The 'best' spy novels in the world and what I think about some of them.

Here is the Link:

And here is my opinion, along with the individual rankings:

Top 15 Spy Novels

Publishers Weekly prints a list of 15 top spy novels (Best spy novels? It doesn't really say.), compiled by Peter Cannon.

1. THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD by John le Carre (1963)

This is a high work of art. There are few authors writing in any field who have the capacity to delve into method and character to the exact depth of detail required to allow the reader to complete the picture himself. That makes Le Carre one of the best writers around. This particular book is the foremost of those novels which brought very close to mind the bleakness of the Cold War and all that it stood for. In the end, the spies on both sides had more in common with each other than with their political masters.

2. THE BOURNE IDENTITY by Robert Ludlum (1980)

This is a piece of sh**.

3. THE DAY OF THE JACKAL by Frederick Forsyth (1971)

An amazing work by the master of method. To be honest, this is hardly a spy novel: this novel deals with a political assassination. But I like it for its precise attention to detail. Hercule Poirot would have approved of Mr. Forsyth. Too bad he turned into a raving right-winger in his latter years.

4. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME by Ian Fleming (1962)

Wha? Mr. Fleming wrote action thrillers. These are not spy novels. Puhr-lease!

5. THE QUIET AMERICAN by Graham Greene (1955)

Haven't read.

6. THE IPCRESS FILE by Len Deighton (1962)

Another classic. Harry Palmer (our unnamed protagonist) cannot pass through an East European town without stashing cash, a couple of passports and a Browning at a railway station locker. And with good reason too: a fairly large number of people want to do him in. Dawlish, his boss and the head of the WOOC(P) isn't much help. The 'P' in WOOC(P) stands for 'provisional', which the Army hates. The Army hates most things professional.

7. THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE by Ken Follett (1978)

I tried to read this. Ken Follet writes absolute cr**. Avoid this.

8. MASQUERADE by Gayle Lynds (1996)

Haven't read.

9. THE MOSCOW CLUB by Joseph Finder (1991)

Haven't read.

10. ABOVE SUSPICION by Helen MacInnes (1939)

Haven't read. Now again, Helen MacInnes was really a romantic novelist who should have never ventured into espionage. Try reading 'Friends and Lovers'.

11. THE 39 STEPS by John Buchan (1915)

Haven't read.

12. HARLOT'S GHOST by Norman Mailer (1991)

Haven't read.

13. THE UNLIKELY SPY by Daniel Silva (1996)

Haven't read.

14. THE RIDDLE OF THE SANDS by Erskine Childers (1903)

Haven't read.

15. MORNING SPY, EVENING SPY by Colin MacKinnon (2006)

Haven't read.

So, here we are.. at the end of the list, with a bunch of recent novels of dubious worth, some pieces of undiluted poison and quite a few worthy contenders missing. The list needs to be remade. That, I will do, when I have some more time.