Product Description
A new Quick Read title from the author of Bravo Two Zero.

Afghanistan, 2009. A Rifle section is halfway through their six-month tour of duty in Helmand Province. Sixteen men from their Battalion have already been killed. Forty-seven others have been wounded and flown back home.

The last three months have been tough and it shows. Their kit is in a bad way. They are in a bad way. Young men with tans, scruffy beards, peeling noses and lips burnt raw by the Afghan sun. Despite the hardships they are enjoying their time out here learning how to fight the Taliban. The lads are on their way to becoming the best soldiers in the Army.

Last Night Another Soldier... is the story of four of the young men in this Rifle section, partly told from the point of view of eighteen-year-old squaddie, David 'Briggsy' Briggs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Very Good
A very good read. No Hollywood heroes, just soldiers doing what they do best, looking out for one another and trying to survive.If you are an Andy McNab fan this book will not disappoint. ... Read more

Product Description
The breathtaking new Nick Stone thriller from the bestselling author of Bravo Two Zero.


Three tons of Saddam Hussein's gold sit in an unguarded warehouse in Dubai. For two of Nick Stone's closest ex-SAS comrades, it was to have been the perfect, victimless crime. But when they're double-crossed and the robbery goes devastatingly wrong, only Stone can identify his friends' killer and track him down.

As one harrowing piece of the complex and sinister jigsaw slots into another, Stone's quest for vengeance becomes a journey to the heart of a chilling conspiracy.

Ticking like a time-bomb, brimming with terror and threat, Andy McNab's latest Nick Stone adventure is a high-voltage story of corruption, cover-up and blistering suspense — the master thriller writer at his electrifying, unputdownable best.


From the Trade Paperback edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent Read
If you are a Nick Stone fan, you will enjoy this book.

Andy McNab has changed the circumstances of Nick Stone, who is normally a clandestine operator forced to work in difficult situations alone.When the book first starts, it appears to be a familiar story, with Nick getting the short end of the stick, however this is not the case. ... Read more

Product Description
Danny Watts’ grandfather, Fergus, was a Deniable Operator in theSAS before he was betrayed, imprisoned, and falsely denouncedas a traitor. Now Fergus has escaped, but the real traitor is determinedto silence Fergus and Danny for good. Together Dannyand Fergus are forced to go on the run in an against-the-oddsbattle for survival. As they try to clear Fergus’ name, Danny learnsall the military field craft, trade skills, and covert operations techniquesthat are second nature to his grandfather. When Fergusis recaptured, Danny must put those skills to the test and rescueFergus before it’s too late. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

worth reading
great book. kept me reading the whole time. but is there going to be a sequal?

Suspenseful novel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
An excellent story with a page-turning suspense. Couldn't help but read it in one sitting. Can't wait to read the rest of the series!

Geographical restrictions on buying this kindle book? In New York???
Ridiculous. I dowloaded Kindle for iPhone, downloaded my first teaser, decided to buy it. Can't! OK, maybe the server is down for a bit? Understandable. But no! Can't buy it for three days. Then I try by computer. Can't buy it because of geographical restrictions!! Ridiculous. Take this book off your site, Amazon, or fix it. This is ridiculous. What a letdown!!

A book you will WANT to read
I picked this book up at my school library, hoping that i'd like it. Better than that, I loved it! Filled with action, and suspense, Traitor by Andy McNab and Robert Rigby was by far one of my favorite books of the year!

A great book to read
Do you like heart-stopping plot twisting books that are changing all the time?If you have answered yes then Traitor by Andy Mcnab and Robert Rigby might be the book for you.This book is the story of a seventeen-year-old boy named Danny Watts, who is training to be in the army.Danny is kept out of the army because of his grand father, Fergus Watts who is a supposed SAS traitor.Danny is an orphan living at an orphanage called foxcroft where his friend Elena helps him find his grandfather.This story is written from Danny's point of view and from Fergus's.This is probably one of the best non-fiction books that I have read in a long and Andy Mcnab and Robert Rigby's style of writing makes this book even more enjoyable.So if you are between the ages of 10 and 14 and like a good book with an unpredictable ending that is writing very well I highly suggest that you give this book a try. ... Read more

Product Description
A best-selling British writer and the first member of the British Special Forces to break the Forces' code of silence recounts his military career as an elite soldier and secret agent. Reprint. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (55)

Tough homelife for SAS
I had read several books over the last 20 years on the "glory" of being in the SAS, but never realized how often and for how long SAS members are away from home.It's a tough organization to get into and even tougher one to retain your membership.

Inside the Regiment.
Immediate Action by Andy McNab is not so much about missions as it is about men.It tells the story of how McNab became a member of the Regiment and just what it takes to get in.Like Bravo Two Zero, it is the honesty that grips you, as McNab relates everyday events, tragic mishaps and the hilarious antics of men too big, too strong and too smart to be kept inactive or in one place for very long.Missions are recounted with wins and losses, but it is the men in the story that you remember.This is one of those books that stays with you long after you've finished reading it.

It's good
This was a pretty good book for just about anybody.For those who are used to military life (i.e. in the military, a dependent or just friends with one) then you will see a lot you already recognize.For everyone else, this truly shows what the military in any country trains for, how they train for it and how they deal with it.This book stresses that what the public see's on the screen is not so in real life.Good book =)

Tragic disappointment
For those who seek to read an amazing literary account of the remarkable exploits of the British Special Air Service, this is not the book for you.

This book was a colossal disappointment from beginning to end. As one reviewer remarked, there was absolutely nothing within the pages of this book that was even remotely controversial. Furthermore, the writing was abysmal with a grammatic structure which was embarrassingly deplorable and an insightfulness which bordered on drudgery. To me, this book seemed to be a poor mans version of INSIDE DELTA FORCE (by Eric Haney) written with the offensive (and sometimes insulting) language of JARHEAD (by Anthony Swofford) with the worst of both and the best of neither.

Unless you are simply interested in the camradery of military unit service (the spitting, the cussing and the beer guzzling), this book is just a bit better than a waste of time and money. I, for one, considering the rich and illustrious history of the S.A.S. was tragically disappointed - much in the same way as I was disappointed in reading INSIDE DELTA FORCE, but at least the latter was well written and offered some fascinating anecdotes.

Immediate Action
Immediate Action

A close friend of mine recently told me he was SAS. That revalation made me want to find out more of what he was not telling me. When I finished I was speechless - McNab gave a clear picture of what, who and how this group works. ... Read more

Product Description
A series of high-profile suicide bombing has devastated London andstymied British Intelligence. But none of that matters to Danny Wattsand his ex-spy grandfather Fergus, who are living peacefully incognito inSpain—that is, until their cover is blown in a botched assassination attempt.

Suddenly, Danny and Fergus are forced to return to London and into theswirl of current events. Their only hope of clearing the family name is tobreak into Intelligence headquarters and steal the files that prove Ferguswas framed by his commanding officer. But when Fergus takes a bullet inthe leg, it’s up to Danny to do the job alone. Is Danny up to the task? Andwhat is the Watts family’s connection to the bombings?

With a story ripped from today’s headlines, and filled with authentic detailsfrom Andy McNab’s experiences in British Special Ops, Payback continuesthe explosive action that made Traitor a YA action fan favorite. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

amazing as always.
A great book in full Mcnab style.
I have read most of his books but his way of
making quite internal militarystuff mix with
splendid action is amazing as always.

Revenge is Sweet
Danny and Fergus are on the run again! This time they are trying to get Fergus's name cleared from the Secret Intelligent Service. He was framed when he was working with the SAS, and George Fincham wants to kill him now because he doesn't want anybody to know the real story. Danny is Fergus's grandson who helps the old SAS sergeant clear his name. Andy McNab and Robert Rigby made you feel like you were watching what was unraveling in the book. The action and all the moving around in the book keeps you hungry to keep reading.
This book always keeps you on the edge of your seat. Danny and his grandpa are usually one step ahead of the Secret Intelligent spies who are trying to kill them wherever they are. Marcie Deveraux, a woman who works for the Secret Intelligace Service, is constantly changing sides on who she wants to help. She can help Danny and gramps, or she can help the Secret Intelligence Service. She adds a constant twist to the book because she is always shooting at something or someone, so everyone better watch out for her. Fergus and Danny have to worry about her, and they have to worry about teenage suicide bombers that have been popping up everywhere. However, Danny's girlfriend is constantly helping these two escape from danger. What would you do if you were in all of this mass chaos that Danny and Fergus are in? I know I wouldn't know what to do. In addition to all of this intensity, Danny and Fergus were constantly moving around from place to place in this book. They had to travel on foot for most of this story, so Fergus had to think of many great places to hide when the Secret Intelligence Service was on their heels. Fergus camped down in a national forest with Danny after he, Fergus, had been shot in the leg. Fergus hid himself in some pine trees where no one could see him. These two convicts, who are on the run, also broke into highly guarded areas. Danny broke into an army facility that had guards with machine guns and ferocious guard dogs. He did this just to clear his grandfather's name from the Secret Intelligence Service.
This book was well written by the authors to the point where you could not stop reading it because there was always a critical turning point in the story. This book is interesting and keeps you wondering what's going to happen next. This book was a great sequel to Traitor because you are always biting your nails with all of the action happening.
... Read more

Product Description
The final installment of the Watts family adventures is the most action-packed yet!

Once again, Danny Watts and his grandfather Fergus are on the run. But when Dudley, a top MI5 agent, tracks them down for help with a new mission, they finally have the chance to clear their names once and for all.

Danny and Fergus must find the makers of a dangerous new drug called Meltdown and destroy it before it can enter the mainstream, or even worse, fall into the hands of a radical terrorist group. But in order to do this, they must infiltrate the drug production network and once again get behind enemy lines, even fighting alongside their nemesis, Special Agent Deveraux. After all that they have been through, will Danny and Fergus finally be able to stop running?

Filled with all the action, excitement and SAS special operations techniques that have kept this series on the UK bestseller lists, Meltdown completes the Watts saga in grand fashion. ... Read more

Product Description
Operating in the dangerous underworld of the south of France, where al-Queda has embarked on a panicked roundup of funds using the ancient banking system of hawalla, Stone is in at the deep end of a very dirty war. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Still good but....
I have enjoyed the author's previous books but the last 2 books have only been good.His character, Nick Stone, is a rugged, always bloodied, never say die individual.But his character alone cannot carry the story along.I thought him and his crew were fantastic as was the storyline.Then why was it only good?Way, way too many non essential details in describing the action especially the stakeouts.In real life I am sure that is what happens but detailing it as such can bring a book down as was this case.If it wasn't for me enjoying his previous books so much I would have rated it only fair.

Mr.McNabb keep up your great characters and storylines but ease up on the excess details.

Liberation Day is a winner.
I don't know what book the other people who left reviews, were reading, but I loved this book.I like feeling like I am the one doing the waiting, blowing my nose and losing the feeling in my legs.I read all Andy McNab's books and I love all of them.I appreciate his spycraft thinking and I am right along with him, wiping my prints off my coffee cup.It is a real out of body experience and also a nice travelogue.Some of those other reviewers must have been reading while watching TV.This is a book to savor and read every word.

BAD BAD BAD
Thomas Duff and Rory Morty are right on. This is a terrible piece of work. Don't waste your money.

Nope!
This book didn't do it for me. The character of Nick Stone returns in LIBERATION DAY. Used and abused by the British SAS, he is now working for the US administration, and has been manuipulated into doing "one last job" for them, in exchange for US citizenship. Now already, I find this plot very very implausible. What's wrong with keeping his British one, even if he wants to stay in the USA? So, off he goes on his mission to somewhere in north Africa, to kill a terrorist collaborator. It's not bad enough that he is a terrorist, but he is also into sexually abusing small boys, and is stereotyped the fat disgusting arab, while his friend is stereotyped as the greasy arab. By now, I was really not interested in the story to follow. And I should have stopped there. Now we end up in Southern France, where of course, the greasy arab (nicknamed, wait for it, Greaseball) lives in a dirty greasy grubby apartment. By now I really should have stopped. On the up-side, the playful banter between Nick's two arab assistants was very entertaining. While I do appreciate that this book, as with previous Nick Stone novels, stands out because the lead character doesn't employ a huge range of gadgets and does not perform spectacular technologically advanced miracles, the story is thin, the plot weak and predictable, and the characters, except perhaps for the two arab assistants, are underdeveloped.
This was a dull, unexciting and predictable read. It was a linear story, without subplots (except of course for the mandatory unsatisfied girlfriend), and I got the feeling that Andy McNab either didn't feel like writing, or didn't know what to write. Or both. My recommendation: rather read something else.

Great research, cracking plot, but somehow unsatisfying
The plot zips along, the violence is intense (and genuinely stomach-turning), and this book also gains points by being the only novel I've ever read - of many - set in the South of France that appears to have been written by someone who has actually been there for more than a long weekend in a Juan-les-Pins bar. The local colour is spot on, and the evidence McNab gives of having actually researched his locale is impressive. However, I can't say I enjoyed the book, and I think the reason is McNab's writing style. While this may have the authentic feel of a field report from the sort of character Nick Stone is supposed to be (assuming such characters exist), it's leaden and repetitive. I read the book in a sitting on a Sunday afternoon and was carried along by the plot. However, had I tried to read it over several evenings I suspect that I'd never have made it all the way through. With more sensitive (or more brutal) editing this would have been a great book. But it isn't. Kudos, however, for writing a book set in France that doesn't base its descriptions of the country on a combination of the green Michelin guide with a dash of Peter Mayle. ... Read more

Product Description
The incendiary new thriller from the bestselling author of Remote Control and Crisis Four.Helsinki, December 1999, Nick Stone is on the run after 'lifting' one of the heads of what the intelligence services call ROC (Russian Organized Crime). A group of City investors is unhappy wih the way the warlord's activities have manipulated the markets, and they want him taken to St Petersburg for disposal.Back in London, Stone is given the chance to earn enough money never to have to do this sort of work again. Officials believe that Russia has embarked upon a concerted espionage offensive and has stolen some of the West's most sensitive military secrets. When Stone goes back to Finland, however, and from there into the former Soviet republic of Estonia, he finds himself caught between implacable opposing forces -- to whom he is nothing more than a pawn in a much bigger game.Amazon.com Review
In his third outing (following Remote Control and Crisis Four), Nick Stone,Andy McNab's series SAS agent, is off the Firm's regular payroll owing to amajor screwup in his last assignment that left his best friend's familyslaughtered--except for the one child who survived. Little Kelly needsexpensive treatment for the post-traumatic stress that's turned her nearlycatatonic, so Nick takes on a freelance assignment that gets him mixed upwith Russian organized crime--in particular, with an enigmatic mob boss whohas designs on some Finnish cybertechnology. When Nick realizes it's notindustrial espionage that he's involved with but military secrets, he'scaught between warring factions of the Russian Mafia and the Anglo-Americanalliance of intelligence agencies. The Westerners will do anything to keepthe Echelon program out of the hands of Valentin Lebed--the ChechnyanMafioso who makes Nick an offer he can't refuse--and the Maliskia, a gangof rival Russian criminals who want to derail Lebed's plans and take overEchelon themselves.

The action ranges from Helsinki to St. Petersburg to London, the weaponryis fully detailed, and the techniques of infiltration and retrievalcarefully outlined; McNab, a former SAS commando who, according to theauthor's note "is still wanted by a number of terrorist organizations andis therefore forbidden to reveal his face or current location," obviouslyremembers every ache, pain, bruise, and injury he suffered in his life ofderring-do, since they're all completely and graphically described here,too. --Jane Adams ... Read more

Customer Reviews (24)

What's the Point?
Lots of detailed action goes on in this book, but what's the point?The main character, Nick, is the first-person narrator.

His viewpoint, and we must assume that of the author, can only be inferred by what goes on in the story, and how Nick reacts to these things.

Nick has no joy in his life.His daughter Kelly is a traumatized mental patient, but Nick doesn't even seem to "love" her.His thoughts of her are all based on the guilt he feels about her, not on his love for her as his child.

Everything that goes on in this book is faced with the kind of resigned, painful resourcefulness you might expect from a daycare worker resigned to the fact that they've got to work an eight-hour shift with 10 screming kids and no help.

What's the point?Nick's world has no joy, no happiness, no relaxation, no satisfaction.His story is so dreary that although the book is very inventive in its crossing and double-crossing, and fascinating in its clinical descriptions of demolition and death by freezing, I sure wish I had read something that was worth the trouble.

Art and "art" (with a small "a") exists to express a viewpoint or an idea or a feeling or an observation.

The main idea in this book seems to be, Nick's life is hell, and he can't die (or that would be the end of the "series" of books about him).

Personally, I've experienced enough of the art of the depressing.

Firewall in the cold
My only previous read of a McNabb novel was one with the same central character but later in his career and set in the heat of the Congo. This one is in Finland and Estonia and will get no prizes from the Estonian Tourist Board. Their country is grimly portrayed as dirty and corrupt. The story is of a British ex-S.A.S man, officially disgraced so prepared to freelance overseas, no questions asked. Kidnap, murder and demolition are all in his repertoire but underneath, a heart of gold. He needs money to privately treat the traumatised child of a former colleague murdered by the Provos. Full of action, twists, turns and great technical detail on arms and surveillance. The language was cleaner that the other volume I read. Not great but good for an escape from one's normal world.

Pretty decent suspense read
This book was a gift to me and I thought that I wouldn't get into it.I was wrong.A fun yarn with suspense and computer geekdom thrown into the mix.

Perhaps I liked this book more since I'm a geek by trade.Perhaps not.It's well written and a decent story.

Highly Descriptive
This was my 6th book by McNab and I must say I had high expectations for Firewall even before reading other reviews on Amazon.Once again Nick gets involved in a mission that is similar to someone trying to hit the jackpot in the lottery with their last bit of money.Book reads about the same as his other fiction novels with most of the time being spent describing the intricate details of a plot that ends up disasterous. I do like the way McNab explains the way things work, but it gets a bit tedious. The part where he explains how to make a bomb, for example, became overwhelming and boring after 3 pages.On the plus side, it does add to the realism of his novels and lets the reader know that this guy knows his stuff.

this book's storyline is so miserable and pathetic
i just couldn't believe this nick stone would survive another day in the field of action. andy mcnab may have thought that making nick stone such a pathetic character would make the hero of this series look and read more realistic, but in my humble opinion, he's deadly wrong. such anti-hero pathetic character would gradually wring out the reading incentive not too far in the near future. all in all, nick stone seems to become more and more a trademark of constant failure, a die-cast mess-up, a pathetic loser who simply failed in almost of all missions and contracts, and it's a miracle that he could and would survive so long in this specific profession. and i just wonder during reading this book, if not by the design of the author who decides to make nick stone keep on living and survive almost every failed mission, this character should be long buried in a forlon cemetary or, better yet, a john-doe in some foreign soil. mcnab is a good writer but his decision of making nick stone a constant screw-up is simply beyond my comprehesion. this kinda scenario, plot and storyline is getting worse in this 'firewall'. nick stone in this novel is no better than a high school drop-out. i really don't believe that any organization would hire this guy to do anything except a janitorial garbage cleaning job. i was sick to the guts to see how nick stone kept xxxx-up the missions one after another and could still have survived instead of zipped in a body bag. this novel is too pathetic and too hopeless for a veteran thriller reader like me. since 'remote control', mcnab had made the hero(?) nick stone a borderline stupid and cynical clown, a far-cry surprise out of such line of profession. i really don't know why mcnab decided to make his main character a such loser again and again in this series. and my heart goes out for this nick stone character wholeheartedly since i've never read any main character in any other novel looked more pathetic and miserable than this guy. ... Read more

Product Description
The biggest military author introduces real-life voices from the battlefields of Afghanistan.

Spoken from the Front is the story of the Afghan Campaign, told for the first time in the words of the servicemen and women who have been fighting there. With unprecedented access to soldiers of all ranks, as well as pilots, reservists, engineers, medics, Royal Military police, mechanics, cooks and other military personnel, Andy McNab has assembled a portrait of modern conflict like never before.

This is the full experience of British troops on the ground and in the air. The horrors, cruelties, drudgery, excitement and banter of these soldiers' lives combine to form a chronological narrative of all the major events in Helmand during the British Army's time there.

From their action-packed, dramatic, moving and often humorous testimonies in interviews, diaries, letters and emails written to family, friends and loved ones, merges a 360-degree picture of guerrilla warfare up close and extremely personal. It is as close to the real thing as you can get. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

brute force
really enjoyed the read BRUTE FORCEapart from one glarying mistake which had not been picked up before publication
DRIVING THROUGH A DESSERT IN A 4X4 AUDI AUTOMATIC WHICH A COUPLE OF CHAPTERS LATER TURNS INTO A MANUAL GEARBOX?????????????????

Excellent action thriller
Andy McNab has once again managed to write a book that improves on his previous offering. Like every book prior, he has managed to create an action figure who is gritty, tough, professional and ruthlessly efficient but yet is personable and likable. The reader feels just like they should be--a part of the story as the character, not someone reading a book and this makes it a page-turner that comes up once and then down when complete, except for the usual routine that us mortal people have to endure before we can once again get stuck in!

It isn't perfect yet, there is still a little too much military jargon, which as an ex-Army fellow I personally don't mind--but I can understand where it might get difficult to follow for a civilian with no military knowledge. But if you've read and understood his previous offering, this only builds upon Nick Stone's pitiful existence and is completely followable and understandable.

I've rated it a 5 because of the amusement factor it provided. It does what it says on the tin and is fun, addictive and a great story. ... Read more

Product Description
The harrowing 1991 mission of eight men from the British Special Forces is revealed by their leader, as he relates their venture behind Iraqi lines, the deaths of three of their team, and the capture and torture of another four. Reprint. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (160)

An honest look at Special Forces.
Bravo Two Zero by Andy McNab is the book you want to give kids whose antics lead you to believe they're going to end up in jail.McNab has never made any excuses, he joined the military because he was afraid if he didn't he'd end up in jail.I loved the part when he is explaining this to his buddy and the guy points out that they are in Saddam's Jail!The book is not only an excellent window to garner a look at what really goes on during a covert operation; it also gives an honest view of a highly over glamorized profession.As for tradecraft, I thought the part describing group forward movement while under fire was especially well done and its reenactment was the best part of the movie.The story is exciting, terrifying and at the worst times, just too funny.The life of a Special Forces soldier is not for the faint of heart and neither is this book.

Gripping
This is a brilliant book, gripping and very intresting. It gives his point of view of the failed SAS Bravo Two Zero misson in Iraq, during the 1st Gulf War. The book is written very well and keep's you intrested to the end. Ok he may have made some errors in this misson but that doesn't make this book bad, it's still brilliant and as I said it's from his point of view.

I highly recommend this book and it's a must buy.

Not at all what it seems
It's not that it's badly written, it's that it seems to promise the glamour of explosions and such.

Let me summarize this book:

SAS men prepare, fly into Iraq, hunker down, get spotted, run around, shoot some people, get caught, get the snot beat out of them, go home.

It's not their fault, and I'm not speaking about their personal performance in the real world, but there's no part of their mission they accomplished. I kept waiting for the exciting part.

A total pass.

Thorough and Riveting!
Andy McNab's book shows that man's inhumanity toward man continues unchecked.The ill treatment that he and his colleges were shown by the Iraqis proves once again that man is cruel.As a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, I usually don't read books about either of the Iraqi wars, but found this book to be an exception worth making.The author gives the reader plenty of taut action supported by detailed technical information.The reader also comes away with an appreciation of British military slang!

page turner
page turner, do not know what is going to happen next.starts slow, but picks up as soon as he enters iraq. ... Read more

Product Description
A new kind of thriller, gritty, vivid and menacing, with a pace that never lets up.Nick Stone left the Special Air Service in 1988, soon after the shooting of three IRA terrorists in Gibraltar. Now working for British Intelligence on deniable operations, he discovers the seemingly senseless murders of a fellow SAS soldier and his family in Washington, DC. Only a seven-year-old daughter, Kelly, has survived -- and the two of them are immediately on the run from unidentified pursuers. Stone doesn't even know which of them is the target.On his own, Stone stands a chance of escape. But he needs to protect the girl and together they plunge into a dark world of violence and corruption in which friend cannot be told from foe. As events draw to their blazing and unexpected climax, Stone discovers the shocking truth about governments, terrorism and commerce -- and the greed that binds the three together...Remote Control is a new kind of thriller, gritty, vivid and menacing, with a pace that never lets up. Other thriller writers talk the talk. Only McNab has the walk.Amazon.com Review
Don't expect to see Andy McNab's photograph on the cover of his firstthriller, Remote Control--the former British Special Air Serviceagent says both theColombian drug cartel and the Provisional IRA still have contracts out onhim. His two nonfiction books, Bravo Two Zero and Immediate Action, givemore detail about his prolific past.

Remote Control is the fictional story of an SAS agent named NickStone, who is on the case of two Irish terrorists. He follows them acrossthe Atlantic to Washington, D.C., but is suddenly ordered back home on thenext available flight. His old mate Kevin Brown, now with the DrugEnforcement Agency, lives near the airport, so Nick decides to drop in. Hefinds a slaughterhouse: Kev, his wife, and youngest daughter have beenbattered to death, but daughter Kelly has survived in a special hideout.Prying information from the shocked child, Nick links thekillers to either the CIA, the DEA, or his own organization--which meansthat he and Kelly are virtually on their own. As Nick trundles the spunkyyoungster from one seedy motel to another, stuffs her with junk food, andteaches her the rudiments of spy craft, he also begins to piece together apicture of why Kevin and his family were killed. There is a connectionbetween aterrorist bomb scare in Gibraltar in 1988, the Colombian drug cartel, andhigh-level intelligence-agency skullduggery. McNab keeps dropping thoseshiny nuggets of believability along the trail and winds up holding ourattention until the predictable but satisfying end.--Dick Adler ... Read more

Customer Reviews (65)

McNab's earliest fiction is gripping
From the start of the story, it's obvious McNab is not your typical thriller writer.There's an edge, a brusque matter-of-factness that reflects the the author's military service (much of it with British SAS).The attention to operational detail lends a sense of reality that is rare in other genre writing, yet somehow we don't get bogged down in the minutiae.And the action is brutal and visceral, no movie-style stylized fist-fights, instead there are vicious no-holds-barred fights (realistically, what happens when someone is fighting to stay alive) that frequently leave our hero worse for wear.

Even more unusual for this genre, a child features prominently in the plot, and McNab accurately captures the sense of a non-parent adult trying to cope with a young child, except for one plot twist towards the end where the kid is unrealistically competent (you'll know it when you get there).

If you have discovered McNab via his gripping true story in Bravo Two-zero, his writing has the same quality in fiction.Well worth the read, and you'll probably end up with a bunch of later McNab books on your wishlist, like I did.

Better than (insert title here) or your money back!
Recently, I acquired a copy of the Stephen Leather thriller, Hot Blood (A Dan Shepherd Mystery), which had on its front cover a sticker that screamed "Better than Andy McNab or your money back". Leather's ongoing fictional hero, Dan "Spider" Shepherd, is a former member of the SAS now working for an ultra-secret undercover unit of London's Metropolitan Police. Nick Stone, the protagonist making his initial appearance here in McNab's first novel, REMOTE CONTROL, is an ex-SAS trooper now working for MI6. What, do Leather and McNab have a mano-a-mano thing going? (I don't ever remember seeing a Dean Koontz release with the claim, "King writes dross; read my stuff.") When queried by me, Stephen said that his publisher suggested the ploy. But, since I did end up buying REMOTE CONTROL, perhaps the point is to sell more books from both.

Here, Stone is tasked by his SIS controller to follow two hard IRA boyos to Washington, DC, to see what mischief they're up to. Once comfortable in his hotel room, Nick is almost immediately recalled home. But, before catching the next plane back across The Pond, Stone decides to visit old SAS pal Kev, now working for the DEA. Arriving at Kev's suburban home, Nick discovers his buddy bludgeoned to death and his wife and one of two daughters with their throats cut. Stone find's the second daughter, 7-year old Kelly, cowering in a hidey-hole. Realizing that Kelly saw the killers and her life is now in peril, and that he himself may become a suspect in the bloodbath, Stone grabs the girl and runs. Over the remainder of the book, our hero must discover the identity of the murderers, protect Kelly, and get both of them to safety in England where his boss, Simmonds, will certainly sort things out.

For a first novel, REMOTE CONTROL is better than average. McNab's personal tour of duty with the SAS imparts a patina of realism to the actions of his Stone character. Indeed, Nick is a Tough Guy in somewhat the same vein as author Lee Child's ex-Army MP, Jack Reacher. At one point in a desperate, hand-to-hand struggle with a Bad Guy over control of a pistol, Stone must essentially chew the man's face apart. Somehow, I don't see Leather's hero doing anything so messy.

One of the criticism's I've made of the Dan Shepherd series is the fact that Spider's young son Liam is trotted out as a prop in every installment to re-emphasize that widower Shepherd is otherwise a warm, decent, family man whose day job takes him to the world's hard and grotty edges. In REMOTE CONTROL, Kelly also starts out as a prop. But, by the conclusion, she plays an integral, nail-biting, and very satisfying part. I see from plot summaries that Kelly also appears in follow-up volumes of the Nick Stone series, so I've gone ahead and ordered the second out of curiosity to see where McNab takes the character.

The drawbacks to REMOTE CONTROL are that we've seen the scenario before in books and films - adult and child flee a deadly conspiracy hand-in-hand - and, well before the end, the coming betrayal twist becomes all to obvious.

By profession, Stephen Leather is a journalist who's lived all over the world. McNab - a pseudonym ostensibly to protect his identity from vengeful terrorists left over from his bad old SAS days - continues to work with intelligence organizations on both sides of the Atlantic. I suspect, therefore, that Andy's books will be more realistic in the finer points, while Stephen's will show a wider scope of imagination. In any case, both are excellent British authors creating some very entertaining reads.

Hey, Stephen and Andy, why don't you both co-author a thriller in which both Dan and Nick appear? The potential for a friendly, or not so friendly, rivalry between the two heroes is almost too good to pass up.

Not bad for a first time out
Alright, I knew "who dunnit" pretty early on, but it was still a fun read.Mr. McNab for obvious reasons brought a great deal of verismilitude to the story. I'll definitely be picking up more of his fiction.

Great book Andy!
this Book is his best one so far i think, it was very hard for me to put it down and i think it's a very exciting read and andy has a great story once more and the more the book advances you are wondering how the book will end, very good job Andy!

Remote husband
Great setting for a crime - everyone snowbound or snowblind perhaps. The psychologist/sleuth is only a husband bringing his
wife's purse to the hospital. A good read if you enjoy lawyers in trouble ... Read more

Product Description
The best suspense writer to put pen to paper since Alistair MacLean" (Stephen Coonts) follows up the international bestselling Firewall with the most gripping and timely Nick Stone mission yet.

LAST LIGHT

Top-secret operative Nick Stone has just aborted an officially sanctioned assassination attempt at the Houses of Parliament. Once he saw who his intended target was, he instinctively pulled out. Now Stone is in a world of trouble. His bosses have handed him a chilling ultimatum: fly to Panama and finish the job he just botched, or Kelly, the young orphan in his guardianship, will be killed.

Deep in the sweltering jungle of Central America on an assignment that makes little sense to him, Stone quickly finds himself up to his neck in high-stakes action as he closes in on the key players in a lethal conspiracy involving Colombian guerrillas, the U.S. government, and Chinese big business. Only Stone can stop an international crisis and salvage Western interests, but first there is a critically injured friend to rescue, as well as miles of dense rainforest to navigate. In the explosive finale at the Panama Canal, with countless innocent lives hanging in the balance, Stone is forced to make the toughest decision of his life.

Drawing on his experiences as a member of Britain's legendary Special Air Service, world-renowned thriller writer Andy McNab "delivers authenticity in spades" (Publishers Weekly). "McNab's greatest asset," according to London's Sunday Times, "is that the heart of his fiction is not fiction: other thriller writers do their research, but he has actually been there. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

A Nick Stone mission from Andy McNab
Just another in a great series, I love all the Nick Stone books by Andy McNab.The best action/adventure writer around today.

More real action in each chapter than most authors...
... produce in a lifetime.Mr. McNab's SAS training and the degree to which he absorbed it and can recreate that type of thinking on the page combine to make a nearly unparalleled reading experience.His protagonists are far more capable, observant, knowledgeable, experienced, and (his term) switched-on than any I've met in other books.There is simply no comparison between how Nick Stone here sees, thinks, and works, and how your average thriller author imagines it might go.Last Light is so dense with pure thought, planning, detail, and tradecraft that I could hardly point to an outstanding passage.It's all good.That people like Mr. McNab exist and can do what he describes so expertly is astonishing.Thanks so much for putting this on paper, Mr. McNab.And by the way - you and your mates are awesome.Glad you're in our camp.

Having said all that, this book does suffer from plot super-sizing.Just as in Crisis Four, Mr. McNab creates a huge conspiracy within which his agent thrashes around, and which the author simply can't resolve.It's too bad because if he just crafted the story of some mission without global complications it would be a jewel.As it is, Last Light abruptly ends in confused mid-plot.Why can't Nick be on a legit SAS mission instead of having it all forced out of him by the powers that be?

And the backstory of Kelly, which I suppose is there to make Nick more of a person (and to provide plot hooks) soon becomes tiresome.I'm not interested in Nick Stone as a struggling surrogate father - but I'll be reading every page I can find describing him in the field.It's just too good to miss.

An added benny of Mr. McNab's writing is that you get some thoughtful and highly observant commentary on the environments in which his agent moves.Last Light taught me a lot about Panama and the Canal situation.The downside to his books is that you can't face another action novel for a while, because you know that even a good one will be dishwater next to this.

Last Light
This is the first Andy McNab book that I have read.I doubt I will read another.His writing is not very gripping and the ending is simply a set up for the next book.His repetitive use of some descriptive phrases actually detracted from his writing style.For example, I lost count of the number of times he used the phrase "threw it down my neck" to describe eating.The first time was clever.After ten or so, it became irritating.

Nick Stone the Human, not Nick Stone the Soldier
Last Light is the fourth in the series of books written by Andy McNab.The whole series of books is great and this is no exception.Andy McNab obviously decided when writing this book that he needed to give his character some extra depth.In this book we see Nick Stone make some serious human decisions.

After reading this book you come away with a lesson in survival, in a way it teaches you jungle tracking skills and gives you a good insight into how special operations are coordinated.If you're an SAS or any kind of Special Forces enthusiast it's a good read just to get inside the mind of a professional elite soldier.

I enjoyed this book greatly, the plot keeps you guessing, and its never obvious what's going to happen.Am not going to spoil the book am sure if you want to find out what its about you just read the Amazon.com review but if you enjoyed the rest of the Nick Stone series this book is going to make you very happy.

4 Stars

Last Light and maybe a lost series
After reading and enjoying Andy McNab�s first two books, Remote Control and Crisis Four with the continuing Nick Stone character I thought I had found a new series. Both were well written featuring interesting characters and plenty of action along with a complex mystery and plot. Andy McNab is a former Commando in the British SAS so he brings an incredible authenticity to the work. When he describes a gun working a certain way or other key details, you know he did not research it off the Internet or found it in some book; he lived it. But, his last book Firewall was a disappointment especially when compared to the first two. Unfortunately, that trend continues in this recent effort.

As this novel opens, Nick Stone has put himself unknowingly into harm�s way once again. Desperate for money for himself as well as for treating Kelly (his orphan whose entire family was massacred because of his mistake) he has accepted a contract assassination job from The Firm. The target will appear outside the Houses of Parliament in London, England in what seems to be an officially sanctioned hit at the highest levels of the United States and Britain�s governments. Unbeknownst to him, the assassination is one very small part of a much bigger picture that will turn into a trap.

Nick is seconds away from the kill shot when he aborts the attempt for a variety of reasons. Police swarm the area and while he escapes the initial gun battle with police he soon comes under their custody before being transferred to his very unhappy employers. They make their feelings physically known to him before giving him one more chance. The target will be in Panama for the next week. Nick is to go to Panama, surveil the target and complete the assassination, this time without fail. The target must be dead by the last light on Friday evening or they will kill Kelly.

Soon Nick is in Panama and what should have been an action oriented read (despite the nonsense on the back jacket) takes a hard turn into the boredom zone. Along with Columbian guerrillas, United States Government interests, Chinese business interests, politics and the environmental movement become major characters in the work. The action slows to a near halt in the muddy jungles of Panama around the Canal Zone as various characters discuss politics and environmental policy with Nick. Unfortunately, the politics and environmental policy situation are old news for any reader who remotely pays attention to world events and as such, raises the boredom factor substantially. The arguments go on for page after mind numbing page and even after all the discussion and lectures, no solutions are offered to at least to attempt to make the preceding pages have some merit on any level.

That fact along with the fact that the ending is amazingly vague and open ended to create the need for a sequel for all the characters, major and minor, makes this novel the absolute worst of the series to date. While the first two books were good and the third mediocre at best, the fall in this one is amazing. It comes across as the literary equivalent of base-jumping without a parachute. Hopefully, this is as bad as it gets, but Andy McNab is running out of time to save the series from himself. ... Read more

Product Description
The stunning new thriller from the master of the genre.

Nick Stone seems to be living his dream, not a care in the world as he steers his camper van round the surfing and parachuting centres of Australia, a board on the roof, freefall rig behind him, and a beautiful young backpacker at his side. But when he witnesses on TV the massacre of children in a terrorist siege on the other side of the world, long-suppressed memories are triggered and Nick finds himself catapulted once more into working for the American secret services — only this time, of his own free will.

As events unfold in the bleak, medieval villages of Azerbajhan, and the teeming streets of modern Istanbul, it isn’t long before Nick discovers the true objective of the mission on which he has embarked. His talents are being misused by those who stalk the corridors of power, and he is determined to make a stand.

Hurtled at breakneck pace through a deadly landscape of greed, violence and ever-shifting allegiances, the reader will be left in no doubt that McNab is the master of the genre — and Aggressor is McNab at his searing, blockbusting best.


From the Trade Paperback edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

3.5 stars - if you like the rest of the series you'll like this
More adventures from Nick Stone.The reasons to go on missions is getting a little thin, but if you enjoyed the other books you'll like this also. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Average read.... needs too much page skipping
In deep black, we accompany Nick Stone on another one of his adventures. After some preamble that described one of Stone's earlier missions into Bosnia that went wrong, we open in the present, with a highly depressed Stone, talking to a shrink, lamenting the loss of somebody close to him, although it is not immediately apparent who that may be. Stone is then rather implausibly coerced into accompanying a friend of his, Jeral, ostensibly on a journalist mission into Bagdhad, to meet the elusive Bosnian revolutionary Nuhanovic. And so the story kicks off, taking us both to Bagdhad and Sarajevo. Further details would spoil the plot for prospective readers.

I fault this story because it is told entirely through the eyes of one man: Nick Stone. As a writing technique, this style certainly has its place. But not in this story, which quickly became very one-sided and very boring because of the limited perspective. I felt like I had blinkers on, and Nick Stone is certainly not too introspective. In fact, he doesn't seem to weigh up anybody else's opinions except his own, which end up making him seem like a dim-witted thug. Jeral, Nuhanovic.... they all must have had their own thoughts and actions, which would have contributed considerably to the overall picture.

There is certainly some intrigue and manipulation worked into the story: essentially the US government manipulating Nick Stone into doing their dirty work for them. But he figures it all out, and then does the job anyway. I can't imagine somebody really responding like that. The book also moves at an odd pace. Sometimes the interesting bits get condensed into a paragraph, while at other times, a boring trek up a hill in the dark can be expanded into chapters. Hence, I found myself skipping quite a few pages.

There are also some slightly irritating errors. McNab (not his real name) refers to terrorists flying "a 747 into a building". But no Boeing 747 has ever been flown into a building. Since McNab claims in the author notes of his books that he "lectures to security and intelligence agencies in the USA and the UK", one would think that he would be better informed? Perhaps not?

Overall, I would probably recommend something else. Two-and-a-half stars from me. ... Read more

Product Description
Crisis Four hurtles us into the heartstopping world of violence, betrayal and high-octane suspense.Nick Stone, ex-SAS, now a 'K' working for British Intelligence on deniable operations, is tough, resourceful, ruthless, and highly trained -- a master of his trade.Sarah is beautiful -- steel-willed, intelligent, cunning -- the only woman Stone has ever let under his guard. And now he's been sent to hunt her down...As the pair are pursued through the backwoods of the American South, Stone's mission becomes a journey to the heart of a dark and deadly conspiracy -- to which only Sarah holds the key. And as the tension builds to breaking point, the two are led to a confrontation that echoes our worst nightmares.In Crisis Four the master storyteller hurtles us once more into his heartstopping world of violence, betrayal and high-octane suspense. Here indeed is a new kind of thriller, so gritty, vivid and menacing that it's hard to tell where fact ends and fiction begins.Amazon.com Review
Andy McNab's British intelligence agent, Nick Stone, is enough of a rebel to be denied a permanent place on the SAS roster, but he's dragooned into a freelance assignment with an ultimatum from his former employers. He's to find Sarah Greenwood, a missing agent who's thought to have defected from theservice to aid Muslim militants intent on blowing up the world, or go toprison and also lose the only other female he's ever loved besides Sarah: a9-year-old girl whose dead parents, Nick's closest friends, lefther in his care.

Nick manages to locate Sarah without much difficulty, but when he's ordered to kill her, he has a change of heart. The hunter turns into the hunted, as Nick and Sarah flee her hiding place in the North Carolina woods and try to outwit the police, the intelligence services, and a team of assassins directed byOsama bin Laden. As they make their way to Washington to preempt a plan to kill Yasser Arafat and Benjamin Netanyahu, Nick tries to sort out his conflicted feelings about Sarah. Is she part of bin Laden's team, a so-called runner who's a threat to the CIA and the SAS, or is she a loyal operative trying to outwit ahighly placed traitor in the White House? Crisis Four is strong on its depiction of agents in the field; McNab excels at describing every last detail of the hunt, the chase, the kill. One can almost see this former SAS agent replaying scenes from his own past and struggling to get them right:

I raised the arrow in the air again and rammed it down hard. It hit against the bone again, but this time it slid off and lodged deeper into his neck. I felt him stiffen, his muscle tensing up to resist the penetration.The gardening glove gave a good grip as I pushed harder, twisting the arrow shaft tomaximize the damage. I was hoping to cut into his carotid artery orspinal cord, or even find a gap to penetrate his cranium, but instead Iended up severing his windpipe.Now I had to hold him as heasphyxiated, try to stop his body-jerking from getting out of hand andbecoming noisy as I waited for him to die. His movements graduallysubsided to no more than a spasmodic twitching in his legs. The lastreserve of strength he'd found as he saw his life slowly get darker wasnow exhausted. I could see dark blood oozing out of the wound; itfollowed along the shaft of the arrow to my glove and dripped onto thefloor. When I moved my arm away from his mouth he made no sound.

Customer Reviews (38)

Poor writing
Slow, overly detailed passages, crude writing.....this guy should get some lessons from Michael Connelly....I seldon abandon a book to speed reading just to make it through.....this is the worst mystery I've read in years....avoid it, you only have one life to life and it can be spent elswhere much, much better.....he simply insults ones intelligence....I just finished it, went to Amazon and was astonished at its rating.

Andy McNab's Crisis Four
If you are ex-military, as I am, you'll recognize Andy McNab at once, as the real thing.
Each of McNab's "Nick Stone stories," is like taking a how-to course in performing the tasks of a special intelligence agent, as told my an old pro.

In Crisis Four Nick must find missing Agent Sarah Greenwood, who might just have become a liability and embarrassment.Why Nick?Well because he and Sarah had work together before and had somewhere long the way become intimate so, Nick might be able to get into her head.Nick is also not a regular agent, but a former SAS Soldier, hired as a contractor, who can be used to perform work the Agency desperately needs to be done, but must deny any complicity.

Andy McNab takes the reader along with Nick, carefully explaining step by step how a professional works, and more than that, the kind of determination that it takes to be one.This is a high-tension thriller that will have you not only sweating and shivering with Nick, but satisfied that you've glimpsed his esoteric craft.

Slow start
This book doesn't take off like the first Nick Stone story, Remote Control. Compared to that book, this book seems to be moving in slow motion, like a day that just drags on. After the prelude, the "real story" doesn't have any hard action scenes until nearly page 200. The action is then not as gripping as Remote Control, hitting hard only in the final 50 or so pages, and after waiting so long to get to the action, it seems to wrap up too quickly.

Like drinking pure alcohol
As with such a drink, reading this book has two effects.First, with few exceptions, other "action" thrillers suddenly appear miserably inadequate in real secret agent knowledge and fieldcraft.Armchair novelists - even those who are gifted, work hard and do lots of research - just can't know how it's really done.McNab does, from his contemporary SAS training.Any of several episodes from this book will give you more true action than a whole set of novels by the many hack writers around.Reading the hero's approach to the guarded house, and his invasion of it, is an experience to be savored.You could pick up "Crisis Four" for this alone.More, Mr. McNab, please!

But while the pure stuff has a great effect, you badly miss the other elements of a really fine drink.McNab does a decent job of putting together a character, and placing him in a situation.But like so many authors, he can't handle his own plot.Events go increasingly overboard, and the characters and their actions become decreasingly believable, as he struggles to a conclusion.It finally degenerates into superhero antics.

Why do thriller writers seek ever more outrageous plots, with complexities they can't begin to handle?(And why do ex-SAS authors always have to include a gorgeous but deadly MI5 agent of uncertain loyalties?)It seems like paint-by-numbers after a while.Chris Ryan's "Greed" is a similar book, ruined by its ludicrous plot and development.

Having said all this... I will certainly grab the next McNab.

Like drinking pure alcohol
As with such a drink, reading this book has two effects.First, with few exceptions, other "action" thrillers suddenly appear miserably inadequate in real secret agent knowledge and fieldcraft.Armchair novelists - even those who are gifted, work hard and do lots of research - just can't know how it's really done.McNab does, from his contemporary SAS training.Any of several episodes from this book will give you more true action than a whole set of novels by the many hack writers around.Reading the hero's approach to the guarded house, and his invasion of it, is an experience to be savored.You could pick up "Crisis Four" for this alone.More, Mr. McNab, please!

But while the pure stuff has a great effect, you badly miss the other elements of a really fine drink.McNab does a decent job of putting together a character, and placing him in a situation.But like so many authors, he can't handle his own plot.Events go increasingly overboard, and the characters and their actions become decreasingly believable, as he struggles to a conclusion.It finally degenerates into superhero antics.

Why do thriller writers seek ever more outrageous plots, with complexities they can't begin to handle?(And why do ex-SAS authors always have to include a gorgeous but deadly MI5 agent of uncertain loyalties?)It seems like paint-by-numbers after a while.Chris Ryan's "Greed" is a similar book, ruined by its ludicrous plot and development.

Having said all this... I will certainly grab the next McNab. ... Read more