Customer Reviews

The Secret Service (Linford Mystery Library)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The story starts with the revelation that a US Marine officer was killed by one of his own men in Iraq. From Iraq and al-Qaeda, the story moves to the GDR and South Africa. I dont want to go on and spoil it for any potential readers so all I will say is that this is an excellent book, definitely Mcgregor's best so far. It was difficult to imagine it improving on the "Secret Policeman", but this has. Mcgregor's dialogue and prose have rhythm and flow, and has even more of a "you don't realise you're reading" quality than even before. The sentences really, really gel. Jackson has matured as well, and in this novel we see a lot more of him than before as he takes the centre stage. There's also a cameo appearance from Forrester, but I wont give that away!

The book is about a team of Special Branch and CIA operatives that are looking for a traitor from the Cold War who has allied himself to Bin Laden's al-quaeda. The story is very good and kept enough surprises and turns in the plot to keep you guessing till the end. The writing and storytelling are so superior to other authors when weaving a tale of espionage, cat and mouse escapades, murder and mayhem, that I didn't want to put it down. Since it's told by McGregor the players are experienced both at subterfuge as well as mind games with the common thread being the villainy behind Operation Condor. It gets very tense when Hassoun and Jackson become pitted against each other: two very dangerous men who would do anything to achieve their conflicting goals. It's great storyline that builds to an awesome climax.

The Secret Service is quite simply, the best action thriller I have ever read. MacGregor is a true master of suspense and action, and grips the reader right from the very first page, where two Special Branch men sit watching a suburban house. What follows is a gripping tale of drama, political relations and the love of a man for his family. The atmosphere is great, and the action as real as it gets. The story concludes with an unpredictable, knife edge climax, everything you'd expect from a deadly field agent like Jackson. Two words for this book - READ IT!

The Secret Service is an outstanding sequel. This book is an excellent novel, with a believable plot, characters with depth, and a very quick pace, skipping from one location to the next. Unlike so many books I have read, I couldn't foresee the ending. A great read, exciting and realistic.

For anyone who enjoys fast action thrillers, political intrigue set in our modern world, with a touch of Cold War history thrown in, then you should buy this book. The author has an easy-going style which is instantly readable, and never slow.

Original, fast-paced, thrilling, reminded me of James Bond ala Ian Fleming (not the movies). A gripping, must-read.

Very good. I preferred The Secret Policeman, but this was well up to standard. One of the reasons I loved this book was the pure audacity of linking the Stasi to Al-Qaeda. But it's done in such a clever, believable way, that it can't but make you wonder, because it all rung true. There's a nice juxtaposition of the old, cold war world, and the new war on terror with Jackson and his former employers as the bridge between the two. For all that I liked about it, I would also say that I thought it was a bit too short, and could have benefited from additional chapters. The pace, however, was breakneck, and this made it go by all too quickly. I enjoyed seeing Jackson back in the sun in the last few chapters. As a portrait of a retired spy, he is excellent, and I wonder if Mr. McGregor has any plans to look at the adventures Jackson had when he was in the secret service.

Although it might be a cliché to say that a book is a page turner these days, when I put this book down for any time at all I found myself questioning the motives of every character. I couldn't wait to see what happened next and before I knew it, I had finished the novella in one day. The story is well-crafted, the theme interesting, and the action gripping. It has everything you could look for in a thriller, and a literary style all its own into the bargain. The plot is complex and brilliantly handled, weaving together what at first seem like unrelated events, the murder of an American army colonel, the disappearance of a former KGB man, and the death of a secret policeman and his family in a car accident. A fantastic read, completely different to The Secret Policeman, and even better. Thrilling page-turner.