The 20 Best Spy Novels You Haven’t Read Yet

Rob Sinclair’s “Enemy” series has sold more than a million copies, but you may not have heard about his follow-up. The Red Cobra sees Carl Logan, former agent of the Joint Intelligence Agency, now living in retirement under the name of James Ryker.

 He thinks he’s left the world of espionage behind, but his former boss brings him bad news—there’s a grisly murder that may be tied to his past, and which may compromise his future.

The basis for the movie of the same name starring Judi Dench and Sophie Cookson, Red Joan is “as crafty and nuanced and impassioned as any classic thriller” (The National), but its story is inspired by the true tale of Melita Norwood, who was unmasked as the KGB’s longest-serving British spy in 1999. 

Joan Smith is a young undergrad studying physics at Cambridge during World War II and the Cold War that follows. Torn between love and duty, loyalty and horror at the atrocities of war, she ultimately helps to smuggle nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union in this “page-turning saga of spies, conflicted loyalty, and the grave consequences of good intentions” (Publishers Weekly).

A lot of the novels on this list are more recent books that may have slipped under your radar, but there are also genuine classics that you may have missed. This “comical, satirical, atmospherical” (Daily Telegraph) novel from Graham Greene certainly qualifies.

Named one of the 20 Best Spy Novels of All Time by Telegraph, this tale of a vacuum cleaner salesman in Cuba who is recruited by British Intelligence was made into a classic 1959 film starring Alec Guinness. But if you’ve never read the book, you’re missing out!

From the acclaimed author of Apple Tree Yard, Louise Doughty’s new international thriller is “a character study, a glimpse at mid-century American civil rights, a thriller, a meditation on the effects of foreign policy on individuals, a modern love story and a portrait of Indonesian unrest in the 20th century” (New York Times Book Review). 

If that sounds like a lot, you’re not wrong, but not to worry because this story of a conflicted mercenary offers “powerful, probing fiction in the tradition of Graham Greene and Jon le Carre” (Kirkus Reviews). What more could you ask for?

Paul Richter is a former aviator from the British Navy who finds himself unwittingly cast into a “wilderness of mirrors” in this page-turning book that kicks off a series from author James Barrington. With a senior officer apparently turned traitor, nobody knows who to trust, and a former Russian intelligence agent brings evidence that further muddies the waters.

Now, it seems that everyone is out to kill Paul Richter and the woman he’s trying to protect, as he races against the clock to save Britain’s most secret computer system.

Army veteran Sean McFate kicks off a new series starring mercenary Tom Locke with this “smart, exciting first novel” (Publishers Weekly) that feels altogether too relevant amid the unrest and violence taking place in Ukraine. 

Sent on a dangerous mission to secure an oligarch’s family, Locke finds himself faced with unexpected dangers and unforeseen complications, including his former flame, an impulsive war correspondent in this “gripping journey inside the world of modern warfare and espionage” (Booklist). Can Locke pull it all off, or will it end in disaster of global proportions? There’s only one way to find out…

“Although the subject is serious, even plausible, much of this comedy-thriller is laugh-out-loud funny.” That’s what Library Journal had to say about The Gun Seller, which may not come as much of a surprise when you realize that the author is beloved actor Hugh Laurie, known for such series as House and Jeeves & Wooster.

Here, the multitalented comic actor brings his skill for levity and drama to the story of an ex-soldier who is drawn into a world of international terrorists, arms dealers, and CIA spooks, in a novel that  Booklist calls, “A thoroughgoing pleasure from beginning to end.”

The basis for the 1982 Clint Eastwood movie of the same name, this New York Times-bestselling Cold War thriller “will have you sweating bullets” (New York Times Book Review), as troubled Vietnam veteran Mitchell Gant tries to infiltrate the Soviet Union in order to steal a top-secret plane that can be controlled by thought alone. 

It’s the first Mitchell Gant novel from acclaimed techno thriller pioneer Craig Thomas and, if you can’t get enough of the action and intrigue contained in Firefox, the book has a couple of sequels, not to mention the Clint Eastwood movie.

“The thinking person’s Da Vinci Code” is what BBC Radio calls this breakneck novel from Dominic Selwood that kicks off a trilogy starring MI6 agent turned archaeologist Dr. Ava Curzon.

A militia claims to have gotten hold of the actual Ark of the Covenant in this “rollercoaster” (Daily Express) story featuring Knights Templar, neo-Nazis, freemasons, occultists, and all the intrigue you can handle. And once you finish, there are more Ava Curzon adventures waiting…

“Pure dynamite” raves the Washington Times of this bestselling thriller from author Andrew Kaplan, which introduces readers to Nick Curry, aka Scorpion, the CIA’s top agent in the Middle East. 

Tasked with rescuing a congressman’s daughter from human traffickers, Scorpion finds himself caught up in a plot involving oil, assassination, betrayal, and global politics in this “fast paced, supercharged debut thriller” (Kirkus Reviews) that “truly reads like ‘James Bond in Arabia’” (Tulsa Daily World). For fans, Scorpion’s adventures continue in several more unputdownable books.

“Lawton’s gift for atmosphere, memorable characters and intelligent plotting has been compared to John le Carre,” raves The Seattle Times. “Never mind the comparisons – Lawton can stand up on his own, and Then We Take Berlin is a gem.”

The first in a new series from the author of the acclaimed Inspector Troy novels, this “wonderfully complex and nuanced thriller” (Kirkus Reviews) brings readers into a post-war Berlin where danger lurks around every corner and things are seldom as they seem.

Charles McCarry has been hailed as “an ace spy novelist” (Publishers Weekly) and “the best espionage writer in the English language” (Best Sellers), and there are few better places to see why than in his acclaimed novel of intrigue, The Last Supper. Ranging from pre-World War II Berling to Cold War-era Vietnam, McCarry’s book is one of several featuring his beloved protagonist, CIA Agent Paul Christopher. 

This time, though, as Paul tries to find the truth behind the death of his lover, his investigations will lead him into his own past, the truth behind his father’s murder, and “a shocking twist that turns his world upside down” (Publishers Weekly).

Maybe you’ve seen the classic Robert Redford thriller 3 Days of the Condor, but have you read the novel on which it was based?

See why John Grisham called James Grady a “master of intrigue” in this page-turning book about corruption at the highest levels of the CIA that not only inspired the classic film – and a new TV series featuring Max Irons, Mira Sorvino, and Brendan Fraser – but has also been held up as one of the inspirations for Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

“Aficionados of spy thrillers will want” this “exceptional novel” with a “plot as current as today’s headlines” (Library Journal). The third in Alex Dryden’s “knockout” Anna Resnikov series, about a former KGB operative turned double agent, The Blind Spy is “a chilling novel that reminds us that the Cold War may never be over” (USA Today) from the author that the Richmond Times Dispatch calls “the next John le Carre.” 

In a thriller that feels more relevant than ever, Anna races to try to expose a Russian plot to destabilize Ukraine in this “gripping, smart adventure that crackles with authentic modern spycraft” (Bookreporter.com).

First published more than a century ago and adapted to the screen by none other than Alfred Hitchcock, John Buchan’s The Thirty-Nine Steps helped to establish the model of the modern political thriller. Yet many of us have never read this groundbreaking book, which is just as relentless, insightful, and thrilling as the day it was published.

As an ordinary man tries to foil an assassination attempt and decode an elaborate conspiracy, you can see the beginnings of so many great spy novels to come in this unforgettable classic.

Legendary author Joseph Conrad (Heart of Darkness) may be best known for other kinds of stories, but his only novel set in London is also “in effect the world’s first political thriller” (Paul Theroux, author of The Mosquito Coast). Author Ford Madox Ford (The Good Soldier) called it “an astonishing book” and hailed it as “one of the best – and certainly the most significant – detective stories ever written.” 

The eponymous secret agent is Adolf Verlac, whose anarchist leanings lead him to become involved in a bombing plot that goes terribly awry. In 1936, this classic book was loosely adapted into the Alfred Hitchcock film Sabotage.

John le Carre is considered by many to be one of the finest to ever ply the trade of the political thriller. So when Booklist says that the latest book from Tom Bradby, finalist for multiple Crime Writers Association awards, is filled with “resonant echoes of le Carre,” you know it’s high praise indeed.

In this riveting political thriller, MI6 officer Kate Henderson learns a terrifying secret: that a high-ranking UK politician is actually a Russian spy. As she struggles to uncover the identity of the mole before it’s too late, she finds her career, her family, and even her life all in jeopardy in this tense page-turner.

“A sprawling story of intrigue, gore and steamy sexual encounters” (Los Angeles Times), this classic novel of espionage from the New York Times-bestselling author of The Ninja and the continuing adventures of Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne follows several figures who vie for survival and dominance in Cold War Hong Kong. 

Jake Maroc is a martial arts expert and a top agent for a secret US government organization. Nichiren is a cold-blooded assassin. Shi Zilin is a communist minister. All of them are playing a deadly game in this “eloquent, exciting” (United Press International) story that has thrilled fans all over the world.

From the acclaimed author of A Small Death in Lisbon comes another “top rank” espionage thriller (The Guardian), set in Lisbon near the end of World War II. Andrea Aspinall is a math prodigy recruited to help British intelligence trace a Nazi nuclear program. 

Karl Voss is an attaché for German intelligence who secretly hopes to protect his homeland from the Nazi regime. Together and separately, they face betrayal, danger, and despair in this “evocative and compelling thriller” (Publishers Weekly) that unfolds “with loving patience and rising tension” (Kirkus Reviews).

New York Times bestselling author Jack Higgins may be best known as the author of The Eagle Has Landed, but it was far from his only World War II-set thriller.

Night of the Fox takes place in the days leading up to the Normandy Invasion. A British covert operative must undertake a perilous mission to impersonate a Nazi officer in order to find – or silence – one of the only people who has intel about the invasion.