Books like 'Illegal Action'
Readers who enjoyed Illegal Action by Stella Rimington also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical action / adventure 20th century thriller espionage crime suspense cold-war female-mc political-intrigue
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Red Winter by Marc Cameron
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn this previously untold adventure, a young Jack Ryan goes behind the Iron Curtain to seek the truth about a potential Soviet defector in the most shocking entry in Tom Clancy's #1 New York Times bestselling series. 1985A top secret F117 aircraft crashes into the Nevada desert...Categorized as:
cold-war espionage political-intrigue politics suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
In Danger's Path by W.E.B. Griffin
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsDesperate to find someone to unite the warring interests of General MacArthur, Admiral Nimitz, and OSS chief Donovan, FDR puts Fleming Pickering in charge of the OSS's Pacific operations...Categorized as:
crime espionage political-intrigue suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult -
The Paris Assignment by Rhys Bowen
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA courageous wife, mother, and resister confronts the devastation of World War II in a heartbreaking and hopeful novel by the bestselling author of The Venice Sketchbook and The Tuscan Child.Londoner Madeleine Grant is studying at the Sorbonne in Paris when she marries charismatic French journalist Giles Martin. As they raise their son, Olivier, they hold on to a tenuous promise for the future...Categorized as:
espionage politics female-mc crime thriller political-intrigue historical-fiction fiction -
Charm School by Nelson DeMille
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsRead by James NaughtonSomething very strange -- and sinister -- is going on in the Russian woods at Borodino. In a place called Mrs. Ivanova's Charm School, young KGB agents are being taught by American POW's how to be model citizens of the USA. The Soviet goal -- to infiltrate the United States undetected... -
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Retreat, Hell! by W.E.B. Griffin
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt is the fall of 1950. The Marines have made a pivotal breakthrough at Inchon, but a roller coaster awaits them. While Douglas MacArthur chomps at the bit, intent on surging across the 38th parallel, Brigadier General Fleming Pickering works desperately to mediate the escalating battle between MacArthur and President Harry Truman...Categorized as:
cold-war crime espionage political-intrigue suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
Prussian Blue by Philip Kerr
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom New York Times–bestselling author Philip Kerr, the much-anticipated return of Bernie Gunther, our compromised former Berlin bull and unwilling SS officer. With his cover blown, he is waiting for the next move in the cat-and-mouse game that, even a decade after Germany’s defeat, continues to shadow his life...Categorized as:
cold-war crime espionage political-intrigue suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
The Lies We Leave Behind by Noelle Salazar
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFor fans of Kate Quinn and Beatriz Williams, this sweeping story follows a fearless nurse who must leave love behind when duty calls her back to the front.Somewhere in the Pacific, 1943. Kate Campbell is a nurse who bravely flies back and forth from the front to rescue wounded soldiers, amid long days, harsh conditions and often dangerous weather...Categorized as:
espionage suspense female-mc political-intrigue romance historical-fiction fiction historical -
The Unlikely Spy by Daniel Silva
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratings"In wartime," Winston Churchill wrote, "truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies."For Britain's counterintelligence operations, this meant finding the unlikeliest agent imaginable-a history professor named Alfred Vicary, handpicked by Churchill himself to expose a highly dangerous, but unknown, traitor...Categorized as:
crime espionage political-intrigue politics suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
Snow Wolf by Glenn Meade
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn the heart of the Cold War, they sent him to plot the ultimate assassination. Now they want him dead...It is 1953. Joseph Stalin, the world's most tyrannical dictator, is teetering on the edge of insanity, and about to plunge the world into nuclear chaos. Only one man and one woman can penetrate the Iron Curtain and stop this madman, before it's too late.But someone inside the Kremlin knows...Categorized as:
espionage crime cold-war thriller suspense political-intrigue fiction historical-fiction -
The Company by Robert Littell
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Barnes & Noble ReviewSince the publication of his 1973 debut thriller, The Defection of A. J. Lewinter, Robert Littell has evolved into one of the most credible, consistently interesting espionage novelists of the modern era... -
The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins, Maria Luisa Bocchino
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsIn November of 1943, an elite team of Nazi paratroopers descends on British soil with a diabolical goal: to abduct Winston Churchill and cripple the Allied war effort. The mission, ordered by Hitler himself and planned by Heinrich Himmler, is led by ace agent Kurt Steiner and aided on the ground by IRA gunman Liam Devlin...Categorized as:
crime espionage political-intrigue politics suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsMrs. Virgil (Emily) Pollifax of New Brunswick, New Jersey, was a widow with grown children. She was tired of attending her Garden Club meetings. She wanted to do something good for her country. So, naturally, she became a CIA agent. This time, the assignment sounds as tasty as a taco. A quick trip to Mexico City is on her agenda. Unfortunately, something goes wrong, and our dear Mrs...Categorized as:
cold-war crime espionage female-mc political-intrigue suspense thriller 20th-century -
Mightier Than the Sword by Jeffrey Archer
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsA bomb goes off, but how many passengers on the MV Buckingham have lost their lives? You will find out only if you read the opening chapter of Mightier than the Sword... -
The Odessa File by Frederick Forsyth
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsThe suicide of an elderly German Jew explodes into revelation after revelation: a Mafia-like organization called Odessa, a real-life fugitive known at the "Butcher of Riga", a young German journalist turned obsessed avenger...and ultimately, of a brilliant, ruthless plot to reestablish the worldwide power of SS mass murders and to carry out Hitler's chilling "Final Solution... -
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Blood and Honor by W.E.B. Griffin
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIf you enjoyed W. E. B. Griffin's Honor Bound, you should segue with pleasure into this involving sequel. Set in Buenos Aires in 1943, it follows the adventures of three American soldiers as they think and fight their way through a complex story about Nazi sympathizers, dedicated supporters of the Allied cause, and other people just trying to stay alive...Categorized as:
crime espionage political-intrigue suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Field Gray by Philip Kerr
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPhilip Kerr delivers a novel with the noir sensibility of Raymond Chandler, the realpolitik of vintage John le Carré, and the dark moral vision of Graham Greene...Categorized as:
cold-war crime espionage political-intrigue suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
London Match by Len Deighton
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWith treason epidemic in London Central, a cloud of suspicion passes over each senior agent, and each falls helplessly into Moscow Centre's brilliant, complex trap. As LONDON MATCH rushes toward its amazing climax, the ultimate, decisive confrontation is about to take place--between Samson and the British KGB agent who, from the very beginning, has held Samson's entire life in delicate balance...Categorized as:
cold-war crime espionage political-intrigue suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKinty
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBelfast, 1985, amidst the “Troubles”: Detective Sean Duffy, a Catholic cop in the Protestant RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary), struggles with burn-out as he investigates a brutal double murder and suicide. Did Michael Kelly really shoot his parents at point blank and then jump off a nearby cliff? A suicide note points to this conclusion, but Duffy suspects even more sinister circumstances...Categorized as:
crime espionage political-intrigue politics suspense thriller 20th-century 21st-century -
The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsWhen Emily Pollifax answers the phone that Sunday morning, she quickly forgets all about her Garden Club tea that afternoon. For the voice on the other end belonged to a man she had never seen, a man from the CIA who asked her if she could leave immediately on a mission that would take her halfway across the world! What could Mrs...Categorized as:
cold-war crime espionage female-mc political-intrigue suspense thriller 20th-century -
Todo lo peor by César Pérez Gellida
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSigue la Guerra fría, sigue en pie el muro que divide Alemania en dos partes. Todo lo peor sucederá en estas circunstancias.Un asesino comienza a matar. Sus víctimas son homosexuales y sus crímenes parecen tener un componente religioso... -
While Still We Live by Helen MacInnes
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEnglish girl Sheila Matthews’ innocent holiday to Poland becomes a nightmare when the German Army invade in the summer of 1939. Working for the Polish underground as a double-agent, she plays a dangerous game, and is soon suspected by the Germans. Forced to flee to the forest and hunted by a ruthless German officer, she must rely on the dashing Captain Adam Wisniewski to help her home...Categorized as:
espionage political-intrigue politics suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Seven Days in May by Fletcher Knebel, Charles W. Bailey II
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratings"Gentleman Jim" Scott was a brilliant magnetic general. Like a lot of people, he believed the President was ruining the country. Unlike anyone else, he had the power to do something about it, something unprecedented and terrifying. Colonel "Jiggs" Casey was the Marine who accidentally stumbled onto the plot... -
The Assassination Option by W.E.B. Griffin, William E. Butterworth IV
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsJames Cronley’s first successful mission for the new Central Intelligence Directorate has drawn all kinds of attention, some welcome, some not, including from the Soviets, his own Pentagon, and a seething J. Edgar Hoover... -
The One from the Other by Philip Kerr
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPhilip Kerr’s Berlin Noir trilogy—featuring the tough, fast-talking, noirish detective Bernie Gunther—is a publishing phenomenon that continues to win new fans more than fifteen years after its initial publication. Kerr has brought Bernie back in a highly anticipated thriller that will delight fans of the original books and attract new attention to the backlist... -
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Dark Star by Alan Furst
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe acclaimed author of Night Soldiers offers a dramatic and exciting spy thriller of Eastern Europe on the brink of World War II. In the back alleys and glittering salons of Europe, there is a thin line between survival and betrayal, as Soviet NKVD agents and the Nazi Gestapo confront each other in a brilliant duel of espionage. Like watching Casablanca for the first time.--Time...Categorized as:
crime espionage political-intrigue politics suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
A Game of Lies by Rebecca Cantrell
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJournalist Hannah Vogel returns in A Game of Lies by award-winning author Rebecca Cantrell In preparation for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the Nazis have rid the streets of anti-Semitic material and other propaganda, and present a peace-seeking face to the world. Journalist and part-time spy for the British, Hannah Vogel, shudders to think of what lies under the temporary coat of gloss...Categorized as:
crime espionage female-mc political-intrigue suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
The Tightrope Walker by Dorothy Gilman
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratings“They’re going to kill me soon…”When the quiet and shy Amelia Jones reads these words, her life changes irrevocably. She’s just become the new owner of the Ebbtide Shop, a musty antique store filled with merry-go-round horses and hurdy-gurdies, and it is while fixing one of these barrel organs that the scrawled and threatening note falls out...Categorized as:
crime espionage political-intrigue suspense 20th-century action-adventure adult amateur-sleuth -
Spy Sinker by Len Deighton
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSpy Sinker is a 1990 spy novel by Len Deighton. It is the final novel in the second of three trilogies about Bernard Samson, a middle-aged and somewhat jaded intelligence officer working for the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). Spy Sinker is part of the Hook, Line and Sinker trilogy, being preceded by Spy Hook and Spy Line...Categorized as:
cold-war crime espionage political-intrigue thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Top Secret by W.E.B. Griffin, William E. Butterworth IV
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom the #1 New York Times�bestselling author, a brand-new series about the Cold War—and a different breed of warrior. In the first weeks after World War II, a squeaky-clean new second lieutenant named James D. Cronley Jr. is spotted and recruited for a new enterprise that will eventually be transformed into something called the CIA...Categorized as:
cold-war espionage political-intrigue politics suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
Spy Line by Len Deighton
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBritish agent Bernard Samson finds himself inexplicably hunted as a traitor, forced to abandon his life, his job, his position, and plunge into hiding in the most dangerous and darkest corner of Berlin. What is happening? What has he done? Nothing makes sense until Samson discovers that the Secret Service has known all along where he is. In fact, they have never taken him off the payroll...Categorized as:
cold-war espionage political-intrigue suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Dreaming Spies by Laurie R. King
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFor years now, readers of the Russell Memoirs have wondered about the tantalizing mentions of Japan. Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes had spent three weeks there, between India (The Game) and San Francisco (Locked Rooms). The time has finally come, to tell that story.It is 1925, and Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes arrive home to find…a stone...Categorized as:
crime espionage female-mc political-intrigue suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
Avenger by Frederick Forsyth
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsAttorney Calvin Dexter hangs his shingle in a quiet New Jersey town, has a reasonably successful practice, and takes the hills strong while triathalon training. But Dexter is no ordinary man.The summer before he goes to college, Ricky Colenso travels to Bosnia to volunteer as an aid worker. A few weeks later, he disappears and is never heard from again... -
The 14th Colony by Steve Berry
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhat happens if both the president and vice-president-elect die before taking the oath of office? The answer is far from certain—in fact, what follows would be nothing short of total political chaos... -
Berlin Game by Len Deighton
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsWhen a valuable agent behind the Iron Curtain signals he wants out, it's up to Bernard Samson, once active in the field but now anchored to a London desk, to undertake the crucial rescue. But soon, Samson is confronted with evidence that there is a traitor among his colleagues...Categorized as:
cold-war crime espionage political-intrigue suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
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The Deceiver by Frederick Forsyth
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAs an intrepid and inventive field agent, McCready's independent style has often driven him beyond the rules. He has not been afraid to press the CIA to the explosion point - or to play cat-and-mouse with the KGB. He has successfully tricked Qaddafi and the IRA and once even set himself up as governor of a remote Caribbean island torn between Fidel Castor and the Colombian drug trade...Categorized as:
cold-war crime espionage political-intrigue suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
The Wrecker by Clive Cussler, Justin Scott
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIt is 1907, a year of financial panic and labor unrest. Train wrecks, fires, and explosions sabotage the Southern Pacific Railroad's Cascades express line and, desperate, the railroad hires the fabled Van Dorn Detective Agency...Categorized as:
crime espionage political-intrigue suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Mexico Set by Len Deighton
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA lot of people had plans for Bernard Samson…When they spotted Erich Stinnes in Mexico City, it was obvious that Bernard Samson was the right man to ‘enrol’ him. With his domestic life a shambles and his career heading towards disaster, Bernard needed to prove his reliability. and he knew Stinnes already - Bernard had been interrogated by him in East Berlin...Categorized as:
cold-war crime espionage political-intrigue suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
Vulcan's Forge by Jack Du Brul
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIt begins deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, where a nuclear bomb strikes at the fiery hot heart of the earth. Churning, spewing boiling lava, a volcano rises with unnatural speed from the ocean floor -- the source of a new mineral that promises clean, limitless nuclear power...Categorized as:
crime espionage political-intrigue suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Funeral in Berlin by Len Deighton
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFUNERAL IN BERLIN is a spellbinding tale of espionage and its counter in which double and triple crosses are common. Berlin with its infamous wall symbolized the Cold War as did no other place. It was like theatre, but is war for real."Len Deighton has always been fascinated with the Cold War in a way that could be called scholarly..Categorized as:
cold-war espionage political-intrigue suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Spy Hook by Len Deighton
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratings'A master of fictional espionage' Daily Mail'In Deighton's best books - like this one - the narrative glides forward on rollers, and the scenes and characters fit perfectly into place. The result is marvellous' IndependentMillions of pounds have gone missing, and the Department have sent agent Bernard Samson to Washington to track them down...Categorized as:
cold-war espionage political-intrigue suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Agent in Place by Helen MacInnes
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThis sophisticated narrative of spy/counterspy is set in Washington, where the Russians have planted an "agent in place." For nine years he has worked himself quietly into the fabric of government and society. Dedicated and patient, he has everyone's respect...Categorized as:
cold-war crime espionage political-intrigue suspense thriller 20th-century 21st-century -
Hart's War by John Katzenbach
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSecond Lieutenant Tommy Hart, a navigator whose B-25 was shot out of the sky in 1942, is burdened with guilt as the only surviving member of his crew. Now he is just another POW at the fiercely guarded Stalag Luft 13 in Bavaria...Categorized as:
crime political-intrigue politics suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Decision at Delphi by Helen MacInnes
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsKenneth Strang sets out for Sicily and Greece on a seemingly innocent, though fascinating, magazine assignment. But even before his ship sails from New York, the atmosphere becomes charged with sinister omens.In the course of the voyage one mysterious event follows another... -
Red Phoenix by Larry Bond
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsViolent riots formented by foreign agents are breaking out in South Korea. Seizing the opportunity, North Korea launches a lightning invasion, with heavy Soviet support, whose aim is to unite North and South under Communist rule. The second Korean War has begun and World War III may be imminent...Categorized as:
cold-war espionage political-intrigue politics suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
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Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie by Brian Freemantle
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDisavowed spy Charlie Muffin wages war against his former employers Charlie Muffin has come back to England. The ex-spy, a veteran of twenty-five years’ service to the Crown, was last seen in Berlin, where an attempt on his life by his own organization led to international embarrassment. They had expected Charlie—a disheveled, middle-aged survivor of every double cross in the book—to die easily...Categorized as:
cold-war crime espionage political-intrigue suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
Jackdaws by Ken Follett
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsD-Day is approaching. They don’t know where or when, but the Germans know it'll be soon, and for Felicity “Flick” Clairet, the stakes have never been higher. A senior agent in the ranks of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) responsible for sabotage, Flick has survived to become one of Britain’s most effective operatives in Northern France...Categorized as:
crime espionage political-intrigue politics suspense thriller 20th-century 21st-century -
The Dogs of War by Frederick Forsyth
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsNote: Alternate-Cover for this ISBN can be found here.In a remote corner of Zangara, a small republic in Africa, lies Crystal Mountain. At certain times of the day the mountain emits a strange glow. Only Sir James Manson knows why. The mountain contains ten billion dollars worth of the world's most valuable mineral, platinum. Now the only question is, how to get hold of it. Sir James knows how...Categorized as:
crime espionage political-intrigue politics suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
Polar Star by Martin Cruz Smith
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the long-awaited sequel to Gorky Park, Arkady Renko returns to Russia to work on the Polar Star, a huge fishing-factory ship. When a young girl is murdered, Renko is asked to investigate . . . and enters a case as chilling and gripping as his previous adventure... -
Icon by Frederick Forsyth
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFrom the master of the novel of international intrigue comes a riveting new book as timely and unsettling as tomorrow's headlines.It is summer 1999 in Russia, a country on the threshold of anarchy. An interim president sits powerless in Moscow as his nation is wracked by famine and inflation, crime and corruption, and seething hordes of the unemployed roam the streets... -
Mrs. Pollifax and the Golden Triangle by Dorothy Gilman
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAlthough Mrs. Pollifax is determined to give up spying for good, she can't help but agree to carry a small object to an agent in Thailand, and get one in return. The moment she lands, however, Mrs. Pollifax is horrified to find her contact dead and her husband kidnapped...Categorized as:
crime espionage female-mc political-intrigue suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure
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