Real life is more scary than fiction     

My rating:  5 out of 5     

This memoir is written by a former undercover agent working for the US, Canada and various European Governments.  He calls himself “Papa”.  His story starts in 1965 when Papa joins the Marines, and goes through to 2012 when he retires.  Imbetween these times Papa has carried out numerous operations – often eliminating people who present a security risk to a government, risking his life (and that of his team) to follow the instructions he has been given.   His operations take place all over the world, from Russia to Italy, from Austria to Rendlesham Forest in England.

The book covers his recruitment, dealing with moles, gunfights and the planning and execution of many assignments that are shocking and frightening in nature.  It also shows the effect that this sort of work has on his home and family life.  Due to the covert and sensitive nature of his work, many of the details are sparse, but enough information is given to make the reader fully understand each operation he describes.

I found this a fascinating, if very disturbing, book.  I would recommend it to everyone, to learn about a world out there that most of us have no idea about.  However the book is describing a team of highly committed and hard hitting people who carry out assignments without question.  Much of the action described is more scary than any fictional thriller, and may cause you to question that creak you hear downstairs in the dead of night!