Customer Reviews

NOC: Non-Official Cover: British Secret Operations

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The book is a memoir of a British undercover agent who served in the Secret Intelligence Service from 1971 to 1983 and was then recalled to active duty after the fall of communism. In a series of flashbacks the author provides a broad account of some of his exploits and weaves them seamlessly into his own life. Because of censorship requirements, the author had to publish his book under an assumed name and as a "fictional autobiography".

Despite this disclaimer, I was impressed that the book describes events that actually happened and that the author was actually a witness and participant in those events. The author takes great pains to include details that only an agent who lived through the events described would know. At times the additional details slow down the narrative but overall I liked the style of the author. All in all I enjoyed reading the book and would recommend it to anyone interested in "real life" espionage and cloak and dagger operations.

Interesting that this reviewer claims' about secure phones not

being used yet it clearly states there "while the STU-111 (secure

phone on GSM mobile) kicked in". Must have skipped the sentence by

mistake then criticizes it not being there yet it was. The other

point is about the speedy arrangement of currency needs and visa,

etc. "in 45 minutes". It clearly states that they had many hours to

organize the materials since the author's departure point at the

airport in Cyprus. LCA-ROM was around four hours flying time in

those days, if on time, plus half an hour added for what takes

place - including boarding and disembarking - so they had nearly

five hours to get the parts prepared - reasonably feasible? Yes.

This person is evidently NOT reading what's right there on the

pages...'

NOC: Non-Official Cover: British Secret Operations

Nicholas Anderson's book `NOC Non-Official Cover: British Secret Operations' would make a most remarkable achievement of fiction -- a protagonist who is a former MI6 officer and, latterly, a "freelance" British agent with a licence to kill, whose conscience about working for an organisation believing themselves to be "above the law" leads him to reveal the nefarious deeds he committed in the name of national security -- except that the enigmatic author claims every word is the God's honest truth and that he himself is the agent in question. Like paprika in a well-seasoned goulash, the ambiguity is what gives this exceptional book its added spice and lifts it head and shoulders above the normal run-of-the-mill spy yarn.

Anderson (presented as a pseudonym, like the majority of names in the book) tells us in the first few paragraphs about his signing of the Official Secrets Act, which forbids all employees of The Secret Intelligence Agency of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland of ever talking or writing about their work. This necessitates his choice of presentation of his memoir as "informed fiction." Anderson's frustration at having to adopt this ruse is obvious in his, somewhat defensive, introduction. But is this a double bluff? When he throws out the challenge to investigative journalists "... to closely follow my story: They will see the truth emerge..." is he merely piling on the mystery to tantalise us?

As one progresses through the text -- resisting the temptation to run to Google every other paragraph to check on Anderson's facts -- we soon realize it doesn't matter a damn if this is a true story or not. What matters is it's an intriguing and informed narrative that grabs the reader and pulls him along for a fascinating, insightful and sometimes philosophical glimpse into a world of which few of us are even aware, but that is totally credible by virtue of Anderson's exceptional writing skills. There are tense and hugely entertaining scenes. Characters are finely drawn. Anderson's own personality and character is gradually revealed as a fully rounded, sympathetic individual with definite opinions, with which the reader might not agree but can't help but concede have been formed by experience that is extreme and rare.

As Anderson writes: "In the end there's not a lot of difference between history and fiction because the former has been written with the latter in mind." By book's end we know this for a fact because we've been taken beyond mind-boggling events to a greater understanding of their underlying significance, regardless of their veracity. Like all good books, fiction and non-fiction, we emerge from Anderson's pages with a world empathy we may not have had before we started. An awesome (in the true sense of the word) read for more than just the cloak-and-dagger spy book fan.

Had Ian Fleming's James Bond been a real person born after the end of the cold war, into a new world order, and imbued with an existentialist bent, he'd have been Nicholas Anderson, the figure at the heart of NOC: Non Official Cover. It covers over 20 years in a life spent behind the scenes of some of the most covert actions by world governments; the vast majority of whose citizens would never believe happened- or wish to.

NOC is a travelogue into both the palaces of the rich and the seediest, impoverished hellholes imaginable, as the author recounts his stints as a mole for, most notably, Great Britain.

Written stirringly in the first person, Anderson treats the reader with a stream-of-consciousness internal dialogue to the actions and events as they unfold

around him, and peppers his tale with flashbacks of an exotic childhood, intriguing characters who float around him as either nemesis or bit player, and a global perspective that's always bracing, searingly honest and often witty.

Along the way there's enough sex, real danger and drama to make this one of the most pleasurable reads in years.

N O C, Non-Official Cover: British Secret Operations ISBN 9781450018724, MIURA e-book, 180 pages by Nicholas Anderson is titled "A Documentary Thriller", which to most readers would signify that the book was a novel. Instead, a more descriptive title might have been "Ruminations of a Former Deep Cover Operative", except for the fact that the author, in his Epilogue states "A documentary thriller - Remember that none of this never happened..."(an obvious double negative),

To elucidate: N O C has no plot, per se. Instead it presents a series of activities by the protagonist - fascinating details of behind-the-scenes deals in which he was involved, or was witness to, in Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Africa and the Orient. The author himself states near the end of the book: "Who knows, I'll probably write a memoire in the form of a novel about it one of these days. It's easier nowadays for a larger market to understand non-fiction in that mode of presentation."

I have traveled sufficiently to attest to the fact that Anderson's familiarity with many of the countries and areas he visits are either legitimate, or he has done an excellent amount of research. So, I can assume the description of the others with which I am unfamiliar are legitimate as well. The knowledge he sets forth on the movement of money from the U.S. to and through foreign countries is well documented. His knowledge and presentation of modern Russian history and the PLO/Hamas/Israeli situation is right on and his awareness of the effects of drugs, AIDS, anthrax and small pox infection, their history, testing and availability for warfare, is well portrayed. Rumored reports about material supplied with respect to deals in body parts involving China exist. The interrelationship between the Irish Revolutionaries and Islamic discontents, and other similar groups are believable. Recounting of nefarious dealings among `legitimate' diplomats of the United States, France, Russia and others certainly also are within the realm of reason.

To conclude, therefore: Nicholas Anderson has set forth an intriguing story with interesting settings and enough solid facts to make all of his allegations believable. The parts that stretch credibility are the `completely fictional' portion of the story, I assume. Perhaps the author's own words (from the epilogue) provide the best description - "An autobiographical tale- a narrative which goes `beyond the thing itself but where everything originally is real'". So, real or not, the material makes interesting, although at times slow, reading. This latter possibly resulting from the fact that I was provided a pdf copy to review. The book's design is not compatible with this form. Hard copy, Kindle or other reader where the font may be changed and still have all on one page to read, would be better. The text, as provided, fills almost the entire page with single spaced, twenty-three to twenty four word lines. The average reader is not accustomed to this long a reading line and for this reason may find extended periods of reading tedious. Reviewed by John H. Manhold, award winning fiction/non-fiction author.

His (allegedly authentic) stories are unlikely in the extreme. One example:

He is in the Rome airport unexpectedly tailing an IRA character. He phones the local British embassy for immediate logistical support. He calls from the airport and the call is secure because they answer on a secure phone; this is fine (for fiction) except that it won't work if both parties are not on secure phones. Maybe an MI-6/SIS veteran would know that.

Within a mere 45 minutes the embassy produces AND DELIVERS a false passport in an alias name for him containing his photo. It also contains a Bulgarian visa (that will presumably pass muster at immigration) They also provide Bulgarian currency for him. And round trip air tickets. Think about the intricacies of all of that for just a moment. "Mr. Anderson" evidently did not.

What an organization! What a conglomeration of experts parked in one location.

Unrealistic do ya think?