Help me with Xmas present - book.

Ok, my da’s been a fan of the “spy thriller” type fiction for years, and every year I try to find him a novel for christmas with varying success.
The thing is, I’m not really much into that genre, so I always end up more or less going by the cover and blurb. Naturally, this is not the best way to guarantee success.
So, can anyone recommend an author that my da might enjoy?
The Qualifiers:

1)He used to really like stuff from Ludlum
2)He really doesn’t like too technical but rather prefers more suspence and character driven, as such he doesn’t like authors like Tom Clancy all that much.

I’d say he likes the books that are more story than manual if you know what I mean. Less specs about the weapons and more suspence and story telling.

Any suggestions?

Clancy and Ludlum are out (One he didnt like, the other he’s pretty much read them all)

Thanks

How about John LeCarre? Not that much in the way of weapons manuals, but plenty of charcter and plot. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is the classic to start out with.