3/1/2024 0 Comments Spy novelsI particularly enjoyed The Good German ( The cost of total war was clear in Berlin after World War II) and Leaving Berlin ( From Joseph Kanon, one of the best of today’s spy novels). To date, he has written nine novels, all spy thrillers set in the aftermath of World War II. Joseph Kanon was a major figure in the publishing industry for many years before writing his first novel, Los Alamos, in 1997. I especially enjoyed Siro ( The most intelligent spy novel I’ve read in many years) and A Firing Offense ( A suspenseful espionage story about journalists and spies). He is married to a physician, with whom he has three daughters. Among them was a George Polk Award for his coverage of the Jamal Kashoggi murder. Ignatius has won many honors for his journalistic work. He remains associated with Harvard University, serving for a time as an adjunct lecturer in the Kennedy School of Government. He was born into America’s East Coast elite, the son of a former Secretary of the Navy, and educated at Harvard and King’s College, Cambridge. Ignatius is a columnist and editor for the Washington Post, where he has worked for all but three years since 1986. The eleven spy novels David Ignatius has written (to date) are a sideline. The books are brilliantly written in Herron’s uniquely witty style. Herron was born in England in 1963 and educated at Balliol College of Oxford University, where he studied English. I suggest beginning with the first of the lot, Slow Horses ( British satire about misfit spies in MI5). ![]() I’ve reviewed the books of the Slough House series at Following Mick Herron’s clever British spies at Slough House. The series is now appearing online on Apple+ TV in a superb adaptation starring Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas. The fictional Slough House is where the misfits and rule-breakers of MI5 are sent to molder until retirement because, for one reason or another, they can’t be persuaded to resign. In 2010, he brought out the first of the ten Slough House novels published to date (with an eleventh on the way as I write). Mick Herron began his career as a mystery writer in 2003 with the publication of the first of four novels about an Oxford-based private eye name Zoë Boehm. My favorite is his first The Best of Our Spies ( An extraordinary World War II spy story grounded in historical fact). You’ll find my reviews of five of Alex’s novels at Top-notch spy novels from Alex Gerlis. As his publisher notes in his bio online, “He’s frequently asked if he’s ever worked for an intelligence agency but always declines to answer the question in the hope that someone may believe he actually has.” Alex has two daughters and two grandsons. He now lives in west London with his wife and two black cats. He was a BBC journalist for nearly thirty years. Alex GerlisĪlex Gerlis is the author of nine Second World War espionage thrillers. My favorite among Furst’s novels is his 2000 entry, Kingdom of Shadows ( From Alan Furst, one of the best spy novels of recent years). His mastery of the moods and the political environment in Europe before and during the Second World War is unexcelled, and the flawed, believable characters he writes about cause him to be regularly compared to Graham Greene and Eric Ambler. Furst is American but writes knowledgeably about events and people in Central and Eastern Europe as well as France. You’ll find my reviews of his 15 novels in The evocative Night Soldiers series from Alan Furst. Alan FurstĪlan Furst writes historical novels about espionage in Europe during the years leading up to and during the Second World War. He was educated at Eton College and the University of Edinburgh. ![]() (In fact, some observers believe there may have been as many as eight or 10 spies in the Cambridge ring.) Cumming was born in Scotland in 1971. The novel pivots on the existence of the long-rumored “sixth man” of the Cambridge Five, which included the notorious Soviet spies Kim Philby, Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt, and John Cairncross. The best of the Cumming stories I’ve read to date is The Trinity Six ( A stellar new spy story by Charles Cumming). ![]() ![]() As a young man, he was briefly a “support agent” for Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), as reflected in his first novel, A Spy by Nature ( A worthy spy story that foretells more good reading to come). You’ll find those reviews at Charles Cumming’s first-rate spy thrillers. I’ve reviewed most of the eleven spy novels Charles Cumming has written.
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