can’t Always be Caviar Johannes Mario Simmel NPR
230 Jack 1939 Francine Mathews The Big Thrill
231 James Bond Ian Fleming Best Science Fiction Books
232 John le Carré: The Biography Adam Sisman Independent
233 Jump Cut Libby Fischer Hellmann The Big Thrill
234 Killing Floor (Jack Reacher, #1) Lee Child Goodreads
235 Knight Without Armour HiloBrow
236 Layover in Dubai Dan Fesperman The Big Thrill
237 Legends Robert Little Medium
238 Lehrter Station: A John Russell Thriller David Downing Book Browse
239 Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War Karen Abbott Early Bird Books
240 Lies in Wait Donna Del Oro The Big Thrill
241 Los Alamos The Telegraph
242 Mary’s Mosaic: The CIA Conspiracy to Murder John F. Kennedy, Mary Pinchot Meyer, and Their Vision for World Peace Peter Janney Mal Warwick On Books
243 Mask of Treachery John Costello Library Thing
244 Mathias Sandorf HiloBrow
245 Memoirs of a Spymaster Markus Wolf Tor
246 Memorial Day (Mitch Rapp, #7) Vince Flynn Goodreads
247 Miami Spy Games: Russian Zombie Gun, Part One Armand Rosamilia Goodreads 2
248 Michael Strogoff HiloBrow
249 Mission to Paris: A Novel Alan Furst Book Browse
250 MJ-12: Inception Michael J. Martinez The Big Thrill
251 Moonraker (James Bond, #3) Ian Fleming Goodreads 2
252 Mr Norris Changes Trains HiloBrow
253 Mr. Standfast HiloBrow
254 My Five Cambridge Friends Yuri Modin The Guardian 2
255 My Silent War Kim Philby WHSmith
256 Net Impact Donald J. Bingle The Big Thrill
257 No Way Out Alan Jacobson The Big Thrill
258 Nomad James Swallow The Big Thrill
259 Nonofficial Asset William Sewell Goodreads
260 One Shot (Jack Reacher, #9) Lee Child Goodreads
261 Operation Pax HiloBrow
262 Operation Shakespeare: The True Story of an Elite International Sting John Shiffman Mal Warwick On Books
263 Our Paths to Glory The Telegraph
264 Pandora’s Temple Jon Land The Big Thrill
265 Papillon Henri Charrière Goodreads 2
266 Passenger to Frankfurt Agatha Christie Goodreads 2
267 Patriot Act James Phelan The Big Thrill
268 Patriot Games (Jack Ryan Universe, #2) Tom Clancy Goodreads
269 Patriotic Betrayal: The Inside Story of the CIA’s Secret Campaign to Enroll American Students in the Crusade Against Communism Karen M. Paget Mal Warwick On Books
270 Plum Island (John Corey, #1) Nelson DeMille Goodreads
271 Polar Star (Arkady Renko, #2) Martin Cruz Smith Goodreads 2
272 Portrait of a Spy (Gabriel Allon, #11) Daniel Silva Goodreads
273 Proof of Life Misty Evans The Big Thrill
274 Readers’ Opinion: Nature: A Novel Book Browse
275 Red Rabbit (Jack Ryan Universe, #3) Tom Clancy Goodreads
276 Red Sky Chris Goff The Big Thrill
277 Red Station Adrian Magson The Big Thrill
278 Red Storm Rising Tom Clancy Goodreads
279 Sabotage Matt Cook The Big Thrill
280 Sandstorm Alan L. Lee The Big Thrill
281 Saving the Queen William F. Buckley, Jr. Oregon Live
282 Scorpion Betrayal Andrew Kaplan The Big Thrill
283 Scorpion Deception Andrew Kaplan The Big Thrill
284 Scorpion Winter Andrew Kaplan The Big Thrill
285 Sekret Lindsay Smith Bookbub
286 Separation of Power (Mitch Rapp, #5) Vince Flynn Goodreads
287 Seventeen Moments of Spring The Telegraph
288 sex, lies and videotape Five Books
289 Shadow Knight’s Mate Jay Brandon The Big Thrill
290 Shadows and Echoes James Cabot The Big Thrill
291 Silent Assassin Leo J. Maloney The Big Thrill
292 Sin J.M. LeDuc The Big Thrill
293 Spies of the Balkans Share Ranks
294 Spy Catcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer Peter Wright Library Thing
295 Spy For Hire Dan Mayland The Big Thrill
296 Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA’s Spytechs, from Communism to Al-Qaeda Robert Wallace and H. Keith Melton with Henry R. Schelsinger Early Bird Books
297 Stalin’s Englishman Andrew Lownie Independent
298 Stormbreaker Anthony Horowitz Cheshire Library Blog
299 Strangers on a Bridge: The Case of Colonel Abel and Francis Gary Powers James B. Donovan Early Bird Books
300 Sub Rosa: The O.S.S. and American Espionage Stewart Alsop and Thomas Braden Early Bird Books
301 Sweet Tooth: A Novel Ian McEwan Book Browse
302 Target Tokyo: The Story of the Sorge Spy Ring Gordon W. Prange with Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon Early Bird Books
303 Term Limits Vince Flynn Goodreads
304 Termination Orders Leo J. Maloney The Big Thrill
305 Thank You, Mr. Moto HiloBrow
306 The 231 Club: My Ten Year Journey From Therapist to CIA Courier and Sanctioned Kills – A True Story J. Bartell Goodreads 2
307 The Accident Chris Pavone The Big Thrill
308 The African Contract Arthur Kerns The Big Thrill
309 The Agency: The Rise and Decline of the CIA John Ranelagh Tor
310 The Altar Girl Orest Stelmach The Big Thrill
311 The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel Uri Bar-Joseph Mal Warwick On Books
312 The Art of Betrayal: The Secret History of MI6: Life and Death in the British Secret Service Gordon Corera Early Bird Books
313 The Baroness Paul Kenyon Best Science Fiction Books
314 The Bourne Legacy (Jason Bourne, #4) Eric Van Lustbader Goodreads
315 The Bourne Retribution Eric Van Lustbader The Big Thrill
316 The Bourne Supremacy (Jason Bourne, #2) Robert Ludlum Goodreads
317 The Bourne Trilogy (Jason Bourne, #1-3) Robert Ludlum Goodreads
318 The Boys From Brazil Ira Levin Goodreads 2
319 The Brotherhood of the Rose. Share Ranks
320 The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War Stephen Kinzer Mal Warwick On Books
321 The Burning Gates Parker Bilal Independent
322 The Calculus Affair HiloBrow
323 The Camel Club (Camel Club, #1) David Baldacci Goodreads
324 The Chancellor ManuscriptBantam This is one of Ludlum’s earlier works Robert Ludlum Addictive Boks
325 The Climate of Treason Andrew Boyle Library Thing
326 The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography Simon Singh Goodreads 2
327 The Cold War Swap Share Ranks
328 The Colonel’s Mistake Dan Mayland The Big Thrill
329 The Confidential Agent Graham Greene Oregon Live
330 The Crook Factory Dan Simmons Medium
331 The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2) Dan Brown Goodreads
332 The Dangerous Otto Katz: The Many Lives of a Soviet Spy Jonathan Miles Library Thing
333 The Dark Frontier HiloBrow
334 The Darkling Spy Edward Wilson Medium
335 The Defector (Gabriel Allon, #9) Daniel Silva Goodreads
336 The Delphi Bloodline and A Bodyguard of Lies Donna Del Oro The Big Thrill
337 The Devil’s Kingdom: Part 2 of the best Scott Mariani Comparaboo
338 The Devil’s Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America’s Secret Government David Talbot Mal Warwick On Books
339 The Dogs of Riga Henning Mankell Addictive Boks
340 The Dubai Betrayal Jeremy Burns The Big Thrill
341 The Eagle Has Landed (Liam Devlin, #1) Jack Higgins Goodreads
342 The English Assassin (Gabriel Allon, #2) Daniel Silva Goodreads
343 The English Girl: A Novel Daniel Silva Addictive Boks
344 The English Spy Daniel Silva Bookbub
345 The Excoms Brett Battles The Big Thrill
346 The Execution Channel Ken MacLeod Best Science Fiction Books
347 The Expats Chris Pavone This Is Writing
348 The Fabulous Flight HiloBrow
349 The Faithful Spy (John Wells, #1) Alex Berenson Goodreads
350 The Falcon and the Snowman: A True Story of Friendship and Espionage Robert Lindsey Early Bird Books
351 The Fallen Angel (Gabriel Allon, #12) Daniel Silva Goodreads
352 The Fist of God Frederick Forsyth Goodreads 2
353 The Flowery War Tim Anderson Best Science Fiction Books
354 The Forever Spy Jeffrey Layton The Big Thrill
355 The Four Adventures of Richard Hannay: The Thirty-Nine Steps / Greenmantle / Mr John Buchan Addictive Boks
356 The Ghost Robert Harris Book Browse
357 The Girl Hunters Mickey Spillane Flavorwire
358 The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Millennium, #3) Stieg Larsson Goodreads 2
359 The Godfather Mario Puzo Goodreads 2
360 The Golden Hour Todd Moss The Big Thrill
361 The Good Traitor Ryan Quinn The Big Thrill
362 The Hacker Chronicles Patrick Oster The Big Thrill
363 The Impossible Virgin Peter O’Donnell Flavorwire
364 The Informer Liam O’Flaherty The Guardian
365 The Innocent Ian McEwan The Culture Trip
366 The Innocent (Will Robie, #1) David Baldacci Goodreads
367 The Innocent Spy: A Mystery Laura Wilson Book Browse
368 The Intelligencer Leslie Silbert Bookbub
369 The Island of Sheep HiloBrow
370 The Journeying Boy HiloBrow
371 The Last Man (Mitch Rapp, #13) Vince Flynn Goodreads
372 The Laughing Monsters Denis Johnson Book Browse
373 The Lone Wolf Agenda Joseph Badal The Big Thrill
374 The Lost Codex Alan Jacobson The Big Thrill
375 The Main Enemy Milton Bearden and James Risen The Guardian 2
376 The Malice of Fortune Michael Ennis Book Browse
377 The Man in Red Square Bill Moody The Big Thrill
378 The Man Who Was Thursday. HiloBrow
379 The Man With the Golden Gun (James Bond, #13) Ian Fleming Goodreads 2
380 The Marathon Man Share Ranks
381 The Mask for Dimitrios / A Coffin for Dimitrios Eric Ambler Addictive Boks
382 The Master Spy: The Story of Kim Philby Phillip Knightley Library Thing
383 The Matarese Circle (Matarese #1) Robert Ludlum Goodreads 2
384 The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu HiloBrow
385 The Nearest Exit (The Tourist, #2) Olen Steinhauer Goodreads 2
386 The New Spies James Adams Tor
387 The Ninth Orphan (The Orphan Trilogy, #1) James Morcan Goodreads
388 The Once and Future Spy Robert Littell NPR
389 The Orphan Factory (The Orphan Trilogy, #2) James Morcan Goodreads
390 The Orphan Uprising (The Orphan Trilogy, #3) James Morcan Goodreads
391 The Other Side of Silence Philip Kerr Independent
392 The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue Frederick Forsyth Independent
393 The Path of the King HiloBrow
394 The Perfect English Spy by Tom Bower Five Books
395 The Polish Officer (Night Soldiers, #3) Alan Furst Goodreads 2
396 The Prisoner of Cell 25 Richard Paul Evans Cheshire Library Blog
397 The Prisoner of Guantanamo Dan Fesperman Book Browse
398 The Quest of the Sacred Slippe HiloBrow
399 The Quiller Memorandum Adam Hall Goodreads 2
400 The Rendition Albert Ashforth The Big Thrill
401 The Riddle of Sands: A Record of Secret Service Recently Achieved Erskine Childers The Culture Trip
402 The Riviera Contract Arthur Kerns The Big Thrill
403 The Rules of Deception Christopher Reich This Is Writing
404 The Russian Bride Ed Kovacs The Big Thrill
405 The Sadness of the Samurai: A Novel Victor del Arbol Book Browse
406 The Scarlet Pimpernel HiloBrow
407 The Secret Adversary (Tommy and Tuppence #1) Agatha Christie Goodreads 2
408 The Secret Angent The Telegraph
409 The Secret Vanguard HiloBrow
410 The Secret War: Spies, Ciphers, and Guerrillas, 1939-1945 Max Hastings Mal Warwick On Books
411 The Short Drop Matthew FitzSimmon The Big Thrill
412 The Silenced Brett Battles The Big Thrill
413 The Soul of Viktor Tronko David Quammen NPR
414 The Spanish Game: A Novel Charles Cumming Book Browse
415 The Spies of Warsaw (Night Soldiers, #10) Alan Furst Goodreads 2
416 The Spies Who Never Were Hervie Haufler Early Bird Books
417 The Sympathizer Viet Thanh Nguyen Book Browse
418 The Thief Taker C.S. Quinn Comparaboo
419 The Third Man Graham Greene Goodreads
420 The Third Option (Mitch Rapp, #4) Vince Flynn Goodreads
421 The Three Hostages HiloBrow
422 The Three Musketeers HiloBrow
423 The Three-Nine Line David Freed Book Browse
424 The Toymaker Chuck Barrett The Big Thrill
425 The Trinity Six Charles Cumming Book Browse
426 The Triple Agent: The al-Qaeda Mole Who Infiltrated the CIA Joby Warrick Early Bird Books
427 The Ultimate Threat James Osborne The Big Thrill
428 The Ultimatum Karen Robards The Big Thrill
429 The Unconquerable HiloBrow
430 The Valley of Shadows Mark Terry The Big Thrill
431 The Venetian Affair HiloBrow
432 The Walking Dead Gerald Seymour Book Browse
433 The Watchman Adrian Magson The Big Thrill
434 The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth Mark Mazzetti Mal Warwick On Books
435 The Wayward Spy Share Ranks
436 The Winter Fortress: The Epic Mission to Sabotage Hitler’s Atomic Bomb Neal Bascomb Early Bird Books
437 The Woman Who Knew Too Much Tom Savage The Big Thrill
438 The Yemen Contract Arthur Kerns The Big Thrill
439 Their Trade is Treachery Five Books
440 Then We Take Berlin John Lawton Book Browse
441 They Came to Baghdad Agatha Christie Goodreads 2
442 They Spy Who Came in from the Cold John Le Carré Bookbub
443 Think Fast, Mr. Moto HiloBrow
444 Time Of Attack Marc Cameron The Big Thrill
445 Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State Dana Priest and William M. Arkin Mal Warwick On Books
446 Tracers Adrian Magson The Big Thrill
447 Traitor’s Purse HiloBrow
448 Transfer of Power (Mitch Rapp, #3) Vince Flynn Goodreads
449 Trigger Mortis Anthony Horowitz Independent
450 Tunnel Vision Susan Adrian Bookbub
451 Turing’s Delirium Edmundo Paz Soldan Book Browse
452 Twice a Spy Keith Thomson The Big Thrill
453 Under Fire Grant Blackwood The Big Thrill
454 Up Close: Eric Van Lustbader Jessica Driscoll The Big Thrill
455 Up Country Nelson DeMille Goodreads
456 Wanderer Sterling Hayden The Guardian
457 When Eight Bells Toll Alistair MacLean Goodreads 2
458 Winter In Madrid C.J. Sansom Book Browse
459 Winter Kills HiloBrow
460 Winterlong Mason Cross The Big Thrill
461 Without Remorse (Jack Ryan Universe, #1) Tom Clancy Goodreads
462 Woke Up Lonely Fiona Maazel Book Browse
463 Written in Fire Marcus Sakey The Big Thrill
464 Yesterday’s Spy HiloBrow
465 Zero World Jason M. Hough The Big Thrill


34 Best Espionage & Spy Book Sources/Lists



Source Article
Addictive Boks Spy & Intelligence Thrillers
Best Science Fiction Books Popular Spyfi Science Fiction
Book Browse Spy, Military, Govt & High Tech Thrillers
Book Content Ratings 3 Best espionage Books For Teens
Bookbub 14 Thrillers with Spies, Lies, & Alibis
Cheshire Library Blog Young Adult Spy Novels That Adults Can Enjoy Too
Comparaboo The 4 Best Espionage Books
Cool Material 5 Spy Novels Written By Actual Spies
Crime Fiction Blog TOP 15 SPY NOVELS
Early Bird Books 15 Nonfiction Spy Books More Thrilling Than John le Carré
Electric Lit The Literary Spy Novel: Five Recommendations
Five Books Charles Cumming recommends the best books on Espionage
Flavorwire 10 of the Greatest Cold War Spy Novels
Goodreads Best Spy Novels
Goodreads 2 Espionage
HiloBrow 61 Espionage Adventures
Independent 10 best spy novels
Independent 2 10 best spy books
Library Thing Best Espionage (Non-Fiction)
Mal Warwick On Books 17 good nonfiction books about espionage
Medium The Ten Best Spy Novels you never heard of
NPR Librarian’s Picks: The Best in Spy Fiction
Oregon Live 16 best spy novels by real-life spies, from Graham Greene to John le Carre
Share Ranks Best Spy Novels Ever
The Big Thrill Espionage Thrillers
The Culture Trip 13 Great Spy Novels That Aren’t James Bond
The Guardian The top 10 classic spy novels
The Guardian 2 Top 10 books about spies
The Strand Magazine TOP TEN SPY NOVELS OF ALL TIME
The Telegraph The 20 best spy novels of all time
The Week Jeffery Deaver’s 6 favorite espionage books
This Is Writing Best Espionage Book Recommendations
Tor Five Books About Espionage
WHSmith Joseph Kanon: Top 10 Spy Novels

 

A.M. Anderson

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