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Quiller is the protagonist in a series of spy thriller novels by English author Adam Hall (Elleston Trevor). Set during the Cold War, Quiller is a British agent who is highly skilled at driving, flying, diving, languages and martial arts. The first novel in the series, The Quiller Memorandum, was made into a movie starring […]

Adam Hall is the best known pseudonym of British author Elleston Trevor [born Trevor Dudley-Smith] (1920-1995), who also wrote as Simon Rattray, Howard North, Roger Fitzalan, Mansell Black, Trevor Burgess, Warwick Scott, Caesar Smith and Lesley Stone. He wrote all sorts of different genres, including spy thrillers, adventure, children’s books and more. He is best […]

Liz Carlyle is the protagonist in a series of spy thriller novels by British novelist Stella Rimington. The Liz Carlyle character is a 34 year-old MI5 intelligence officer who works in the counter-terrorism division. Working for the Security Service, she must navigate the waters of a male-dominated agency.

Stella Rimington is a British author of spy thriller novels. She writes the Liz Carlyle series. Rimington was the first female Director-General of MI5, which was a post she held for four years from 1992 until 1996. Prior to that, she had been working in the Security Service since 1965. During that time, she worked […]

Helen MacInnes (1907-1985) was a Scottish-American novelist of spy fiction. She has been referred to as the “Queen of Spy Writers” by the Sunday Express. Originally from Glasgow, MacInnes graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1928 with a degree in French and German. Following earning her M.A., she moved to University College, London and […]

David Ignatius is an American author of spy thriller/suspense novels, in addition to his work as an associate editor and columnist for the Washington Post. He was educated at Harvard College and Kings College, Cambridge University. He started out as an editor at the Washington Monthly before starting at the Wall Street Journal, where he […]

Matt Helm is the lead character in a series of spy thriller novels by American author Donald Hamilton. Helm works as a U.S. government counter-agent – his job is to take care of enemy agents by whatever means necessary. Several of the books (The Silencers, Murderer’s Row, The Ambushers and The Wrecking Crew) were made […]

Gayle Lynds is an American novelist of spy thriller novels. Lynds was born in Nebraska and raised in the Midwest and earned her journalism degree from the University of Iowa. She began writing pulp fiction novels under various pen names (such as Don Pendleton) and also writing the Covert-One with Robert Ludlum. She is the […]

Tweed & Co. is a series of spy thriller novels by British novelist Colin Forbes. Tweed is an agent with the Secret Intelligence Service, who works alongside Paula Gray and Bob Newman (the “co” part of the title).

Colin Forbes was the main pen name of British novelist Raymond Sawkins (1923-2006), who also used the pen names of Richard Raine, Jay Bernard and Harold English throughout his career. During his career, he wrote thriller novels (largely spy thrillers) and was best known for his Tweed & Co. series. Forbes started out working as […]