The Mammoth Book of Short Spy Novels

Book excerpt: Spanning more than 75 years of espionage writing in USA and the UK, here are gripping tales by classic writers in the field including W. Somerset Maugham, Ian Fleming, Leslie Charteris, and Erle Stanley Gardner. They are presented complete and unabridged. Among the now legendary fictional secret agents, counterspies and double agents featured are Somerset Maugham's enigmatic operative Ashenden; Ian Fleming's legendary 007; and Peter O'Donnell's Modesty Blaise, 'the female James Bond'. The stories include: The formula for a deadly warfare chemical propels secret agent Peter Baron on a mission through Italy - in Deep Sleep by Bruce Cassiday Agent 007 James Bond confronts military intrigue in the Caribbean - in Octopussy, by Ian Fleming International conspiracy, assassination, bombs, plot and counter-plot in Washington D.C. - in Dealers in Doom by William E. Barrett Someone is out to destroy the British Government, from the inside - in The Spoilers, by Michael Gilbert The CIA enlists a small-town policeman to track down a spy who will stop at nothing to preserve his identity - in The People of the Peacock, by Edward D. Hoch