18 books like Good news, bad news

What to read after Good news, bad news — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

Contact zero David Wolstencroft · 2005 · ★ 3.6 · 448p · ≈ 14h · Moderate Framed and dispossessed for a crime he did not commit during his first assignment, recent Spy School graduate Ben Locke learns that several of his fellow classmates have been murdered, a situation that forces him to search for the enigmatic Contact Zero, a mythical helper of Agency ex-members. Shares: Assassins, Intelligence officers, Spy Fiction, Friendship

The Winter of Frankie Machine Don Winslow · 2006 · ★ 4.5 · 320p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Frankie Machianno, a hard-working entrepreneur, passionate lover, part-time surf bum, and full-time dad, is a widely recognized pillar of his waterfront community. He is also a retired hit man. Once better known as Frankie Machine, he was a brutally efficient killer. Now someone from his past wants him dead, and after a botched attempt on his life, Frankie sets out to find his potential killers.… Shares: Assassins, Thriller

The Man with the Golden Gun Ian Fleming · 1965 · ★ 3.6 · 134p · ≈ 4h · Moderate Bond may have a license to kill, but “Pistols” Scaramanga has a talent for it. He’s a KGB-trained assassin who’s left a trail of dead British Secret Service agents in his wake. His weapon of choice? A gold-plated Colt .45. In the aftermath of his brainwashing by the Soviets, Bond is given one last chance to win back M’s trust: terminate Scaramanga before he strikes MI6 again. Traveling to… Shares: Assassins, Intelligence officers, Spy Fiction, Thriller

From Russia with Love Ian Fleming · 1957 · ★ 3.9 · 187p · ≈ 6h · Moderate James Bond is marked for death by the Soviet counterintelligence agency SMERSH in Ian Fleming’s masterful spy thriller, and the novel that President John F. Kennedy named one of his favourite books of all time. SMERSH stands for ‘Death to Spies’ and there’s no secret agent they’d like to disgrace and destroy more than 007, James Bond. But ensnaring the British Secret Service’s most lethal… Shares: Assassins, Intelligence officers, Spy Fiction, Thriller

The Spy Who Loved Me Ian Fleming · 1962 · ★ 3.4 · 203p · ≈ 6h · Moderate Vivienne Michel, a precocious French Canadian raised in the United Kingdom, seems a foreigner in every land. With only a supercharged Vespa and a handful of American dollars, she travels down winding roads into the pine forests of the Adirondacks. After stopping at the Dreamy Pines Motor Court and being coerced into caretaking at the vacant motel for the night, Viv opens the door to two armed… Shares: Assassins, Intelligence officers, Spy Fiction, Thriller

Liar's candle August Thomas · 2018 · ★ 3.7 · 320p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Reminiscent of the work of John le Carre and Olen Steinhauser, this brilliant debut novel features a young State Department intern on the run in Turkey, trying to outwit and outmaneuver everyone from the Turkish president to Islamic extremists to the CIA. Racing to keep from being killed and to uncover the truth, Penny Kessler reluctantly partners with Connor Beauregard, a rookie CIA officer on… Shares: Intelligence officers, Spy Fiction

Palace of Treason Jason Matthews · 2015 · ★ 4.2 · 480p · ≈ 16h · Moderate 843 pages (large print) ; 23 cm Shares: Spy Fiction, Thriller

Invincible summer Alice Adams · 2016 · ★ 4.3 · 320p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Four close friends who graduate college together in 1998 venture off to pursue their fortunes in the new millennium, but find themselves drawn back together twenty years later amidst broken dreams, lost jobs, and shattered relationships. Shares: Friendship -- Fiction, Friendship

All The Queen's Men Linda Howard · 1999 · ★ 3.9 · 376p · ≈ 12h · Moderate (The second book in the CIA's Spies series) CIA agent John Medina and electronics expert Niema Burdock share a violent past: the two were part of a covert operation that went tragically wrong, resulting in the death of several people. Now, five years later, their paths cross again and John, whose love for Niema has only grown over time, is determined to keep her in his life for good. Having… Shares: Intelligence officers, Spy Fiction, Thriller

The Mission Song John le Carré · 2006 · ★ 4.0 · 354p · ≈ 11h · Moderate Wanneer een Afrikaanse tolk bij een geheim topoverleg ontdekt dat men een invasie van het noodlijdende Congo plant, probeert hij dat wereldkundig te maken. Shares: Intelligence officers, Spy Fiction, Thriller

Forever and a Day Anthony Horowitz · 2018 · ★ 4.0 · 304p · ≈ 10h · Moderate The sea keeps its secrets. But not this time. One body. Three bullets. 007 floats in the waters of Marseille, killed by an unknown hand. It’s time for a new agent to step up. Time for a new weapon in the war against organised crime. It’s time for James Bond to earn his licence to kill. This is the story of the birth of a legend, in the brutal underworld of the French Riviera. Shares: Assassins, Intelligence officers, Spy Fiction, Thriller

Doctor Frigo Eric Ambler · 1974 · ★ 3.6 · 257p · ≈ 8h · Moderate "A coup d'etat in a Caribbean state causes a political storm in the region and even the seemingly impassive and impersonal Doctor Castillo, nicknamed Doctor Frigo, cannot escape the consequences. As things heat up, Frigo finds that both his profession and life are horribly at risk."--Page 4 of cover. Shares: Intelligence officers, Spy Fiction

The Matarese Circle Robert Ludlum · 1979 · ★ 4.1 · 601p · ≈ 20h · Moderate An international circle of killers, the Matarese will undoubtedly take over the world within just two years. Only two rival spies have the power to stop them: Scofield, CIA, and Talaniekov, KGB. They share a genius for espionage and a life of explosive terror and violence. But though these sworn enemies once vowed to terminate each other, they must now become allies. Because only they possess the… Shares: Intelligence officers, Spy Fiction

Mysterious Mr. Sabin Edward Phillips Oppenheim · 1900 · 370p · ≈ 12h · Challenging "The mysterious Mr. Sabin is an unscrupulous French royalist who aids the German government in a conspiracy of war against England. His part in the plot is that of securing valuable papers recording the coast defenses of England, for which services he demands Germany's conquest of France and the restoration of the monarchy in the person of Prince Henri and his cousin, Helene of… Shares: Spy Fiction

Pray for Brave Heart Helen MacInnes · 1955 · 256p · ≈ 8h · Moderate About the undeclared and ever-waging war of our time, the war for men's minds, and the action takes place in Switzerland. Shares: Spy Fiction

Windmills of the gods Sidney Sheldon · 1987 · ★ 3.9 · 384p · ≈ 12h · Moderate A college professor, a naive Kansan, becomes the US ambassador to Romania and learns a lot about life. Shares: Spy Fiction

The Whip Hand Victor Canning · 1965 · ★ 4.0 · 271p · ≈ 9h · Moderate A 1960s London PI's search for a missing au pair leads to sinister evil in this classic spy series opener by the author of The Rainbird Pattern.Meet Rex Carver, the suave and laconic private investigator.His job is to track down a German au pair, Katerina Saxmann, who has gone missing in Brighton. But when the security services show up at his apartment within hours of him accepting the… Shares: Spy Fiction

If you can't be good Ross Thomas · 1973 · ★ 4.1 · 249p · ≈ 8h · Moderate An old CIA connection brings trouble for a Washington, DC, barman in this thriller from "America's best storyteller" (The New York Times Book Review).   As the saying goes, you can't pick your friends. If you could, Mac McCorkle would disown Padilla. They owned a bar together in Bonn, the West German capital, and stayed partners even after Padilla's sideline as a CIA operative got the bar… Shares: Spy Fiction

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