Top 10 Espionage ThrillersLike this list

10 items

• The Helsinki Affair

  Pitoniak, Anna,

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  Given the ultimate chance to prove herself when a Russian defector walks into her post, brilliant young CIA officer Amanda Cole teams up with a fearless--and legendary--spy to unravel an international conspiracy--one shockingly linked to her father,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Red Sparrow

  a Novel

  Matthews, Jason, 1951-2021,

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  Drafted against her will to serve the regime of Vladimir Putin as an intelligence seductress, Dominika Egorova is assigned to operate against first-tour CIA officer Nathaniel Nash, with whom she engages in a charged effort of deception and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Spy and the Traitor

  the Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War

  Macintyre, Ben, 1963-

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  Okay , this one is nonfiction, but is so fascinating it belongs in this list. John LeCarre called it, “The best true spy story I have ever read.” The son of two KGB agents, Oleg Gordievsky grew to see his nation's communism as both criminal and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• American Spy

  a Novel

  Wilkinson, Lauren, 1984-

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  A Cold War FBI intelligence officer joins an undercover task force to seduce a revolutionary African Communist president known as 'Africa's Che Guevara', she secretly admires and comes to love, in a story inspired by true events.

• Slow Horses

  Herron, Mick

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  First in a series and an Apple+ streaming show. Slough House in London is where the washed-up MI5 spies go to while away what's left of their failed careers. The "slow horses," as they’re called, have all disgraced themselves in some way. Maybe they…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Key to Rebecca

  Follett, Ken

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  While Rommel's army bears down on Cairo, ruthless Nazi agent "The Sphinx" prowls the city's ancient streets to pave the way for an invasion, with no one to stand in his way but a luckless British officer and a Jewish girl.

• Who Is Vera Kelly?

  Knecht, Rosalie,

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  New York City, 1962. Vera Kelly is working night shifts at a radio station when her quick wits, sharp tongue, and technical skills get her noticed by a recruiter for the CIA. Soon she's in Argentina, tasked with wiretapping a congressman and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• A Gathering of Spies

  Altman, John

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  A Nazi spy and a British double agent match wits in this classic World War II thriller. Cunning and lethal, German spy Katarina Heinrich is America's worst nightmare. For years she has been deep undercover, posing as the wife of a Princeton…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Red Widow

  Katsu, Alma

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  Tense, smart and fearless. The Chief of the CIA Russia Division recruits agent Lyndsey Duncan for an internal investigation after three Russian assets are exposed and the CIA is convinced there's a mole in the department. Fellow agent Theresa…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Smiley's People

  Le Carré, John, 1931-2020

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  Of course there must be a Le Carre novel in any decent espionage list. This one offers a sweeping view of the Cold War and its soldiers: the spineless diplomats, the casual killers, and the unlikely heroes who stand up to them.