after graduating from the University of Michigan.
Idov’s writing career began at New York Magazine, where his features won three National Magazine Awards. His first book, 2009’s satirical novel Ground Up, sold over 100,000 copies worldwide and was optioned for a series by HBO. From 2012 to 2014, he was the editor-in-chief of GQ Russia, an experience that became the basis for his 2018 memoir Dressed Up for a Riot.
In addition to spy novels The Collaborators (2024) and The Cormorant Hunt (2026), Idov has worked on numerous film and TV projects, including Londongrad, Deutschland 83, Cannes Main Competition title Leto, and his own 2019 directing debut The Humorist. He and his wife and screenwriting partner, Lily, divide their time between Los Angeles, Berlin, and Portugal.
[Writers Read: Michael Idov (October 2009); Q&A with Michael Idov]
At CrimeReads Idov tagged five favorite books "that work both as excellent spy thrillers and good literature, delivering all the clandestine kicks while treating the reader as an actual adult." One title on the list:
Read about another novel on the list.Lea Carpenter, Ilium
Behind a cheeky le Carré epigraph (“Then the new style began”) lies a well-observed first-person novel about falling in love with an older man…who then recruits you to entrap a Russian oligarch with a killer past. With a relatable amateur agent at its center, discovering tradecraft and its attendant moral ambiguities as she goes, it is a great transitional text for the romance-minded but espionage-curious.
Ilium is among Barbara Nickless's seven spy novels to take you around the world and Flynn Berry's four great novels of subtle espionage.
Q&A with Lea Carpenter.
--Marshal Zeringue
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