20 Greatest Spy Books Ever Written

8. "The Manchurian Candidate" (1959) - Richard Condon

Richard Condon's 1959 political thriller "The Manchurian Candidate" deals with brainwashing, Communism, conspiracy theories, assassinations and espionage - what more could you possibly want from a spy novel? With Major Bennett Marco, Sergeant Raymond Shaw and the rest of their infantry platoon captured during the Korean War in 1952, they are brainwashed by the Soviets into believing that Shaw has saved all of their lives in conflict. But years later, Marco begins suffering the same recurring nightmare of witnessing Shaw murdering two of the platoon while being observed by both Chinese and Soviet officials - as does another member of the infantry. As Shaw - the son of a prominent US political family - is uncovered as a sleeper agent who unwittingly kills Americans when provoked by seeing the "Queen of Diamonds" card while playing solitaire, before immediately forgetting, Marco must go to the highest levels of his own government to find out the truth behind the conspiracy. Twice adapted into a film in both 1962 and 2004 to great success, the Manchurian Candidate highlights how brittle Western political systems could potentially be - and how they could, in theory, be almost brought to their knees from the inside.