18 books like The Crook Factory

What to read after The Crook Factory — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

Bloodsucking Fiends Christopher Moore · 1995 · ★ 4.2 · 304p · ≈ 10h · Moderate At last, a love story you can really sink your teeth into! With a psychedelic inventiveness that invites comparison with Kurt Vonnegut and Tom Robbins, Christopher Moore, the author of Coyote Blue, spins a hip tale of vampires on the loose and in love in San Francisco. When Jody wakes up in an alley, under a dupster, with a badly burned arm and a pain in her neck, she knows it isn't going to be… Shares: Community pick

Assumed identity David Morrell · 1993 · ★ 3.8 · 500p · ≈ 16h · Moderate Filled with nonstop suspense and psychological insight, this is the story of Brendon Buchanan, undercover intelligence operative and master of over two hundred false identities: a man forced to assume the most elusive and treacherous identity of all—his own. Tracking the most devastating enemy he has ever encountered, trapped by his love of two enigmatic women, he races through a sinister… Shares: Government investigators, 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

The man who lost the war W. T. Tyler · 1980 · ★ 3.5 · 434p · ≈ 14h · Moderate Set in post-war Berlin, a disillusioned former CIA operative and a Russian spy cross paths in their search for an elusive double agent. Shares: Spy Fiction

The second lady Irving Wallace · 1980 · ★ 3.9 · 383p · ≈ 12h · Moderate On a state visit to Moscow, Billie Bradford, the beautiful and brilliant wife of the President of the United States, is abducted by the Soviets and replaced by Vera Vazilova, a superbly trained Russian undercover agent and actress who is the First Lady's physical double.The impostor's mission--to induce the President to reveal a U.S. secret that will drastically tip the world balance toward… Shares: Spy Fiction

Family Trade James Carroll · 1982 · ★ 3.5 · 400p · ≈ 13h · Moderate A New York Times Notable Book"A rich, seductive meld of characters real and fictive, of history and fancy."  — New York Times Book ReviewIn this compelling family saga set during a tumultuous era in Boston history, 1960-1984, acclaimed author James Carroll chronicles the lives of two brothers, Nick and Terry Doyle, as they strive to move beyond the strictures of their working-class… Shares: Spy Fiction

Yellow-dog contract Ross Thomas · 1977 · ★ 4.0 · 264p · ≈ 8h · Moderate An ex-political operative is a master of dirty tricks, but now he's mixed up in something far worse: "Ross Thomas is without peer in American suspense" (Los Angeles Times).   There are few jobs that Harvey Longmire hasn't had. He's been a crime reporter, Louisiana state legislator, foreign correspondent, and—briefly—a decoy for the CIA. But he made his name as campaign trail fixer, an… Shares: Spy Fiction

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

Annette, the Metis Spy Joseph Edmund Collins · 1886 · 132p · ≈ 4h · Challenging This is a adventure book. The sun was hanging low in the clear blue over the prairie, as two riders hurried their ponies along a blind trail toward a distant range of purple hills that lay like sleepy watchers along the banks of the Red River. The beasts must have ridden far, for their flanks were white with foam, and their riders were splashed with froth and mud, 'The day is nearly done, mon… Shares: Spy Fiction

Death will have your eyes James Sallis · 1997 · ★ 3.4 · 192p · ≈ 6h · Moderate David (as he's currently known) was a member of an elite corps of spies trained during the coldest days of the Cold War. But those days are long gone and for almost a decade he has been out of the rat race and working as a sculptor. Then a phone call in the middle of the night awakens him: the only other survivor from that elite corps has gone rogue. They need David to stop him. What ensues is… Shares: Spy Fiction

White eagles over Serbia Lawrence Durrell · 1957 · 200p · ≈ 6h · Moderate A 1950s spy novel Sent to Serbia to investigate the murder of a colleague, a British secret agent is caught in a life-and-death struggle between the Communists and a band of underground Royalists called the White Eagles. Shares: Spy Fiction

The Vanished Messenger Edward Phillips Oppenheim · 1914 · ★ 3.8 · 245p · ≈ 8h · Challenging There were very few people upon Platform Number Twenty one of Liverpool Street Station at a quarter to nine on the evening of April 2 possibly because the platform in question is one of the most remote and least used in the great terminus. The station master, however, was there himself, with an inspector in attendance. A dark, thick set man, wearing a long travelling ulster and a Homburg hat, and… Shares: Spy Fiction

The kingdom of the blind Edward Phillips Oppenheim · 1909 · ★ 3.9 · 220p · ≈ 7h · Challenging E. Phillips Oppenheim’s 1916 thriller follows the search for a German spy in Great Britain during World War I, and highlights wartime tensions among the British upper class. Shares: Spy Fiction

I and my true love Helen MacInnes · 1952 · ★ 3.4 · 287p · ≈ 9h · Moderate American diplomat Payton Pleydell and his wife Sylvia are the most respected couple in Washington. Then the unexpected arrival of a Czech official threatens to bring the facade crashing down. Even after six years apart, Sylvia has not forgotten Jan Brovic, with whom she was once deeply in love. But former allies have become bitter enemies, and Sylvia must decide whether to risk everything to be… Shares: Spy Fiction

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