What's New
The last ten major changes to the site.
- 12/20/2024 - I am getting an early start on Saturday's normal young adult spy series with by Justin Richards. As I put it in My Comments, "This delightful three-adventure series is designed for young'uns aged 7-9, grade level 2-4. I really wished when I was that age books like these had been around because I would have scarfed them down about as fast as I did being more than six decades older than that."
- 12/19/2024 - Today in the 2020s we are heading back to the 1970s for an espionage television series taking place in the 1940s. The show was and it dealt with activity during the Second World War in the South Pacific against the Empire of Japan. There were 42 episodes presented in 2 seasons and the few that I have been able to watch have been darn good.
- 12/18/2024 - I'm having some fun with today's entrant into the compendium because I so fondly remember watching the introduction of this character inside another series that I really liked back in the day - Star Trek. 'Assignment: Earth' was the name of the episode that gave us as a pilot for a potential new series which unfortunately did not catch. I thought the concept was a neat one. The oh-so-cool Robert Lansing as the title character was suave and collected and capable. And I, a red-blooded teenage boy at the time, really, really liked Teri Garr (I mean, who wouldn't). And the cat who turned into a sultry woman... um, not going there! Alas, the series never got made back then but with the help of numerous apocryphal stories since penned or drawn, it makes it as a series here.
- 12/17/2024 - I have entering the compendium today a series that is really, really odd. And yet ... As I say in My Comments about ... no joking on this ... by Grainne McEntee - "The writing is terrific! The artwork is stunning. This is a series that needs to be revised so that people can see just how well it was executed." You have got to see this graphic adventure series for yourself to understand but in the meantime, check out my entry.
- 12/16/2024 - If you look at the cover of today's newcomer to the compendium, with its impressive artwork (at least I have always enjoyed covers like these), and taken a gander at the font used for the title, author, and blurbs, you would think it was out of the 1970s talking about the Death Merchant, aka Richard Camellion. And that is certainly what the publishers intend. These three books presented today, though, are recently penned men's adventures about Joseph Huntsman, aka the . The author name given is ... wait for it ... Ricardo Camaleon. In truth, from what I read, the real name is Keith Tarrier but the homage to the Death Merchant series using that character's name as a source for this series' author is a fun one. And the first name of this character, Joseph, is the first name of that character's creator. I appreciate that sort of whimsey. As for the quality of these books - well, I was impressed that Tarrier/Camaleon was able to give me the same vibe that Rosenberger did a half century ago.
- 12/15/2024 - Today I welcome to the compendium , an operative with the Special Operations Force. She has earned entry into this collection through her fascinating adventures, of which there are 8, penned by J. R. Seeger and I thank him for that. She might also have been admitted thanks to her family which Mr. Seeger has been kind enough to tell us about as well as all make for fascinating and highly entertaining reading.
- 12/14/2024 - The operative entering the compendium this Saturday morning is with Section 23, a part of the CIA. What makes it interesting is that apparently the CIA does not now about it. She becomes an agent through the efforts of her father who didn't know about her either. A lot of not knowing happening here. That kind of is what makes this series designed for tween readers a lot of fun. That and the agent herself, who really lives up to her last name. These three adventures by Jonathan Bernstein are the sort of books I would have loved to have back in the day.
- 12/13/2024 - On this Friday the 13th, I bring to the compendium a series which has nothing to do with bad luck. I have long loved the combination of thief and spy ever since the days of my, well, not quite youth and the antics of Alexander Mundy in It Takes A Thief, especially when Al's rapscallion father shows up played to a delight by Fred Astaire. The same sort of smoothness and essence of quality that Astaire brought to that show in his very limited appearances is seen in Douglas Skelton's delightfully smooth prose in his four-book series about a thief forced to be a spy. The action in these tales about take place back in the 1710s and Skelton does a superb job making you think you are back then. This is an excellent combination of mystery, thrills, and espionage penned wonderfully.
- 12/12/2024 - We have an unusual nickname for today's entrant into the compendium. 'Bing Bong'. Interesting, no? This former MI6 operative is really named Mildred Hoolihan but people do not call her than; in fact, they even shorten her nickname so most call her . She is a retired agent who does not like the fact that she was forced to retire because she was over 50 (I don't blame her although now over 70, I am pleasantly retired). She is often abrasive but she is never dull.
- 12/11/2024 - I ask in My Comments about today's entrant into the compendium: "Is it kinda weird when a very old fellow like myself finds himself enjoying reading a series of spy adventures about young women written for young women? Probably." The five-book, one-novella series about by M. Taylor Christensen is not written for the likes of me but I nevertheless liked it. Even if the name is pretty odd.
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What's New!
SPY FICTION!
Say the word SPY to most people and they will respond with James Bond,
with good reason as he is the best known of all fictional spies. With 20+ blockbuster movies over the last 40+ years,
along with the standard movie hype, virtually the entire world knows about 007 and his License To Kill.
Of course, James Bond is by no means the only spy in the world of fiction, just the best known. Who are the rest?
Who has his or her own license to kill, thrill, or chill. How do these agents stack up against each other? Who would
you want beside you in a car chase, in a knife fight, in a dark alley, or beneath the covers?
This site is dedicated to the many, many men and women who, at least in fiction, have defended our freedoms against all forms of enemies, foreign and domestic. Well, granted a few of them were just in it for the money and many were only after the excitement, and sex played a huge role in the motivation of more than a few. But still, their actions helped not only preserve our way of life (on paper) but also brought us, the readers, many hours of escapism and vicarious pleasure.
So, who are these people that I have slaved so diligently to present to you? They are the men and women of spy-fi about whom there is a series. Single-book characters need not apply. There has to be at least two books. Two's the minimum but the more the merrier.
Moreover, I have confined membership to the English language. If it wasn't put into English so I can read it, I haven't worried about it.
Each spy has his or her own page. Click on the "Characters" button to go to a listing page. Click on the letter the
character's last name starts with (or a more common moniker like "Death Merchant" if appropriate). That will take one
step further into the labrynth. Finally, select the character's name from the list and, voila!
Have fun!!