Home > Books > Action/Adventure/Espionage Books > Action/Adventure/Espionage Books & Stories (Post-1900)

This section covers other authors in the adventure/espionage genre besides the specific ones whose collected works are listed in their own section (Alistair MacLean and Ian Fleming).  The list of action (adventure) books written before 1900 can be found in a separate section.  Here, we cover books written in the 20th century and beyond.

The list includes links for several associated items which may be available online for each book: (a) Wikipedia page, (b) e-book, and (c) audiobook.  There is also a column called “More info” with links to optional posts on each book.  Note that the list below is sortable by each column. (Multiple levels of sorting are possible by sorting more than one column in succession, from lowest to highest.)  You can also do an instant filtering of the table by entering a character string in the ‘Search’ field.

Adventure and espionage are closely interlinked in many novels; thus, they are covered together in this section.  There are a huge number of books in this genre which have been published in the last 100+ years, making it difficult to compile a list of reasonable size.  Rather than make a comprehensive list, I have attempted to select a moderate number of books which I consider both notable and representative of this genre.  The selection includes a wide variety of works, ranging from early 20th century authors (e.g., Baroness Orczy, Leslie Charteris) to modern thriller writers (e.g., David Baldacci, Dan Brown).

One final note.  There is often overlap between the mystery/crime genre and the adventure/espionage genre, and sometimes a given book may not fit neatly into one category or the other.  When such cases arise, I have used my judgment to assign a book in a particular category, though I may assign other books by the same author to the alternate category.  (In a very small number of cases, I have also listed a book in two different categories.)  I realize that this assignment could be subjective; however, I believe the vast majority of books covered here have been properly assigned to the correct category.

Please share any comments or suggestions on this list by filling out this form.  You can use the same form to express interest in becoming a contributor to the site and also request downloadable PDF files for any of the books below.

Note: On mobile devices, swipe left or right for horizontal scrolling.