What's New
The last ten major changes to the site.
- 04/04/2025 - As I state in my write-up for today's entry into the compendium, one which should have been admitted some time ago but I can be a dunderhead at (many) times, "I adore a series where the characters are more important than the action and that is definitely the case here. And when the action is also really darned impressive, well, wow!". Author Merle Nygate allows us to care for and then really puts the heat on him and us. Terrific storytelling here.
- 04/03/2025 - The fourth of the four war-time operatives working for spymaster Peter Quayle is entered into the compendium today. As I mention in My Comments on , author Peter Cheyney "an expert with hard-boiled detective fiction, is again proving he can do gritty spy fiction".
- 04/02/2025 - It is Day Three of four day 'operatives of Peter Quayle'. Today I add the name of , a fellow who, IMHO, was pretty darned interesting and yet the author, Peter Cheney, used him in 4 stories paired with yesterday's entrant and then no more. Obviously he was not that interesting to Cheney. Pity.
- 04/01/2025 - The second of the operatives working for Peter Quayle which I felt deserved his own page joins the compendium today. was one of a pair of operatives with 4 tales collected in one book followed by 4 more full-length adventures.
- 03/31/2025 - One of the first series I added to the compendium, likely back in or around 2005, was about Peter Quayle, a spymaster who had numerous operatives at his disposal. Recently, I decided to give some of them their own page. I start now with who had two adventures working for Quayle.
- 03/30/2025 - I love the shorter length storytelling and today's entry makes use of that wonderfully. G.R. Radfield is the author of three mighty fine novellas, individually released and then later packaged as one collection, about a terrific British operative named . These three tales are set in the first half of the 1950s and are a whole lot of fun to read.
- 03/29/2025 - I end My Comments about today's newcomer to the compendium with "I hope the two, [Steve] Berry and [Grant] Blackwood, let us have more in the future." More being in addition to the two terrific adventures we have of Daniels which are a hoot to read.
- 03/28/2025 - We head back in time to 1969 Britain for a television series which lasted for 4 seasons, albeit with a fair amount of change over those seasons. Created by the gifted author George Markstein, the shows about were a fascinating mixture of police procedural and spy-fi.
- 03/27/2025 - Joining the compendium today is a two-book series from just a few years ago about a British close protection expert who is "talked" into working with MI5 on things he would rather not. Author Anthony Riches does a pretty good job with these adventures about , a fellow who knows how to handle anger issues.
- 03/26/2025 - Take a fantastic author like Olen Steinhauer and ask him to create a television series about spies. Then put it on a non-broadcast network and give it some license to be as great as it can be. You will end up with . And you will be smiling with contentment.
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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!!