Hey there, I've got a bit of a project on that I need some inspiration for - I'm looking for good espionage/spy type books with good plots and twists and preferably a techy/near future angle as well.
I could do with some suggestions from Ask Hatrack (tm)!
Posted by Jim-Me (Member # 6426) on :
Cardinal in the Kremlin is probably the modern standard, although I haven't read it...
*ducks stones from Clancy fans*
Posted by krynn (Member # 524) on :
what about any of those tom clancey books?
Edit: oh, i didnt see that last bit.. hehe, *looks for a stone.*
Posted by Will B (Member # 7931) on :
I was going to say Clancy, too. (Don't see the need for a stone -- Cardinal fits the bill perfectly.)
Posted by Jim-Me (Member # 6426) on :
I meant I'd be stoned for that being the only Clancy I've never read... *everyone* says it's the best of them.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Jim-Me, it is. Definitely my favorite of all of them.
What about The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John LeCarre?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
If you want techy, this isn't a good suggestion, but there's an Allistair McLean novel called "The Secret Ways" (U.S. title) or "The Last Frontier."
It's about a British agent attempting to get back a defector/kidnapped atomic weapons designer from Hungary. Best spy novel I ever read.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
They're not near future, but I'd suggest a series called, I think, Great True Spy Stories. The name is accurate, its written by a former head of the CIA, iirc.
Many of them are somewhat techy, though a slightly older tech.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
I didn't key in on the techy aspect - Le Carre's novel was written in the 60's, I believe, so it probably won't fit the bill. Great novel though.
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
I sort of liked Tinker, Tailer, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carre, myself.
Posted by HollowEarth (Member # 2586) on :
Do Rain Fall, Hard Rain and Rain Storm count?
Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
I third the John Le Carre suggestions, even though his works aren't techie. He was actually a spy for the British, I believe. Which gives his stories a little extra weight.
Posted by Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy (Member # 9384) on :
The most recent John Grisham novel (The Broker, I believe it is called) sounds right up the alley you are seeking.
Posted by airmanfour (Member # 6111) on :
Le Carre rules!
Posted by Troubadour (Member # 83) on :
Great options, Hatrack - thanks...
Now, to qualify it a bit further - I'm looking for something that's almost a cross between spy/james bond and the matrix - anything like that out there?
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
Spin State by Chris Moriarty qualifies: the lead charactor is an intelligence officer who regularly plugs into an information space that spans light years, via quantum entangled communication networks. Thanks to nano-enabled wetware, it's not like todays internet but far more immersive.
As the Kansas City Star said (I'll steal jokes but always source blurbs):" An impressive hard sci-fi debut..." It's a good read, though Moriarty trys to tackle too much. But I'd rather a writer be too ambitious and only partially succeed than try to be mediocre and succeed wonderfully. I'm planning on reading the sequel, inevitably titled Spin Control.
Posted by sweetbaboo (Member # 8845) on :
My husband votes for Memorial Day by Vince Flynn
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
OK, the first novel that came to mind was "Shibumi" by Trevanian.
In the top twenty of favorite books ever. (this week, anyway!)
I read it a long time ago. I guess it fits as a spy novel.
Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
Hmm, I know of a book that's exactly what you might be looking for. Long story, but I don't know the title or author, just where it is on the library shelf. Will you still be looking this weekend? I can get it for you then.
Posted by Jim-Me (Member # 6426) on :
Oh... not exactly about espionage, and really not the direction you are headed with this, but a must read for a variety of reasons is Neal Stephenson's Crytonomicon... and it comes complete with your own, fairly secure, code cypher developed by a legitimate, real-life spy!
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
"Ghost in the Shell" Anime movie or series. OK, they are not books per se, but, hey there fun.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Cardinal is pretty good.
Heck, most of the Clancy "Jack Ryan" novels involve a bit of espionage, that one is the most heavily dependent on it.
The Bear and the Dragon also has a subplot on espionage that might interest you if that's the only think you're interested in, but all the J. Ryan books are based on the CIA (or a CIA agent after he leaves the CIA).
Posted by Troubadour (Member # 83) on :
Hey Blacwolve - yeah, if you've got something in mind I'll still be looking, got a lot of research underway.
Thanks all!
Posted by human_2.0 (Member # 6006) on :
The Blue Nowhere by Jeffery Deaver is about a computer techie using social engineering to do bad things. Some of the computer facts were stretched, but not by much.