Spy novel?

[mi77915]

Hi everyone,

I am new here on this forum and I am looking for a really good spy/espionage novel. I have been typically reading "classic" (The Scarlet Letter, Weathering Heights.....) and would like to expand my reading into this area. Any recommendations/suggestions?

Thank you,

Tom

 

[chiangmaifalcon]

The Honourable Schoolboy by John le Carre is my favorite spy novel.

 

[Peder]

Definitely LeCarré and, most especially, his Smiley series.
Begin with The Spy Who Came in From the Cold to get the flavor of things.

 

[ReadReviewer]

Honestly, the only 'spy' novels I've ever read were old James Bond novels. When I was a teenager I read "Moon Raker" by Ian Flemming, and it got me reading the rest of them. It's been a looong long time, however, and I don't know how well they'll hold up to an adult's more sophisticated book pallet.

 

[Peder]

Len Deighton has also written a bunch. The quality is variable but Funeral in Berlin seems the best of them to me.
He has also written a number of novels in trilogy sets -- Hook, Line, Sinker and Point, Set, Match, being six examples that come to mind. I don't know their sequence, but if you can start at the front they go on for quite a while with a serial plot, and they do have their own high moments too.

 

[Stewart]

Look up Eric Ambler's novels, some of Grahame Greene's spy novels, and similarly W. Somerset Maugham's.

 

[mmyap]

I was browsing amazon today and came across a author by the name of Alan Bradley who has Moscow Rules and Defector out. They look pretty good. I'm just adding them to my local library request list so I haven read them yet.

Has anyone any feedback about them for mi77915?

 

[mi77915]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions!!! I stopped by my local Borders yesterday and picked up a copy on John Le Carre's "The Honourable Schoolboy". Started reading as soon as I got home. So far, it seems like it will be a winner!! I will definitely get some of the others mentioned above and see what they are like also.

Thanks again,

Tom