8 spy novels recommended by the Economist.
Bought to my library and all the other 7 added to wishlist.
Happy readings!
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy → John le Carré
“…The first part of John le Carré's acclaimed Karla Trilogy, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy sees the beginning of the stealthy Cold War cat-and-mouse game between the taciturn, dogged George Smiley and his wily Soviet counterpart.
A mole, implanted by Moscow Centre, has infiltrated the highest ranks of the British Intelligence Service, almost destroying it in the process. And so former spymaster George Smiley has been brought out of retirement in order to hunt down the traitor at the very heart of the Circus - even though it may be one of those closest to him….”
From Russia, with Love → Ian Fleming
“…Meet James Bond, the world's most famous spy.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 favourite 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. 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.Bursting with action and intrigue, From Russia with Love is one of the best-loved books in the Bond canon - an instant classic that set the standard for sophisticated literary spycraft for decades to come….”
Tomás Nevinson → Javier Marías
“…UNO DE LOS MEJORES LIBROSDE 2021 SEGÚN EL CULTURAL, BABELIA, EL MUNDO, LA VANGUARDIA, EL HUFFPOST Y GQ
NOVELA GANADORA DEL PREMIO GREGOR VON REZZORI - CIUDAD DE FLORENCIA
«Quizá sea la mejor de cuantas Javier Marías ha publicado hasta ahora.»
José-Carlos Mainer, El País
«Yofuieducado a laantigua, ynuncacreí que mefueran aordenar undíaquematara aunamujer. A lasmujeres no se lastoca, no se lespega, no se leshacedaño...»
Dos hombres, uno en la ficción y otro en la realidad, tuvieron la oportunidad de matar a Hitler antes de que éste desencadenara la Segunda Guerra Mundial. A partir de este hecho, Javier Marías explora el envés del «No matarás». Si esos hombres quizá debieron disparar contra el Führer, ¿cabe la posibilidad de hacerlo contra alguien más? Como dice el narrador de TomásNevinson, «ya se ve que matar no es tan extremo ni tan difícil e injusto si se sabe a quién».
Tomás Nevinson, marido de Berta Isla, cae en la tentación de volver a los Servicios Secretos tras haber estado fuera, y se le propone ir a una ciudad del noroeste para identificar a una persona, medio española y medio norirlandesa, que participó en atentados del IRA y de ETA diez años atrás. Estamos en 1997. El encargo lleva el sello de su ambiguo ex-jefe Bertram Tupra, que ya, mediante un engaño, había condicionado su vida anterior.
La novela, más allá de su trama, es una profunda reflexión sobre los límites de lo que se puede hacer, sobre la mancha que casi siempre trae la evitación del mal mayor y sobre la dificultad de determinar cuál es ese mal. Con el trasfondo de episodios históricos de terrorismo, Tomás Nevinson es también la historia de qué le sucede a quien ya le había sucedido todo y a quien, aparentemente, nada más podía ocurrir. Pero, mientras no terminan, todos los días llegan...”
Dead Lions. → Mick Herron
“…In the Intelligence Service purgatory that is Slough House, where spies mockingly called the slow horses are sent to finish what is left of their careers, their boss Jackson Lamb is on his way Oxford. A former spook has turned up dead on a bus.
Not an obvious target for assassination, Dickie Bow was a talented streetwalker back in the day. Good at following people, bringing home their secrets. Dickie was in Berlin with Jackson Lamb. Now Lamb's got his phone, on it the last secret Dickie ever told, and reason to believe an old-time Moscow-style op is being run in the Intelligence Service's back-yard.
Once a spook, always a spook, and Dickie was one of their own. To unearth Dickie's dying secret Jackson Lamb and his crew of no-hopers is about to go live. …”
5.Damascus Station → David McCloskey
“…IA case officer Sam Joseph is dispatched to Paris to recruit Syrian Palace official Mariam Haddad. The two fall into a forbidden relationship, which supercharges Haddad’s recruitment and creates unspeakable danger when they enter Damascus to find the man responsible for the disappearance of an American spy.Damascus Station …”
Secret Asset → Stella Rimington
“…From the former head of MI5 and bestselling author Stella Rimington comes the heart-stopping second novel featuring MI5 Intelligence Officer Liz Carlyle.
When Intelligence Officer Liz Carlyle learns from one of her agents that suspicious meetings are taking place at an Islamic bookshop, she trusts her instinct that a terrorist cell is at work. Her boss, Charles Wetherby, immediately puts a surveillance operation into place. An attack seems imminent.
So Liz is surprised when Wetherby suddenly takes her off the case. And she’s shocked to hear the reason why: he has received a tip-off that a mole is at work inside British Intelligence. If true, then the potential damage to the Service itself could be immeasurable. Now, as her colleagues scramble to avert a terrorist strike, Liz must find out who the mole is, and what their intentions are, before it is too late. …”
Transcription → Kate Atkinson
“…Dame Stella may know more than most novelists about tradecraft, but Kate Atkinson knows better than almost anyone how to write. In the superb “Transcription” Ms Atkinson has created a female lead for the ages. Juliet Armstrong is a perfect foil for the discreet, male-dominated world of espionage. Armstrong subverts her patronising superiors with humour and wit. “You have a good ear,” one spy chief tells her. “I have two, sir,” she replies brightly. Recruited at the beginning of the second world war by mi5, her job is to go undercover to penetrate Britain’s networks of posh Nazi sympathisers before they can harm the war effort. Aside from writing sparkling prose, Ms Atkinson also does her homework: overflowing with new recruits in 1940, mi5 really did move into Wormwood Scrubs prison. …”
Our Man in Havana → Graham Greene
“…Wormold is a vacuum cleaner salesman in a city of power cuts. His adolescent daughter spends his money with a skill that amazes him, so when a mysterious Englishman offers him an extra income he's tempted. In return all he has to do is carry out a little espionage and file a few reports. But when his fake reports start coming true, things suddenly get more complicated and Havana becomes a threatening place. …”
https://www.economist.com/the-economist-reads/2023/11/24/eight-of-the-best-spy-novels?utm_medium=social-media.content.np&utm_source=linkedin&utm_campaign=editorial-social&utm_content=discovery.content.evergreen
- Pedro
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