Spy novels are back in fashion. As global politics slides toward a new era of rivalry, with great-power tension, proxy wars, and digital espionage reshaping the landscape, readers are once again drawn to tales of secrecy, betrayal, and quiet heroism.

The genre that thrived in the Cold War has found fresh relevance in a world of Russian assassinations, Chinese cyber-spies, jihadis in the Middle East, and shifting Western alliances. With John le Carré and Frederick Forsyth gone, a new wave of writers is stepping forward to reimagine the tradecraft of modern intrigue.

Among the leading names is David McCloskey, a former CIA analyst and a co-host of a podcast looking at spy tales from the past, The Rest is Classified. His novel Damascus Station has been hailed as a defining thriller of the post-le Carré age. Set amid the chaos of the Syrian civil war, it follows an American operative and his recruit as they navigate a regime built on fear and deception. Reviewers have praised its: “gripping authenticity” and moral depth, drawn from McCloskey’s own intelligence experience, marking it as a standout for readers craving realism.

Other writers are keeping the flame alive in their own ways. Nick Harkaway, le Carré’s son, revisits his father’s world with Karla’s Choice, a nuanced continuation of the Smiley legacy. Meanwhile Joseph Finder’s The Oligarch’s Daughter weaves Russian intrigue with FBI surveillance, while John Lawton’s Smoke and Embers promises Cold War echoes in modern form. Veteran Gerald Seymour’s A Duty of Care, captures the murky moral terrain of Russian meddling in Europe.

Together these works show that the spy novel, once thought a relic of the 20th century, has been reborn. Its villains may now operate through servers and sanctions rather than safe houses, but the heart of the genre, secrets, sacrifice, and the cost of loyalty, remains the same.