18 books like The Hunt for Red October

What to read after The Hunt for Red October — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

The Day of the Jackal Frederick Forsyth · 1971 · ★ 4.3 · 377p · ≈ 12h · Moderate In a class by itself. Unputdownable' Sunday TimesOne of the most celebrated thrillers ever written, The Day of the Jackal is the electrifying story of an anonymous Englishman who in, the spring of 1963, was hired by Colonel Marc Rodin, Operations Chief of the O. A. S., to assassinate General de Gaulle. The Jackal. A tall, blond Englishman with opaque, gray eyes. A killer at the top of his… Shares: Thriller

Debt of honor Tom Clancy · 1994 · ★ 4.1 · 1154p · ≈ 38h · Challenging It begins with the murder of an American woman in the back streets of Tokyo. It ends in war. . . Number-one bestselling author Tom Clancy takes a bold, incisive look at what our nation's leaders are calling "the new world order." The time and place: a world at peace, where yesterday's enemies are tomorrow's allies. The players: Jack Ryan as the new U.S. President's National Security Advisor, and… Shares: Sr. Ryan, Ryan, Jack Ryan, Intelligence service

Der Kardinal im Kreml Tom Clancy · 1988 · ★ 3.9 · 626p · ≈ 20h · Moderate Two men possess vital data on Russia's Star Wars missile defense system. One of them is CARDINAL—America's highest agent in the Kremlin—and he's about to be terminated by the KGB. The other is the one American who can save CARDINAL and lead the world to the brink of peace…or war. Here is author Tom Clancy's heart-stopping masterpiece. A riveting novel of the most important issue of our time. Shares: Sr. Ryan, Ryan, Jack Ryan, Intelligence service

The Sum of All Fears Tom Clancy · 1991 · ★ 4.1 · 914p · ≈ 30h · Moderate Peace may finally be at hand in the Middle East -- as Jack Ryan lays the groundwork for a plan that could end centuries of conflict. But ruthless terrorists have a final, desperate card to play; with one terrible act, distrust mounts, forces collide, and the floundering U.S. president seems unable to cope with the crisis. With the world on the verge of nuclear disaster, Ryan must frantically seek… Shares: Sr. Ryan, Ryan, Jack Ryan, Intelligence service

The debriefing Robert Littell · 1979 · ★ 3.8 · 202p · ≈ 6h · Moderate A novel of the history of the CIA. Shares: Defectors, Spy Fiction

Without Remorse Tom Clancy · 1993 · ★ 4.2 · 759p · ≈ 25h · Moderate Clancy shows how an ordinary man crossed the lines of justice and morality to become the CIA legend Mr. Clark. John Kelly, former Navy SEAL and Vietnam veteran, is still getting over the accidental death of his wife six months before, when he befriends a young woman with a decidedly checkered past. When that past reaches out for her in a particularly horrifying fashion, he vows revenge and,… Shares: Sr. Ryan, Jack Ryan, Spy Fiction, Thriller

Clear and Present Danger Tom Clancy · 1989 · ★ 4.2 · 656p · ≈ 21h · Moderate The sudden and surprising assassination of three American officials in Colombia. Many people in many places, moving off on missions they all mistakenly thought they understood. The future was too fearful for contemplation, and beyond the expected finish lines were things that, once decided, were better left unseen. Shares: Ryan, Jack Ryan, Intelligence service, Spy Fiction

Deep Lie Stuart Woods · 1986 · ★ 4.4 · 341p · ≈ 11h · Moderate Undersea espionage meets heart-stopping suspense in this action-packed thriller in the Will Lee series featuring Kate Rule—from #1 New York Times bestselling author Stuart Woods.Sifting through reams of seemingly unrelated intelligence, CIA analyst Kate Rule discovers a chilling pattern: an ultrasecret Baltic submarine base...a crafty Russian spy-master in command...a carefully planned invasion… Shares: Submarines, United States, Spy Fiction

Red Rabbit Tom Clancy · 1998 · ★ 3.8 · 636p · ≈ 21h · Moderate Jack Ryan's first days with the CIA may be the Pope's last days alive. Long before he was President or head of the CIA, before he fought terrorist attacks on the Super Bowl or the White House, even before a submarine named Red October made its perilous way across the Atlantic, Jack Ryan was an historian, teacher, and recent ex-Marine temporarily living in England while researching a book. A… Shares: Ryan, Jack Ryan, Thriller

Operation Shylock Philip Roth · 1993 · ★ 3.2 · 398p · ≈ 13h · Moderate "One of Roth's grand inventions. . . . [He is] a comic genius." -The New York Review of Books"A brilliant novel of ideas. . . . Roth has gone farther into his own genius than he ever has before." -The Nation"The uncontested master of comic irony." -Time"Diabolically clever, engaging. . . . [A] white-water unstoppable narrative. . . . Roth is so spelndidly convincing. . . that the result is kind… Shares: Intelligence service in fiction, Intelligence service, Spy Fiction

A Perfect Spy John le Carré · 1986 · ★ 4.0 · 607p · ≈ 20h · Moderate Magnus Pym, ranking diplomat, has vanished, believed defected. The chase is on: for a missing husband, a devoted father, and a secret agent. Pym's life, it is revealed, is entirely made up of secrets. Shares: Defectors, Intelligence service, 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: United States, Spy Fiction

The Whole Truth David Baldacci · 2008 · ★ 4.1 · 409p · ≈ 13h · Moderate "Dick, I need a war." Nicolas Creel is a man on a mission. He heads up the world's largest defense contractor, The Ares Corporation. Dick Pender is the man Creel retains to "perception manage" his company to even more riches by manipulating international conflicts. But Creel may have an even grander plan in mind. Shaw, a man with no first name and a truly unique past, has a… Shares: Intelligence service in fiction, Intelligence service, Thriller

The ghost war Alex Berenson · 2008 · ★ 4.0 · 391p · ≈ 13h · Moderate CIA agent John Wells returns, in a novel that reaches beyond today's headlines to foretell dangers yet to come, from the author of The Faithful Spy- "one of the best spy stories ever told" (The Wall Street Journal).Alex Berenson's 2006 debut was one of the most acclaimed suspense novels of the year, "the best spy thriller in a long, long while" (The Kansas City Star). The Ghost War proves that he… Shares: Intelligence service, United States, Spy Fiction, Thriller

Watchman (Crime Club) Ian Rankin · 1988 · ★ 4.0 · 272p · ≈ 9h · Moderate From #1 international bestseller Ian Rankin, an unlucky spy gets one last chance at redemption. Miles Flint is a spy who has been making some serious mistakes. His last assignment led to the death of a foreign official in London, and after getting too close to his current subject he wound up in police custody. But something is wrong at the agency that has nothing to do with Miles' errors. Why did… Shares: Intelligence service, Spy Fiction, Thriller

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

The Ipcress File Len Deighton · 1962 · ★ 3.9 · 222p · ≈ 7h · Moderate Len Deighton's classic first novel, whoseprotagonist is a nameless spy – later christened Harry Palmer and made famous worldwide in the iconic 1960s film starring Michael Caine.The Ipcress File was not only Len Deighton's first novel, it was his first bestseller and the book that broke the mould of thriller writing.For the working class narrator, an apparently straightforward mission to find a… Shares: Defectors, Spy Fiction, Thriller

The Chancellor Manuscript Robert Ludlum · 1920 · ★ 3.9 · 455p · ≈ 15h · Challenging Did J. Edgar Hoover die a natural death? Or was he murdered? When a group of high-minded and high-placed intellectuals known as Inver Brass detect a monstrous threat to the country in Hoover’s unethical use of his scandal-ridden private files, they decide to do away with him—quietly, efficiently, with no hint of impropriety. Then bestselling thriller writer Peter Chancellor stumbles onto… Shares: Intelligence service, Spy Fiction

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