Editor’s Note: Today’s guest post is written by author Joe Goldberg. Joe has been a CIA covert action officer, corporate intelligence director, international political consultant, and currently is a college instructor and writer. His work at the CIA garnered three Exceptional Performance Awards. In the private sector, as leader of Corporate Intelligence at Motorola, Joe received the Meritorious Award, recognizing a single individual who has made significant contributions to the intelligence profession. He holds degrees in Political Science and Communications from the University of Iowa. During 2014, Joe self-published the novel Secret Wars: An Espionage Story, It was a finalist in both the fiction and historical fiction categories of the Independent Author Network awards. He has a passion for writing, US history, Jimmy Buffett, the Iowa Hawkeyes, and his family. He is a member of the International Thrillers Writers and the Alliance of Independent Authors. Most recently, he released the third book in his Spy Devils series, Devil’s Own Day, in 2023. Joe can be found on the internet and social media at: Joegoldbergbooks.com as well as on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Sometimes, people think I know more than I really do. They ask for my fiction espionage book recommendations. Rather than telling them I am as dumb as half a pack of Juicy Fruit gum, I offer up my uninformed opinion.
It is a hard question. Espionage fiction is a massively broad category that probably dates back two hundred years to The Spy by James Fenimore Cooper. Kipling, Conrad, and Buchan—are all great must-read authors and classic books. I place thriller books in a spectrum that ranges from espionage on one end to military/action-adventure on the other. My “John Le Carre’ line.” At the certain risk of being yelled at, many books are in espionage categories but are not really espionage or even about the CIA. The CIA is just a means to get to the real story. So, to make my choices “easier,” I narrowly focused on Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) books—those where the CIA as an institution is essentially a character. Not tangentially. A lot. Books that combine the internal personal struggles with the culture and bureaucracy of the Agency along with the pressure of the specific mission and overall geopolitical times.
Below is a mix of old and new, unique, genre-bending, well-crafted CIA novels. A few well-known and/or bestsellers, while others are not. Popularity is irrelevant to my selections.
DISCLAIMERS:
First, I struggled to choose some books over others as I HAVE NOT READ EVERY FICTION BOOK ON CIA! There are great books I still need to get to.
Next, since this is CIA-centric, it removes anything before its founding (1947). It eliminates the great British authors, old (Le Carre, Deighton, Fleming, Forsyth) and contemporary (Herron), unless the book was, again, mostly about the CIA directly. No Silva (that hurts).
Fourth, and at risk of taking two to the body and one to the head, no Mitch Rapp. No Gray Man.
Last, I am not a professional book reviewer—like Ryan (aka The Real Book Spy). I have searched and melded many reviews of each to form the summary and make my point. I include the Goodreads summaries of each for convenience.
What is on your list?
The Tears of Autumn by Charles McCarry
Original release: 1974
“Idealists make brave agents, but they are bad intelligence officers. They cannot exist for long without the company of like minds; they have a need to speak their beliefs and to hear their beliefs spoken.”
Paul Christopher, at the height of his powers as a secret agent, believes he knows who arranged the assassination and why. His theory is so destructive of the legend of the dead president, though, and so dangerous to the survival of foreign policy that he is ordered to desist from investigating. But Christopher is a man who lives by and for the truth, and his internal compunctions force him to the heart of the matter. He resigns from the Agency and embarks on a tour of investigation that takes him from Paris to Rome, Zurich, the Congo, and Saigon. Threatened by Kennedy’s assassins and by his own government, Christopher follows the scent of his suspicion – one breath behind the truth, one step ahead of discovery and death. (Goodreads)
When I started writing, I consumed mountains of books on espionage. I searched “Best espionage books.” Tears of Autumn appeared too many times to ignore. Once I read it, I knew why.
The Tears of Autumn is an international thriller, based on political intrigue surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. We follow Paul Christopher, a nearly flawless spy and former Marine who exists in a less-than-perfect world. Christopher believes he knows who and why President Kennedy was killed. This isn’t good for his career or for those who don’t want the information known.
Checking in at a swift and readable 276 pages, McCarry’s book is smart, humorous (an often overlooked feature of the Agency), true to the genre , detailed, and brilliantly geographically and historically accurate. This book flows with skillful writing examining concepts such as trust, relationships, power, and reality versus illusion in state affairs. It dives into the overwhelming pressure of family and friends, and plausible reactions to real events.
In my view and the view of others, McCarry is an underappreciated author. A former reporter and speechwriter, McCarry worked for the CIA From 1958 to 1967, under deep cover in Europe, Asia, and Africa. His depictions of tradecraft are carefully crafted, and the realistic characters he builds struggle with feelings, fears, relationships, and families—like we all do.
His book leans much closer to the Le Carre’ end of the thriller spectrum rather than the action thriller. I wonder if a book like Tears could be as successful today as it was then. The foundational theme of the book—trust in people we rely upon, those in power—is as relevant today as ever.
If you like spy fiction based on intrigue, emotion, and nuance, then you should read Charles McCarry’s books.
Six Days of the Condor by James Grady
Original release: 1974
It’s a nasty game, this political espionage. The people who play it are usually told where to go, what to do, and how to do it – but they’re seldom told why.”
CIA operative Malcolm, code-named Condor, discovers his colleagues butchered in a blood-spattered office, he realizes that only an oversight by the assassins has saved his life. He contacts CIA headquarters for help but when an attempted rendezvous goes wrong, it quickly becomes clear that no one can be trusted. Malcolm disappears into the streets of Washington, hoping to evade the killers long enough to unravel the conspiracy—but will that be enough to save his life? (Goodreads)
James Grady, a former congressional staffer and investigative journalist, was 23 years old when he wrote his Condor in his apartment in Helena, Montana.
The book has a strong concept (you come back from lunch, and everyone is dead) that overcomes a mundane, straightforward, detached, nonfiction-ish writing style. The first six pages have an “insiders” feel as he describes the position of Department Seventeen in the CIA hierarchy.
Note to self: Concept is really (really) important. It moves quickly and is easy read.
The CIA is an untrustworthy, manipulative organization that uses Malcolm (Turner in the movie) for its own ends. The Cold War paranoia and conspiracy themes permeate the story. It becomes the story of a nerd who must adapt, learn on the job, and who or what is good or bad. When I arrived at the Agency, I was at some point sooner rather than later, I would be given tasks that I had no idea how to accomplish but had to. Adapt. Learn.
Malcolm is a bookworm. He reads and analyzes. He knows stuff. I remember a time in the CIA when I needed some minutia on the Soviet Union’s use of front groups in Greece. Everyone said, “Go ask Marty” (not his real name). So, I traipsed to some far corner of Headquarters and found Marty, a skinny old guy surrounded by floor-to-ceiling stacks of papers and magazines in a vaulted room. I told him what I needed. Without hesitation, he turned and reached into a stack, pulled out some papers, and handed them to me. It was perfect.
Condor pays homage to the CIA’s Marty’s, who are the needed drone bee experts of the intel community—and most never even know they exist.
The book is not complex and has its limitations, but it has some exceptionally realistic scenes—so realistic, in fact, that a Soviet defector’s memoir claimed that the KGB, assuming the CIA division existed, created one of its own. Also, in 1980, the Iranians copied (successfully) the mailman assassination idea in Bethesda, Maryland.
Okay, let’s address the 1976 film adaptation (renamed Three Days of the Condor), starring Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway. The movie is layered with more cynicism and manipulation than the book. Besides the concept, some conspiracy, and action scenes, the movie and book have little in common—which is good.
The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
Original release: 1984
“It was one thing to use computers as a tool, quite another to let them do your thinking for you.”
This book doesn’t require many comments from me, but I must include Clancy’s first book—a runaway bestseller and the US Naval Institute Press’ first fictional work. It changed the genre forever. It is the must-read “big bang” of the techno-thriller.
For those who might have been in a coma since 1984:
A military thriller so gripping in its action and so convincing in its accuracy that the author was rumored to have been debriefed by the White House. Its theme: the greatest espionage coup in history. Its story: the chase for a top secret Russian missile sub. Lauded by the Washington Post as “breathlessly exciting.” The Hunt for Red October remains a masterpiece of military fiction by one of the world’s most popular authors, a man whose shockingly realistic scenarios continue to hold us in thrall. Somewhere under the Atlantic, a Soviet sub commander has just made a fateful decision. The Red October is heading west. The Americans want her. The Russians want her back. And the most incredible chase in history is on. (Goodreads)
It isn’t the dominant techno-thriller element that puts it on the list. It is the role and importance of Jack Ryan as a CIA analyst. The Agency collects and analyzes, and Clancy made sure that it had a key role in this book—just not as key as the propulsion system of submarines.
I have previously written articles about the time Tom Clancy spoke at the Agency. He was a new author, fresh off of being an insurance salesman. As he modestly stood on the auditorium stage inside “The Bubble,” he said the CIA would always be the heroes in his books. That was refreshing.
Let’s address the 1990 movie starring Alec Baldwin (Ryan) and Sean Connery (Ramius). The book is better (overall). There. I said it…however…there is a GREAT scene in the movie that nails the role of analysts in the CIA.
General: Oh, come on. You’re just an analyst. What can you possibly know what goes on in his mind?
Jack Ryan: I know Ramius, General. He’s nearly a legend in the submarine community. He’s been a maverick his entire career. I actually met him once at an embassy dinner. Have you ever met Captain Ramius, General?
I’ve been in THAT room inside the CIA. The analyst (specialist in my case) sitting around the table with a bunch of scowling old-timers glaring at you. The intimidation factor is high. It is that moment, captured in Red October, which epitomizes Agency culture. Step up and speak up. If you ruffle some feathers, in the end, you gain confidence and respect.
Agents of Innocence by David Ignatius
Original release: 1987
“Saving the world isn’t our job. We aren’t priests and we aren’t assassins.”
Agents of Innocence revolves around Tom Rogers, who has recently arrived in Beirut and is working hard to cultivate connections within the Lebanese intelligence community. Beirut CIA station in the Cold War. It is a fictional account of the CIA’s recruitment of Jamal Ramlawi, a high-ranking official of Al Fatah. It is also an analysis of Middle Eastern politics by Ignatius, a Washington Post journalist. The novel explores Lebanon’s Palestinian, Christian, and Shiite quarters, and Israel’s Mossad, through the lens of fiction. (Goodreads)
This is one of my favorite Agency books—ever. I can’t even count the number of times I have recommended this book since I first read it soon after it was published. It was on the recommended reading list of one of my first training classes when I entered the Agency. It is outstanding. I could not believe how detailed Ignatius was regarding the internal workings and politics of the organization.
David Ignatius is a foreign affairs columnist for The Washington Post. He has written eleven spy books. They have won awards and his book Body of Lies was made into a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe. He is well connected in the intel community. I know. He was a friend of one of my CIA mentors who gave me his contact info many years ago.
As fate would have it, I knew a few of the key people Agents of Innocence was based upon! I talked to them about it after publication. It’s quite a story.
This was a template book for me when I started to write espionage. It is not action-packed. It is the slow and steady burn that builds the story of asset recruitment in extremely tough situations and the toll it takes on the CIA case officers. The plot is intricate. The details precise and historically accurate. The case officers and their issues are real.
The Company, A Novel of the CIA by Robert Littell
Release date: 2002
“The Cold War may be over but the great game goes on.”
If you haven’t read The Company, A Novel of the CIA, you should. It is an epic historical fiction novel. Little was in the Navy before he became a journalist and foreign correspondent for Newsweek from 1965 to 1970.
Robert Littell does for the CIA what Mario Puzo did for the Mafia. Robert Littell’s The Company is an engrossing, multigenerational, wickedly nostalgic yet utterly entertaining and candid saga bringing to life, through a host of characters –historical and imagined – the nearly 50 years of this secretive and powerful organization. In a style intelligent and ironic, Littell tells it like it was: CIA agents fighting not only ‘the good fight’ against foreign enemies, but sometimes the bad one as well, with the ends justifying such means as CIA-organized assassinations, covert wars, kidnappings, and toppling of legitimate governments. Behind every maneuver and counter-maneuver, though, one question spans the length of the book… Who is the mole within the CIA? The Company – an astonishing novel that captures the life and death struggle of an entire generation of CIA operatives during a long Cold War. (Goodreads)
In its nearly one thousand pages, the book covers generations—40 years—of historical events and issues, many of which are relevant today. Despite the length, it never slows. This is story-telling at its descriptive finest, showing how everything is eventually connected.
This is almost an encyclopedia of the development of espionage in US foreign policy during the Cold War, from post-WWII to the 1990s. It covers the invasion of Hungary, the Bay of Pigs, Afghanistan, and Gorbachev. The CIA’s existence and culture were/are defined and directly connected the existence of the Soviet Union. In some ways, espionage acts as the scaffolding holding the CIA and international order together.
The fictional and real characters (like Kim Philby and James Angleton) display the spectrum of human emotions that built the CIA—and may exist today. Levels of ideology, patriotism, paranoia, trickery, win at all costs and one-upmanship. We get stories of romance, intrigue, double-crosses, false leads, suicide, execution, and exile.
Inside the Agency, like any organization, people come and go. Until the post-Reagan era, as they told me, not many resigned (like I did). Once in, you are in. When I told some people I planned on leaving, their eyes glazed over like I was an alien.
The Company was made into an award-winning TV mini-series starring Chris O’Donnell, Michael Kenton, and Alfred Molina.
FYI: I never heard the CIA refer to it as “the company” in my years there.
Original release: 2013
“Russians. They hate foreigners only a little less than they hate themselves, and they’re born conspirators.”
The award-winning Red Sparrow is the first book in a trilogy that includes The Palace of Treason (2015) and The Kremlin’s Candidate (2018).
Veteran CIA counterintelligence officer Jason Matthews’ CIA life experiences and knowledge of espionage make this book. He realistically (overall) melds tradecraft, surveillance, spy gear, counterintelligence, cyber, covert communications, and other little tricks of the trade.
In present-day Russia, ruled by blue-eyed, unblinking President Vladimir Putin, Russian intelligence officer Dominika Egorova struggles to survive in the post-Soviet intelligence jungle. Ordered against her will to become a “Sparrow,” a trained seductress, Dominika is assigned to operate against Nathaniel Nash, a young CIA officer who handles the Agency’s most important Russian mole. (Goodreads)
There is something tasty about the mixing of the multi-layered plots and character relationships that gives Red Sparrow its flavor. Perhaps that is why recipes end most chapters. I will admit I found the CIA portions more interesting than the love story part. I liked the use of old spies reminiscing about the good old days. THAT is real. He is at his best when he grounds the book in the people and the day-to-day routine of working in the intelligence community. As a Washington Post reviewer correctly pointed out “the frequent drudgery of the espionage game.”
Matthew’s writing pace is quick, but the action moves slowly at times, which I appreciate. Espionage work is a long, slow grind. It requires patience—a lot of patience. It is not, for most, breakneck action filled with life-or-death decisions. Matthews incorporates the sense of humor I found was required within the CIA world. Black, dark, sarcastic humor needed to offset the pressing anxiety and stress of the job. If you have read my books, you will find this also.
As in most cases, the movie adaptation starring Jennifer Lawrence and Joel Edgerton had major differences from the book. And, as you might expect, some, but not all, for the better. The endings are completely different. Some key themes were changed, especially in the use of Putin (a character in the book, but not so much in the movie). This makes some sense in an international distributed movie, I guess. Some of the espionage stories were removed, which lessened the CIA as a character to an extent. It’s a movie. Not a 431-page book.
The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
Original release: 2019
“We unveil ourselves in the pieces we want others to know, even those closest to us. We all have our secrets.”
Okay, here is one you might not know and I know it is not for everyone. Every once in a while, I need to read something different.
The Secrets We Kept is a fictionalization of the CIA’s role in getting Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago published outside the Soviet Union before smuggling it back in and ensuring its distribution to a Russian readership. This is an entertaining book using the events of a fascinating early CIA propaganda operation. Since this is an area I worked in the 1980’s, I was intrigued.
Disclaimer: I knew Lara back when we were both consultants working on international political campaigns. She was a master social media guru. We used to talk about writing (I was still noodling on my first book, SECRET WARS.) She quit everything, went to Austin, got her MFA, and wrote a bestselling CIA book.
At the height of the Cold War, two secretaries are pulled out of the typing pool at the CIA and given the assignment of a lifetime. Their mission: to smuggle Doctor Zhivago out of the USSR, where no one dare publish it, and help Pasternak’s magnum opus make its way into print around the world. Glamorous and sophisticated Sally Forrester is a seasoned spy who has honed her gift for deceit all over the world–using her magnetism and charm to pry secrets out of powerful men. Irina is a complete novice, and under Sally’s tutelage quickly learns how to blend in, make drops, and invisibly ferry classified documents. (Goodreads)
This historical fiction is told from the female point of view and includes some romance that is not as common in other CIA spy thrillers—minus those that use sex as tradecraft (Red Sparrow!). The story give a sense of the Agency in its early years and the prevalent male-dominated culture.
Where do stories about the CIA come from? Is truth stranger than fiction? Lara’s family has long loved the book, to the extent that Lara was named after the heroine. In a 2014 Washington Post article about declassified CIA documents, she read about the CIA and Doctor Zhivago connection. As she read the files, she saw an opportunity to fill in the reacted portions with a story.
Damascus Station by David McCloskey
Original release: 2022
“For even friendly intelligence services do not share, they trade.”
Disclaimer: David was kind enough to provide a blurb for my book Rebellious Son (Spy Devils #2).
David is a former CIA case officer who layers his storytelling with details only an insider would know. David is one of the new authors writing contemporary fiction on the CIA.
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. (Goodreads)
The denied area Syrian setting and the CIA’s mission are important characters in the book—as important as the many characters representing various political viewpoints. This is almost historical fiction (with some needed fudging) in how characters, events, culture, and history are integrated into the story. David layers a sense of humanity in even the worst characters.
David’s use of tradecraft and the importance of personal relationships is excellent. His personal experiences and understanding of the role/importance of analysis complement it.
Given his knowledge of the CIA, David accurately depicts the duties of both CIA case officers and analysts. Of note, he goes inside the CIA walls to explore the bureaucracy and infighting within senior ranks, which we saw often, but frequently escapes the writings of those without experience inside the organization.
I would recommend Michael Frost Beckner’s books that apply internal Agency to the story and characters. He wrote the movie Spy Game with Robert Redford and Brad Pitt.
I also recommend David’s newest novel Moscow X.
The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry
Original release: 2023
“Espionage was a game and if a spook wasn’t playing, he was either irrelevant or dead.”
Disclaimer: I.S. was kind enough to provide a blurb for my book Devil’s Own Day (Spy Devils #3).
Shane Collins, a world-weary CIA spy, is ready to come in from the cold. Stationed in Bahrain off the coast of Saudi Arabia for his final tour, he’s anxious to dispense with his mission—uncovering Iranian support for the insurgency against the monarchy. But then he meets Almaisa, a beautiful and enigmatic artist, and his eyes are opened to a side of Bahrain most expats never experience, to questions he never thought to ask. When his trusted informant becomes embroiled in a murder, Collins finds himself drawn deep into the conflict. His budding romance with Almaisa—and his loyalties—are upended; in an instant, he’s caught in the crosswinds of a revolution. Drawing on all his skills as a spymaster, he sets out to learn the truth behind the Arab Spring, win Almaisa’s love, and uncover the murky border where Bahrain’s secrets end and America’s begin. (Goodreads)
Like David, author I.S. Berry, is a former Agency case officer who served in wartime Baghdad and elsewhere. Her debut book, The Peacock and the Sparrow, is perfect for people like me who love a realistic spy story. She and David are at the forefront of the new former CIA officer writers.
A return to espionage, the people involved, life undercover, the strain, the twists and turns, relationships, international intrigue, exotic locations, and tensions—for lack of a better word—inside CIA HQS and Stations hierarchy.
Many reviews have compared her work to John Le Carre’ and Graham Greene. I agree. FYI: I debated including Greene’s The Quiet American on this list.
All the characters are important in this work, which reminds me of the number of people it takes to work in espionage successfully. The settings are vital to the story as they are in reality. Knowing the nuance of culture, people, and regional politics is a must as is shown. Without, there is miscommunication, questioned motives, and/or failure. You can feel it in every sentence in this book.
A true return to espionage.
[…] shape your perception, often exaggerating the danger, intrigue, and heroism of real espionage. However, many real intelligence operations are meticulously planned and involve careful analysis rather than […]