So, from peril in the Underworld I moved on to peril in the UK in the form of 'Soldier, Spy', memoir of former soldier and MI5 surveillance officer Tom Marcus.
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| 'Soldier, Spy' by Tom Marcus (Penguin Books, 2017) |
'Soldier, Spy' is a brutally, no-nonsense memoir. After a necessarily self-sufficient childhood, Marcus joined the Army as soon as he was able, eventually becoming the youngest person selected for Special Operations in Northern Ireland. In this role, the particular skills he'd acquired while growing up on the streets were noted by his superiors and he was recruited to MI5 soon after the 7/7 terrorist attacks in London. He became an able but gradually more and more maverick officer, completing team operations across the country to tackle everything from international spies to home-grown terrorism. It's a dark, dangerous and low profile business, and, eventually, a lifetime on high alert starts to take its toll on Marcus's mental health. But in a world of half-truths and suspicions, how do you tell what's right and what's wrong?
There is a photograph of me reading this book and I look incredibly stressed out. This isn't a surprise as 'Soldier, Spy' pulls no punches. From the first page, the reader is plunged head first into a disorientating, twilight game of cat and mouse. The constant ping-ponging between training, operations and normal life is overwhelming to read about, so must be horrendous to live. Never ending threats seem to come from all angles, meaning Marcus feels that he must be constantly surveilling his surroundings and physically ready for anything. 'Soldier, Spy' describes a way of living and thinking that would wipe out even the most popular on screen spy.
The blurb says that the book has been vetted and cleared for publication by the author's 'former employer'. Consequently, I expected 'Soldier, Spy' to be a bit of a PR / recruitment exercise, painting a softly-softly view of MI5 that was both palatable and supportive of its work. While I doubt we're getting more than the tip of the iceberg, bearing in mind how consistently high octane it is, I think the book's message to both potential recruits and targets seems to be "Come on then, if you think you're hard enough!"
'Soldier, Spy', while not being graphic, is not for the faint hearted. Rather than being the story of a service, it's the story of one man and how he both lost and found as part of one of the most impactful yet anonymous public service organisations in the country. If the aim of the book was to encourage greater respect for MI5 operatives (and suffers of mental health issues), I think it succeeded.
After all that, though, I need to lie down.
Now, what next...
'Soldier, Spy' by Tom Marcus was published in 2017 by Penguin Books. This review is based on the paperback edition.
