Big Books of 2026

Listopia > Espionage Book Lists

Jurassic Park by Michael CrichtonThe Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. TolkienThe Hunger Games by Suzanne CollinsThe Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. TolkienThe Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
Best Action-Adventure Novels
2,522 books — 2,708 voters
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le CarréThe Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le CarréThe Bourne Identity by Robert LudlumThe Day of the Jackal by Frederick ForsythThe Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
Best Spy Novels
1,293 books — 2,253 voters

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally CarterHeist Society by Ally CarterCross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally CarterOnly the Good Spy Young by Ally CarterDon't Judge a Girl by Her Cover by Ally Carter
Best YA Spy/Mystery Novels
624 books — 1,616 voters
The Da Vinci Code by Dan BrownAngels & Demons by Dan BrownThe Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson1984 by George OrwellThe Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
Conspiracy Fiction
1,279 books — 1,330 voters

Jurassic Park by Michael CrichtonThe Andromeda Strain by Michael CrichtonThe Hunt for Red October by Tom ClancyThe Martian by Andy WeirDaemon by Leinad Zeraus
Best Technothrillers Ever
686 books — 1,022 voters
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le CarréTinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le CarréThe Day of the Jackal by Frederick ForsythThe Bourne Identity by Robert LudlumThe Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
Espionage
985 books — 1,020 voters

Gone Girl by Gillian FlynnMurder on the Orient Express by Agatha ChristieTriptych by Karin SlaughterAnd Then There Were None by Agatha ChristieBlindsighted by Karin Slaughter
Best Female Crime/Mystery/Thriller Writers
1,296 books — 730 voters
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne FrankBand of Brothers by Stephen E. AmbroseThe Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. ShirerHiroshima by John HerseyThe Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan
World War Two - Firsthand Accounts (nonfiction)
663 books — 454 voters

A Gracious Enemy & After the War Volume Two by Michael G. KramerThe Things They Carried by Tim O'BrienInside Out & Back Again by Thanhhà LạiThe Boy From Block 66 by Limor RegevMagenta by John Payton Foden
Military Fiction
784 books — 399 voters
Storm Front by Jim ButcherA Game of Thrones by George R.R. MartinThe Land by Aleron KongKilling Floor by Lee ChildMonster Hunter International by Larry Correia
Best violent action novels
354 books — 321 voters

Ghost Wars by Steve CollThe Looming Tower by Lawrence WrightDiplomacy by Henry KissingerLegacy of Ashes by Tim WeinerThe Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis
American Foreign Policy
460 books — 270 voters
Still Life by Louise PennyA Fatal Grace by Louise PennyThe Cruelest Month by Louise PennyDéjà Dead by Kathy ReichsBury Your Dead by Louise Penny
Mysteries/Suspense/Thrillers Set in Canada
306 books — 219 voters

The Nightingale by Kristin HannahAll the Light We Cannot See by Anthony DoerrBeneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. SullivanThe Alice Network by Kate QuinnCode Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
WW2: The Resistance - Fiction & Non-Fiction
304 books — 191 voters
Black Ice by Anne StuartCold As Ice by Anne StuartHard Kill by Charlie FlowersIce Blue by Anne StuartFire and Ice by Anne Stuart
Spy Romance
218 books — 178 voters

Unthinkable Consequences by Bob RectorThe Saladin Strategy by Norm ClarkIt Lives in The Basement by Sahara FoleyTinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le CarréThe Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carré
Tight Plot Novels
95 books — 131 voters
Big Money by James HudsonThe Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le CarréBodyguard of Deception by Samuel MarquisMiami Spy Games by Armand RosamiliaEye of the Needle by Ken Follett
Spy Thrillers that stand apart from the rest!
182 books — 118 voters

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha ChristieEye of the Needle by Ken FollettThe Moonstone by Wilkie CollinsThe Hat Trick Murders by John A. MacEachernTreasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Best Historical Thrillers
208 books — 116 voters
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan DoyleThe Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha ChristieA Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan DoyleThe Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan PoeRebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Haycraft-Queen Definitive Library of Crime, Detective and Mystery Fiction
187 books — 113 voters

Souljourner by Paul Steven StoneThe Slush Pile Brigade by Samuel MarquisThe Woman From Death Row by Peter HogenkampThe Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg LarssonIn Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Dysfunctional Sleuths
159 books — 107 voters
A Spy Among Friends by Ben MacintyreIron Curtain by Anne ApplebaumThe Triumph of Improvisation by James Graham WilsonThe Billion Dollar Spy by David E. HoffmanThe Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre
The Cold War (nonfiction)
358 books — 102 voters

Casino Royale by Ian FlemingFrom Russia with Love by Ian FlemingMoonraker by Ian FlemingLive and Let Die by Ian FlemingOn Her Majesty's Secret Service by Ian Fleming
Best James Bond Books
90 books — 93 voters
I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally CarterThey Call Me Alexandra Gastone by T.A. MaclaganDagger by Steven dos SantosOnly the Good Spy Young by Ally CarterDon't Judge a Girl by Her Cover by Ally Carter
Young Adult Espionage
101 books — 86 voters

Hidden Figures by Margot Lee ShetterlyKillers of the Flower Moon by David GrannBorn a Crime by Trevor NoahMarch by John LewisEinstein by Walter Isaacson
Non-Fiction read in 2017
476 books — 83 voters
Untethered by Gary WiseHard Kill by Charlie FlowersThe Terminal Connection by Dan NeedlesThe Chimera Vector by Nathan M. FarrugiaGridlock by Alvin Ziegler
2013 Techno-Thrillers
36 books — 82 voters

The Saladin Strategy by Norm ClarkThe Roca Group by J. Jaye GoldAgency Rules - Never an Easy Day at the Office by Khalid MuhammadAhriman by Puja GuhaThe Adventures of Sarah Ann Lewis and the Memory Thieves by Joshua C. Carroll
Great Books About Spying
67 books — 74 voters
Night Shift by Charlaine HarrisJourney to Munich by Jacqueline WinspearThe Murder of Mary Russell by Laurie R. KingWhen Falcons Fall by C.S. HarrisMia's Magic Wand by Peter Volkofsky
2016 Mysteries
79 books — 70 voters

The Andromeda Strain by Michael CrichtonMia's Magic Wand by Peter VolkofskyIbil by Adeerus GhayanThe Last Sword Maker by Brian NelsonBeat by Jared Garrett
Fiction: Bioterrorism/Biological Warfare
127 books — 65 voters
Red Sparrow by Jason MatthewsSlow Horses by Mick HerronPalace of Treason by Jason MatthewsThe Tourist by Olen SteinhauerDead Lions by Mick Herron
Best Post-Cold War Espionage/Spy Novels
51 books — 51 voters

Black Ice by Anne StuartOn Thin Ice by Anne StuartExtreme Measures by Elisabeth NaughtonIce Blue by Anne StuartCold As Ice by Anne Stuart
Contemporary Spy Romance
53 books — 41 voters
The Great War of Our Time by Michael MorellSpy... for Nobody! Sixteen Years in the Syrian Intelligence by Basel SaneebGhost Wars by Steve CollThe Triple Agent by Joby WarrickThe Way of the Knife by Mark Mazzetti
The CIA and the War on Terror (nonfiction)
75 books — 27 voters

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