Our Favorite Books for Every Type of Dad

For the dad who’s still talking about “The Americans” finale

The Illegals, by Shaun Walker

Walker’s fascinating and meticulously researched book details a century-long Russian project to infiltrate Western society by planting deep-cover spies — or “illegals” — to live for decades under false American identities in places like Hoboken, N.J. The program began in 1922, when Lenin was still pacing the Kremlin corridors, and continues today under Putin, who has seldom met a Soviet relic he didn’t want to polish up. Read our review.

Also consider: “The Determined Spy: The Turbulent Life and Times of CIA Pioneer Frank Wisner,” by Douglas Waller; “Watching the Jackals: Prague’s Covert Liaisons With Cold War Terrorists and Revolutionaries,” by Daniela Richterova; “The Torqued Man,” by Peter Mann

For the dad who loves thrillers

The Doorman, by Chris Pavone

Pavone is the author of five previous books, literary thrillers characterized by elegant writing and intricate plotting. This is something bigger in tone and ambition. While a mystery hums beneath the narrative — we know from the early pages that somebody won’t make it out alive — “The Doorman” is better read as a state-of-the-city novel, a kaleidoscopic portrait of New York at a singularly strange moment. Read our review.