Good spy fic

All right, I admit it: I do love a good spy fiction. The only problem is, I've either been reading the wrong stuff or all the spy fiction there is needs to be refreshed. I've tried the Young Bond series, but they were kind of boring, and I don't like adult fiction very much, but the book doesn't have to be fully focused on spies. So, does anyone have a suggestion for this picky reader?

Also, good spy shows/movies would be helpful.

Try Ally Carter's "I'd Tell You I Love You, but then I'd Have to Kill You." My sister loved it - a secret school of young spies. Saving the world. Doing background checks on boyfriends. Stuff like that. There's like four book in the series.

The Spellman Files. The best book on the Battle of the Books list this year.

'Undercover Girl' by Christine Harris is a good little series, but the books are rather short and it certainly isn't on an advanced reading level.

I love the Alex Rider novels written by Anthony Horowitz; they're extremely suspenseful and very fast-paced, although I would suggest reading them in order (start with Stormbreaker) in order to really follow the plot. But they are intense, complete with murders and battles and perhaps even some 'suggestive' material. I forget. But they're good!

Hope this helps. I second Lyrical_sunshine's Ally Carter suggestions. They were a funny, light read.

I second the Alex Rider suggestion as suggested by Evi. I don't know if you're willing to go into adult spy fiction, but Daniel Silva is superb. Brad Thor and Vince Flynn aren't too bad either.

There's also The Faithful Spy by Alex Berensen which is a remarkably clever book .

Other than that, there's always the old Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, and Eric Van Lustbader.

Hope this helped.

Agreed. Alex Rider is awesome.

(His other books aren't about spies but they are also really good reads.)

Two cents.


Erm, modern spy. I second what Master_Yoda said. Also, anything by Lawrence Block, Graham Greene's The Human Factor and anything by John Le Carre (particularly The Spy Who Came in From the Cold ) or Eric Ambler.

For historical fiction spy--a favorite of mine is The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emma Orczy.

As for spy shows, two words--Burn Notice. Also, Spooks/MI-5 is good too.