WW II Spy Novels discussion

I've been coming across a lot of new spy authors lately. Rather, 'new' in that they are 'classic' espionage authors heretofore unknown to yours truly!

Members of my other two book groups have probably seen me at work adding them to shelves there.

But WWII-specific espionage is a narrow field indeed, and I'm ambitious to find a way to add more titles here: so I am sifting these for WWII-related content.

Not sure the best way to present them; for the time being I'm just going to add them as links here. How many of them do you know?

Valentine Williams — his novels featuring the German spy Clubfoot are often as not chase and pursuit novels with the British hero a hunted spy in Germany.

Geoffrey Household — legendary adventure author. Most of his tales are 1930s-1940s. 'The High Place', A Time to Die, 'A Rough Shoot', 'The Courtesy of Death', 'The Sending', 'Red Anger'. (I need to list more).

Hammond Innes — the king of the British adventure story in the fifties — all of his novels are outdoor adventure. I'm unsure which of his works are WWII-related.

Gavin Lyall — famous innovator of 'The Most Dangerous Game'. Much in the Innes mode with a touch of Eric Ambler. His later books are more often spy novels.

Geoffrey Rose — 'A Clear Road to Archangel'. Pure 'man on the run' (from the freezing cold, from wolves, from secret policemen, from bandits, from Bolsheviks, from White Russians etc).

Francis Beeding - 'The Five Flamboys'. This story combines elements of Edgar Wallace and John Buchan, as John Butler of the League of Nations finds a body in Scotland, and becomes involved with Colonel Alastair Granby of British Intelligence in a fast-moving kidnapping story of a prince.

Duncan Kyle - 'Black Camelot'. Germany 1945 – the dying days of Hitler’s Third Reich – and a Waffen-SS commando captain, betrayed by his own side, goes on the run with a list of western traitors and Nazi sympathisers.

Douglas Orgill - 'The Gothic Line'. Writes both fiction and nonfiction, re WWII.

David Garth - 'Tiger Milk'. A lone-wolf fight against a Nazi undercover ring in the U.S.

Ethel Vance — 'Escape' (an American has to save his German mother from the Nazi’s)

Martha Albrand — 'No Surrender'. Hitler's armies will soon overrun Holland, and each person in Holland must decide whether to surrender or fight

Gordon Parker - various WWII thrillers.

Archie Roy - 'All Evil Shed Away'. Alternative history in which the Third Reich rules the world.

John Welcome — similar to Dick Francis, emphasis on racing--but thrillers rather than mysteries. But he has one interesting looking WWII novel: 'Call to Arms'.

P.M. Hubbard — Similar to G. Household but not imitative.

C.P. Davies — some sf some thriller some mix the two. His heroes are frequently trying to find their identity while pursued by some threat

Michael Gilbert. Edgar Award winner, British mystery and suspense.

Andrew Garve — 'Two if by Sea', 'Ascent of D-13', 'The Megstone Plot'

Philip Loraine — Brit thriller writer and screenwriter — 'The Dead Men of Sestos', 'Nightmare in Dublin', 'Break in the Circle'.

Alan MacKinnon. Stories of international intrigue, Ambler-esque.

Donald Mackenzie — before his 'John Raven' series his novels often featured small time crooks on the run from police and other crooks or spies. The author himself, somewhat of an jailbird.

Edward S. Aarons — 'Girl on the Run', chase for lost treasure in post war France. Also author of the 'Sam Durrell' series

Frank Gruber — 'Bridge of Sand', 'Brothers of the Sword'. Excellent, 'Ambler-style' adventures. Prolific, 1940s pulp intrigue.

Lionel Davidson — one of the best ever — 'Rose of Tibet', 'Night of Wenecslas', 'The Menorah Men', 'The Sun Chemist', 'Kolymsky Heights', 'Smith’s Gazelle'.

James Aldridge — 'The Statesman’s Game', 'A Captive in the Land'

Mark Derby — hard to find, but good adventure thriller writer from the fifties and early sixties. Usually in the chase and pursuit vein.

Anthony Horowitz — his juvenile Alex Rider series often puts his young hero alone and on the run from his enemies.

Jon Manchip White (aka 'W.C.H. Chalk'). - 'Mask of Dust', 'The Spider Bomb' (for example). American author, historical thrillers.

Kevin Fitzgerald. - 'Trouble in West Two' (example). British thrillers.

Michael Innes. - 'The Case of the Journeying Boy'. British mysteries. Creator of the Sir John Appley series (+10 books).

Nevil Shute. One of Britain's finest authors. Particularly 'The Pied Piper'. In this story, a reluctant hero must lead a band of orphans out of the path of Hitler's invasion of France.

James Hilton (another leading light). 'Without Armor'. This tale concerns a murder and diplomatic intrigue in Russia.

Thank you for the list.
My brother recently recommended to me to check out The Pied Piper..

Yep. Monty Woolley, of all people. In a likeable role!

I've just finished and reviewed on Goodreads The Man from Berlin by Luke McCallin. It's the first in a planned series featuring Abwehr Captain Gregor Reinhardt. The story, which is densely plotted, is set in occupied Sarajevo and the author does a good job in getting the reader to understand the racial and political complexities of the former Yugoslavia during World War II. Reinhardt is a former kripo cop from the Alex in Berlin, rather like Bernie Gunther but he seems a more empathetic and less cynical character than Philip Kerr's hero. (By the way the new Bernie Gunther tale The Lady from Zagreb is out in April.)

I thoroughly enjoyed The Man from Berlin, a gripping tale of deception and murder and I look forward to reading the second in the series The Pale House

Well done

And my list just exploded...lol

Your TBR list eh? Well we try to offer our readers lots of choices, yes..

Update: I made a separate shelf in our bookshelves, where at least one book from all these authors can be found. This should assist anyone browsing.

The shelf name: 'really obscure'

Link:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...

I'm a big fan of Joseph Kanon. His newest, Leaving Berlin…I read in one day. Couldn't put it down. His focus in the cold war…mostly Germany. Does this fit into your category WWll?

Thanks Pat, wasnt aware of that name. But you may wanna move this comment to a thread like 'I want a new book' because he's a currently active author, yes? He'll get lost in this discussion of older writers...

Ah. Thanks. He's been writing for a long while, but yes, he is currently active. how do I move it? or do I just rewrite it in another thread?

Unfortunately, Goodreads doesn't let either you or I 'move' individual posts, so unfortunately I have to ask you just do a quick re-write in another thread where people are likely to find him! Thanks!

It can be as simple as 'putting in a plug for XXXXX, some of his titles are....'

:D

I can't believe I added books for every one of those authors. But, I did.

In my other groups I even went further and collected *every* title by these guys, and placed it on a shelf.

Aloha,

Does anyone have anything new to add, please?


Mahalo,
RM
🇺🇸🐾

Hmmm? Hello, there. what exactly are you looking for? Our group bookshelf is brimming with titles if you want a new read. When you ask for 'anything new to add' what specifically are you referring to? Any new 'what'?

Feliks wrote: "Hmmm? Hello, there. what exactly are you looking for? Our group bookshelf is brimming with titles if you want a new read. When you ask for 'anything new to add' what specifically are you referring ..."

I should have written it better. I meant anything new to this thread. Mahalo.

Okay, well ...if you're seeking either more chat or more book recommendations, you can also check out all the sister-groups to this group of ours here, they're listed on the doorstop page for the group. Profitable undertaking for any lover of thriller fiction such as yourself. :p

Has anyone else read Robert Henriques, in particular “The Commander,” an auto-biographical/novel he wrote with instructions to be published on his death, which occurred in about 1969. I’d call it a cross (heh) between Evelyn Waugh’s “Sword of Honor” (minus the Anglo-Catholicism) and the first 2 or 3 volumes of Spike Milligan WW2 memoirs (Volume 1: “Adolph Hitler: My Part in His Downfall, which takes place entirely in England).

I’ve never read any of Henriques’s other books, and “The Commander” is out-of-print. But, if you look at my review, you might agree it’s well worth tracking down.

Feliks wrote: "Okay, well ...if you're seeking either more chat or more book recommendations, you can also check out all the sister-groups to this group of ours here, they're listed on the doorstop page for the g..."

Mahalo!

🇺🇸🐾

Nooilforpacifists wrote: "Has anyone else read Robert Henriques, in particular “The Commander,” an auto-biographical/novel he wrote with instructions to be published on his death, which occurred in about 1969. I’d call it a..."

Mahalo! I shall check it. I am not familiar with the author.


🇺🇸🐾