Spy Novel Quotes

“What other problems do American soldiers face when hunting down these fanat­ical killers?”
“A person’s senses are more acute when being hunted,” Reid said. “More adept at avoiding capture.”
These guys are good, Blake thought as a bead of sweat trickled down the small of his back. What have I gotten myself into?”
― Chad Boudreaux, Scavenger Hunt

“He sat in disbelief as the Mission Possible continued its rocking motion farther out to nowhere. He could hear the metronomic slap, slap, slap of water against the boat’s hull. He checked his watch, turned his Yankees cap around, and started the engines. Taking one last look around, he turned the bow of the Bertram back toward shore. Ready or not, it was time for Jake Reid to go home.”
― Chad Boudreaux, Scavenger Hunt

“Any guilt borne by the casualties wrought by his hands had long ago been buried by the honor of the cause. That was enough for Olson. He’d been programmed to think about the cause. Nothing else mattered. He knew that by exterminating the bad guys, he was pro­tecting the good guys.”
― Chad Boudreaux, Scavenger Hunt

“Don't ask me, I'm British.”
― Bill Fairclough, Beyond Enkription

“You do not know the force of the German propaganda. It appeals to something in man, some desire or lust for power. These people are ready to betray their country not for money, but in a kind of megalomaniacal pride in what they themselves, were going to achieve for that country. In every land it has been the same. It is the Cult of Lucifer- Lucifer, Son of the Morning. Pride and desire for personal glory!”
― Agatha Christie, N or M?

“Like an actor he had a sense of approaching anti-climax before the curtain went up, a sense of great things dwindling to a small, mean end; as death itself seemed small and mean to him after the struggles of his life.”
― John le Carré, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

“and when you're the girl known for being invisible, there's nothing quite as scary as being seen. - Cross My Heart And Hope To Spy”
― Ally Carter, Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy

“Memory is a dog that wants to please its master.”
― William Boyd, Gabriel's Moon

“Kuandika riwaya ya kijasusi kama Kolonia Santita lazima uishi kama Myahudi. Lazima uishi kifikra!”
― Enock Maregesi

“The child was born in the Arab world, and in that sense, Roger and Alice had gone into the land itself, been penetrated by it, bled into its veins (p. 349).”
― David Ignatius, Body of Lies

“He could hear Matthews saying, 'Worry before, and you'll be prepared. Worry afterwards and you'll keep your feet on the ground. But don't worry during action; that's fatal.”
― Helen MacInnes, Assignment in Brittany

“Politicians love chaos... it gives them authority, it gives them power.”
― John le Carré

“What happens when you combine a love of Wizard of Oz, Nora Ephron, James Bond movies, and the desire for true faith? You embark on an unforgettable 1980 journey to magical Mackinac Island.”
― Michele Olson, Being Dorothy: In a world longing for home

“i will be the hunter, not the hunted. diana, not the stag. the arrow, not the bow.”
― Kate Atkinson, Transcription

“he had a name, too - a good patriotic name. cry god for harry, england, and saint george.”
― Kate Atkinson, Transcription

“He was born into it, in the same way stars were born from midnight.”
― Sarah Dayan Mueller, Home in a Hundred Places

“The echo of his name found a soft landing in the rustle of banana leaves, like it always did.”
― Sarah Dayan Mueller, Home in a Hundred Places

“You just don't know until you know.”
― Diana Hochman, Dispelling the Myth

“I’m only doing what every intelligence officer already knows: professional and state-sanctioned deception. If governments have course for legitimate violence, why can’t I, as a Government employee, have course to legitimate lying? Besides, it’s not like I can be prosecuted. There’s an Official Secrets Act, but there’s no Official Lying Act.”
― Lachlan Page, Magical Disinformation

“It was when stumbling down the rain-soaked Andes wearing a woollen poncho, a handwoven sombrero, and high on ayahuasca that Oliver Jardine decided to lie for love. The lying wouldn’t be hard, he was a spy after all.”
― Lachlan Page, Magical Disinformation

“I didn’t realize this building had a basement,” I said.
“Basement might be a bit of an understatement.” He grinned over his shoulder. When I responded with a raised eyebrow, he said, “You’ll see.”
― Robin M. King, Remembrandt

“I know this place, what we do, might seem a little . . .”
“Intriguing, adventuresome, dangerous,” I interjected, excitement pulsing through me.
“I was going to say overwhelming, but I can see Golkov might be right about you.”
― Robin M. King, Remembrandt