Thriller/Spy novel writers - essential reading

For a bit of fun I thought we could share what we think are THE books to read in our genre.
My ultimate favourite, of all time, absolutely, no returns is The Fist of God by Frederick Forsyth. It is amazing. So well researched, well written, exciting and with a sting in the tail you never see coming. There are others that are good but TFoG is truly what I aspire to write.

Others I think are good, though obviously no match for TFoG, are:
The Darkling Spy - Edward Wilson
The Innocent - Ian McEwan
Rainbow Six - Tom Clancy
Daniel Silva's series about Gabriel
Restless - William Boyd

LL

The Hunt For Red October also by Clancy is very good.

I would add Ken Follett's Eye of the Needle. And John LeCarre's early books, like Tinker, Tailor...

Thanks for these reads. I like Lee Childs books for plotting.

Actually, I think the best type of book to read are books like "The Puzzle Palace" and "The Spymasters of Israel". Though not novels, the background info is great for making it seem like you are someone who has been in the game.

The last few years I've been hooked on the Kellermans--both Johnathan and Faye--and Elizabeth George. I love the way they're able to carry the characters through so many books and come up with such great plots and subplots.

John Verdon's "Think of A Number" and "Shut Your Eyes Tight".

Ian Fleming's James Bond novels, especially Casino Royale. Jeremy Duns' Free Agent is also a good read.

I highly recommend VInce Flynn whose m/c Mitch Rapp is a CIA agent a la Jack Bauer. Flynn's research is so good he's been made essential reading for people in the US gov't. Plus it's fun. For a different take, sort of anti-Bauer, try Alex Berenson. He's a seasoned journalist with a great style and good solid detail.

I suggest Brad Thor's novels. They are very good when dealing with foreign terrorists, usually Muslim extrememists.

The Bourne trilogy (esp. the first one) by Robert Ludlum, are solid titles in the genre.

I'm on with Heiditwit for Lee Child. One Shot was the first I read by him and remains to be one of my favorites. Also Hugh Laurie's The Gun Seller. It's primarily a spoof on spy novels and is quite funny, but the plot is still smart and the characters are well-developed.

I agree that reading some nonfiction will be more helpful with getting it right, but I also think that the way a spy actually thinks may come across better in really good spy fiction. Someone who's studied the type.

I haven't read much spy fiction, but I've been taking notes on titles lately. I like Barry Eisler's John Rain series, which are probably pretty accurate in regard to what's possible, although most people are not as sociopathic as John Rain is. I hope!

I'v also been getting a lot out of watching Burn Notice.

And I'm currently reading John Perkins' Confessions of an Economic Hitman, although his mission wasn't quite so covert as some--more creating propaganda, I'd say.

Andy mcnabs Nick Stone books good examples of trade craft and the human cost.

As a great kickoff for spy writers, Rachel Maddow had a funny piece on some actual Russian spies doing handoffs, which the FBI caught on film, tonight (10/31). I don't know if it's okay to do links here, but you can find the show on line quite easily, and the segments are marked.

Let's just say that real life spies are not necessarily always all that slick.

I just finished reading Minette Walters' "The Ice House", which was great fun-- and it's the main reason I chose to write a mystery this year. I listened to the audiobook version and now that I know the ending I'm listening to it again but paying more attention to how the story was crafted and the clues laid out.

Seconded everybody who boosted John Le Carre. Martin Cruz Smith has also been a big inspiration for me, and I have a particular fondness for an 80s British spy author called Craig Thomas (his main claim to fame is that Clint Eastwood made one of his books into a thoroughly mediocre film)

Eric Ambler
Alan Furst

Both very atmospheric spy thrillers, lots of atmosphere, in Fursts case slightly less plot.
Also the arch father of all spy heroes: John Buchan. The most famous of these is the 39 Steps, you might know it as the Hitchcock movie

Martin Cruz Smith's Renko series is one of the best ever, as is Philip Kerr's Bernie Günther's series. Both live in a very well researched environment, it's dark, cynical, and tremendously well written. Not spy novels though, Renko is a Russian police officer (Gorki Park!), where as Günther is a private eye in pre and post was Berlin.

Jeffery Deaver, of course, and Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar series.