Suspense, action and adventure are the elements of an exciting read. Espionage fiction includes all three these elements, so if you're looking for a real page turner, this is a genre you may want to look into. To know where to start, it helps to look at the beloved characters that came from the best spy thrillers and made it to the big screen.
Arthur Conan Doyle created the character of the famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. Even though it doesn't fall strictly in the espionage genre, 'His Last Bow' features Holmes as a double agent during World War I. This war also inspired John Buchan's 'The Thirty-nine Steps', adapted to film by Alfred Hitchcock.
While not really a war but rather a conflict of different ideologies, the Cold War led to the birth of some great fictional secret agents. The one that has captured the imagination for more than six decades is a British secret agent who manages to outsmart the bad guys and always gets the girl too. James Bond first appeared in Ian Fleming's 'Casino Royale' and has been captivating audiences both in print and on film ever since.
'The Quiet American' by Graham Greene is another espionage novel that made it to the big screen. Greene himself was a secret agent, working for British Intelligence during World War II. He also wrote 'The Heart of the Matter', but is a pioneer of bringing comedy to the genre with 'Our Man in Havana', set in Batista's Cuba before the revolution led by Fidel Castro.
John le Carre is another former secret agent who started writing books about the cloak-and-dagger world. He worked for Britain's MI5 and MI6 agencies. It was in fact while in their service that he started writing stories about this environment.
Le Carre wrote several books that became hit movies. Richard Burton starred in one of the first, called 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'. Sean Connery, for many the ultimate James Bond, starred in 'The Russia House', while another Bond, Pierce Brosnan, was the spy character in 'The Tailor of Panama'. Award-winning actors like Ralph Fiennes and Gary Oldman also portrayed Le Carre spies: Fiennes in 'The Constant Gardener' and Oldman in 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'. Diane Keaton played a great female agent in the film adaptation of the novel 'The Little Drummer Girl', in which Le Carre showed that cloak-and-dagger is not only for men.
In more recent years, Matt Damon brought another great spy character to the big screen. Jason Bourne first appeared in Robert Ludlum's 'The Bourne Identity'. Ludlum, a former Marine, gave this character starring roles in 'The Bourne Supremacy' and later 'The Bourne Ultimatum'.
Tom Clancy's imagination gave rise to Jack Ryan, another of the characters that appears in the best spy thrillers. Several actors brought Ryan to life, starting with Harrison Ford and 'Patriot Games'. Ford revived the role with 'Clear and Present Danger' a few years later. 'The Hunt for Red October' starred Alec Baldwin, while more recently, 'The Sum of All Fears' provided Ben Affleck with the chance to play the role of a lifetime.
Arthur Conan Doyle created the character of the famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. Even though it doesn't fall strictly in the espionage genre, 'His Last Bow' features Holmes as a double agent during World War I. This war also inspired John Buchan's 'The Thirty-nine Steps', adapted to film by Alfred Hitchcock.
While not really a war but rather a conflict of different ideologies, the Cold War led to the birth of some great fictional secret agents. The one that has captured the imagination for more than six decades is a British secret agent who manages to outsmart the bad guys and always gets the girl too. James Bond first appeared in Ian Fleming's 'Casino Royale' and has been captivating audiences both in print and on film ever since.
'The Quiet American' by Graham Greene is another espionage novel that made it to the big screen. Greene himself was a secret agent, working for British Intelligence during World War II. He also wrote 'The Heart of the Matter', but is a pioneer of bringing comedy to the genre with 'Our Man in Havana', set in Batista's Cuba before the revolution led by Fidel Castro.
John le Carre is another former secret agent who started writing books about the cloak-and-dagger world. He worked for Britain's MI5 and MI6 agencies. It was in fact while in their service that he started writing stories about this environment.
Le Carre wrote several books that became hit movies. Richard Burton starred in one of the first, called 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'. Sean Connery, for many the ultimate James Bond, starred in 'The Russia House', while another Bond, Pierce Brosnan, was the spy character in 'The Tailor of Panama'. Award-winning actors like Ralph Fiennes and Gary Oldman also portrayed Le Carre spies: Fiennes in 'The Constant Gardener' and Oldman in 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'. Diane Keaton played a great female agent in the film adaptation of the novel 'The Little Drummer Girl', in which Le Carre showed that cloak-and-dagger is not only for men.
In more recent years, Matt Damon brought another great spy character to the big screen. Jason Bourne first appeared in Robert Ludlum's 'The Bourne Identity'. Ludlum, a former Marine, gave this character starring roles in 'The Bourne Supremacy' and later 'The Bourne Ultimatum'.
Tom Clancy's imagination gave rise to Jack Ryan, another of the characters that appears in the best spy thrillers. Several actors brought Ryan to life, starting with Harrison Ford and 'Patriot Games'. Ford revived the role with 'Clear and Present Danger' a few years later. 'The Hunt for Red October' starred Alec Baldwin, while more recently, 'The Sum of All Fears' provided Ben Affleck with the chance to play the role of a lifetime.
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