Things in the Middle East are heating up. Fast.
Whether you’re watching the news on television or following on-the-ground reporters via social media, there is no shortage of coverage of what’s going on between Israel and Iran. Even so, I’ve fielded a ton of requests from readers about spy thrillers set in the Middle East and even saw some debates on Facebook and X among book fans about which titles feature the most accurate representation of what’s actually going down.
Brad Meltzer once said that a “thriller writer’s job is to beat the headlines,” and these ten books certainly have done that.
Without further ado, here are our picks for the Top 10 Must-Read Spy Thrillers Set in the Middle East.
1.) The Third Target by Joel C. Rosenberg.
Tyndale House Publishers
Originally released on January 6, 2015.
From Ryan Steck, TRBS: Any list of thrillers set in the Middle East should begin and end with Joel C. Rosenberg, period. Once called a “modern-day Nostradamus” by U.S. News and World Report for his uncanny ability to predict future headlines and touch on real-life events in his novels before they even happen, Rosenberg has made a career out of being right on the money with his fiction. He’s been so accurate, in fact, that Rosenberg wrote this book, which involves a plot about ISIS, well before the terror group had become a household name. As the story goes, Rosenberg’s publisher actually asked him about changing the name of the terror group in his book to something readers might be familair with. But the author knew what the rest of the world would soon learn, that ISIS was coming—and would soon dominate news cycles for years to come. To put it into perspective, Rosenberg was writing this book before President Obama had referred to ISIS as a “JV team.” In the end, Rosenberg’s book was so timely that Tyndale House Publishers actually had to move up its publication date in an effort to get the book out faster because the plot was starting to play out in real-time. I cannot recommend this book, the first in a trilogy featuring NYT reporter J.B. Collins, enough. That said, Rosenberg has several other series set in the Middle East, including his Last Jihad Series, his David Shirazi series, and his latest franchise, the Marcus Ryker series. All of his work is must-read material, and if you’re not as into fiction, Rosenberg has also written extensively on the topic of the Mid East with his nonfiction works such as Israel At War, Epicenter, Implosion, Inside The Revolution, and his most recent offering, Enemies And Allies. Moreover, Rosenberg, who moved to Israel several years ago, is reporting live from the ground via All Israel News, a website he founded to report on the war, and his social media accounts.
2.) The Last Patriot by Brad Thor
Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Originally released on July 1, 2008
In Brad Thor’s highest-voltage thriller to date, Scot Harvath must race to locate an ancient secret that has the power to stop militant Islam dead in its tracks.
June 632 A.D.: Deep within the Uranah Valley of Mount Arafat in Mecca, the prophet Mohammed shares with his closest companions a final and startling revelation. Within days, he is assassinated.
September 1789: U.S. minister to France Thomas Jefferson, charged with forging a truce with the violent Muslim pirates of the Barbary Coast, makes a shocking discovery – one that could forever impact the world’s relationship with Islam.
Present day: When a car bomb explodes outside a Parisian cafŽ, Navy Seal turned covert Homeland Security Operative Scot Harvath is thrust back into the life he has tried so desperately to leave behind.
Saving the intended victim of the attack, Harvath becomes party to an amazing and perilous race to uncover a secret so powerful that militant Islam could be defeated once and for all without firing another shot, dropping another bomb, or launching another covert action. But there are powerful men who are determined that Mohammed’s mysterious final revelation continue to remain hidden forever.
Hailed by the Chicago Tribune as “quite possibly the next coming of Robert Ludlum,” Brad Thor takes listeners across the globe on a heart-pounding chase where the stakes are higher than they have ever been before.
From Ryan Steck, TRBS: Brad Thor has beaten so many headlines over the years that his readers have started calling his work “faction” because it’s impossible to tell where the facts stop and the fiction begins. This book, which The Denver Post called “a cross between The Da Vinci Code and National Treasure,” is still some of his finest work to date. Before the book’s release, Thor was actually flooded with death threats due to the story itself, which sets up a reveal indicating that Mohammed’s final revelation was not included in the Koran. That in of itself isn’t much of a spoiler, but once you read it, it’s not hard to imagine why some called the book “blasphemous.” Even so, Thor remained undeterred, shrugged off the savage threats, released his book, and watched it hit #1 on the New York Times bestsellers list, where it sat for most of the summer. A personal favorite of mine, this is a great place to start out with Scot Harvath, even if you’re new to the series.
3.) The Black Widow by Daniel Silva
Harper
Originally released on July 12, 2016
“Silva builds suspense like a symphony conductor…. A winner on all fronts.”
— Booklist, starred review
Bestselling author Daniel Silva delivers another spellbinding international thriller—one that finds the legendary Gabriel Allon grappling with an ISIS mastermind.
Gabriel Allon, the art restorer, spy, and assassin described as the most compelling fictional creation “since Ian Fleming put down his martini and invented James Bond” (Rocky Mountain News), is poised to become the chief of Israel’s secret intelligence service. But on the eve of his promotion, events conspire to lure him into the field for one final operation. ISIS has detonated a massive bomb in the Marais district of Paris, and a desperate French government wants Gabriel to eliminate the man responsible before he can strike again.
Acclaimed novelist Daniel Silva has thrilled, entertained, and educated readers with eighteen thoughtful and gripping spy novels featuring a diverse cast of compelling characters and ingenious plots that have taken them around the globe and back—from the United States to Europe, Russia to the Middle East. From its shocking opening to its explosive denouement in Washington, D.C., The Black Widow reveals itself as Silva’s most timely and powerful novel yet. Following the success of his smash hit The English Spy, this electrifying thriller showcases Silva’s consummate skill and brilliant imagination and is sure to be a must-read for his multitude of current and future fans.
From Ryan Steck, TRBS: One of the year’s biggest blockbusters when it first came out, The Black Widow, #16 in Silva’s iconic Gabriel Allon series, hit #1 on The New York Times, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal bestsellers list. On top of that, it was named an Amazon Editor’s Pick for Best Book of the Year, a Kirkus Best Fiction Book of the Year, and an iBook Book of the Month. It also scored rave reviews from the Washington Post, Publisher’s Weekly, and Booklist. The story takes flight when Allon, head of the Office (aka the Mossad), locks horns with ISIS and fights the terror group head-on. To do so, he recruits a female doctor out of Jerusalem and trains her with the goal of inserting her into the Islamic State. The hope is that her credentials will allow her to get close to the group’s leader, allowing Allon and Istareal to deliver a strike from the inside. Out of all of Silva’s books, this one has some of the best twists and turns, so get ready for a thrilling ride that’ll leave you scrambling to pick your jaw up from the floor.
4.) Protect and Defend by Vince Flynn
Atria Books
Originally released on October 1, 2007
Counterterrorist agent Mitch Rapp is on a collision course with America’s most feared enemy in this white-knuckle thriller from “the best pure adrenaline-charged action writer out there” (The Providence Journal) and #1 New York Times bestselling author of American Assassin.
No longer willing to wait for the international community to stop its neighboring enemy, Israel brings down Iran’s billion-dollar nuclear program in an ingeniously conceived operation. The attack leaves a radioactive tomb and environmental disaster in its wake, and has Iranian president Amatullah calling for blood—American blood.
Seeing opportunity where others fear reprisals, Mitch Rapp devises a brilliant plan to humiliate Iran’s government and push the nation to the brink of revolution. But when a back-channel meeting between CIA director Irene Kennedy and her Iranian counterpart goes disastrously wrong, Rapp is locked in a showdown with a Hezbollah mastermind in league with Amatullah—and he is given twenty-four hours to do whatever it takes to stop unthinkable catastrophe.
From Ryan Steck, TRBS: If badassery is what you’re after, you find a more dominant apex predator than Mitch Rapp. America’s most trusted assassin, and star of Vince Flynn’s beloved #1 New York Times bestselling series, Rapp is called to action when his boss and close friend, Irene Kennedy, is kidnapped after a secret meeting with her Iranian counterpart goes horribly wrong. Prior to that, Flynn takes readers inside a top-secret Iranian nuclear facility, where an agent working for the Mossad sets off a chain of explosions that reduces the whole bunker to a massive pile of radioactive ruins. With permission from the president himself to do whatever it takes to ensure Kennedy’s safe recovery, Rapp goes on the offense, leaving a massive trail of dead bodies in his wake. Perhaps the most influential novelist the genre has seen since Tom Clancy was in his prime, Flynn’s series should be required reading for anyone claiming to be a fan of thrillers.
5.) End Of Days by Brad Taylor
William Morrow
Originally released on January 11, 2022
Pike Logan must stop a deranged killer hell-bent on igniting an international conflagration in this explosive, action-packed thriller from New York Times bestselling author and former special forces officer, Brad Taylor.
When a paragliding trip over the picturesque mountains of Switzerland results in the brutal murder of the former head of Israeli intelligence, Mossad brings in terrorist hunters Aaron and Shoshana to investigate. But they’ll need help to find out who was behind the attack and what they’re planning next. Luckily, Aaron and Shoshana know exactly who to call.
Taskforce operators Pike Logan and Jennifer Cahill have been trapped in Charleston, South Carolina during COVID-19, so when Aaron and Shoshana show up on their doorstep with Israeli passports and a new mission, they jump at the chance to assist their friends. Some suspect that Keta’ib Hezbollah, an Iranian-funded militia group operating in Iraq, might be responsible for the “accidental” deaths of key members of the American and Israeli governments. But something isn’t adding up, and Pike, Jennifer, and the two Mossad operators are determined to find the real assassins before more people are cut down.
As they stumble upon the trail of a serial killer loose on the streets of Rome connected to the deaths and follow evidence leading to the exalted Knights of Malta, they must wade deep into the contentious religious and political fractures of Israel and the greater Middle East. It’s a dangerous world where fanatics and legitimate organizations exist side by side, and it’s up to the Taskforce to determine who is really pulling the strings. What they find could have disastrous consequences not only for them, but for the entire world…
From Ryan Steck, TRBS: Taylor, who writes with bone-crunching authenticity, might have the best character on this whole list . . . and it’s not his hero, Pike Logan. Shoshana, who can pretty much be explained as an Israeli shadow of death, is a certified badass. Anytime Shoshana shows up, bad guys stop breathing in bunches, and in this book, that’s especially true. Of course, Pike Logan is front and center in this one, as he and Jennifer Cahill—who have been locked down since COVID-19 hit the US—team up with Shoshana and her partner, Aaron, to track down the man who killed the former head of Israeli intelligence. It’s a relatively straightforward mission at first, but boy, things take one turn after another, and soon, Pike and his team find themselves in a race to stop a war that, if ignited, may become nuclear. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Originally released on May 17, 2022
“Take my word for it, James Reece is one rowdy motherf***er. Get ready!” —Chris Pratt, star of the #1 Amazon Prime series The Terminal List
The #1 New York Times bestselling Terminal List series continues as James Reece embarks on a global journey of vengeance.
A woman boards a plane in the African country of Burkina Faso having just completed a targeted assassination for the state of Israel. Two minutes later, her plane is blown out of the sky.
Over 6,000 miles away, former Navy SEAL James Reece watches the names and pictures of the victims on cable news. One face triggers a distant memory of a Mossad operative attached to the CIA years earlier in Iraq—a woman with ties to the intelligence services of two nations…a woman Reece thought he would never see again.
Reece enlists friends new and old across the globe to track down her killer, unaware that he may be walking into a deadly trap.
From Ryan Steck, TRBS: Following an attack on a commercial flight out of Africa, former Navy SEAL James Reece spots a familiar face when pictures of the victims are displayed on TV networks across the globe. Reece knows the woman not by the name shown on the screen, but rather by another name from a lifetime ago. As fate would have it, the man behind the attack is the very man Reece has been hunting . . . ever since his friend and brother-in-arms was slain . . . and now he’ll stop at nothing to settle the score once and for all. On par with Clancy and Flynn, Jack Carr has quickly ascended to the top of the thriller genre. If you aren’t reading his stuff, start.
7.)Damascus Station by David McCloskey
W.W. Norton & Company
Originally released on October 5, 2021
“Damascus Station is the best spy novel I have ever read.” ―General David Petraeus, former director of the CIA
A CIA officer and his recruit arrive in war-ravaged Damascus to hunt for a killer in this page-turner that offers the “most authentic depiction of modern-day tradecraft in print.” (Navy SEAL sniper and New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr).
CIA case officer Sam Joseph is dispatched to Paris to recruit Syrian Palace official Mariam Haddad. The two fall into a forbidden relationship, which supercharges Haddad’s recruitment and creates unspeakable danger when they enter Damascus to find the man responsible for the disappearance of an American spy.
But the cat and mouse chase for the killer soon leads to a trail of high-profile assassinations and the discovery of a dark secret at the heart of the Syrian regime, bringing the pair under the all-seeing eyes of Assad’s spy catcher, Ali Hassan, and his brother Rustum, the head of the feared Republican Guard. Set against the backdrop of a Syria pulsing with fear and rebellion, Damascus Station is a gripping thriller that offers a textured portrayal of espionage, love, loyalty, and betrayal in one of the most difficult CIA assignments on the planet.
From Ryan Steck, TRBS: McCloskey blew the door to the thriller genre right off its hinges when his riveting debut, Damascus Station, first hit bookstores back in 2021. America’s answer to John le Carre, McCloskey is off to an impressive start in this career, delivering the kind of authentic and real-feeling espionage that hasn’t been in print since the heydays of Forsyth and le Carre. With an impressive resume that includes time at the Central Intelligence Agency, where he “wrote regularly for the President’s Daily Brief, delivered classified testimony to Congressional oversight committees, and briefed senior White House officials, Ambassadors, military officials, and Arab royalty,” McCloskey spent time in CIA field stations across the Middle East. Now he’s brining all that experience to the page, and trust me when I say that his stuff is not to be missed.
8.) Agent In Place by Mark Greaney
Berkley
Originally released on February 20, 2018
The Gray Man is back in another nonstop international thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan novels.
Fresh off his first mission back with the CIA, Court Gentry secures what seems like a cut-and-dried contract job: A group of expats in Paris hires him to kidnap the mistress of Syrian dictator Ahmed Azzam to get intel that could destabilize Azzam’s regime.
Court delivers Bianca Medina to the rebels, but his job doesn’t end there. She soon reveals that she has given birth to a son, the only heir to Azzam’s rule–and a potent threat to the Syrian president’s powerful wife.
Now, to get Bianca’s cooperation, Court must bring her son out of Syria alive. With the clock ticking on Bianca’s life, he goes off the grid in a free-fire zone in the Middle East–and winds up in the right place at the right time to take a shot at bringing one of the most brutal dictatorships on earth to a close . . .
From Ryan Steck, TRBS: Greaney is one of the best writers in the genre today. There’s no question about that. While his work is often compared to Vince Flynn and Brad Thor, I think it’s safe to say that, as good as he is, I’m not sure we’ve seen Greaney’s career book just yet. You know, his Consent To Kill (Flynn) or Without Remouse (Clancy), the book that he’ll be remembered for one day. And that’s not to say that his books aren’t amazing, because they are (Back Blast is an all-time favorite of mine), but the most impressive feat of all is that Greaney seems to find a new gear with each new book. For example, I’d read every book he’d ever written when this one came out, and I remember being blown away by the opening, which starts with a bang and only accelerates from there as Gentry, aka the Gray Man, attempts to rescue a woman’s son who is being held by Syrian dictator Ahmed Azzam. Once you start this one, there’s no stopping.
9.) The Panther by Nelson DeMille
Grand Central Publishing
Originally released on October 16, 2012
New York Times bestselling author Nelson DeMille returns with another heart-pounding John Corey thriller—this time including Corey’s FBI agent wife Kate Mayfield… and their mission is to catch an elusive terrorist mastermind before he catches them.
Anti-Terrorist Task Force agent John Corey and his wife, FBI agent Kate Mayfield, have been posted overseas to Sana’a, Yemen-one of the most dangerous places in the Middle East. While there, they will be working with a small team to track down one of the masterminds behind the USS Cole bombing: a high-ranking Al Qaeda operative known as The Panther. Ruthless and elusive, he’s wanted for multiple terrorist acts and murders-and the U.S. government is determined to bring him down, no matter the cost. As latecomers to a deadly game, John and Kate don’t know the rules, the players, or the score. What they do know is that there is more to their assignment than meets the eye-and that the hunters are about to become the hunted.
Filled with breathtaking plot turns and told in John Corey’s inimitable voice, The Panther is a brilliant depiction of one of the most treacherous countries in the world and raises disturbing questions about whether we can ever know who our enemies – or our allies – really are.
From Ryan Steck, TRBS: DeMille’s sixth John Corey novel, The Panther, follows the former NYPD homicide detective who is now part of an anti-terrorist Task Force as he and his wife, FBI agent Kate Mayfield, move to Yemen. As they settle into one of the most dangerous places in the Middle East, they’re soon tasked with tracking down a high-ranking Al Qaeda operative who is behind an attack on the USS Cole. Eventually, though, the duo realizes there’s more going on than meets the eye. Stuck in hostile territory in and over their heads, John Corey much once again find a way to see his missions through. Part of a dominant run where Nelson DeMille was truly at the top of his game, this book packs a mean punch and, even though it clocks in at nearly 700 pages, moves at a blazing clip.
10.) A Spy In Exile by Jonathan de Shalit
Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Originally released on February 5, 2019
From the author of the internationally bestselling “supremely effective, cunningly crafted” (The Providence Journal) thriller Traitor, a cerebral and suspenseful novel of high-stakes intrigue in Israel’s top intelligence agency.
After Ya’ara Stein is forced out of her job at the Mossad—the secret intelligence service of Israel—she is called upon by the Prime Minister for a classified job. Known for her aptitude, beauty, and deadliness, Stein is asked to set up a secret unit that will act independently, answerable only to the Prime Minister.
This streamlined and deadly unit, filled with bright young men and women recruited and trained by Stein, quickly faces threats both old and new. Descendants of the lethal militant Red Army Faction have returned to terrorize Europe and fears of a radical Islam splinter group force the unit to distinguish between facts and smoke screens. As Stein’s cadets struggle to crush these threats, they soon discover how easily the hunter can become the hunted.
A dazzling, tension-filled novel that sheds light on the world hidden just below the surface of our everyday lives, this thriller offers a peek into the dark behind the curtain where today’s deadliest conflicts are fought. With breathless pacing and shocking twists and turns, it proves that Jonathan de Shalit “has learned well from the likes of Mr. le Carré” (The Wall Street Journal).
From Ryan Steck, TRBS: According to his bio, “Jonathan de Shalit is the pseudonym of a former high-ranking member of the Israeli Intelligence Community,” and “his books must pass a rigid vetting process, including the approval of a special Governmental Ministers’ Committee.” I covered both this one and his lights-out debut (Traitor, 2018) when they were first released and was immediately blown away by the tradecraft and authenticity that fills each and every page. If you’re looking for a take on the Middle East told by someone whose been there and done that, then you should move this one to the top of your TBS pile.
Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). Steck also works full-time as a freelance editor and is building a growing community on Twitch. His debut thriller, FIELDS OF FIRE, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr says “will leave you speechless and begging for more,” is now available. His second novel, LETHAL RANGE, is also in bookstores, and his third book, OUT FOR BLOOD, comes out on June 4th. For more information, be sure to follow him on Twitter and Facebook. To interact with other readers and talk about your favorite books and authors, join The Real Book Spy’s Discord server.