The book was made into a motion picture of the same title in 1981, starring Donald Sutherland, with a screenplay adapted by Stanley Mann and directed by Richard Marquand.

In 1940, Henry Faber, a German spy nicknamed 'die Nadel' ('The Needle') due to his trademark weapon being a stiletto, is working at a London railway depot, collecting information on Allied troop movements.

Unable to fly during the Battle of Britain, David grows embittered and he and Lucy retire to the isolated (fictitious) Storm Island off the east coast of Scotland.

Faber is ordered by Berlin to investigate the First United States Army Group (FUSAG) military base.

Realising that FUSAG being fake implies that the D-Day landings will be in Normandy rather than around Calais, Faber heads for Aberdeen, Scotland, where a U-boat will take him and his intelligence back to Germany.

Faber escapes many times but his repeated killings (intended to prevent people from recognizing his appearance) allow MI5 to track him to Aberdeen.

By the cold logic which has guided his actions throughout his career, Faber should kill Lucy, but he finds himself unable to do so, being deeply in love with her to the detriment of his mission and of simple self-preservation.

A fictitious radio message is sent with Faber's call code, convincing the Germans that the planned invasion is still targeting Calais and causing Hitler to deny Rommel and Rundstedt the reserve panzer divisions.

FUSAG used fake tanks, aircraft, buildings and radio traffic to create an illusion of an army being formed to land at Calais.

In the film The Iron Lady there is a scene in which the retired Margaret Thatcher is shown reading Eye of the Needle.