Double O Section 10th Anniversary: Top 10 Spy Novels of the Past Decade

While I haven't seen all the spy movies to be released around the world over the past ten years, I have certainly seen the majority of them. The same can't be said for spy novels. There are simply too many published every year to possibly keep up with all of them. But I do read a whole lot of spy fiction, and try to stay on top of the new stuff. Here are ten of my favorite spy novels published during the past ten years.

My Favorite Spy Novels 2006-2016

1. The Nearest Exit by Olen Steinhauer (2010)

If you haven't read this book, it's a bit unfair of me to list it as the best spy novel of the decade, because it can't really be read as a one-off; it actually requires you to read three books. The good news is... all three are fantastic! The Nearest Exit is the middle novel in Steinhauer's Milo Weaver trilogy, which begins with The Tourist (2009) and ends (for now, anyway) with An American Spy (2012). It's tough to pick a favorite of those (especially between the last two), but when it came out The Nearest Exit blew me away with the best "knot," to use Connie Sachs' term, since Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. The characters are compelling; the tradecraft is impressive, and the espionage plot is ingenious. Publishers absolutely love to label any new spy novel with a variation on "le Carré meets Ludlum" (odd as those particular bedfellows are), but Steinhauer really delivers on that, combining exciting action of the latter with the rich characterizations, complex plots and moral uncertainty of the former. It astounds me that these books have not yet been filmed. Perhaps if Steinhauer's new TV show Berlin Station proves successful, that will be remedied.

2. A Most Wanted Man by John le le Carré (2008)

Speaking of le Carré, the all-time master of this genre is still as sharp as ever in his eighties. Not only has he remained prolific (I don't begrudge his contemporary Len Deighton enjoying his retirement, but oh how I wish he were still publishing as well!), but he's remained topical. Le Carré may have written about the Cold War better than just about anyone else, but that period was hardly the limit of his outrage. If anything, he's gotten angrier as he's gotten older. Some of his later books might suffer a bit from getting overly polemical, but A Most Wanted Man is the perfect concoction of literary fury. It's not only the best novel of the "War on Terror," but easily among the best in the author's justly celebrated oeuvre, featuring some of the most memorable characters he ever created. How many authors are still producing some of their best work in their eighth or even ninth decades? Le Carré is a towering talent still at the top of his game. His follow-up novel, Our Kind of Traitor, was also fantastic, as was his memoir this year, The Pigeon Tunnel. I can't wait to see what he does next.

3. Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews (2013)

Proving once again that spies and authors draw from similar skill sets, former CIA officer Jason Matthews penned as impressive a debut novel as you're ever likely to read in this compelling tale of the spy games very much still being played between America and Russia. The novel follows Russian SVR agent Dominiki Egorova and up and coming CIA officer Nate Nash first separately, and then as their paths ultimately converge. While most of us will never be able to judge a spy novel for its accuracy, Matthews certainly lends an air of authority in his descriptions of tradecraft and Agency politics that feel incredibly realistic. Red Sparrow was the first in a trilogy, and unfortunately the second novel, Palace of Treason, was a serious letdown, but I'm holding out hope that Matthews will bounce back with his third novel and cement himself a spot among the great spies-turned-writers like le Carré, Greene and Fleming.

4. The Devil in Amber by Mark Gatiss (2006)

Before Mark Gatiss shot to Internet superstardom as co-creator of the BBC's terrific Sherlock, he penned a trilogy of fantastically fun spy/adventure novels featuring the unlikely secret agent "by appointment to His Majesty" Lucifer Box. Box is a sort of debonair, bisexual mash-up of Sherock Holmes, James Bond and Oscar Wilde, and as witty a narrator as you could ask for. In my review here when this second book in the Box trilogy came out, I wrote that it gave me "just about the most pure enjoyment I’ve gotten out of any book in a long time." All these years later, it still stands out for that. Granted, I must admit that that might have something to do with my specific tastes, which seem to be nearly identical to Gattiss's. Into this supernatural John Buchan/Dennis Wheatley pastiche,/parody, he mixes healthy doses of James Bond, Hammer horror, Adam Adamant, Doctor Who and P.G. Wodehouse. For me, that adds up to sheer joy. Anyone who enjoys Gatiss's work on Sherlock and Doctor Who should definitely seek out The Devil in Amber (as well as its precursor, The Vesuvius Club). Read my full review here.

5. The Last Run by Greg Rucka (2011)

For his work on the sublime spy series Queen & Country (comprised of both comics and novels), Greg Rucka made that very first list that started this blog ten years ago, so it's not surprising that he's making this one too. What is a bit surprising (and disappointing), is that he hasn't written more spy novels since then! But the one new Queen & Country novel to come out in the past decade was more than worth the five year wait that led up to it. This is by far my favorite of the subgenre of contemporary espionage that Lee Child memorably and humorously dubbed, "something about Iran." Rucka uses Iran to tell a very contemporary twist on the classic Cold War spy novel. His field heroine, Tara Chace, finds herself on the run deep in enemy territory (quite a Quiller predicament), while his desk hero, Paul Crocker, is faced with that age-old dilemma of trying to figure out whether a potential defector is too good to be true. You don't have to have read any other entries in this superb, Sandbaggers-inspired spy series to enjoy The Last Run, but if you have, it rewards on multiple levels. I really, really hope that Rucka returns to the Queen & Country universe again, be it in a new novel or a new comic series. In fact, that's one of my dearest spy fan-related hopes. Read my full review of The Last Run here.

6. A Foreign Country by Charles Cumming (2012)

Along with Olen Steinhauer, Charles Cumming is probably my favorite contemporary spy writer. He reliably delivers a great read every time, but A Foreign Country, the first of his novels featuring British agent Thomas Kell, is my favorite of his to date. Though the stakes (involving the first female head of MI6) are incredibly high, the story itself is relatively small for contemporary spy ficiton, and I found that appealing. It's also a great example of one of my favorite type of spy plots, the secret war between friendly nations. In this case, that secret war turns deadly. Like Jason Matthews, Cumming is a master at describing tradecraft with a palpable sense of realism, and a lengthy shadowing operation with a very limited surveillance team is the highlight of this novel. This was optioned by Colin Firth's company back in 2013 as a potential starring vehicle for the actor (who I think would be great as Kell). Earlier this year it was reported that the project is still alive, but might take the form of a miniseries rather than a movie. That's something I would love to see!

7. The Moneypenny Diaries: Secret Servant by Kate Westbrook (2006)

When The Moneypenny Diaries concept was first announced, it sounded like a terrible idea. It seemed like a blatant attempt by Ian Fleming Publications to capitalize on the then zeitgeisty success of Bridget Jones' Diary... which seemed like an odd zeitgeist to capitalize on for the heirs of Ian Fleming. So who would have predicted such an odd experiment would produce the best James Bond continuation novel of the last decade? Unfortunately, it was so under the radar that hardly anyone outside of hardcore Bond fans ever found out about it. But the second book, in particular, in Samantha Weinberg's really quite brilliant trilogy definitely deserves a larger audience. Weinberg, writing as Kate Westbrook, actually wrote a Bond novel with the potential to appeal to the sorts of spy fans who don't normally give 007 the time of day. She penned a Bond novel, with Miss Moneypenny as the protagonist, set in John le Carré's world—mixed with actual history. In Secret Servant, we see Bond's Service torn apart by a mole and M acting like Control in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Add to that real-life traitor Kim Philby and his wife Eleanor, and you've got the makings of a Bond novel unlike any other and a treat for Bond fans and fans of the "desk" half of the spy genre alike. Read my full review of The Moneypenny Diaries: Secret Servant here, and my interview with Weinberg here.

8. Double or Die by Charlie Higson (2007)

The Moneypenny Diaries wasn't the only seemingly bad idea by Ian Fleming Publications to strike unlikely gold in the past decade. The announcement that they would explore the adventures of James Bond as a boy in a series of Young Adult books seemed like an equally blatant Harry Potter (and Alex Rider)-inspired cash-grab, and initially provoked consternation among many fans. But author Charlie Higson improbably made this unlikely premise work, and ended up penning some of the very best James Bond continuation novels to date, as well as some of the best of the very rich trend of Young Adult literature in the early 2000s. It's a toss-up for me whether Blood Fever (which pre-dated this blog) or Double or Die is my favorite, but there is no question that the latter is a fantastic read. In attempting to decrypt a secret code, James and his Eton friends find themselves on a scavanger hunt across pre-WWII London involving gambling, Soviet spies and a nascent Bletchley Park. It's a great Young Adult adventure that feels authentically Bondian, and a fantastic read. Read my full review of Double or Die here.

9. Restless by William Boyd (2006)

William Boyd eventually became a James Bond continuation novelist himself, and penned a decent 007 entry with Solo. But it wasn't nearly as good as his original spy novel Restless, a literary thriller about a young woman in 1970s Britain searching for the elusive truth about her mother's past as an agent of William Stephenson's British Security Coordination during WWII. The BSC makes a fascinating backdrop for a spy novel, dealing again with that theme of spying between friendly nations. In this case, that spying includes the real-life historical efforts of Stephenson's organization to draw America into the war to aid Britain. But both the 1940s and 1970s storylines are compelling (unlike in the miniseries, which gave short shrift to the Seventies one), and Boyd creates two terrific heroines. It should be noted that there's an excellent audio version read by Bond Girl and Oscar nominee Rosamund Pike. Boyd's masterpiece is Any Human Heart (a novel that features a little bit of spying—and Ian Fleming as a character—but which isn't really a spy novel), but Restless is also well worth reading.

10. Dead Line by Stella Rimington (2008)

Stella Rimington is another former spook turned successful author, and like Jason Matthews, she lends credence to the theory that the two professions rely on some of the same skill sets. Like Matthews, the former Director General of MI5 brings an air of undeniable authenticity to her Liz Carlyle spy novels. Dead Line is among Rimington's best, and expands the tapestry a bit from her previous books. Rather than focusing on Carlyle and her antagonist, she follows many different agents working for different countries and different branches of the British intelligence community this time around. While it isn't immediately clear how all of these storylines are related, the converge in a most satisfying manner, culminating in an assassination attempt at a peace conference in Scotland. Rimington also proved prescient (again, not surprising given her former profession) in predicting the significance of Aleppo in world affairs. Read my full review of Dead Line here.

Those were ten of my favorite spy novels of the past decade, though I could easily make a list of fifty! (Well, maybe not easily. These things take time to write!) What were some of yours? I'd love to get some recommendations for my reading pile.

Addendum: I cannot believe that I forgot to include Jeremy Duns' excellent debut novel, Free Agent! It was easily among my favorites of that period, but for some reason I had thought it came out sooner.

The contest code word is: AMBER.

Book Review: Dead Line by Stella Rimington

Stella Rimington’s Dead Line, part of a quartet of novels that kicked off Vintage’s Pocket Lizard line (distinguished by their distinctive black page edging) last summer, might very well be my favorite Liz Carlyle book yet. I’ve enjoyed them all so far, but Secret Asset and even the highly enjoyable Illegal Action lacked the oomph of the former MI5 Director General’s debut novel, At Risk. Happily, Dead Line is just as thrillingly page-turning as that one, and offers a wide array of equally memorable characters. In fact, while her previous novels tended to trade off points of view between MI5 agent Carlyle and her usually unidentified antagonist (and occasionally her able assistant Peggy), Dead Line expands its points of view to encompass tons of characters, all making up the same grand tapestry and all coming together as pieces of the puzzle and the plot, forming a huge panorama of the London spy scene. We get inside the head of not only Liz and some of her colleagues, but also agents of the CIA’s London Station (new territory for Rimington, who’s thus far eschewed the Cousins in her novels), Syrian intelligence operatives, Mossad agents, a couple of innocents caught up in the spy game, and of course that nebulous antagonist.

The action begins when an asset in Cypress gives the MI6 station chief there credible intel on a threat to an upcoming Mideast peace conference to be held in Gleneagles, Scotland, which will be attended by the Prime Minister, the American President and the leaders of Israel and Syria, among other distinguished dignitaries. The asset hasn’t got much information, however—just the names of two British citizens somehow connected with the coming attack. He doesn’t even know how they’re connected. That’s up to Liz to suss out—once the intel has finally made its way from MI6 to MI5 in a manner not quite as timely as taxpayers would probably hope for, but probably sadly accurate given Rimington’s career experience. It’s fascinating to track the disbursal of this intelligence to other parties. Rimington demonstrates well what a valuable commodity good intel is in the intelligence community, and how jealously guarded it is by those who possess it. MI6’s Geoffrey Fane, a character familiar to regular readers of this series who shares a shaky professional history with Liz, is the man who controls it. He then doles it out in small doses to his colleagues in MI5 (since it pertains to a domestic threat, which falls under their purview), the CIA (since the threat also concerns the American President), Whitehall, and eventually the Mossad. Fane doesn’t give any of his supposed allies quite the whole picture, withholding different bits from different parties—partly to protect his sensitive source, and partly to ensure that his own agency remains in control of this information for political reasons. Naturally, had all the parties had total access to the details all along and cooperated, it would have taken them a lot less time than it does to piece together exactly what’s going on. Regrettably, I suspect this lack of full cooperation or trust between various agencies on the same side still goes on in both Britain and America, even more than ten years after 9/11 and the ensuing overhauls of the Intelligence Community. But while the real-life scenarios are frightening, this sort of inter-agency politics makes for wonderful reading!

Rimington demonstrates not only her intimate knowledge of the spy profession, but also her knowledge of spy literature with some nice nods to le Carré, Graham Greene and others. I particularly appreciated the Greene reference. Anyone who’s read or seen the movie of Our Man in Havana will have a good guess as to the true value of the intelligence received by Syrian agent Ben Ahmad from an asset at secret rendezvous in a vacuum cleaner shop!


Dead Line moves along at a brisk pace not because it’s wall-to-wall action (although Liz is the victim of a harrowing assassination attempt this time around), but because of the characters themselves and their relationships with each other. The solution to the mystery depends not only on Liz assembling clues in the right order, but also on her cracking the code of how to deal with each of her colleagues in such a way as to get all the information she needs out of them. That’s a slow and tedious process, but it doesn’t read that way. All of the characters are interesting and well-rounded. As in the other books, we’re treated to glimpses into Liz’s personal life as well as her professional one. A subplot in Dead Line, for instance, involves her apprehension about and eventual acceptance of the new man in her widowed mother’s life. All of Rimington’s spies are human beings as well as secret agents, attempting to balance their social and professional lives in the same way as anyone else with a demanding job.

Perhaps because of her persistence in portraying realistic intelligence operations as opposed to Bondian world-in-peril plots, Rimington’s books tend to fizzle out a bit in their denouements rather than explode. That’s true again to some extent in Dead Line (though less so than in the preceding two books), and probably keeps it from reaching the heights of At Risk. But even if we guess the enemy’s plot before Liz does, it’s still a satisfying finale and an even more satisfying journey to get there.

For the third time in four books, Dead Line once again features a rogue intelligence agent turning against his or her service and aligning him/herself with terrorists. Whereas previously I’d groaned a little bit at that 24/Spooks-ish device, this time it actually solidifies itself as an intentional theme in Rimington’s writing, and not an accidental cliché. Liz herself summarizes this theme when she wonders, “Who said the Age of the Individual was over?”

“What I always find surprising,” muses another character, “is that with all our sophisticated technology and the big bureaucracies we work in, a single person can still do so much damage.”

Liz ponders this and replies, “Well, when you think about it, so much of our work is about the actions of individuals—not governments or bureaucracies. That’s what makes it so fascinating. If it were just about process or gizmos, do you think you’d want to be doing the job?”

“Absolutely not,” concludes her colleague emphatically. “And neither would you.” And neither would readers. Ultimately, it isn't the process or the gizmos that keeps fans returning to the genre time and again. It's the characters. The individuals. And with a keen insight honed by years spent observing and analyzing such individuals and their behavior for a living, Rimington always manages worthy contributions on this front to the spy fiction genre.

Dead Line is as exciting and satisfying a contemporary spy novel as I’ve read this year. While readers of the whole series will be rewarded with developments in long-term personal relationships and character growth from book to book, there’s no reason why a first-time reader couldn’t plunge into the world of Liz Carlyle with this book. In fact, I’d recommend it. If you’ve never given Rimington a try but enjoy the less spectacular, more realistic side of spy fiction and find well-written political in-fighting as exciting as car chases and gunfights (as I do), you’ll find a lot to enjoy in Dead Line. And it doesn’t hurt that the American paperback edition comes wrapped up in a particularly satisfying physical package, either! I’m a big fan of the Vintage Pocket line on a judging-a-book-by-its-cover level alone. These books are a good size (smaller than your average trade paperback, but larger than a mass market one), a good texture (yes, that matters to me) and very attractive thanks to that black page edging. I hope all of Rimington’s novels end up reissued in this line.

New And Upcoming Spy Novels Of Note

Yesterday saw the release in the United Kingdom of a very noteworthy new spy novel: Free Agent by Jeremy Duns. Why is it so noteworthy? Well, firstly because it's been getting very positive advance buzz. Secondly, though (and of especial interest to net-savvy spy fans), because the author is one of us. He's a fan. Jeremy Duns is familiar to anyone who frequents the forums at CommanderBond.net where he posts as "spynovelfan." And according to David Foster at Permission To Kill, Duns also moderates a Yahoo discussion group on spy novels. Now this fan has channelled his accumulated expertise in the genre into a novel of his own, and the results are said to be phenomenal. Free Agent is a Cold War spy thriller set in 1969. On the CBn Forums, Duns even promised a mention of SMERSH! It's the first in a projected trilogy focusing on double agent Paul Dark. Free Agent is out now in Britain with a very cool retro cover and in June in America with a typically less-cool American cover. David has an excellent interview with Duns up at Permission To Kill, which is recommended reading for fans eager for a taste of what's in store for Dark. I'm looking forward to digging into this one.

Also out in June (the very same day, in fact) in both the US and Britain, is a spy novel we've been hearing a lot about lately thanks to its pre-release acquisition by Warner Bros. for Terminator: Salvation and Charlie's Angels director McG: Dead Spy Running by Jon Stock. Every time it's in the trades, this one is described as "John Le Carré meets Jason Bourne." Stock qualified that logline by calling himself more of a Le Carré reader and a Bourne watcher, so that gives us some idea of what to expect. The book has certainly generated a lot of heat with publishers and studios, so it's another one I'm eagerly awaiting.

One of my favorite contemporary spy novelists, former top spook Stella Rimington, also has some new books in the pipeline. Her latest Liz Carlile novel, titled Present Danger and drawn (as always) in equal parts from her experience at MI5 and from her impressive skills as a writer, will come out in Britain on October 1. We still haven't even gotten the previous book, Dead Line, in America, but the one before that, Illegal Action, is due out in paperback in the States from Vintage/Black Lizard on June 2. Hopefully we'll see a hardcover release for Dead Line sometime this summer.

Book Review: Secret Asset by Stella Rimington

Following up on her stellar debut novel, At Risk, former Director General of MI-5 Stella Rimington delivers another gripping, contemporary and successful espionage procedural in Secret Asset. The big surprise in the first novel was just how good a writer Ms. Rimington turned out to be. I suppose I shouldn’t have been shocked, though; there’s a reason so many former spooks* (Somerset Maugham, Graham Greene, Ian Fleming and John Le Carré, to name a few) make great novelists. The two professions call upon the same skill sets to a large degree. Both understand the importance of details, and it’s details that fuel books like this. Both are trained in character development, whether its analyzing the behavior of an actual person to predict their next move, or creating a believable human being from scratch. And both professions require an abundance of creativity, whether it’s used for plotting ingenious intelligence operations or planning circuitous spy plots... which often amount to the same thing! Still, such hidden talents are rarely expected of former bureaucrats–deservedly or not–so it was a welcome surprise to learn that Rimington was such a good author.

Secret Asset is equally well-written, if not quite as vital as its predecessor. While the first book seemed literally torn from the headlines (or, our imaginations urge us, top secret MI-5 files), the plot of Secret Asset seems more... well, like the plot of a novel. But those details still seem to ring true (not that readers have any way of knowing for sure), and they’re what make the book such a fascinating read.

Rimington’s heroine (and one assumes, though probably incorrectly, surrogate to some degree), Liz Carlyle is a compelling creation. She’s not quite as human as George Smiley, but she certainly leads a more regular life than James Bond, and as a reader, it’s a pleasure to once more be in her company. Liz may be the main character, but her’s certainly isn’t the only perspective we’re afforded. One of the reasons Rimington’s books seem so real is because she demonstrates how many people are involved in any sort of large-scale MI-5 operation. And, not needing the budget to retain stars on a weekly basis, she does a much better job with that than Spooks, which, while wonderfully dramatic, would generally have us believe that the fate of Britain rests squarely on the shoulders of just five or six individuals.

Liz Carlyle doesn’t do everything herself. She’s an agent-runner, so she’s not the one shooting out that bad guy’s tires at the finale; that’s a Special Branch sniper whose specific job is to shoot out bad guys’ tires. Liz doesn’t run her own surveillance and she doesn’t sweep suspects’ flats for hidden secrets; she lets specialists in those fields handle those tasks. And sometimes we get the specialists’ perspectives.

We spend a lot of time with Liz’s colleague Dave Armstrong, who handles more field work than Liz in Secret Asset. Dave is always popping up in different guises, and it’s a little unnerving to realize just how chameleon-like MI-5 can be. Dave is all things to all people; he pops up as a policeman, a rental agent, and the British equivalent of a DMV employee when interviewing different people. It’s very cool, but also a little scary. Even though Rimington’s MI-5 are definitely the good guys, I’m still kind of glad that America doesn’t have a domestic intelligence service!

Besides Liz and Dave, there are a number of chapters that focus on incidental characters who play a small role in events, often unwittingly. Besides providing good slice-of-life narratives, these chapters serve two purposes. First, they demonstrate how many people–ordinary people–are involved in such complex plots and investigations, even indirectly. Second (and this may be no more than a happy accident), it serves as a sort of public service announcement for MI-5 and other law enforcement showing that ordinary citizens can make a difference in the war on terror. Kind of like those ultra-patriotic WWII spy movies that impressed upon citizens how much they could do to help stop Nazi spies and aid the war effort. So much of Liz’s progress wouldn’t happen if it weren’t for a neighbor noticing something out of the ordinary and reporting it, or a news agent recalling a seemingly insignificant detail about a suspect for a policeman.

Secret Asset is Rimington’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; it’s her “mole hunt” book. Liz is tasked with identifying a mole within the Service who was recruited by the IRA while at Oxford in the early 90s, but was never activated. Rimington quickly dispels any notions that a mole today couldn’t be as dangerous as back during the Cold War (or the Troubles). If someone is willing to sell out their country to one buyer, what’s to stop them from doing the same thing for another? Just because the IRA never activated their secret asset doesn’t mean nobody did... and the clock starts ticking faster when Liz realizes that one of her suspects may now be aiding Islamic extremists.

It’s no accident that the backgrounds of the various suspects mirror the suspects’ backgrounds in Le Carré’s famous novel. Rimington is not just knowledgeable in spy fact; she’s clearly well-versed in spy fiction as well. Besides the Le Carré references, she name-checks Ken Follet; one of her fictional spooks is reading Day of the Jackal. She’s studied the masters of the form, and it clearly pays off in crafting excellent spy fiction. But it perks my curiosity. When did she read these spy novels? Was it only after retiring, in preparation for embarking on a career as a novelist, or was it during her lengthy tenure with MI-5? The idea of actual intelligence officers reading spy fiction amuses me for some reason, but I suppose it makes perfect sense. We like to read and watch things about what we do; surely that accounts for the wild success of shows like The Office. Then again, I can’t imagine someone going to sleep with their nose in a Le Carré book after a long day of hard work at the real life Circus. Wouldn’t it be too depressing?

These aren’t the only questions I find myself asking about Rimington’s synthesis of fiction and facts drawn from her previous life. Her experience definitely adds immensely to her novels; even though I obviously have no way of knowing if all her details are factual or not, they certainly have the ring of truth. While inordinately careful not to divulge any state secrets, Rimington writes with a familiarity that could only be gained from life experience. All those details pay off in creating her fictional Service. But she also brings some extra-textual baggage with her. I just can’t help constantly wonder, which parts are true and which are simply the tools of a gifted novelist?

For instance, both of her first two books feature rogue British agents. We’re used to that scenario from shows like 24 and Spooks, but does it actually happen so often in real life? And are as many terrorists really motivated by personal revenge as they are in her books? It does make sense that people would need personal incidents to drive them to violent acts of extremism, but isn’t religion or hatred sometimes enough on its own? I really don’t know. Dame Stella clearly has way more experience with such people than I do, so I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, but I still can’t help wondering. Where does the fact end and the fiction begin?

I doubt we’ll ever know for sure, but these burning questions will continue to supplement the reader’s enjoyment of Rimington’s books, as they do those of Le Carré, Greene and others. Rimington is frustratingly tightlipped on some matters (regarding anti-terror legislation, Liz is has her own opinions “like many in her profession,” but chooses to “keep her own counsel.”), but lends enough veracity to her world to make her fictions believable and highly compelling. And, of course, she’s savvy enough in the rules of spy fiction to pen terrific thrillers.

*A word that I think has come to encompass all intelligence professionals, not just field operatives. Most writers seem to come from administrative or agent-running backgrounds.

New Stella Rimington Books

Publishers on both sides of the pond for Dame Stella Rimington have been busy lately. Former MI5 boss Rimington's second Liz Carlyle spy novel, Secret Asset, came out as a trade paperback from Vintage in the States last month with a classy cover that would appropriately fit in well on a shelf of Le Carré novels. This paves the way for the U.S. hardcover debut of her third and most recent Carlyle novel, Illegal Action, on July 1 from Knopf. Illegal Action, more even than her first two novels, seems ripped directly from the latest headlines, to use an apt cliché. Dealing with deadly poisons and a plot to assassinate a Russian expatriate and vocal Putin opponent living in London, the book was especially timely when its U.K. publication last year coincided with deteriorating relations between Russia and Britain following the late 2006 murder of Alexander Litvinenko.

Even though Americans remain a year behind on her books, Dame Stella hasn't been resting on her laurels. Her fourth Liz Carlyle novel, Dead Line, is due out in the U.K. in October with a cover that would have been more appropriate on an 80s paperback. (And I kind of like it for that reason!) There's no U.S. publication date for that yet, of course, but I do hope that Knopf manages to catch up eventually, since her novels are all so topical!

For those who have yet to discover what an amazing novelist this former spook's turned out to be, I recommend starting her her first book, At Risk.

Random Intelligence Dispatches For May 10, 2007

Renaissance On DVD
The fantastic French animated sci-fi noir Renaissance, starring Daniel Craig (in the English language version, anyway) arrives on Region 1 DVD at long last on July 24 courtesy of Buena Vista Home Entertainment. Amazon lists a steep retail price of $29.99 and The Film Asylum reports that special features will include a making-of documentary. No word on whether the original French audio track will be included. Renaissance is a really incredible action movie, similar in look to Sin City, but still fiercely original, that deserves a wider audience that it got during its brief theatrical release last fall. It’s worth seeing for one setpiece alone, an exhilarating foot chase through a futuristic two-storey mall in which the pursuer (Craig) is downstairs, following a fleeing suspect on the upper level, visible through a transparent, all-glass floor. And of course there's some shooting... Great stuff.

The Rimington Conundrum
No, that’s not the title of yet another previously unpublished Robert Ludlum manuscript; it’s the mystery surrounding Dame Stella Rimington’s next Liz Carlyle spy novel, Secret Asset. Based on Amazon listings, I previously reported that the former MI-5 chief’s book (a follow-up to her compelling first novel, 2005's At Risk) would make its American debut in paperback this month. Well, not only has that not come to pass, but Amazon has pulled the listing entirely. However, Borders lists a June 19 release date... for a hardcover, at $24.95. This makes a lot more sense as Advance Readers Copies are already circulating (rare for a paperback original), and At Risk was released in hardcover by Knopf. I suspect that the erroneous Amazon listing was really the Canadian paperback, which hit shelves at the same time as the British paperback. (The book came out in hardcover in Britain last year.) Amazon.co.uk still lists the third title in the series, Illegal Action, for an August 2 UK release.

NBC Ups Chuck

TV Guide reports that NBC has picked up OC creator Josh Schwartz's show about twenty-something spies, Chuck, for next season. Chuck stars Zachary Levi, Everwood's Sara Lancaster and Firefly favorite Adam Baldwin. Too bad it doesn't have a better title! Variety describes Chuck as "a spy comedy/drama [about] a regular guy who accidentally learns government secrets." McG executive produces along with Schwartz.

Contest Reminder
The Double O Section’s first contest is still running! You have until midnight, Pacific Time, on Sunday to enter to win copies of The Wild Wild West Season Two and Assassination In Rome/Espionage In Tangiers on Region 1 DVD.

Dame Stella's Newest A Paperback Original?

Even though former MI-5 Director General Stella Rimington's second Liz Carlyle novel, Secret Asset, has been out in Great Britain and Canada for nearly a year, the US release date was pushed back several times. Now it's finally due to appear here... in paperback. Sadly it's bypassed the hardcover market altogether for some reason, even though her fantastic debut novel, At Risk, got a hardcover publication from Knopf. Amazon lists the mass market book at $12.16, which seemse awfully high for a paperback, but judging from the dimensions they give it will be one of those tall, skinny paperbacks (somewhere between a mass market and a trade in size) that are basically just a justification for the publisher to charge a little extra. Secret Asset comes out in America on May 29.

Meanwhile, according to an Amazon.co.uk listing, the third Liz Carlyle novel, Illegal Action, is due in Britain (in hardcover) on August 2. It concerns the timely topic of post-Cold War Russian espionage in London, and an attempt to silence a vocal Putin critic.