The Spy Coast

The Spy Coast is Tess Gerritsen’s first foray into the spy thriller genre. The spy thriller genre has its roots in action and adventure fiction, but early examples of the espionage novels that evolved into the modern spy thriller include The Spy (1821) and The Bravo (1831), by James Fenimore Cooper, author of The Last of the Mohicans and The Pioneers. In the 20th century, novels about espionage gained popularity after World War I and moved into a new phase of growth post-World War II with Ian Fleming’s James Bond series, beginning in 1952 with Casino Royale and ending with two posthumously published works in 1964. John le Carré’s work also appeared during this time. His series featuring George Smiley, a British intelligence officer, gained prominence with the third novel in the series, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Graham Greene (The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana) is another prominent spy novelist of the mid-20th century and actually served as a British intelligence officer during World War II. Current prominent spy novelists include Daniel Silva (The Messenger), Paul Vidich (Beirut Station), and Mick Herron (Slow Horses).

While male authors and protagonists dominated the first generation of 20th-century spy novels, female authors and characters became more prominent in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. British author Palma Harcourt was active from the 1970s to the 1990s and wrote several series under the pseudonym John Penn before writing 25 novels under her own name, including Climate for Conspiracy (1976) and Shadows of the Past (1996). American author Gayle Lynds, known as the Queen of Espionage Fiction, was the first woman to write a bestselling spy novel with Masquerade in 1996 and co-founded International Thriller Writers. More recently, Kate Atkinson introduced a queer female spy in Transcription (2018) while Lauren Wilkinson’s American Spy (2019) follows Black FBI agent Marie Mitchell.

Over time, the spy thriller has evolved to incorporate elements of other genres, like mystery and action, and the conventions of the spy thriller genre have also evolved to reflect those genres. Common conventions of the genre include high stakes, fast-paced momentum, exotic locations, red herrings, double-crosses, and numerous plot twists. With The Spy Coast, Tess Gerritsen uses her extensive experience in the mystery genre and applies it to the spy thriller genre.