I watch the movie Red tonight with my wife. I really like spy thrillers, especially the post-cold war spy thrillers. I find it interesting that from multiple angles, different story-tellers are staring to deal with the retirement of those wet-work spies from the late cold war or near term post-cold war. Red is a fun (not all that serious) movie. The bad guys are using the government for their own personal gain. And the retired good guys have to stop them.
It was a decent movie. But if you like a good spy novel that deals with some overlapping themes here are a few I recommend. (Links are to my reviews).
Once a Spy and Twice a Spy – both are about a retired spy that has developed Alzheimer’s. No one know what he is capable of and what he remembers. There is real humor and some real issues with both aging and Alzheimers and spy masters.
The Tourist and The Nearest Exit by Olen Steinhauer – are more Borne-like. But still it has a significant theme of trying to walk away and not being allowed to do it.
Intelligence: A Novel of the CIA by Susan Hasler – is a good post-9/11 spy novel. It is the only spy novel I have read that is written from the perspective of the desk analyst and not the field agent. The tension and responsibility she feels seem very real to me.
I also picked up a new novel today, Identity Man (Amazon Link) by Andrew Klavan. It was first recommended by John Wilson of Books and Culture (who also first recommended Once a Spy). Identify Man is not a traditional spy novel but by description seems like it would fit with the theme. The Kindle version of Identity Man has dropped from nearly $14.00 when I first started tracking it in July to $2.54 when I bought it today.