In the mood for some great spy books? We’ve picked 5 for you this time: From the masterful work of Olen Steinhauer to the literary work of William Boyd, you will enjoy every one of these titles. You can click on the images to go to Amazon page for each book and read more.

Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd: Vienna, 1913. Lysander Rief, a young English actor in town seeking psychotherapy, is caught up in a feverish affair with a beautiful, enigmatic woman—until she goes to the police to press charges of rape. Only a frenzied getaway plotted by two mysterious British diplomats saves him from trial. But after Lysander returns to a London on the cusp of war, the traumatic ordeal haunts him at every turn. The men who coordinated his escape recruit him to carry out a brutal murder. His lover shows up at a party, ready to resume their liaison. Suddenly plunged into the dangerous theater of wartime intelligence—a murky world of sex, scandal, and spies—Lysander must unravel a secret that threatens Britain’s safety.

Moving from Vienna to London’s West End, from the battlefields of France to hotel rooms in Geneva, Waiting for Sunrise is a mesmerizing journey into the human psyche, a beautifully observed portrait of wartime Europe, a plot-twisting thriller, and a literary tour de force.

The Nearest Exit by Olen Steinhauer: Milo Weaver has nowhere to turn but back to the CIA in Olen Steinhauer’s brilliant follow-up to the New York Times bestselling espionage novel The Tourist.

The Tourist, Steinhauer’s first contemporary novel after his awardwinning historical series, was a runaway hit, spending three weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and garnering rave reviews from critics. Now faced with the end of his quiet, settled life, reluctant spy Milo Weaver has no choice but to turn back to his old job as a “tourist.” Before he can get back to the CIA’s dirty work, he has to prove his loyalty to his new bosses, who know little of Milo’s background and less about who is really pulling the strings in the government above the Department of Tourism—or in the outside world, which is beginning to believe the legend of its existence. Milo is suddenly in a dangerous position, between right and wrong, between powerful self-interested men, between patriots and traitors—especially as a man who has nothing left to lose.

Masaryk Stationby David Downing: Berlin, 1948. Still occupied by the four Allied powers and largely in ruins, the city has become the cockpit of a new Cold War. The legacies of the war have become entangled in the new Soviet-American conflict, creating a world of bizarre and fleeting loyalties—a paradise for spies. As spring unfolds, a Western withdrawal looks increasingly likely. Berlin’s German inhabitants live in fear of the Soviet forces who occupy half the city, and whose legacy of violence has ripped apart many families.

John Russell works for both Stalin’s NKVD and the newly created CIA, trying his best to cut himself loose from both before his double-agency is discovered by either. As tensions between the great powers escalate, each passing day makes Russell’s position more treacherous. He and his Soviet liaison, Shchepkin, seek out one final operation—one piece of intelligence so damning it could silence the wrath of one nation and solicit the protection of the other. It will be the most dangerous task Russell has ever taken on, but one way or the other, it will be his last.

Scorpion Deceptionby Andrew Kaplan: In Switzerland, a brutally efficient hit squad storms the U.S. embassy, stealing classified files and leaving no witnesses alive. Under intense political pressure to find those behind the attack—with Congressional leaders demanding military action—the CIA turns to the deadliest agent they know: Scorpion. But Scorpion is unwilling to get involved . . . until he learns his name is at the top of one of the stolen lists.

What Scorpion uncovers sends the CIA scrambling: evidence linking the attack to an unknown Iranian power broker known as “the Gardener.” Scorpion follows the trail to Zurich and Barcelona, where he meets his match in Scale, an agent as lethal as the viper that is his namesake. A deadly dance of deception ensues, bringing Scorpion into Tehran’s inner circle, but not even the political elite know who the Gardener is—or what his next move might be.

The Geneva Optionby Adam LeBor: Yael Azoulay does the United Nations’ dirty work by cutting deals that most of us never hear about. Equally at home in the caves of Afghanistan, the slums of Gaza, or corporate boardrooms all across the world, Yael believes the ends justify the means…until she’s pushed way beyond her breaking point.

When Yael is assigned to eastern Congo to negotiate with Jean-Pierre Hakizimani, a Hutu warlord wanted for genocide, she offers him a generous plea bargain. Thanks to Congo’s abundance of a valuable mineral used in computer and cell phone production, her number one priority is maintaining regional stability. But when she discovers that Hakizimani is linked to the death of the person she loved the most—and that the UN is prepared to sanction mass murder—Yael soon realizes that salvation means not just saving others’ lives but confronting her own inner demons.

Spanning New York City, Africa, and Switzerland, The Geneva Option is the first in a series of gripping conspiracy thrillers, a tour de force of international espionage and intrigue.

Looking for some cool reads for your kindle? Why don’t you give mystery genre a try and check out these new titles on Amazon Store? We came across these exciting titles recently and decided to share them with you. You can check out more details about each book by clicking on the images.

The Fame Thief by Timothy Hallinan: This is the third installment in the Junior Bender series with witty language and absorbing storyline (see our take on previous books here and here): There are not many people brave enough to say no to Irwin Dressler, Hollywood’s scariest mob boss-turned-movie king. Even though Dressler is ninety-three years old, LA burglar Junior Bender is quaking in his boots when Dressler’s henchman haul him in for a meeting. Dressler wants Junior to solve a “crime” he believes was committed more than seventy years ago, when an old friend of his, once-famous starlet Dolores La Marr, had her career destroyed after compromising photos were taken of her at a Los Vegas party. Dressler wants justice for Dolores and the shining career she never had.

Junior can’t help but think the whole thing is a little crazy. After all, it’s been seventy years. Even if someone did set Dolores up for a fall from grace back then, they’re probably long dead now. But he can’t say no to Irwin Dressler (no one can, really). So he starts digging. And what he finds is that some vendettas never die—they only get more dangerous.

Double Whammy by Gretchen Archer: A nice cozy mystery which is definitely worth reading for a $2.99 price tag…fun & human: Davis Way thinks she’s hit the jackpot when she lands a job as the fifth wheel on an elite security team at the fabulous Bellissimo Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. But once there, she runs straight into her ex-ex husband, a rigged slot machine, her evil twin, and a trail of dead bodies. Davis learns the truth and it does not set her free—in fact, it lands her in the pokey.

Buried under a mistaken identity, unable to seek help from her family, her hot streak runs cold until her landlord Bradley Cole steps in. Make that her landlord, lawyer, and love interest. With his help, Davis must win this high stakes game before her luck runs out.

The Reckoningby Jane Casey. The third novel by this Irish writer brings us another exciting installment from a series featuring a stubborn female heroine who is looking for a brutal serial killer: To the public, he’s a hero: a brutal killer who targets sex offenders. To most of London’s police force, he’s the suspect in a gruesome, time-consuming case to be avoided. But to Detective Constable Maeve Kerrigan, he’s a murderer—no matter the sins of his victims—and catching him is her job. Assigned to the case with the division’s unreadable new DI, Josh Derwent, young and inexperienced Maeve is determined to prove she has what it takes to make it as a female in the tough world of the London police.

But for a killer who strikes with such spectacle, this one is proving remarkably elusive. And when Maeve learns his motive might be about exacting revenge, his acts of incredible violence move from abstract justice to the intensely personal, and become all the more terrifying. Unsure whom she can trust even within her own department and knowing her life is at stake, Maeve will have to decide how far she’s willing to go to ensure justice is served.

Island of Bonesby Imogen Robertson: If you like historical suspense at its best, take a look at this book…Imogen Robertson’s first two historical suspense novels featuring the forthright Mrs. Harriet Westerman and reclusive anatomist Gabriel Crowther have earned both glowing praise and a growing readership.

The story of the new book happens in England in 1783: Crowther’s haunting past is at last revealed. For years he has pursued his forensic studies—and the occasional murder investigation—far from his family estate. But an ancient tomb there will reveal a wealth of secrets. When laborers discover an extra body inside, the lure of the mystery brings Crowther home at last.

Let It Burnby Steve Hamilton: A new book from the Edgar and Shamus award winning author Steve Hamilton covers another chapter in the life Alex McKnight, a former Detroit police who now lives in Paradise.

Even though Alex McKnight swore to serve and protect Detroit as a police officer, a trip to Motown these days is a trip to a past he’d just as soon forget. The city will forever remind him of his partner’s death and of the bullet still lodged in his own chest. So he’s more than happy to stay in the little town of Paradise, three hundred miles and half a lifetime away.

Then he gets a call from his old sergeant. It turns out that a young man Alex helped put away will be getting out of prison. That one big case marked the highlight of his career, before his partner was killed, before his marriage fell apart, before he left Detroit, forever. Now that man is about to walk free.

When the sergeant invites Alex downstate to have a drink for old times’ sake, it’s an offer he would normally refuse. However, there’s a certain female FBI agent he can’t stop thinking about, so he gets in his truck and he goes back to Detroit. While there, he’s reminded of something about that last case, a seemingly small piece of the puzzle that he never got to share. It’s not something anyone wants to hear, but Alex can’t let go of this gut feeling that they arrested the wrong man.

And that the real killer not only got away, but went on to kill again. And again. And again.

A Brief Summary:

Genevieve has finally escaped the stressful demands of her sales job and achieved her dream: to leave London behind and begin a new life aboard a houseboat in Kent. Not many people know that she financed her fresh start by working weekends as a dancer at a less-than-reputable gentlemen’s club called the Barclay, and she’s determined to keep it that way. But on the night of her housewarming party the past intrudes when a body washes up beside the boat, and Genevieve recognizes the victim, a fellow dancer from the Barclay.

As the sanctuary of the marina is threatened, and Genevieve’s life seems increasingly at risk, the story of how she came to be so out of her depth unfolds, and she discovers the hard way the real cost of mixing business with pleasure.

Our Take:

 Great character development…this is a joy to read.

Elizabeth Haynes portrays, in a masterful way, the character of a lonely and nerdy woman who has a dream and wants to realize it with whatever price. But one bad decision leads to another and she finds herself in a trap which is very hard to escape from.

We liked the fact that the author started the story with a bang, the body besides the boat, and the way the story was shifting from present to past adding to the intrigue…This book is highly recommended for those who enjoy suspense to the maximum.

Our Rating: 4.0

Like Books By Elizabeth Haynes?

You can check out the following titles from this author. Click on the images to go to Amazon page for each book.

A Brief Summary:

A plain young typist working for the New York Police Department in the 1920s becomes obsessed with a glamorous and mysterious co-worker, with shocking results.

Rose Baker’s job is to record the confessions of criminals, and as the prim-and-popper graduate of a convent orphanage, she prides herself on following every rule. But with the arrival of the effortlessly elegant and charming Odalie Lazare, those rules are soon bent as Odalie introduces Rose to a totally unfamiliar realm of speakeasies, smoking, modernist poetry, and bobbed hair.

As the two young women grow closer and eventually become roommates, Rose discovers many disturbing discrepancies in Odalie’s accounts of her earlier life. Rose turns a blind eye to these inconsistencies until she and Odalie bump into a yound man from Newport who claims to know a secret about Odalie’s past. The encounter sets in motion the stunning conclusion, including a horrifying death, band some savage betrayals.

Our Take:

 We couldn’t put this book down…Rindell is a great talent.

This is an intriguing story: Thanks to thorough research, the reader really feels the atmosphere of New York City in the earlier part of 20th century. In some ways, the world in which Rindell has created for Rose and Odalie, is influenced by Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and she also admits being inspired by the story.

The novel is written in the first person from Rose’s point of view, and her account of events are very cinematic. Although the tone is rather casual and modern, the author has remained loyal to many of the phrases and traditions used in the period.

Overall, a great piece of work and highly recommended for the lovers of historical suspense.

Our Rating: 4.0

Like This Book?

We can’t wait to read more from this talented author. You can check out the Amazon page for this debut work by clicking on the image below.

A Brief Summary:

The MacBrides lead a cozy life of upper class privilege: good looks (more or less), a beautiful home, tuition-free education at the prestigious private school where Rowan is headmaster, an altruistic righteousness inherited from magistrate Lydia.

But when Rowan and his three grown children gather for the first time since Lydia’s passing at the family’s weekend home—a restored barn in the English countryside—years of secrets surface, and they discover a stranger in their midst. A stranger who is convinced that Lydia was a murderer. A stranger who has been exacting vengeance upon the family for years without their ever knowing. And one who will threaten the youngest MacBride, baby Edie, and the clan’s memory of Lydia, shattering their world forever.

Our Take:

If you like suspense, Erin Kelly’s novels are must read for you…

Kelly likes to cook up her stories little by little; therefore this novel doesn’t start with a bang: Each few chapters are being told from the point of view of a different character in the story with jumps back and forth to the past and present. The reader should have some patience as the momentum picks up about halfway through.

Overall, a great work of suspense with a great twist…

Our Rating: 4.0

Like Books By Erin Kelly?

You can check out the following titles by this author. Click on the images to go to Amazon page for each book.

A Brief Summary:

Buck’s retirement gets a lot less boring when a fellow vet with whom he shared accommodations in a POW camp calls Buck to his bedside and reveals a disturbing bit of news: The SS officer who ran their camp is alive, in the US, and in possession of a fortune in stolen gold.

Buck sets out to find the guy, relying with much reluctance on Tequila, his grandson, who can drive him around at night and explain Google and how the Internet works. The twosome quickly learns that they are not the only ones on the trail of the treasure: Buck’s investigation quickly attracts unfriendly attention from a Mississippi loan shark, a seven-foot tall Hasidic Jew, and a bloodthirsty maniac hell-bent on rubbing out everybody who knows anything about the stolen loot.

Our Take:

 We can’t wait to read more from Friedman…

Spending time on reading debut works is risky: Especially if you don’t have tolerance for below top-notch quality. But Don’t Ever Get Old is an exception: Friedman has masterfully created a story which you can’t put down. The lead character is not sexy, strong or super-smart. In fact in many cases, he is the opposite and that’s what makes him compelling.

Buck, who is aware of his shortcomings and lack of knowledge about how things work in the modern day, reluctantly teams up with his grandson: He has no idea how challenging the task in hand is and this, in essence, becomes something which motivates the reader to turn the pages and see what happens at the end.

This is a great first installment in a new series and we are looking forward to reading more from this talented author.

Our Rating: 5.0

Like Books By Daniel Friedman?

You can check out this debut novel on Amazon by clicking on the image below.

We hope you enjoy reading them! You can check out the Amazon page for each book by clicking on the images.

Award-Winner historical mystery now as paperback: A Simple Murder. This book is first in a historical mystery series by Eleanor Kuhns. The book won the first crime novel award two years ago by Mystery Writers of America and features Will Rees, a traveling weaver and Revolutionary War veteran who is on his way to meet his son. He is asked to solve the murder of a woman among the community of Shakers where his son now lives with a new religious lifestyle.

This is a great original piece of work: Both because of its setting and the historical period in which the narrative happens.

A local police procedural novel from New Mexico: When the Devil Doesn’t Show. Christine Barber, Tony Hillerman Award winning author, has released a new book featuring detective Gil Montoya in the culturally rich setting of Santa Fe in New Mexico. Called to the scene of a burning house, Lucy finds dead bodies inside the still raging flames. As the search for the identity of one of the bodies leads us through different chapters, the author presents us an intriguing puzzle which ties past to the present and involves the affairs related to an infamous nuclear testing facility in New Mexico.

Readers will enjoy the interesting back stories and the rich Santa Fe atmosphere…

A new Sidney Sheldon novel: The Tides of Memory. Tilly Bradshaw, once a Sheldon fan, has continued the legacy of Sidney Sheldon by producing great new stories based on his unfinished notes, personal documents and characters. This new novel is the story of a rising star in the conservative party who has a dark past: She is in the risk of losing everything after some pieces of her old life resurface…how far can she go to guard the truth?

Sidney Sheldon would have loved this book.

 

A cozy mystery from Mississippi: Smarty Bones. Carolyn Haines, the award winning author of Sarah Booth Delaney series brings us this new novel surrounding the Lady In Red, an anonymous but perfectly preserved body of a woman in a mysterious grave. When Professor Olive Twist who is investigating the grave takes her call too far and claims there is a connection between the body and some local scandal. Sarah Booth is asked to intervene: The rest is an enjoyable cozy with lots of twists…

Entertaining, fast paced and brilliantly plotted cozy…

 

A new reprint from Alphabet series: G is for Gumshoe. Sue Grafton’s feisty female private eye Kinsey Millhone is back in this 7th installment from the best selling alphabet series: When Irene Gersh asks PI Kinsey Millhone to locate her elderly mother Agnes, whom she hasn’t heard from in six months, it’s not exactly the kind of case Kinsey jumps for. But a girl’s gotta pay her bills, and this should be easy money—or so she thinks. Kinsey finds Agnes in a hospital. Aside from her occasional memory lapses, the octogenarian seems fine. And frightened.

Kinsey doesn’t know what to make of Agnes’s vague fears and bizarre ramblings, but she’s got her own worries. It seems Tyrone Patty, a criminal she helped put behind bars, is looking to make a hit. First, Kinsey’s car is run off the road, and then days later, she’s almost gunned down, setting in motion a harrowing cat and mouse game…

So Kinsey decides to hire a bodyguard. With PI Robert Dietz watching her 24/7, Kinsey is feeling on edge…especially with their growing sexual tension. Then, Agnes dies of an apparent homicide, Kinsey realizes the old lady wasn’t so senile after all—and maybe she was trying to tell her something? Now Kinsey’s determined to learn the truth…even if it kills her.

Refreshing and entertaining: Alphabet series has developed a large fan base in more than 2 decades…

A great Agatha Christie- type novel: Fear in the Sunlight. Nicola Upson’s new novel is an elegant piece of work which matches the best novels of 1940s and 50s in terms of quality: This is a classic style mystery about a murderer who constructs the crimes based on the scripts in which Hitchcock intends to buy for movies.

In the summer of 1936, Josephine Tey joins her friends in the resort village of Portmeirion to celebrate her fortieth birthday. Alfred Hitchcock and his wife, Alma Reville, are there to sign a deal to film Josephine’s novel, A Shilling for Candles, and Alfred Hitchcock has one or two tricks up his sleeve to keep the holiday party entertained—and expose their deepest fears. But things get out of hand when one of Hollywood’s leading actresses is brutally slashed to death in a cemetery near the village. The following day, fear and suspicion take over in a setting where nothing—and no one—is quite what it seems.

Fans of British puzzle mysteries will love this great story…

A great police-procedural based in modern London: The Last Girl. Jane Casey’s new novel is just great: A layered and twisted story which keeps the reader engaged from beginning to the end.

Vast wealth offers London defense attorney Philip Kennford a lot of things: a gorgeous house with a pool in the backyard, connections in the top echelons of society, a wardrobe worthy of Milan runways. But his money doesn’t provide a happy marriage, or good relationships with his twin daughters…and it does nothing to protect his family when someone brutally murders his wife and daughter in their own home.

When Detective Constable Maeve Kerrigan arrives at the scene, the two survivors—Philip and his second favorite daughter, Lydia—both claim to have seen nothing, but it’s clear right away that this is an unhappy family accustomed to keeping secrets. Maeve soon finds herself entangled in a case with a thousand leads that all seem to point nowhere, and it doesn’t help that her boss, whom she trusts more than almost anyone, is starting to make decisions that Maeve finds questionable at best.

You’d better remember Jane Casey’s name…She is one of the best.

A Brief Summary:

It was the most renowned and respected shrine in the Roman Empire, the object of veneration by Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Octavian, and a host of other luminaries. It stood for centuries within a sacred precinct the size of a large town at the heart of the greatest Greek city in the world. Yet it disappeared without a trace, creating the greatest archaeological enigma of the ancient world. What became of the tomb of Alexander the Great? Does any part of it still survive?

When word of the tomb’s secret location and the treasured wisdom of the Oracle of Delphi it may hold materialize in the code of an ancient scroll in Afghanistan, Harvard linguist and archeologist professor Thomas Lourds must quickly find out. That is if the evil forces that wish to obtain the treasure that the tomb holds doesn’t stop him first. Russian President Nevsky and his secret police will stop at nothing to harness the power of what the tomb may hold—power to control the world as Alexander the Great did. When the Taliban catches wind of the discovery they’re also dangerously hot on the trail.

Our Take:

This is yet another fast-paced, and well-written novel about the adventures of archeologist/linguist Thomas Lourdes. Brokaw has a talent in mixing historical facts and mysteries with wonderful plots: Although the ending is predictable and the use of foreign governments in the conspiracies is a bit cliche, nevertheless this is a very enjoyable read!

Our Rating: 3.9

Like Books By Charles Brokaw?

You can check out the following books by this author. Click on the images to go to Amazon page for the book.

In this new installment, Lindsay Boxer’s beautiful baby is born! But after only a week at home with her new daughter, Lindsay is forced to return to work to face two of the biggest cases of her career.

A rising star football player for the San Francisco 49ers is the prime suspect in a grisly murder. At the same time, Lindsay is confronted with the strangest story she’s ever heard: An eccentric English professor has been having vivid nightmares about a violent murder and he’s convinced is real. Lindsay doesn’t believe him, but then a shooting is called in-and it fits the professor’s description to the last detail.

Lindsay doesn’t have much time to stop a terrifying future from unfolding. But all the crimes in the world seem like nothing when Lindsay is suddenly faced with the possibility of the most devastating loss of her life.

You can check out some of other books from this series on Amazon by clicking on the images.

If you are Amazon Prime member, you can read this book for free so check it out: This is not some novel with deep plots; it’s rather an enjoyable story with a dose of humor and mystery.

A Brief Summary:

Kihei Past Perfect, a Hawaii mystery, is about a retired Honolulu detective who opens a small PI business with the proviso that the cases not be too hard, too violent, or too dangerous, “just about $1,000 per to buy dinner at the fufu Wailea gold course and maybe fly to Honolulu to visit his daughters.” He lives in Kihei, which he considers the blue collar part of south Maui, next to the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Wailea, but it has the same fine sand, clear water and gentle waves. Almost perfect. The detective, John Makakiu, is trying to carve out a perfect life, but little stumbling blocks keep popping up.

Past Perfect revolves around a “missing persons” case, one of the hardest kind, especially if the missing person doesn’t want to be found. The world is a big place. The search takes Makakiu running down the beach after a half-witted witness, to an out of the way mansion near Hana on the farthest shore from Kihei, to a tiny village in Thailand, to a gun at his head, held by a five foot two little old lady, who was as mean as she looked sweet. All turns out well when he is sort of rescued by his new “squeeze” and the real bad person “spills the beans.”

Like eBooks by Alvin Koo?

This author has published several books on Hawaii but apparently this is the only mystery novel published so far. You can click on the image to go to Amazon page for the book.