Forgotten spymaster December 16, 2011 9:43 AM   Subscribe

Seeking post from a while ago on a forgotten Cold War novelist who was a master of the genre.

I can't quite remember how long ago the post was made. It was about an author who ranks with LeCarre as one of the greatest cold war espionage writers but who was relatively unknown.

I've searched using all kinds of key words, with no luck. I am totally sick and could desperately use a good thriller, and was hoping someone could track down the post.

Thank you!
posted by foxy_hedgehog to MetaFilter-Related at 9:43 AM (13 comments total) 9 users marked this as a favorite

Is it possible you are looking for a plumber?
posted by timsteil at 9:56 AM on December 16, 2011


Len Deighton?
posted by scalefree at 10:03 AM on December 16, 2011 [1 favorite]


Eric Ambler? Relatively unknown may be an overstatement, but he's certainly not as well known as he should be.
posted by otio at 10:22 AM on December 16, 2011 [3 favorites]


Charles McCarry?
posted by juv3nal at 10:31 AM on December 16, 2011 [1 favorite]


Alan Furst focuses on the beginning of WWII, but he's good and he does spy novels, so I'll mention him anyway. And, by the way, a list of his five favorite spy novels from the WSJ. And a nice profile piece from the NYTimes in 2008.
posted by sciencegeek at 10:53 AM on December 16, 2011


Adam Hall / Elleston Trevor?
posted by zamboni at 11:48 AM on December 16, 2011


Adam Hall, one of the many pennames of the author of The Quiller Memorandum?
posted by zomg at 11:49 AM on December 16, 2011


Points to zamboni. Missed it by that much!

And speaking of Maxwell Smart, Mel Brooks and Buck Henry were pretty awesome Cold War authors, too. *cough*
posted by zomg at 11:50 AM on December 16, 2011


The Eric Ambler thread is the one I'd remembered, but all of these other suggestions are a wonderful bonus.
posted by foxy_hedgehog at 12:11 PM on December 16, 2011


Oh! Hey! I posted that!
posted by Artw at 1:04 PM on December 16, 2011 [1 favorite]


Yeah, Adam Hall, one of my favorites. His master spy's name was Quiller and quiller.net is an excellent reference on all his books.

But Alan Furst? Another favorite, but c'mon -- his novels all take place before the Cold War.
posted by Rash at 3:22 PM on December 16, 2011


(yep, I mentioned that they took place before WWII and that while they didn't address the question asked, they might be something that someone who enjoys Cold War spy thrillers might also enjoy; this is metatalk so the guidelines for strictly answering the question are not so strict.)
posted by sciencegeek at 3:29 PM on December 16, 2011


Another vote for McCarry--he's the best, and as a CIA agent in deep cover, he knows exactly what he was writing about.
posted by Ideefixe at 8:08 PM on December 16, 2011 [1 favorite]


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