Tag archives for Espionage - Page 2
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Book Review – Spies Under Berlin by David Stafford
Spies Beneath Berlin by David Stafford My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a very well put together story of the Berlin spy tunnel, and some of the context that lead up to it being dug. It looks at the contemporary views and also re-evaluates the impact of the tunnel and whether or not it could be considered a success. The tale is an interesting one, because the existence of the tunnel was betrayed to the Soviets before it was even dug. Blake took the minutes of meeting that decided to build it, and told his Soviet handler about it. Despite this the KGB didn't share the information as they wanted to protect Blake as a source, so they couldn't stop the tunnel until there was a reasonable excuse from another source. For two years the British and Americans…
Book Review – Flames in the Field by Rita Kramer
Flames in the Field: Story of Four SOE Agents in Occupied France by Rita Kramer My rating: 3 of 5 stars While this has lots of fascinating information about SOE Operations in France in WW2 it needs a better editor. The nature of the story, primarily of the secret operations in German occupied France in 1943 and the SD penetration of the SOE network, is one of many parallel threads and the uncovering of a mystery. So this makes it hard to just write a linear narrative, and the author has done a pretty good job of writing very readable prose that clearly explains what is going on. However there are a few places where the ordering of the material goes backwards within a few paragraphs and crucial pieces of information are given out of order. The book shows an…
Book Review – Tales of MI7: The Kramski Case by JJ Ward
Tales of Mi7: The Kramski Case by Ward My rating: 4 of 5 stars A modern take on spy thrillers This is the first in a series of modern day spy thrillers with three volumes so far. The author has merged the well known British security & secret services into a single organisation which is known to its operatives and those in the know as MI7. Outwardly the old designations (MI5 & MI6) are still used, this is a neat twist as it allows more scope for story telling. The Kramski Case features an ensemble cast of believable characters that all have their own ways. The premise is that someone has been shooting paparazzi in Russia, the US and now Britain. So the British ask the Russians and Americans to supply someone for a tri-partite investigation. The case is solved…
Imperfect – Scene 02 – Deception
Imperfect Deception Like all good agents, Charlie had a backup plan in case he was arrested. The crux of his plan was that the automatic surveillance needed to see him active over the next few days. He’s got a friend who is the same height and build as him. Sometimes he plays the part of Charlie when Charlie is off doing other things in other places. All of the cell members know him as Charlie Too. We needed to take Charlie’s terminal and some clothes to Charlie Too so that he could hang out in public and interact with the social networks. That way the world would still have Charlie at large, and hopefully the police would think that too. The sooner we got this going the better. Done well, it would give Charlie’s public defender a trail showing that…
Imperfect – Scene 01 – Realisation
Imperfect Realisation I collected what I needed for my trip to see the place that I was born, and having psyched myself up for the trip I left the house. Almost as soon as I did I saw Rosie coming towards me at a very rapid walking pace and with a serious determined look on her face. She was only about ten feet away when I noticed her. "Hi, Rosie!" I cheerily greeted her. "Back inside. Quickly!" she replied, grabbing and spinning me round as she got to me without slowing down. As soon as we were inside Rosie apologised for handling me, "Look, I'm sorry about being rough on you, but it's important that we stick together for a bit. Have you seen Charlie or Cat recently?" "I haven't seen Charlie since yesterday morning, nor Cat since about tea-time yesterday.…