Best Espionage Books [Top 10 List] [2024 Update]

What are the best spy thrillers? We give you the top 10 spy books here. Read on and choose your next exciting book right away …

Books on spies and espionage

Espionage is the power of imagination. The power of flexibility and finesse. These titles will leave you on the edge of your seat.

The top 10 list: the best books about espionage

We start our recommendations with the top 10 best books about Espionage of all time. This list has been updated this year, including all the recent titles.

Best Espionage Books	Author
Impostor Syndrome	Kathy Wang
The Mercenary	Paul Vidich
The Perfume Thief	Timothy Schaffert
Northern Spy	Flynn Berry
Slough House	Mick Herron
Untraceable	Sergei Lebedev
Silverview	John le Carré
The n’Gustro Affair	Jean-Patrick Manchette
A Woman of Intelligence	Karin Tanabe
The Cellist	Daniel Silva

Recent espionage recommendations by our editors

Spy Handler: Memoir of a KGB Officer – The True Story of the Man Who Recruited Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames

Victor Cherkashin’s memoires on his 38 years with the KGB will give you unique insight in how the Soviet Union handled investigations into foreign countries. We think you will be surprised by the details Cherkashin provides.

The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War

As a Russian intelligence agent Oleg Gordievsky also took on another role, and it was totally not what you would expect. Discover Gordievsky’s part in the fight between the Soviet Union, America and Britain.

The Falcon and the Snowman: A True Story of Friendship and Espionage

Christopher John Boyce is one of few with access to the Black Vault, a place that carried many classified documents. At some point he decides to steal some secrets, and with the help of a drug dealer he sells them to the Soviet Union.

Mary Bowser and the Civil War Spy Ring: A Spy on History Book

This book made it to our top 10, because it is not just the spy story of Mary Bowser who works at the home of Jefferson Davis, but it also comes with a spy kit. (For children aged 8-14)

The Unlikely Spy

We recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good spy story. Churchill chooses a history professor to do the dangerous job, but Hitler has found the perfect match in a pretty widow who volunteers at a hospital.

The Unexpected Spy: From the CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down Some of the World’s Most Notorious Terrorists

Tracy Walder works for the CIA and the FBI, and this book tells you all about her role in finding terrorists and how she travelled the world to do so. Ultimately she ends up teaching women on how to catch spies and terrorists, but also on how to handle the sexism problem within key US organizations.

The Book of Spies: A Novel (The Judd Ryder Books 1)

Eva Blake is asked for help to find out what connects terrorists to a legendary library. When her life is in danger, she asks Judd Ryder to assist her. We like this book, because it’s combines the suspension of trying to stay alive with finally finding the lost library.

Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII’s Most Highly Decorated Spy

Odette Sansom is a Special Operations Executive agent who makes it to occupied France and finds true love in Peter Churchill, her commanding officer. Mission after mission they success, but then they are captured by the Germans. Will they give up, or will they persevere?

Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception

Susan Carnicero, Philip Houston and Michael Floyd were some of the best CIA officers, and we think you should read this book, because they share their extensive knowledge and experience of how to catch someone lying.

D-Day Girls: The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, and Helped Win World War II

When World War II had most of the men fighting at the front, women were trained on how they could sabotage the Germans in France. Almost forty women left everything they had to fight for Britain and Europe.