Best non- Bond spy novel
Number24
NorwayPosts: 22,334MI6 Agent
what is the best spy novel you have ever read, not counting Bond novels?
I don't know myself. I just read "Concent to kill" by Vince Flynn. I liked it, despite the author's politics. Good characters, good action, story and humor. I found the politicians too blunt. A CIA directors actually says to a superior (with the president in the room) that the book's hero might kill him!
But all in all, pretty good.
I don't know myself. I just read "Concent to kill" by Vince Flynn. I liked it, despite the author's politics. Good characters, good action, story and humor. I found the politicians too blunt. A CIA directors actually says to a superior (with the president in the room) that the book's hero might kill him!
But all in all, pretty good.
Comments
One of Len Deighton's, for sure. Exactly which one I'd have difficulty in selecting- probably Funeral In Berlin.
Ambler's post-war work is also definitely worth tracking down. In particular The Night-Comers and The Levanter are terrifically enthralling, although many people enjoy The Light of Day. It is a stretch to describe this as a spy novel, however it does combine many of the elements of the spy genre. The Light of Day is completely different in tone from the spy thrillers Ambler wrote in the pre-war era: there is not the urgency of, say, Uncommon Danger or Journey Into Fear. The atmosphere is different too. The Light of Day has a more leisurely feel, and both the setting and the pacing combine to create a sort of languid, sunset-by-the-Bosphorous tone. Greece and Turkey are realised beautifully; Ambler draws you in so that you really feel like you are there.
Ambler’s greatest success here is in terms of character. Arthur is a pathetic central character (he is certainly no hero), and yet he does not elicit sympathy: “I have often thought of killing myself, so that I wouldn’t have to think or feel or remember any more, so that I could rest; but then I have always started worrying in case this afterlife they preach about really exists. It might turn out to be even bloodier than the old one.” With a penchant for self-pity Arthur is rather difficult to like. Nonetheless, with wonderful little insights peppered throughout the novel Ambler builds this completely compelling and fascinating character about whom you want to learn more, and by the end it becomes clear why Arthur has become so wayward. (Basically it has a lot to do with his childhood and the way the British Government treat him: Arthur is effectively a stateless person).
Eric Ambler comes highly recommended, but there are a multitude of others. The definitive 'man-on-the-run' thriller is not John Buchan's The Thirty-Nine Steps but Geoffrey Household's Rogue Male. The first-person story is pitched perfectly for this sort of confessional novel, and Household fashions a breathless, anxious and alive narrative propelled forward by the thrilling quality of his writing and the sparse feeling of desperation on the part of the narrator. A self-appointed mission to assassinate an enemy country's leader (who remains anonymous, although it is quite obviously Hitler) goes wrong, and the narrator then finds himself pursued across country and then, having escaped by ship, in Britain. Should you read it you will find yourself on the edge of your seat: Rogue Male is an unsettling read which delves into the mind of a man determined to assassinate his country's foe (although a more personal motivation is later revealed). In this way it is a quite political and psychological work, themes which are examined while never losing the 'thrilling' quality. Paced superbly and quintessentially British, in Rogue Male Household created a most exciting thriller.
I'm also a big fan of Joseph Hone's The Private Sector. This criminally forgotten novel is an intelligently crafted spy novel written with such imaginative flourish that the primary setting–post-Colonial Egypt–truly emerges from the page. The writing is alive, Hone delighting in his spirited use of the English language to create a vivid and colourful atmosphere. The characterisation feels incredibly real, each of Hone's cast has a myriad of flaws and is adapting to the cold and callous world of international espionage.
The Private Sector is a highly literate read. While the complexity of the plot is reminiscent of a dreaded Le Carrè novel, the distinguished prose and literary flourish lift Sector above the ‘Desk’ contemporaries. Some of the passages are just lyrical, and as a result Egypt truly comes alive as a character in her own right. Consider this: “June 13, the Queen’s birthday: the maple leaf over the British Embassy buildings wrapped around the flag post, a mourning drape in the still air, the heat rising like a smack in the face from the yellow, burning streets; kites motionless in the sky far away, specks in the distance, like aeroplanes, until they dipped suddenly, swerving over the trees on Gezira Island: the old Peugeot taxis braying across Kasr el Nil bridge, and he Mercedes, gliding by, curtained against the glare: a group of farmers up from the country, with sheep and goats and huge shallow metal dishes of simmering beans, camping under sheets of corrugated paper against the corniche in front of Shepheard’s Hotel. The harsh amplified prayers from a mosque at the corner of El Trahir: June 13, the Queen’s birthday.” The local colour with which Hone so successfully imbues his novel is exquisite. With focus comes great enjoyment as this is a particularly believable account of intrigue.
These three are British writers and they are, admittedly, very British in style. An American author I particularly enjoy is Donald Hamilton, whose Matt Helm is surely one of the great spy fiction characters. Death of a Citizen, Hamilton's first Helm novel, is utterly brilliant: violent, cold, cynical, low-key and brutal. Yet Helm nevertheless emerges as something of a human, and the title refers not just to the death of a civilian scientist, but to the death of Matt Helm the family man, a life he has built for himself following the conclusion of the Second World War. Despite the films Matt Helm is not really like James Bond at all: there is no exotic travelogue; Helm drives around the American south in a beat-up truck and is infinitely more likely to check into some cheap roadside motel than an extravagant and expensive hotel. The action in the novel is gripping and the twists and turns executed with the finesse of an accomplished thriller writer. Death of a Citizen is an assured introduction to the Helm series and it lingers in the mind due to the quality of the writing, the depth of character and the themes examined. It is a dark and melancholy thriller: one of the best of the genre.
Also of note is Adam Hall's character Quiller who featured in a long-running series of novels. I've read a few of this British writer's novels and the best, for me, are The Ninth Directive and Quiller (also published as Northlight). These are extremely tense and nervy affairs permeated with a deep and real sense of paranoia: when Quiller sweats the reader is right there with him, and this is a mark of Hall's skills as a writer. Very different from Bond, and very different from most other novels and characters of the time, a Quiller novel is definitely worth a read.
There are others (such as Simon Harvester's Dorian Silk spy novels). I'd be hard-pushed to name an absolute favourite, but Uncommon Danger, Cause For Alarm and Rogue Male would be up there.
(* #1 is The Great Gatsby)
Try James Mayo's Charles Hood novels, beginning with Hammerhead. They're not strictly spying, but they do take place in a very Bond-like environment.