While the focus is, quite naturally, on the intrinsic qualities of the books themselves, Masteller does offer his takes on the fictional characters that also appeared on the big screen and/or television. It’s fun to compare the literary and cinematic incarnations of spies like Jason Love, the 40-ish country doctor turned spy who debuted in James Leasor’s 1964 novel Passport to Oblivion, and then appeared as a considerably older man played by David Niven in Where the Spies Are in 1965. Or Jason Bourne, the fictitious CIA assassin whom Robert Ludlum introduced to readers back in 1980, and who subsequently appeared in a 1988 television miniseries starring Richard Chamberlin before Matt Damon put his stamp on the character in the much more action-driven 2002 film.

Masteller has limited the site to spy fiction produced since the end of World War II, but that’s the only limiting thing about it. To date, “Spy Guys & Gals” includes some 560 series covering 4,281 books. (Masteller must have a very understanding family.) His website currently receives about 100 visits a day, and he continually updates it with new books, write-ups and artwork. The cover scans alone are amazing and can provide hours of enjoyment.

Each series (which must have at least two installments to be included) has its own page, with a series description, list of books, plot synopses, publishing history, author bio, and, most entertaining, Masteller’s entertaining opinions on the recurring character. Of 007, he writes: “There are many spies in fiction which many might claim are better than Bond. George Smiley is certainly smarter. Quiller is more adaptive. Sam Durrell is more resilient….No one, however, can ever take the place of Bond.”

In addition to the agent with the famous license to kill, the site honors less well known but equally deserving characters, some of whom also made it to the screen, if only once. Prominent among these are John Gardner’s Boysie Oakes, the cowardly killer in The Liquidator, filmed in 1965 with Rod Taylor and Jill St. John; and Adam Hall’s Quiller, one of spydom’s most realistic and resourceful characters, whom George Segal brought to life in the grey and gritty The Quiller Memorandum (1966).

Then there are those spies that for some reason never made it to the screen. Arguably the best of these is Giles Yeoman, a sardonic and resourceful research scientist who is repeatedly pressured into working for a duplicitous arm of the British secret service. The Yeoman books were written by Martin Woodhouse (who also penned early episodes of “The Avengers”), and are notable for their inventive plotting, engaging blend of humor and suspense, and in-depth characterization. Yeoman would have made a great film character, similar in many respects to Michael Caine’s persona in the first three Harry Palmer films.

My favorite character on the site just might be Francis Xavier Killy, a lay brother and the key enforcer for the Inquisition, the enforcement arm of the Catholic Church in Simon Quinn’s “Inquisitor” series. A hit man for the Vatican? You gotta love it. And Masteller doesn’t neglect the distaff side of spying, devoting pages to (among others) James Yardley’s Kiss Darling, Jimmy Sangster’s Katy Touchfeather, Peter O’Donnell’s Modesty Blaise and James Eastwood’s Anna Zordan. Writes Masteller: “Oh, how I wished I had met Anna Zordan in my younger days! Of course, she probably would have judo-thrown me or karate-chopped me or just shot me when she found out my intentions. Or laughed. Or said yes.”

The declassified biographical information on Masteller’s website paints a picture of a somewhat mysterious figure. The dramatic impact of seeing Thunderball at age 14 instilled an immediate yen for a life of action and intrigue. (Although curiously, it did not inculcate a love of shaken, not stirred martinis.) Three years later Masteller joined the Navy, where his facility for languages eventually earned him a position as a cryptologic technician with a top-secret clearance. He spent over a decade working for the Naval Security Group attached to the NSA.

While the job entailed extensive travel to exotic locations, it did not, unfortunately, bring Masteller into contact with the equivalent of a Domino Vitale or Emilio Largo. Like so many of us, he has lived out his secret agent man fantasies in the novels of Donald Hamilton (Matt Helm), Brian Freemantle (Charlie Muffin), Edward S. Aarons (Sam Durell), James Mitchell (David Callan) and hundreds of other writers of espionage fiction. Of them all, Masteller feels closest to Quiller. “I would love to be identified with Quiller,” he said when interviewed recently. “I know I really can’t because he was a lot smarter than I, but I loved his attitude and his approach to life.”

Masteller’s site is a true labor of love, and a habit-forming tribute to the world of spy-fi, from pantheon writers like Fleming and Deighton to enjoyable trash like J.J. Montague’s Black Swan series, Joseph Rosenberger’s C.O.B.R.A. books, and Bob Tralins’ The Miss From S.I.S. series, the latter aptly described by Masteller in these terms: “I cannot say a lot bad about these lightweight tales, though there isn’t much good to say, either. They have small amounts of titillating humor, minute doses of fairly good action, and that’s about it. The best word might be harmless. Better yet, think of cotton candy. Sweet and enjoyable but not long lasting, and after a while [it] will rot your teeth.”

A word of caution. The lure of discovering new characters like these, regardless of their literary qualities, will likely prove to be instantly habit-forming. Like the pleasure units in Our Man Flint, “Spy Guys and Gals” exists solely to bring happiness to its online companions.

(Visit www.spyguysandgals.com and leave feedback at rmasteller@nc.rr.com.)