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Spy novels?

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 11:12 am
by Amara
Possibly an odd thing to inquire on here, but does anyone have any recommendations? I've read all of James Bond, naturally...but my favorite writer I've found would definitely be Le Carr├®. I also greatly enjoyed Keith Thomson's Once a Spy. I may have teared up too. Just a little. My grandfather died from Alzheimer's.

I like spy stories that are about the person, not the gadgets... I like intelligent, quick witted heroes and convoluted mind games. I also enjoy Burn Notice and Covert Affairs, if that helps...though really Burn Notice had better do something interesting with its next season, because I feel it should have just ended after Card's arc.

Re: Spy novels?

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 1:05 pm
by TinSoldier
I would certainly recommend the original Bourne trilogy.

If I remember correctly they're a bit different from the movies, mainly because they're much older.

Re: Spy novels?

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 1:16 pm
by Amara
Ah, Bourne! I'd been meaning to pick them back up and almost forgot. I never did finish...only read Identity.

Re: Spy novels?

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 5:56 pm
by ThroughTheWell
Spyish stories... I prefer real to fictional. There tends to be less facy eqipment from Q, but the people are 'more' real and they may not always know the implications of what they are doing. WWII is obviously a good source. Fictional spies can kind of always pull a rabit out of the hat when needed. And some spy movies these days amp the action side up to unbelieveable levels.

The Falcon and the Snowman - not great, but showes base motivations.
A french singer who was barely past being a girl... titled For Freedom by Kimberly Bradley. Nice use of an ordinary person, and tension.
A guy in France that learned on his own how to be a resistance fighter (not a spy, but the tension is similar). Can't remember his name.
Most any story where people hid other people in WWII.
The Heavy Water Raid up north in WWII... I think this one made it into a movie.
Precursor to OSS(?) training... I want to say written by Flemming?

Wow, my memory for specifics is really gone.