When not reading Fleming - I would recommend ?

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  • 007InVT007InVT Classified
    Posts: 893
    Ambler's on the list!

    @Villiers53 - Have you read 'Stamboul Train'?
  • @007InVT, no I haven't! For some reason, I've blinked and missed this but I will be certainly reading it now!
    Thanks a million for bringing this to my attention!
  • 007InVT007InVT Classified
    Posts: 893
    Of course. Make sure to read The Human Factor if you haven't already.

  • I read Kanon's Alibi. Very good and very complex.
  • 007InVT007InVT Classified
    Posts: 893
    @Perilagu_Khan - Hmmm; where to begin then? He has few. Maybe pick that one up then at the library.
  • Yeah. I think I'd read the jacket blurbs and select the one that sounds most interesting.
  • 007InVT007InVT Classified
    edited March 2014 Posts: 893
    I finished TSWCIFTC and thought it was great if perhaps a little overrated.

    I itching to read Eric Ambler's 'A Coffin for Dimitrios' and perhaps dive into another Le Carre - maybe 'The Honorable Schoolboy' or 'Tinker...'
  • Posts: 802
    Readers, I've just finished Barry Eisler's latest John Rain novel; 'Graveyard Of Memories' and can't recommend it highly enough.
    It's a prequel to his Rain series and is set in Tokyo in the '70s and apart from having a fabulous plot, it explains how Rain became the uber-cool, single malt drinking, jazz loving, charismatic freelance assassin that those in the know have learnt to love.
    It's a great way for debutants to get into Rain and for those of you that already have — you won't need my recommendation!
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,459
    Thanks, Villiers53! I think I will actually start with this one, then. I have not read the Rain novels yet. Ordering books this weekend; good timing!
  • Not waded thru all the posts here, but has anyone mentioned George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman series?

    'Series' sounds like a commitment, but it's not like that. Just start with the first book, Flashman, and see what you think.

    The idea is that the school bully, Flashy, from Tom Brown's Schooldays, goes on to great success in the army, albeit as a scoundrel, cad, coward of the first order - yet events conspire to have him fall on his feet and emerge a hero of the British Empire. It is written in the first person, looking back on his life with candour, as recently discovered memoirs. Don't worry if you haven't read Tom Brown, neither have I.

    Flashy goes on to be present at most of the great historical events of the 19th century. The follow-up to Flashman, Royal Flash, is set around the time of the 1848 revolutions (though I don't rate that one so much), the next one, Flash For Freedom! deals with the slave trade, I'd skip the next one, Flashman and the Redskins as it jumps forward several decades two thirds of the way through, save it for later, but Flashman and the Charge I am currently reading, it set in Crimea and features the Charge of the Light Brigade, certainly topical with events in the Ukraine, and Macdonald Fraser's (or is it Flashman's?) view of the Russians is wonderfully unPC and with a dash of truth, one feels.

    Of course, the writer helped with the script of Octopussy, though that's a bit like saying Elton John is known for playing on a John Lennon record in the mid 1970s.

    Anyway, just start with Flashman to get a taste of it.
  • I really love the novels by Ken Follett (especially "Hornet Flight")... And a German tetralogy called "Abby Lynn" by Rainer M. Schröder
  • Posts: 802
    I've just finished Charles Cumming's 'A Colder War' and can't recommend it highly enough.
    I have long thought Cumming to be one of, if not the best, in the ranks of new spy writers and his new spy opus confirms him as such.
    Although Charles' Alec Milius books bored me rigid, my preoccupation with the genre lead to me giving him another try with 'Typhoon'. A book I love and one I put up there with Le Carre's 'The Honourable Schoolboy'. He followed this up with 'The Trinity Six', another fabulous stand alone and then with 'A Foreign Country' the first in a trilogy featuring a disenfranchised MI6 agent called Thomas Kell.
    'A Colder War' is the second in that series and sees Kell asked by the female head of MI6 to look into the dubious death of Turkey's head of station. The story concerns a mole but is more about Kell's desire to find redemption whilst ensuring that the mole doesn't evade justice than any Tinker, Tailor type scenario.
    Cumming's take on the secret world is ultra realistic but the story moves at a pace and although he is much compared to Le Carre, personally I find him more akin to a young Deighton. There is a humour and irreverence that underpins his work that reminds me of Len.
    That said, he is his own man and after Milius I had some reservations when he announced that Kell would be a series character but with Thomas, he has created a character we can all like and root for. Unlike the despicable Milius who was outright dislikable.
    You can read 'A Colder War' but you'll get more out of it if you take in 'A Foreign Country' first. All in all Cumming is quite the man when it comes to contemporary espionage — read and enjoy.

  • 007InVT007InVT Classified
    Posts: 893
    @Villiers53 - I can't wait to read 'A Colder War'. Set in Turkey too - a cradle of good spy fiction.

    I've read all Cumming's books now; I do rate 'The Spanish Game' quite highly though in the Milius series, above 'A Spy By Nature' and 'The Hidden Man'. Still both worth reading to see the progression in his writing.

    'Typhoon' is excellent but he's definitely onto something with Thomas Kell. Already, Colin Firth has optioned the books, so it could be a big break for Mr. Cumming.

    A quick nod to Stephen Fry's 'Revenge', which has a little bit of espionage/MI5 in it. I thought this book was remarkable - it's essentially a re-telling of 'The Count of Monte Cristo'. It would make a great film and I'd highly recommend anyone reading this. Published in 2000 and rather forgotten about sadly.
  • 007InVT007InVT Classified
    Posts: 893
    Villiers53 wrote:

    I just finished my FIRST Graham Greene novel called 'The Human Factor'. It was great - straight up MI6 spy novel, in the mould of Le Carre. Itching to read more Greene and possibly TSWCIFTG.

    Congratulations @007InVT on getting into Graham Greene. Now you've broken the ice, you must read "Brighton Rock" - I think it's his best but frankly all his "entertainments" are good and he was doubtless a strong influence on Fleming.
    Another author I'm sure you would enjoy is Eric Ambler. Try his 'A Coffin for Dimitrio's'. It is fabulous.
    As for TSWCIFTC, if you haven't read it, it's a must for any spy aficionado and has to be in anybody's all time top five espionage novels.
    [/quote]

    Since then, have picked up 'A Coffin for Dimitrios', am reading 'The Third Man' and read Le Carre's 'Our Kind of Traitor'.

    Just started John Altman's 'A Gathering of Spies' - so far so good on that one. After that, I have Alan Furst's 'A Polish Officer' on deck.
  • Posts: 802
    @007InVT I agree completely with your point about the progression in his writing and you are right, 'The Spanish Game' is a good book and by fare and away the best in the Milius series. That said I couldn't bring myself to like it and ultimately found it a slog principally because I couldn't bring myself to like young Alec.
    Delighted that you are getting into Ambler, Furst and Le Carre. They are all truly excellent writers.
  • 007InVT007InVT Classified
    Posts: 893
    Yes, a lifetime ahead of those 3 to keep me occupied!
  • MrcogginsMrcoggins Following in the footsteps of Quentin Quigley.
    Posts: 3,144
    Terry Hayes last book I Am Pilgrim has just made the shortlist for the 2014 Steel Dagger Awards.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,459
    Yeah, baby! I love that book so much. It is one of my most highly recommended. I am so looking forward to his next books. :)
  • Posts: 14,800
    I will mention it again: Deon Meyer.
  • Posts: 802
    Mrcoggins wrote:
    Terry Hayes last book I Am Pilgrim has just made the shortlist for the 2014 Steel Dagger Awards.
    Yes and remember, you heard about it here first - many months ago!
    Frankly, they should have had it as a contender (and winner) last year.

  • Posts: 802
    Ludovico wrote:
    I will mention it again: Deon Meyer.

    Great writer but sometimes, the translations aren't brilliant.

  • Posts: 14,800
    Villiers53 wrote:
    Ludovico wrote:
    I will mention it again: Deon Meyer.

    Great writer but sometimes, the translations aren't brilliant.

    Unfortunately I do not know Afrikaans.
  • Posts: 14,800
    Oh and about Deon Meyer: his character Bennie Griessel may be played by... Sean Bean. Although this is old rumor/news.
  • Posts: 7,653
    Richard Stark and his Parker novels. sheer excellence.
  • Posts: 802
    Ludovico wrote:
    Villiers53 wrote:
    Ludovico wrote:
    I will mention it again: Deon Meyer.

    Great writer but sometimes, the translations aren't brilliant.

    Unfortunately I do not know Afrikaans.
    Me neither but I sometimes find the English a little clumsy. It was the same with Millennium trilogy and sometimes with Jo Nesbo's work.
    Doubtless not the fault of the authors, just the inevitability of linguistic differences.
    But, no mistake Meyer is brilliant.
  • Posts: 802
    SaintMark wrote:
    Richard Stark and his Parker novels. sheer excellence.
    No where you are coming from. Thought the first few were great but then he just repeated the same story over and over again. Parker pulls heist, Parker gets cheated, Parker takes revenge.
    But, if you like Stark you will absolutely adore the late great Ted Lewis. He's better than Stark but never repeated himself and was truly the king of 'hard boiled'.
    His books are extremely difficult to get hold of. He is best known for 'Jack's Return Home' (filmed as 'Get Carter') but 'Plender', 'Billy Rags' and 'GBH' are just as good. Undoubtably the best noir I've ever read but beware, the streets are mean and there is no redemption!
  • Posts: 7,653
    never heard from him, but I am currently working my way through the University of CHicago press reprints and am really enjoying myself. I did have the later books in HC but find the early ones exceptional well written and like Fleming dated but they work well and have been filmed several times.

    That said I generally like Donald Westlake even in his Stark persona.
  • Posts: 802
    I've just finished reading Frederick Forsyth's "The Kill List" and enjoyed it.
    It's not in the same league as "The Day Of The Jackal" but what is.
  • Posts: 4,622
    Villiers53 wrote: »
    I've just finished reading Frederick Forsyth's "The Kill List" and enjoyed it.
    It's not in the same league as "The Day Of The Jackal" but what is.

    Good read. I picked it up because I really enjoyed his previous book, The Cobra (2010)
    Both books are edgy, contemporay espionage yarns. He's a good no nonsense storyteller.
    Cobra is an interesting take on a major off-books plan to take down the Columbian drug trade.
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