Book picks similar to
Red Traitor by Owen Matthews


historical-fiction
thriller
mystery
fiction

The Scholars of Night


John M. Ford - 1988
    A professor at a small New England college, Hansard has a second, secret career with The White Group, a "consulting agency" with shadowy Washington connections.When Hansard's work exposes one of his closest friends, Allan Berenson, as a Soviet agent, and Berenson dies mysteriously, the connections seem all too clear. Shaken, Hansard turns away from secrets to investigate a manuscript that may be a lost play from Christopher Marlowe. Surely, he thinks, four hundred years is a safe distance from the events of the present.He is wrong.Allan Berenson's murder has set in motion a deadly chain reaction, as spies run for cover, traitors hide their tracks, and assassins stalk their victims. Berenson's lover--herself an unsuspected spy--seeks revenge by completing Berenson's final project: the theft of the West's most crucial military secret. Its use will forever change the balance of power in Europe.But the key to completing the plan is hidden in the Marlowe manuscript... and only Nicholas Mansard can find it.Pursued and manipulated by all sides, Hansard is caught in a crossfire where no loyalty, identity or motive is what it appears, and a name from the time of Elizabeth I will bring the world to the brink of war.The Scholars of Night is an extraordinary novel of technological espionage and human betrayal, weaving past and present into a web of unbearable suspense.

The Mask of Dimitrios


Eric Ambler - 1939
    At first merely curious to reconstruct the career of the notorious Dimitrios, whose body has been identified in an Istanbul morgue, Latimer soon finds himself caught up in a shadowy web of assassination, espionage, drugs, and treachery that spans the Balkans. The classic story of an ordinary man seemingly out of his depth, A Coffin for Dimitrios remains Eric Ambler's most widely acclaimed novel.

Ratlines


Stuart Neville - 2013
    As the Irish people prepare to welcome President John F. Kennedy to the land of his ancestors, a German national is murdered in a seaside guesthouse. Lieutenant Albert Ryan, Directorate of Intelligence, is ordered to investigate. The German is the third foreigner to die within a few days, and Minister for Justice Charles Haughey wants the killing to end lest a shameful secret be exposed: the dead men were all Nazis granted asylum by the Irish government in the years following World War II.A note from the killers is found on the dead German's corpse, addressed to Colonel Otto Skorzeny, Hitler's favorite commando, once called the most dangerous man in Europe. The note simply says: "We are coming for you."As Albert Ryan digs deeper into the case he discovers a network of former Nazis and collaborators, all presided over by Skorzeny from his country estate outside Dublin. When Ryan closes in on the killers, his loyalty is torn between country and conscience. Why must he protect the very people he fought against twenty years before? Ryan learns that Skorzeny might be a dangerous ally, but he is a deadly enemy.

The Mausoleum


David Mark - 2019
    In a quiet village in the wild lands of the Scottish borders, disgraced academic Cordelia Hemlock is trying to put her life back together. Grieving the loss of her son, she seeks out the company of the dead, taking comfort amid the ancient headstones and crypts of the local churchyard. When lightning strikes a tumbledown tomb, she glimpses a corpse that doesn't belong among the crumbling bones. But when the storm passes and the body vanishes, the authorities refuse to believe the claims of a hysterical 'outsider'. Teaming up with a reluctant witness, local woman Felicity Goose, Cordelia's enquiries all lead back to a former POW camp that was set up in the village during the Second World War. But not all Gilsland's residents welcome the two young women's interference. There are those who believe the village's secrets should remain buried ... whatever the cost.

Sweet Tooth


Ian McEwan - 2012
    Cambridge student Serena Frome's beauty and intelligence make her the ideal recruit for MI5. The year is 1972. The Cold War is far from over. England's legendary intelligence agency is determined to manipulate the cultural conversation by funding writers whose politics align with those of the government. The operation is code named "Sweet Tooth." Serena, a compulsive reader of novels, is the perfect candidate to infiltrate the literary circle of a promising young writer named Tom Haley. At first, she loves his stories. Then she begins to love the man. How long can she conceal her undercover life? To answer that question, Serena must abandon the first rule of espionage: trust no one. Once again, Ian McEwan's mastery dazzles us in this superbly deft and witty story of betrayal and intrigue, love and the invented self.

Shibumi


Trevanian - 1979
    Born in Shanghai during the chaos of World War I, he is the son of an aristocratic Russian mother and a mysterious German father and is the protégé of a Japanese Go master. Hel survived the destruction of Hiroshima to emerge as the world’s most artful lover and its most accomplished—and well-paid—assassin. Hel is a genius, a mystic, and a master of language and culture, and his secret is his determination to attain a rare kind of personal excellence, a state of effortless perfection known only as shibumi.Now living in an isolated mountain fortress with his exquisite mistress, Hel is unwillingly drawn back into the life he’d tried to leave behind when a beautiful young stranger arrives at his door, seeking help and refuge. It soon becomes clear that Hel is being tracked by his most sinister enemy—a supermonolith of international espionage known only as the Mother Company. The battle lines are drawn: ruthless power and corruption on one side, and on the other . . . shibumi.

Official Secrets


Andrew Raymond - 2020
    Cabinet member. But the further the American and English pair investigate, the more holes they find in the official version of events.With help from a maverick CIA officer and a brilliant intelligence analyst, Novak and Mitchell uncover evidence of an extraordinary conspiracy involving the White House, the British government, and a shadowy deep-state organization.As conspirators close in from all sides, Novak and Mitchell must risk everything to track down the one source who can break their story and expose the truth. On the run for their lives, they will find out just how far those in power are willing to go to preserve their secrets...An Amazon UK No.1 Political Thriller and multi-bestseller, Official Secrets is “explosive” (bestselling author Mason Cross), packed with globetrotting action and rollercoaster twists. If you like David Baldacci, J.B. Turner, Brad Thor, and Barry Eisler, this addictive series will leave you telling yourself ‘just one more page’. What readers say about Andrew Raymond:A BOOK OF THE YEAR. ‘A cracking good thriller.’ – Chris Patten, former Member of Parliament.

The Girl in Green


Derek B. Miller - 2017
    Near Checkpoint Zulu, one hundred miles from the Kuwaiti border, Thomas Benton meets Arwood Hobbes. Benton is a British journalist who reports from war zones in part to avoid his lackluster marriage and a daughter he loves but cannot connect with; Arwood is a mid-western American private who might be an insufferable ignoramus, or might be a genuine lunatic with a death wish--it's hard to tell. Desert Storm is over, peace has been declared, but as they argue about whether it makes sense to cross the nearest border in search of an ice cream, they become embroiled in a horrific attack in which a young local girl in a green dress is killed as they are trying to protect her. The two men walk away into their respective lives. But something has cracked for them both. Twenty-two years later, in another place, in another war, they meet again and are offered an unlikely opportunity to redeem themselves when that same girl in green is found alive and in need of salvation. Or is she?

The Twentieth Day of January


Ted Allbeury - 1980
    Seemingly out of nowhere, wealthy businessman Logan Powell has become President-elect and is only weeks away from assuming the most powerful position in the world on the twentieth day of January. Across the Atlantic, veteran British intelligence agent James MacKay uncovers shocking evidence that suggests something might be terribly wrong with the election. With the help of a reluctant CIA, MacKay sets out on a dangerous and daring mission to discover if the unthinkable has occurred: is President-elect Powell actually a puppet of the Soviet Union?Written by the bestselling author of The Crossing and Pay Any Price, this remarkably plausible thriller offers a heady mix of political intrigue and intense suspense — with the very future of America and the free world hanging in the balance.

Night Flight to Paris


David Gilman - 2018
     It is 1943 and for agents of the Special Operations Executive, a mission to Nazi-occupied Paris is a death sentence. So why has unlikely spy Harry Mitchell volunteered to return to the city he fled two years ago? The French capital is at war with itself. Informers, gangsters, collaborators and Resistance factions are as ready to slit each other's throats as they are the Germans'. The occupiers are no better: the Gestapo and Abwehr – military intelligence – are locked in their own lethal battle for dominance. Mitchell knows the risks but he has a reason to put his life on the line: his family are still in Paris and have fallen into the hands of the Gestapo. With disaster afflicting his mission from the outset, it will take all his ingenuity to even get into the capital... unaware that every step he takes is a step closer to a trap well set and baited. 'Night Flight to Paris is everything a thriller should be: fast-paced with great characters, life or death jeopardy and nail-biting action. David Gilman delivers the goods once again. A terrific read!' MATTHEW HARFFY. 'Absolutely amazing. I'd never thought that another writer could rival Bernard Cornwell ... The level of suspense is ratcheted up to a truly brutal level' SHARON PENMAN. 'A gripping ride through a memorable period of history' WILBUR SMITH.

Alpha


Steven Konkoly - 2011
    A secret his government has hidden in the deepest vaults of the Pentagon.Someone is trying to raise Black Flag from the dead, and drag Petrovich back into the poisonous life he abandoned. Someone who knows his darkest secrets.In exchange for the promise of a clean slate, and a chance to keep the life he has built with the woman he loves, he agrees to carry out one more mission. Now Daniel has an even bigger problem. The assassination of Mohammed Ghani, a wealthy Muslim importer, wasn't the uncomplicated mission he had been promised. Seven other prominent Muslim businessmen are killed on the same night along the East Coast, suddenly extinguishing Task Force HYDRA, the most significant counter-terrorism investigation in recent FBI history.Daniel's life is about to disintegrate, as he becomes the focus of a relentless FBI manhunt, and the target of a vengeful CIA agent. To survive, he'll be forced to release a dark side he fought for years to keep suppressed. A dark side with no boundaries, and few loyalties.

Palace of Spies


Sarah Zettel - 2013
    Sixteen-year-old Peggy is a well-bred orphan who is coerced into posing as a lady in waiting at the palace of King George I. Life is grand, until Peggy starts to suspect that the girl she's impersonating might have been murdered. Unless Peggy can discover the truth, she might be doomed to the same terrible fate. But in a court of shadows and intrigue, anyone could be a spy—perhaps even the handsome young artist with whom Peggy is falling in love...History and mystery spark in this effervescent series debut.

Model Spy


Shannon Greenland - 2007
    A whiz with computers, she agreed to help her college RA, David, uncover some top-secret information. After all, she doesn't have many friends and David has always been nice to her. It doesn't hurt that he's supercute and irresistible, too. All she has to do is hack into the government's main computer system. But a few hours later, her whole life changes. She is caught and taken in for questioning, only this isn't your run-of-the-mill arrest. Rather than serve a juvenile detention sentence, she accepts the option to change her name and enlist in a secret government spy agency that trains teen agents to go undercover. As if that wasn't overwhelming enough, she discovers that David works for this agency as well!And before she even begins to understand what is going on, she's sent on her first mission as an undercover model. And who better to partner with than David himself!

The Apollo Murders


Chris Hadfield - 2021
    Three astronauts in a tiny spaceship, a quarter million miles from home. A quarter million miles from help.NASA is about to launch Apollo 18. While the mission has been billed as a scientific one, flight controller Kazimieras "Kaz" Zemeckis knows there is a darker objective. Intelligence has discovered a secret Soviet space station spying on America, and Apollo 18 may be the only chance to stop it.But even as Kaz races to keep the NASA crew one step ahead of their Russian rivals, a deadly accident reveals that not everyone involved is quite who they were thought to be. With political stakes stretched to the breaking point, the White House and the Kremlin can only watch as their astronauts collide on the lunar surface, far beyond the reach of law or rescue. Full of the fascinating technical detail that fans of The Martian loved, and reminiscent of the thrilling claustrophobia, twists, and tension of The Hunt for Red October, The Apollo Murders is a high-stakes thriller unlike any other. Chris Hadfield captures the fierce G-forces of launch, the frozen loneliness of space, and the fear of holding on to the outside of a spacecraft orbiting the Earth at 17,000 miles per hour as only someone who has experienced all of these things in real life can. Strap in and count down for the ride of a lifetime.

The Failsafe Query


Michael Jenkins - 2018
     Sean Richardson, a disgraced former intelligence agent, is tasked to lead a team to search for Alfie Chapman, an Intelligence officer on the cusp of exposing thousands of secrets to the media. This includes a long lost list of Russian moles embedded since the Cold War, one of whom remains a public favourite in the British parliamentary system. The action moves with absorbing pace and intrigue across Central Asia and Europe as the puzzle begins to unfold through a deep hidden legacy. Tense, fast paced, and insightful, The Failsafe Query twists and turns to a satisfyingly dramatic finale.