sleeper agents
Hidden long-term spies
Sleeper agents are spies or operatives planted in a target country or organization who live normal lives while awaiting activation.
They blend in, sometimes for years or decades, until receiving orders to act: The novel follows a sleeper agent who'd built an American family before being called to service.
The term extends to anything hidden that activates later—a sleeper agent in software waits dormant until triggered.
- operativeCovert field agent
- molesBurrowing insectivore mammals
- espionageCovert intelligence gathering
- spyCovert information gatherer
- dormantInactive but capable
tradecraft · infiltration · awakened · undercover · counterintelligence · deep cover · safe houses · activation · wake up call · defection · cold war · spies · behind enemy lines · spy rings · subversion · asset · handler · intelligence asset
- espionagespy, spies, spying, moles, tradecraft
- thrillerssuspense, thriller, nail-biter, page-turner, cliffhanger
- covert operationscovert ops, stings, infiltration, deep cover, informants
- secret organizationscabal, secret society, secret societies, conspiracy, spy network
- spy gearspy gadgets, decoder rings, invisible ink, microfilm, silencers
- Cold WarBerlin Wall, Iron Curtain, arms race, Warsaw Pact, Cuban Missile Crisis
sleep, agent, agency, asleep, sleepy, sleeping, agents, sleeper, sleepiness