Spy, Espionage and Political Thriller recs

Slow Horses by Mick Herron
The Terminal List series by Jack Carr
John LeCarre spy novels
The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsythe
Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larson
Mystic River by Dennis Lehane
Power of the Dog by Don Winslow

John le Carre: Smiley trilogy (The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and Smiley's People). This is the best.
Len Deighton: (Berlin Game, Mexico Set, and London Match). If you like le Carre, you will like this trilogy too.
Tom Clancy: The Hunt for Red October.
Frederick Forsyth: The Day of the Jackal. Does this one count? Not quite a spy novel.
Ken Follet: Eye of the Needle.
Demille Nelson: The Charm School. Very underrated.

At a minimum his Bourne Trilogy is always a must-read.

The Grey Man series by Mark Greaney was fun and there are around 15 of them. I thought they were more realistic and grittier than the Reacher books.

Also they Sigma Force series by James Rollins were entertaining as well.

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The Spy And The Traitor

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The Spy And The Traitor

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The Spy And The Traitor

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and lastly,

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The Spy And The Traitor

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I would throw the Mitch Rapp books in there as well - spy craft, black ops, political machinations. Vince Flynn wrote the first 10 or so then met an untimely death to cancer in his 40's. If you ask me the Kyle Mills written books after Flynn died are done seamlessly as well. Haven't read the last couple from yet another author.

I see some other good recs above and of course Clancy goes without saying though younger readers might see it as dated. Slow the Slough House books by Mick Herron. I'm a big Jack Carr fan, though I know he is kinda polarizing and some consider he drops too many brand specific gear references, though the guys cred is undeniable.

Advise and Consent just might be the best political thriller of all time.

The movie is very good, but it's still not in the same league as the book. If you want to understand how the US Senate truly used to operate, this is it for sure.

A bit different than you probably were asking for, but the Aubrey-Maturin books are excellent and have some very good spying and political bits. Napoleonic naval books but with espionage and politics involved. The first book, Master and Commander, had none of this though. You would have to read to the second book.

Daniel Silva has a series of spy books around an Israeli spy named Gabriel Alon. Really good and grounded.

Fiction: Check out Damascus Station by David McCloskey. He’s a former CIA analyst, so the tradecraft, grueling bureaucracy, and psychological tension are incredibly realistic—definitely the exact opposite of the over-the-top Jack Reacher style. Mick Herron's Slow Horses is also fantastic for a gritty, grounded look at MI5 desk rejects.