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I would also recommend Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir's The Destroyer series, featuring the Masters of Sinanju, American top-secret assassin, Remo Williams (The Destroyer of Sinanju legend) and his very deadly mentor Chiun.
Great campy hard-edged adventure with biting satire and humour, and with a dash of Sinanju mysticism.
You actually like Supremacy and Ultimatum? I found them the very definition of disappointing.
Vince Flynn
Brad Thor
Timothy Zahn
I am currently watching the TV adaptation of Furst's "The Spies Of Warsaw" and would thoroughly recommend you Flemingistas casting an eye over it.
The atmosphere is great and gives you a good idea as to what Furst's books are like.
It would be great to see Fleming's novels filmed in this way as period pieces.
Given that eon's ownership of the screen copyright make this a dream, perhaps it might be possible to see the fabulous "Young Bond" franchise brought to the small screen in this highly qualitative way. In any event, the Furst adaptation was superb and hopefully it will encourage many more people to read his books.
It is well plotted, violent, sprawling and steeped in authenticity regarding the war on terror.
The hero is definitely a new type of protagonist who defies categorisation and although Conway is much compared to Le Carre, personally I think he is a true original and if he must be compared, I'd describe him as a cross between Fleming & Deighton but on steroids!
Ironically it won the "Ian Fleming Silver Dagger Award" in 2010 and I missed it (I normally read every dagger winner) but I've had the pleasure now and you should too - it rocks!
Anybody out there read anything new, different and better?
I've just started Barry Eisler's 'Rain Fall' the book that Bentley recommended at the start of this thread and I have to say it is bloody fantastic. If Fleming were alive today this is exactly what he'd be writing. If any of you readers out there haven't tried Rain yet, do yourselves a favour and get going. They are the best thing I've read since Silva's first books. Great stuff.
When I've done with RF I'm definitely going to give Q&C a spin. I have some reservations about an American writing an English series but I'll probably finish up eating my hat - sometimes, Silva sounds more British than the Royal family.
Sometimes you can read the odd Americanism in Rucka's stories, that said it is inspired by a brilliant British TV series and the stories are so intelligent that you can disregard these minor flaws. Both The Sandbaggers and Q&C are the anti-James Bond: very realistic settings and plots, unglamorous working environment, in general there is little action as most of the plot is carried on in offices, between people talking over coffee. The petty civil servants and the competitors in MI5 are often more dangerous for the MI6 operatives (the Minders in Q&C and the Sandbaggers in The Sandbaggers) than the terrorists or spies they are fighting. It is great drama and thoroughly entertaining.
Thanks Ludovico, you've wetted my appertite further. I like realistic and back in the day, I was a huge "Sandbaggers" fan so I understand the analogy.
In fact, I've always been orientated towards strong character based thrillers rather than the shoot them "Vince Flynn" sub genre. Some of my all time favourites include Le Carre,Adam Hall, Charles Cumming, Len Deighton etc..
That said, I don't like confusing just for the hell of it. I recently read "The Tourist" by Olen Steinhauer and it just gave me a headache.
A question for you is are the Q&C books best read in chronological order or is there one particular standout I should start with?
A combination between Robert B Parker, Stephen King & Mickey Spillane.
well worth reading in sequence.
1) "The Tears of Autumn" (1974) by Charles McCarry:
McCarry is the Charles Dickens of espionage. His novels are amongst the best ever
written - any genre - and this, chronologically the third in a series featuring the
Christopher family, centres around an unauthorised investigation into JFK's
assassination and is his best. If you don't cry when you read this book you have no.
heart McCarry spent 10 years as a deep cover CIA operative and it shows but he is
much more than a spy writer. Lyrical, intelligent and haunting are key descriptors.
If you don't read anything else on this list, read this. You will never regret it. Why
McCarry isn't better known is the conspiracy of our times!
2) "The Honourable Schoolboy" (1977) by John Le Carre:
Although this is the second book in the Karla trilogy, it also works as a stand alone
and is the best novel that Le Carre has ever written and is one of the most important
works of the last century. Although a Smiley novel, it's different to the rest
because it sees George out from behind his desk and launching an offensive against
the soviets in Hong Kong. The Honourable schoolboy is one Gerald Westerby, a
journalist and part time secret agent who is despatched to Hong Kong to investigate
money laundering that appears to have Smiley's nemesis, Karla's fingerprints all
over it - sweeping and lyrical this is the book that made me fall in love with Asia.
3) "Typhoon" (2008) by Charles Cumming:
Cumming is by fare and away the best of the new kids on the block and this, his
fourth novel, starts in Hong Kong in 1997 before the handover and
features a conspiracy that stretches to 2005, just before the Beijing Olympics
It features Joe Lennox an undercover MI6 operative and Miles Coolridge a bombastic
CIA agent who share things with disastrous consequences.
As well as being an excellent thriller, it also has at it's heart a great love story.
4) "The Ipcress File" (1962) by Len Deighton:
My mother bought this book, in hard back, on the day it came out and I tried to read
it as I was very attracted by the fabulous Richard Chopping cover. Needless to say,
at age nine, it defeated me. But I went back to it a few years latter and have read
it on multiple occasions since.
In many regards, it's the definitive '60s novel. It introduced an unnamed working
class anti-hero spy who was the polar opposite to Bond. His bosses were cads and
bounders who couldn't be trusted and who had blackmailed our hero into service.
The genius was as much the atmosphere and the laugh out loud dialogue as it was
the plot. It's probably not Deighton's best book ( "Winter" takes that prize) but it's
certainly his best spy novel and that is high praise!
5)"Sabre Tooth" (1966) by Peter O'Donnell:
The second and best in O'Donnell's fabulous Modesty Blaise series revolves around
a plot to invade oil-rich Kuwait and this is just one of many testimonies to O'Donnell's
capacity as a clairvoyant!
These books are at heart, action adventure stories that have the relationship between
the most dangerous woman on earth (Blaise) and her side-kick, the most dangerous
man on earth, Willie Garvin. They are deftly plotted and feature the most phenomenal
unarmed combat scenes ever described. Read this and you will read them all.
It is no accident that the late, great, Kingsley Amis described Blaise & Garvin as the
most important duo in fiction since Holmes & Watson!
Let me know yours!
Sadly most know of Matt Helm from the less than stellar Dean Martin films but in truth Helm is a hard edge agent very much the equal or better than Bond
I also like Mickey Spillane's take on spies the Tiger Mann books
some other good reads include
Edward S. Aarons Sam Durell books
http://www.spyguysandgals.com/myindex.asp
IT'S HOLY IN ESPIONAGE GOODNESS! :x
Deon Meyer is amazing!
Hey, I'm glad I am not the only one reading it.
I read a variety of novels and genres -Grisham, Chandler, Forsyth, Deighton, even going back to Edgar Wallance times etc.. But none of them gives me the thrill like when I first read Dr No in 1958 as a first year university student. We, a bunch of students had to pool our pennies together to buy the hardback.
What a great way to start your relationship with Fleming.
I saw Dr.No, the movie, in 1963 age 11.
I then persuaded my mother, herself a great reader, to go out and buy every Fleming in print and we read the whole lot in chronological order.
Perversely, I discovered Dickens through Bond as it was the Fleming novels that gave me the life long reading habit.
I've just finished a great book called "The Enemy" by Tom Wood. It's the second in a series featuring an assassin called "Victor" and for Fleming fans he is certainly worth a try.
I wish I had parents who were Bond fans. I got into the game quite late compared to most here. Though I knew of Bond and saw glimpses of the newer films as a kid, my passion didn't grow until much later when I discovered Sean's classic films and then later fell in just as much love with Dan when I saw Casino Royale, the only Bond that really matches Sean for me to this day.
I remember '63 like it was yesterday. I saw Dr.No three times in one week at my local flea pit. First with a friend, second time with my mum and finally on my own. It was a UK certificate 'A' and back then you had to be accompanied by an adult.
Aged 11 we simply used to stand outside and ask a friendly face to see us in. That movie changed my life and made me dream.
I persuaded my mum to go and she loved it. As a great reader, she spotted that it was a from a book so we went to the local town that weekend and she bought everything that was out in pan paperback (CS thru' TBl) and we read them in turn. As you would imagine, she was a lot quicker than me so she went first and although she realised that some of the material wasn't ideal for an eleven year old, she was very fare sighted and recognised that they were the route to getting me to read for pleasure. How right she was!
Seeing the Bond movies together was something we did right up until her death in 1977. Sean was always her favourite.
I often wonder what my dad would have made of Bond. Unfortunately he passed in 1960 so he never had the pleasure. He was a real petrol head and a bon viveur ( unbelievably, as well as tailor made suits he had a Rolex as well as a beautiful cigarette case and Ronson Lighter). I think he'd have loved Bond and mum used to comment that he'd have been right down dad's street.
Ironically, it has taken DC to convert my wife to the cause but my eldest son is a huge fan whilst the youngest has also been drawn to the franchise by DC. Great stuff, can't wait for Boyd's book.
That's magnificent. I could only dream to grow up in the 60s, though I can't complain. I had a wondrous childhood that I still yearn to relive, and my parents are about as great and supportive as guardians can get. Upon looking back at the end of the day, I have been very blessed. Your parents sounded fantastic too, and it is great that your mother was so instrumental in getting you into two great things: reading and Bond!
Like I said, I am sure I saw the Brosnan films tons of times in my youngest days around seven or eight until my teens. I didn't really understand anything that was going on around me at the time, though. It wasn't until my early teens when my best friend was astounded that I had never seen the Connery Bond films and urged me to see them that I really got serious about giving the franchise a try. As luck would have it, one night not long after on Tuner Classic Movies a little film by the name of "Goldfinger" was on, and as I had a knowledge here and there of the names of some of the films I knew instantly that it was Bond and that I had to give it a go. I watched it through, and needless to say this boy was in love. Much time after that was spent going out to any stores I could find and rounding up the Connery Bond films, and I fell even more in love with the series as DN, FRWL and TB were heavily enjoyed by these young eyes. Soon after I saw Casino Royale and was completely taken through the roof with it, watching it several nights in a row as it was on TV in a marathon run. That following summer (more luck) there was a massive Bond marathon all season long on the USA network here in the states, and it was there that I got more and more into the films, and my passion grew. Up through my young teen years to now I have watched and re-watched, read some Fleming and have simply tried to absorb every bit of information I can on Bond to the point that I am a walking encyclopedia on 007. Now, that same friend that first got me to watch a Bond film in the first place comes to me with Bond questions or simply stares in awe as I go on a long and passionate speech on Bond in general. Funny how those things happen.
Cheers! :)>-
I've just read on www.john-gardner.com that his "Secret Generations" trilogy has been published by Kindle.
Gardner made a phenomenal contribution to the espionage genre and I always found it somewhat ironic that he was best know for his Bond books. Frankly, although his first five contributions to the 007 canon were very acceptable, his Bond work was fare from being his best. He wrote a number of series that were fare more commendable - Boysie Oakes, Herbie Kruger, Moriarty, Mountford - to name but five.
That said, his seminal work was the three books (Secret Generations, Secret Houses, Secret Families) that comprise the "Generations" trilogy and which tell the tale of Mi5, Mi6, GCHQ through the story of the Railton family.
The books were written in the '80s and I'm currently half way through re-reading my original hardback copy of "Secret Generations" and it is as fresh, enthralling and relevant as ever.
I would heartily recommend these books. They were John's best work and serve as a testimony to what a huge literary character he was.
Congratulations to his son, Simon, on getting them republished!
@Ludovico, to each their own. For my part, I read this back in the day and thought it was a real stinker!
Well, I had no idea, so I will check this out. The story line of being a tale of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ does interest me; thanks!
- you know the feeling, when you've read something great you know that the next one has a high risk of disappointing.
Happily I struck gold and picked up a phenomenal novel by Olen Steinhauer called "The Tourist". It's about an ex black ops CIA agent called Milo Weaver and I have to say, it shoots straight into my top twenty all time favourites.
It's a long time since I've read anything new that is at the level of Le Carre, Deighton or Fleming and believe you me, Steinhauer shoots straight into that league.
"The Tourist" absolutely rocks and is the first in a trilogy (the other two; "The Nearest Exit" and "An American Spy" are already out) and evidently the film rights have been optioned by George Clooney who intends to cast himself as Milo - clever man!
A guy next to me on a flight recommended this and boy, do I owe him a big drink!