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In that older style the books by Trevanian like the Eiger Sanction and Shibumi are quite good. If you like a whodunnit a nice change of pace of Lindsey Davis's Falko series - a detective set in Roman times. The earlier books are - IMHO opinion - rather better than the later, she is a classics professor and seems to find some new academic hobby horse to use as a device in her later books. Personal favorite author is Jack Vance - you might want to try the Lyonesse series - its his easiest high fantasy work - a unique writer to be sure.

@Alan Great topic and already some interesting recommendations here. I tend to read more non fiction so I will surreptitiously throw in a title I'm reading now: A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, title sounds ilke a stretch I know but its an excellent, compelling and very humbling read (and extremely well researched!) Recent fiction I read: The Rosie Result by Graeme Simsion last part of a trilogy, really enjoyable and often downright hilarious (start with part 1: The Rosie Project) Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, not exactly recent literature, I think Vonnegut is probably love/hate, love in my case White Tiger by Aravind Adiga - Amazing, very well written story about a poor boy who works his way up to become a successful businessman, set in India. I liked his other novel too: Last Man in Tower, but not as much as White Tiger.

Yes Tom Clancy for this retired RCMP/SWAT guy is great. I did come across a writer that they say is the next Ian Fleming from James Bond. The writers background as a CIA OPERATIVE really put an air of reality that has me living the story. This is what I clipped from the web. . Red Sparrow. Red Sparrow is a novel written by Jason Matthews, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operative. ps. Don’t watch the movie. It was disappointing Troy

@Alan Thanks for posting this! I feel the same way. We all need to be reminded from time to time that there is life outside of the trading world.. If you enjoyed Robert Ludlum (I myself read most of his novels), you will enjoy Tom Clancy. His Jack Ryan series is amazing in my opinion (The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, The Sum of All Fears, Debt of Honor, Executive Orders). Frederick Forsyth is the same theme (political thrillers). I enjoyed all his books. For something a bit more "serious" I recommend Irwin Shaw and John Grisham. For more "classic" reading, Jack London, Erich Maria Remarque. Those are my personal favorites.