Genre: Spy novel

Agent of Byzantium

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Agent of Byzantium
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From the New York Times–bestselling “standard-bearer for alternate history”: A spy takes on the enemies of the Byzantine Empire (USA Today).

In another, very different timeline—one in which Mohammed embraced Christianity and Islam never came to be—the Byzantine Empire still flourishes in the fourteenth century, and wondrous technologies are emerging earlier than they did in our own.

Having lost his family to the ravages of smallpox, Basil Argyros has decided to dedicate his life to Byzantium. A stalwart soldier and able secret agent, Basil serves his emperor courageously, going undercover to unearth Persia’s dastardly plots and disrupting the dark machinations of his beautiful archenemy, the Persian spy Mirrane, while defusing dire threats emerging from the Western realm of the Franco-Saxons.

But the world Basil so staunchly defends is changing rapidly, and he must remain ever vigilant, for in this great game of empires, the player who controls the most advanced tools and weaponry—tools like gunpowder, printing, vaccines, and telescopes—must certainly emerge victorious.

A collection of interlocking stories that showcase the courage, ingenuity, and breathtaking derring-do of superspy Basil Argyros, Agent of Byzantium presents the great Harry Turtledove at his alternate-world-building best. At once intricate, exciting, witty, and wildly inventive, this is a many-faceted gem from a master of the genre.

The Duke of Uranium (Jak Jinnaka Book 1)

The Duke of Uranium (Jak Jinnaka Book 1)
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A “wildly entertaining homage to the best ’60s Heinlein juveniles,” from a multiple Nebula finalist (Publishers Weekly).

Jak Jinnaka’s teenage life in the thirty-sixth century has been nothing but fun—ignoring school, partying outrageously with his beautiful girlfriend, Sesh, and spending his uncle Sib’s huge fortune. But then, while they are out for a wild night of post-graduation clubbing, Sesh is kidnapped by the dangerous, enigmatic Duke of Uranium.

Bruised and battered, Jak wakes up to a whole new reality. Sweet, superficial Sesh is actually Princess Shyf of Greenworld, daughter of the rulers of a powerful faraway spaceport. Kind and slightly dotty old Uncle Sib is a legendary spymaster. And Jak’s whole life has been preparation for the world of espionage . . .

Now, his maiden mission is to rescue his girlfriend from one of the most powerful aristocrats in the solar system—or is it? The world Uncle Sib has plunged him into has wheels within every wheel and hidden forces in every shadow, in this action-packed tale by the acclaimed author of Directive 51 and the Timeline Wars series.

“Rollicking space opera with outlaws, space travel, kidnappings, rescues, chases, and the abrupt coming of age of the protagonist.” —Science Fiction Chronicle

“Barnes plays with old-fashioned space opera in this far-future SF adventure. . . . This is a fun romp.” —Locus

Esoterrorism (Red Room Book 1)

Esoterrorism (Red Room Book 1)
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FROM THE BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF THE RULES OF SUPERVILLAINY

There are no good guys in the world of shadows … but maybe some bad men are better than others. Derek Hawthorne was born to be an agent of the Red Room. Literally. Raised in a conspiracy which has protected the world from the supernatural for centuries, he’s never been anything other than a servant of their agenda.

Times are changing, though, and it may not be long before their existence is exposed. When a routine mission uncovers the latest plan of the magical terrorist, the Wazir, Derek finds himself saddled with a new partner. Who is the mysterious but deadly Shannon O’Reilly? What is her agenda? Couple this with the discovery the Red Room has a mole seeking to frame Derek for treason and you have a plot which might bring down a millennium-old organization. Can he stop the Wazir’s mission to expose the supernatural? And should he?

***

“If you’re a fan of the Archer cartoon on FX, then I highly recommend you give this series a try.” – Hotlistens.com

“Snarky humor everywhere!” – Dab of Darkness

The Ministry of Fear

The Ministry of Fear
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In London during the Blitz, an amnesiac must outwit a twisted Nazi plot in this “master thriller” of espionage, murder, and deception (Time).

On a peaceful Sunday afternoon, Arthur Rowe comes upon a charity fete in the gardens of a Cambridgeshire vicarage where he wins a game of chance. If only this were an ordinary day. Britain is under threat by Germany, and the air raid sirens that bring the bazaar to a halt expose Rowe as no ordinary man. Recently released from a psychiatric prison for the mercy killing of his wife, he is burdened by guilt, and now, in possession of a seemingly innocuous prize, on the run from a nest of Nazi spies who want him dead.

Pursued on a dark odyssey through the bombed-out streets of London, he becomes enmeshed in a tangle of secrets that reach into the dark recesses of his own forgotten past. And there isn’t a soul he can trust, not even himself. Because Arthur Rowe doesn’t even know who he really is.

“A storyteller of genius,” Graham Greene composed his serpentine mystery of authentic wartime espionage—and one the author’s personal favorites—while working for MI6 (Evelyn Waug

Kim by Rudyard Kipling

Kim by Rudyard Kipling
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1901 (the first) edition. illustrated

“Kim” is a novel by Nobel Prize-winning English author Rudyard Kipling. “Kim” is listed on the BBC’s The Big Read poll of the UK’s “best-loved novel.”Book is considered by many to be Kipling’s masterpiece, one of the best stories in English about India.It is a tale of adventure, a drama of a boy, a mystical story that unfolds against the backdrop of “The Great Game”, the political conflict between Russia and Britain in Central Asia. Story is set after the Second Afghan War (ended 1881).

The story is set after the Second Afghan War (which ended in 1881), but before the Third (fought in 1919)

Kim (Kimball O’Hara) is the orphaned son of an Irish soldier and a poor Irish mother, living a vagabond existence in India under British rule in the late 19th century. Kim earns his living by begging and running small errands on the streets of Lahore. He becomes lama’s disciple, is trained as an English spy, travels around the India, performs spy missions.

 

Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene

Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene
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‘Listen. You’re a patriotic Englishman. Highly respected. Been here for years. A wide circle of influential friends. It is important that we have our man in Havana, Mr Wormwold.’

Jim Wormwold, an under-employed vacuum cleaner salesman living in 1950s Cuba, is struggling to pay for his teenage daughter’s increasingly extravagant lifestyle. So when the British Secret Service asks him to become their ‘man in Havana’ he can’t afford to say no. There’s just one problem… he doesn’t know anything! To avoid suspicion, he begins to recruit non-existent sub-agents, concocting a series of intricate fictions. Soon, he’s apparently deciphering incomprehensible codes, passing along sketches of secret weapons that look suspiciously like vacuum parts, and claiming to recruit fellow operatives from his country club, all to create the perfect picture of intrigue.

But Wormwold soon discovers that his stories are closer to the truth tan he could ever have imagined…

When MI6 dispatches a secretary to oversee his endeavors, Wormold fears his carelessly fabricated world will come undone. Instead, it all comes true. Somehow, he’s become the target of an assassin, and it’s going to take more than a fib to get out of Cuba alive. Her Majesty’s man in Havana may have to resort to spying.

A hapless salesman in Cuba is recruited into Cold War spy games in Greene’s classic “comical, satirical, atmospherical” novel (The Daily Telegraph).
Named one of the 20 Best Spy Novels of All Time by the Telegraph and adapted into the classic 1959 comedy starring Alec Guinness, Our Man in Havana is “high-comic mayhem . . . weirdly undated . . . [and] bizarrely prescient” (Christopher Buckley, New York Times–bestselling author).

Casino Royale: A James Bond Novel

Casino Royale: A James Bond Novel
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Casino Royale

Casino Royale is the first novel by the British author Ian Fleming. It is the first James Bond book, and it paved the way for a further eleven novels and two short story collections by Fleming, followed by numerous continuation Bond novels by other authors.

Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British writer, journalist and naval intelligence officer who is best known for his James Bond series of spy novels.

“Le Chiffre” is a ruthless operative and the accountant for a soviet SMERSH cell in France, but he’s on the verge of disaster after gambling away his client’s money. Taking the last of his stash, he lures a dozen wealthy players to a high-stakes baccarat game, hoping to hustle his way whole.

The British Secret Service would like to see this red thorn plucked from the hide of Europe, and sends their best card sharp, James Bond, to bankrupt Le Chiffre for good.

With the cards running against him and SMERSH operatives threatening to kill him and his beautiful ally, Vesper Lynd, 007 needs his luck to turn before he wagers away their lives.

The Quiller Memorandum

The Quiller Memorandum
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The classic tale of espionage that started it all! In this first book in the QUILLER series, undercover agent Quiller is asked to take the place of a fellow spy who has recently been murdered in Berlin, in identifying the headquarters of an underground but powerful Nazi organization, Phönix, twenty years after World War II. But when Quiller gets too close, he becomes the hunted and must outsmart Phönix against all odds to both uncover their secrets and stay alive.

Winner of the 1966 Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best Novel, 1966 Grand Prix de Littérature Policière for Best International Crime Novel.

Adapted into a major motion picture in 1966, starring George Segal, with a screenplay by Harold Pinter.

“One of the small handful of truly distinguished spy novels of the 1960’s.”
– Anthony Boucher, The New York Times Book Review

The Brotherhood of the Rose

The Brotherhood of the Rose
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From the master of high action comes a classic espionage thriller that changed the way spy novels were written, the first to combine the British tradition of authentic espionage tradecraft with the American tradition of non-stop action.

He visited them in the orphanage. He brought them candy and taught them to love him as a father. He trained them to be assassins. Now he is trying desperately to have them killed. Spanning the globe and decades of CIA history, THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROSE is a thriller of fierce loyalty and violent betrayal, of murders planned and coolly executed, of revenge bitterly, urgently desired.

“David Morrell is a master of suspense. He wields it like a stiletto—know just where to stick it and how to turn it. If you’re reading Morrell, you’re sitting on the edge of your seat.”
—Michael Connelly

“Imagine a suspense thriller as riveting as The Thirty-Nine Steps or Rogue Male, featuring heroes the equal of Adam Hall’s Quiller, and crackling with more action than The Road Warrior, Dirty Harry, and The Seven Samurai. Sounds too good to be true? Then just read David Morrell’s THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROSE.”—Washington Post Book World

“Fast-paced, intelligent, exciting and hard-hitting.”
—Nelson DeMille, New York Times bestselling author of The Panther

“David Morrell is, to me, the finest thriller writer living today.”
—Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of The Columbus Affair

Firewall (The Firewall Spies Book 1)

Firewall (The Firewall Spies Book 1)
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When a scientist at the world’s top AI company is murdered, a covert CIA operative must recruit a former love interest to help uncover the killer.

With its genius CEO and breakthrough technology, the Silicon Valley-based Pax AI Corporation is one of the hottest companies in the sector. But when one of their top scientists is murdered at a prestigious tech conference, company executives and foreign spies are all on the suspect list.

In the aftermath of the killing, CIA officer Colt McShane has been assigned to a joint counterintelligence unit based in San Francisco. The unit’s leadership believes that an international espionage ring has been stealing classified technology from Pax AI.

Now they want Colt to use his past relationship with Pax AI executive Ava Klein to penetrate the company’s inner circle, and uncover the mole.

But as Colt learns more about Pax AI’s classified programs, he discovers just how powerful—and dangerous—their new technology can be. As the struggle for AI dominance grows ever more competitive, the factions vying for power are becoming desperate to achieve victory.

In the fight for absolute power, there can be only one winner. Each side has their own spies and secrets.

Whose side will win? And what secrets will they reveal?

With FIREWALL, USA Today bestselling author Andrew Watts brings you a fast-paced, cerebral mystery that’s part spy novel, part technothriller, and sure to keep you guessing every step of the way.