Customer Reviews

Official Assassin: Winston Churchill's Sas Hit Team

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I found this book - a few interesting bits heavily padded with material intended to provide color but which failed to engage my interest - to be the literary equivalent of a hamburger sandwich that is long of bun and short of beef.

Having had the opportunity to serve in a number of U.S. Army and Air Force Special Operations Forces(SOF) units during my dual-service career--and therefore having some sensitivity to security concerns in this field--I approach with skepticism anyone making such flashy "I had a license to kill" claims. Beyond the outright wannabes, there is another group that has learned enough of the SOF lingo and lore to give their tales a seeming touch of reality when delivered to those who have never served in the clannish & closed Special Operations community. And as an author myself of three non-fiction SOF books, I find it unsettling when an author claims "writer's license" (Foreword, p. vii) with such apparent ease in writing what he himself admits is a composite picture of his adventures. Who can know what anecdotes actually happened? For all I know Peter Mason is everything he claims and more. But unfortunately what comes across in this book is someone needing to make some money after his military pension was "impounded" as the author reports.

While I don't doubt the author's credentials as a special forces operator and small arms expert, it seems to me that he has taken too many fictional liberties in an attempt to make the book more readable. In the book he tells one (not quite believeable) story of how he killed the nazi war criminal Ortgies, while on the tv documentary about his exploits a completely different version is told. This could have been a major exposé in the tradition of "Spycatcher" and "By Way of Deception", but unfortunately the book is written like a cheap spy novel. However, if the author had found a good ghost writer, I'm sure the book would have been an international bestseller like the two above mentioned books.

Whatever you think of Pete's literary skills, he is the genuine article. While I haven't seen him for some time, last I heard he was located in Canada and produces some truly outstanding military leather gear such as shoulder holsters that guarantee that your pistol will be where you placed it before jumping out of a perfectly good airplane and dropping your harness. Pete and his wife both have led exciting lives that would be considered "thrill packed" by those who acquire their excitement by reading the literary efforts of those who have been there.

Much of the mists surrounding reality that are perceived when you read his book, "Official Assassin" were a deliberate attempt to clear the censors and avoid tramping on the relatively delicate rules of revealing military secrets of the times and places - don't forget he was operating for no less a Prime Minister than Winston Churchill. Winston had been out of power since 1955, but the tentacles of the British Intelligence had a very long reach...

Believe what you want, but Peter Mason not only talked the talk, but most assuredly walked the walk in a day and time now long gone.

My hat is off to Peter and his service when it was sorely needed.

As a former soldier from the British army who had a lot to do with the S A S between 1980 and 1993 , as well as studying military history , I have to say that at least 75% of the information would poserble be correct ,
A sargent peter mason served with the paras , transfeared to the S A S and belonged to the S I S hunter killer teams that tracked doen the germans who killed S A S and S O E operatives that were captured in operations during the secound world war ,
He was promoted to officer rank and worked for both M I 5 and our M I 6 conducting Intelligence operations in Europe .
accourding to my friends still serving in our security Intelligence services the large part of the book, 75% could very well be true ,
I suspect that if I was to go and ask a certain friend who has access to all ex S A S operatives who have ever served in the S A S over the years , he would be able to give me chapter and verse on this gentleman , I like to keep my friends as friends

I would say that this book is a good insight to the covert world of special forces activitys , and poserble the closes a none member of the regiment would get to the information ,
I look forward to reading his next book called official assassin 2 when it's released as well as viewing the film that is ear marked for production .
Ex Soldier of the British army