Spy Novels

These fall into two categories, basically, the fantastic and the realistic. Among the first, the prime example is the James Bond series, which is a separate web page on this site. In the second, the best of course is John LeCarre. A spy novel is not a mystery or even thriller in the usual sense, although a good one will contain both elements. There should at least be a mystery -- Who are the villains? What is their diabolical plot? How will the hero defeat them? There should also be a lot of killing, and, preferably, some sex -- a damsel in distress or something. Really evil villains are important too, to justify the generally sleazy behavior of your master-spy hero. Ambiance is also criticial, an exotic setting, or a familiar one regarded in a new light. Given that, here is a sample reading list:

• Eric Ambler -- A Coffin for Dimitrios: an all-time classic 'noir' story about sleazy Balkan crooks/spies. Ambler's other books from the 1930's are also very fine -- he was a pioneer of the 'realistic' school. [Peter Lorre was the hero in the fine movie made of this, by the way, and he was wonderfully miscast in that role, which was intentionally done, bravo to the director, and to him.]
• Erskine Childers -- The Riddle of the Sands: the most famous of the early realistic spy novels, a sailboat expedition into the Frisian Islands, very well done. [Childers, an Irishman, was executed by the British during the "Troubles" -- his son became president of Ireland a while back.]
• Manning Coles: Drink to Yesterday and A Toast for Tomorrow -- Tommy Hambledon was the hero of several spy novels written in the 1940s and later. These two are the first (1940), and the best of the series. The latter is especially interesting in that it takes place in Weimar Germany and during the early days of Hitler, with Goebbels as the main villain. Nice job all round, and well written.
• Len Deighton: A Funeral in Berlin -- anonymous spy (a.k.a. Harry Palmer played by Michael Caine in the movies), a fresh antidote at the time to the James Bond absurdities of spydom. Deighton's later books with chess themes just got too complicated to bother with.
• Ian Fleming: On Her Majesty's Secret Service -- after re-reading the entire series in December 1999, I have picked this as the best. It has everything a James Bond novel should have, and what you would expect. Of course, Fleming falls into the 'fantasy' school of spy fiction, along with the authors of the Our Man Flint movies and Matt Helm (who was totally misplayed by Dean Martin -- the Donald Hamilton books deserved better than that).
• John LeCarre: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold -- an absolutely devastating book that out-Amblered Ambler and pleased James Bond haters. His later books in the Smiley's People series are also wonderful but very heavy reading with their complex plots and characters.
• Anthony Price: Gunner Kelly -- had to throw in this author since he is (was?) one of the best, with very erudite but moving cold-war plots. Recently re-read the whole series and now perhaps think Tomorrow's Ghost is the best. They are all characterized by complex plotting in the sense that nobody ever says anything straightforward.
• E. Phillips Oppenheim, et al. -- no particular book, but he should be mentioned, along with Somerset Maugham, Graham Greene, Victor Canning, "Bulldog Drummond", John Buchan, Manning Coles, Joseph Conrad, and others I can't think of at the moment. They all made major contributions to the genre in its early days. [And I beg your pardon if your favorite spy novelist is just listed here under Oppenheim -- and e-mail me if you think I left anybody else out.]