Spanning serious thrillers and comedic spoofs alike—spy characters like Ethan Hunt, Jason Bourne, and even animated heroes like Kim Possible have proven that people of all ages love a good spy.
Spy fiction dates back to the 1800s, but the genre really took off during the 1900s. The Cold War era particularly energized the genre, with the iconic James Bond emerging in the 1950s and capturing the public’s imagination. The action, adventure, and high emotions of espionage stories keeps readers in suspense, flipping through pages to discover just how their favorite secret agent is going to make it out alive.
Enter one of the most prolific writers of spy fiction: David John Moore Cornwell. But that’s not the name most of the world knows him by. When he published his first book, Call for the Dead, in 1961, he was still working for the British Intelligence agency MI6. Ring a bell? That’s right, Cornwell was a REAL James Bond figure himself! His employment required him to take on a pseudonym, so John le Carré was born. Along beside him, George Smiley emerges as another quintessential intelligence officer—a character you’ll get to meet below.
The character of Smiley was written in opposition to Bond as a more accurate portrayal of a spy: an unheroic and plain-looking bureaucrat who struggles with the ethics of his missions. Espionage isn’t so much exciting as it is morally dubious.
For le Carré, his spy stories were more than just a correction of the world and the objectives of espionage. As Tony Barber for the Financial Times put it, le Carré used his novels to “explore larger ethical problems and the human condition.”
Le Carré himself admits to this:
A spy story is not just a spy story… It can be a love story, a story about engagement and escape, about the search for institutional integrity.
Keep scrolling to uncover a world of secrets with this collection of espionage audiobooks featuring classics from le Carré and more modern takes on the spy novel!
Another Try
Written by Gene Koon, narrated by Richard Poe
A covert CIA operative becomes a social media sensation as he investigates a covert plot in this twisty political thriller with hidden agendas and looming danger.
Garris Kelley, a covert CIA operative, becomes an overnight sensation after President Cahill exposes on social media him for killing an international drug cartel kingpin.
Coming to Senator Frank Beemer’s aid after a shooting on the MAX, Portland’s metro-transit train, Garris is on everyone’s radar. Left with an enigmatic clue from the shooter and a cartel on his heels, Garris teams up with FBI agent Gayle Wilson to search for a missing colleague thought to be working inside an evil-intentioned militia. Garris willingly becomes a pawn in a billionaire winemaker’s game.
Call for the Dead
Book 1 in the George Smiley series
Written by John le Carré, narrated by Simon Vance
The introduction to John le Carré’s Circus, and to iconic spy George Smiley – the anti-James Bond.
After an unremarkable interview, Circus agent George Smiley determines Foreign Office civil servant, Samuel Fennan, poses no threat nor any reason for suspicion of espionage.
Hours later, Fennan is found dead by suicide. Finding himself under intense scrutiny, Smiley realizes the Circus intends to blame him for Fennan’s death. Smiley begins his own investigation into the nature of Fennan’s death, uncovering a web of secrets that connects not only to East German activity in Britain, but also his own past.
Code Red
Written by Ben Baldwin, narrated by Elliot Fitzpatrick
When Sam uncovers a mole working within the force, he agrees to help bring them down. But with national security on the line, who can he really trust?
Twelve months ago, Government Officer Sam Taylor was shot and left for dead while investigating a black-market organization. Now, the shooter has been found dead in Amsterdam.
Sent to identify the body, Sam is reunited with old acquaintances and introduced to the lead investigator, Interpol agent Karl Vogt, a man with his own agenda. But when the group arrives at the mortuary, they discover the body has vanished…
Back at the station, Sam begins receiving mysterious messages that turn the investigation on its head. Realizing how much is at stake, Sam heads into the Dutch countryside, where he encounters an unexpected ally.
Deliver Us From Evil
Written by Frank Francis, narrated by Sara Sheckells
A woman searches for the truth about the JFK assassination—and her father’s possible role in it…
Journalist Maureen Finn is approached by Robert Novack after attending a White House ceremony honoring her father, Sean. Novak hands her a photo of her dad in the company of Lee Harvey Oswald, tells her that her father was involved in the Kennedy assassination, and asks her to lend her professional skills to his investigation.
Maureen is horrified and angry, but when she questions her mother, her suspicions only increase. After further research, she learns her dad did some work for the CIA.
Now she and Novak are being tracked. As they travel looking for answers, will the shocking truth they uncover ever see the light of day?
The Night Manager
Written by John le Carré, narrated by John Michie
A masterful spy thriller that became the basis for the award-winning BBC/AMC series starring Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, and Olivia Colman.
In the shadowy recesses of Whitehall and Washington, an unholy alliance operates between the intelligence community and the secret arms trade. After a series of events culminate in the tragic death of a woman caught in the crosshairs, hotel night manager (and former military intelligence operative) Jonathan Pine is ready to stand up and be counted in the fight against this dark alliance.
His mission takes him from Cornwall to Panama, targeting British arms mogul Richard Onslow Roper. Complicating Pine’s attempt to get into Roper’s inner circle is the in-fighting between London and Langley—and it might just be Pine’s undoing.
A Perfect Spy
Written by John le Carré, narrated by Shaun Evans
“Without doubt [le Carré’s] masterpiece . . . a perfect work of fiction” – Sunday Times
The most autobiographical of John le Carré’s works, A Perfect Spy follows two narratives: the manhunt for the double agent Magnus Pym, and the makings of the man in question—told in his own words.
Referred to as le Carré’s best work and one of the best English novels of the 20th century by the likes of Philip Pullman and Philip Roth, this mesmerizing drama captures a man living more than one life, and the inevitable betrayals that result.
A Quiet Teacher
Book 1 in A Quiet Teacher Mystery series
Written by Adam Oyebanji, narrated by Curtis Michael Holland
A teacher trying to hide in the shadows finds himself embroiled in a murder investigation when the person closest to him is arrested for the murder.
Greg Abimbola is a language teacher at the prestigious Calderhill Academy in Pittsburgh. Only that’s not his real name or the only secret he’s hiding. Greg has a closetful.
When the murder of a wealthy parent on school premises shines an unwanted spotlight on Calderhill Academy, Greg is determined to avoid attention—that is until the closest person to a true friend he has is arrested for the murder. To prove her innocence, Greg will reluctantly emerge from the shadows. But doing so will put him in danger. His past is determined to find him, and his past is full of bad things.
Two Times Murder
Book 2 in A Quiet Teacher Mystery series
Written by Adam Oyebanji, narrated by Curtis Michael Holland
After helping solve a murder in the school basement, a teacher gets involved in yet another murder investigation.
Greg Abimbola is many things. He’s Black, British and fluent in Russian. A snappy dresser, a reasonable teacher, and exceptional at keeping secrets – like who he really is and the things he’s done.
After helping solve a murder in a school basement, Greg is cornered in his apartment by Sergeant Rachel Lev of the Pittsburgh police. Rachel needs his help. She’s lead detective on the homicide of an unidentified man fished from the Allegheny River and with clues scant, Greg is her final roll of the dice.
Greg knows more than he’s saying about Rachel’s mysterious corpse. To add to his troubles, a school trustee plunges to his demise after a heated board meeting. Both deaths come with potentially lethal consequences. If he doesn’t find answers, and soon, Greg Abimbola might be the third man in autopsy.
The Russia House
Written by John le Carré, narrated by Gildart Jackson
In the novel that serves as the basis for the acclaimed 1990 film starring Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer, Barley Blair, a British publisher, finds himself unexpectedly entangled in Cold War espionage.
In the USSR, a manuscript containing critical information about the Soviet Union’s nuclear capabilities and missile program is intended to be delivered to Bartholomew “Barley” Blair, a British publisher. However, it ends up in the hands of the British Secret Intelligence Service, who are interested in Barley’s knowledge of the manuscript.
MI6 and the CIA convince Barley to act as an unlikely spy. Under the guise of his publishing business, Barley travels to Moscow and meets Katya Orlova, who helped smuggle the manuscript out of the country.
As Barley navigates the treacherous waters of espionage, he begins to fall in love with Katya, blurring the lines between professional and personal. With the KGB closing in on them and his Western handlers growing impatient, Barley must determine his true loyalties.
