1 The 39 Steps John Buchan.
I think it has to be on everybody’s list written by Buchan while he was ill in bed at the start of the First World War and published in 1915. It has great pace and a riveting plot no wonder the soldiers in the trenches were enthralled, and it took a lot to take their minds of what they faced. Having travelled the highlands of Scotland I can say his landscape description is spot on.
2 From Russia with Love Ian Fleming.
I’m in good company with this one it was one of John F. Kennedy’s favourite books. I like the start in the SMERSH training camp. And who can resist Istanbul and the Orient Express for settings. Even given 007 does not like flying, and who would in a thunder storm. Then there is Colonel Rosa Klebb such a good villain not to mention the lure of Tatiana Romanova who can get her hands on a Spektor as well. The machine that bears more than a passing resemblance to the German Enigma code machine. I would say Fleming at his best. I read it first in one of those Pan paperbacks as I did all the others.
3 The Odessa File Frederick Forsyth
A bit of a curved ball this one. Is it a spy book I hear you say? I say yes it has all the ingredients. Peter Miller infiltrates ‘the ODESSA’ as a spy on a revenge mission. The ODESSA is powerful organisation of SS survivors and meddling in the politics of the Middle East. There are car chases and fights, in the book he drives a Jaguar XK 150s, however in the film a Mercedes but he does steal an E-Type Jaguar. And another great ending I think it deserves its place.
5 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy John Le Carre
Another great read that came out when yours truly was in RMs where an old agent is brought back to find a Soviet mole operating within the ‘Circus’ named after the SIS office at Cambridge Circus. What a plot an agent is betrayed while on a mission to Czechoslovakia. But who is the mole responsible? They are given code-names from the children’s rhyme Tinker, Tailor etc. I think for writing skill it is one of the best. Also made into a memorable TV series.
5 Harry’s Game Gerald Seymour
This book is set in a time period and situation the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland I knew well which is what drew me to it in the first place. It is classic espionage thriller that pitches two men against each other. Like all good books it has that air of authenticity. I sympathised with Harry Brown sent into Belfast to hunt down the killer of a British Cabinet Minister. I found its air of tragedy invigorating and it has quite a twist in the tail.
I know it got my juices flowing to create my own agent Rob Nicolson. It too was made into a TV series with memorable music.
