SSG: Spy/Spec-Ops Group discussion

This is the thread where we will take nominations for the book of the month.

The book of the month will be any book within the Spy/Spec Ops subgenre. The people who choose to participate will read and discuss the chosen book over the course of November.

Once nominations have been submitted (in the next two weeks) there will be a voting period to decide which of the nominations will be read. A book must be "seconded" by another reader to be included in the vote. So, you can post your nomination and second another if you like.

How about By Order of the President by WEB Griffin. I've read other books by him and they were interesting.

Good choice Richard, I will second your nomination.

I nominate "The Kill Artist" by Daniel Silva

Both excellent choices I will nominate The Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor.

I love Jack Coughlin's "Kyle Swanson" series so I'd have to nominate book 1, "Kill Zone".

Sounds like a good series. Have not read it yet. I'll second "Kill Zone" .

I would definitely be on board for By Order Of The President. I like all the ideas so far, but this is the only series mentioned I haven't read yet. Lol

You like Kyle Swanson Dave? Total bad ass right lol. Have you also read Gilstrap's "Jonathan Grave" series??? I haven't noticed many who have read that series. That was my first and all time favorite.

how about the latest one from Tom Wood - No Tomorrow.

Steve, my bad I only saw Kill Zone in your post and thought David Hagberg. I do want to read the swanson series but have not yet. I have read the first 3 or 4 in the Graves series and like them alot. I have to catch up....2 or 3 behind.

I would nominate Dead Eye by Mark Greaney. This is the latest of the Court Gentry series. It's also the best rated of the four that are out. Any takers?

I second "The Kill Artist"

That has been on my to-read list for a while.

I'll second The Kill Artist. Gabriel Allon is my favorite spy.

I second By Order of the President. I read The Kill Artist awhile back and would love to read something new. I loved W.E.B. Griffin's Brotherhood of War series

I've read all the Gabriel Allon books. I caution you, if you read The Kill Artist, you'll want to finish them all in here!

An option would be The Mark of the Assasin. It's Silva's first ever book and it follows Michael Osbourne, American CIA agent.

IMO, and I'm a guy that has read all his books and would love to BE Gabriel Allon. The Mark of the Assasin is Silva's best book. I loved it! And there's just the one sequel, before Silva headed off to write about Allon.

Just a thought. I'd vote for The Kill Artist, but reading just the first in a 14 book series, may end up a bit anticlimactic.

Another I'd propose is Barry Eisler's Fault Line. Again, he's written 7-8 John Rain books, but only 2 on Ben Treven, with a 3rd appearance in a crossover with Rain. Fault Line is an incredible book.

Ben Coes, Power Down is excellent too. Coes is my new favorite in the genre of the "up and comers." He's writing his 5th Dewey Andreas book right now. But if I had to pick one of the newer espionage thriller writers to be the next Vince Flynn, Brad Thor type. It would be Coes for sure! His books were all 48 hour reads, and not because they were short or easy. Just GOOD!

I agree with Matt about the Kill Artist. Another option I will throw out there is The Unlikely Spy by Silva. it is a stand alone, his first novel... Thoughts?

Ooh, wow Dave! That's a killer suggestion. Probably my favorite historical fiction novel from WW2 along with The Black Cross by Iles.

I also enjoy all of Robert Harris historical fiction. He wrote a book called An Officer and a Spy that I loved, about The Dreyfus Affair in France around turn of the century. Like all his books, fiction based on fact.

The Ghost by Harris, has one of the greatest endings I've ever read in any book. The movie was awful comparatively and it butchered the story similarly to The Firm book and movie. Imperium is great, and I've got several more of his on my list, including Fatherland. An alternate universe story if the Nazi's had won the war!

I suggested Mark of the Assasin because it's so similar to the Allon books. Just different characters.

Yeah, I really love most every book Silva writes. He is quickly moving up my list of favorites in the genre. I'd second any of his books. Order of President's is very interesting to me as well, I have not read that one.

I think if nobody has an objection to it, I will probably start voting on books next Friday. I will put up a poll.

Just remember that we will only vote on books that got nominated and seconded.

Right now that looks like these are the ones that will be voted on:
Order of the President by WEB Griffin
The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva
Kill Zone by Jack Coughlin

One week to vote though, I suspect we'll pick up a few more.

Would like to limit thist to one book per author unless we are short on nominations.

Poll is up, it's at the bottom of the home page or on the "poll" link in the upper right.