Book Review - Soldier Spy by Tom Marcus

 

Tom Marcus was in the army and then was recruited to the army special forces before joining The Secret Service. Soldier Spy by Tom  Marcus - Soldier Spy by Tom Marcus, known to his team as TC, is about Marcus' experiences as an operator with the Security Service. His joining was unusual for these days as he was recruited directly rather than going through the application and interview stages which are more normal now. However, his colleagues had come via this route, and TC always felt different to the rest of his team. He says he feels like an outsider, and his team is somewhat wary of him. You can see why when you read the book, as he is a bit of a live wire, being headstrong and not always listening to orders from above. On one training exercise, TC dislocated the shoulder of one of the trainers. On another occasion, while following a suspect, TC risked compromise by venturing into a target's place of work to access information on where the suspect was going next! You also feel the pressure TC is under, he has a wife and young son, and he has to try and be a family man whilst carrying the burden of a demanding and intense job with long and unsociable hours. The reader sees the effect on TC's mental and physical health.

The beginning of the book was exciting, but I think TC could probably abbreviate much of it and make it much more pleasurable to read. I liked that the editing and proofreading were perfect. I did not find a single error.

I read the second book by Tom Marcus: I spy, My Life in MI5 first, and I found that book flowed much better and was easier to follow. The sections in Soldier, Spy describing an operation with the whole team engaging in surveillance go on for too long and become dull. There is only so much: He turned right into Victoria Crescent. He went straight on into Smith Road. He stopped at the traffic lights. I could stand before wanting to scream! This was no longer an autobiography of Tom Marcus' life. It was now a story as he could not remember all these conversations. Many areas of the book are mostly repeating bits from previous chapters too!

I would rate this 2 out of 5 stars, my reasons being that there are big chunks of the book which are, in my opinion, unnecessary and boring, and Marcus repeats throughout the book. I could not finish the book as if I had read the sentence, " What I did was important, I saved lives, and I was good at it" one more time, the book would have gone through my window! This was a disappointing read, but I see TC has some fiction books published, which I will try.

I would recommend this to an adult audience because of the subjects covered and lots of swearing. It would appeal to people who particularly like autobiographies about the secret service and how the covert agents of MI5 do their jobs. I would not recommend this to anyone of a nervous disposition as you will find yourself suspicious of everyone and everything around you!