In Secret Service: A Novel

This could have been a good book since the writing was okay and the plot idea was interesting but, once it started giving detailed physiological descriptions of female anatomy to describe why this one woman was so sexually agreeable, I had to stop. Also, the main girl was being pursued by a killer or two but she would stop and think sometimes about who should be her maid of honor and where she would get her wedding invitations. Whatev!

In Secret Service was interesting because it took a lot of Ian Fleming information from his James Bond books, which I absolutely love, simply because I am a HUGE James Bond person.
This specific book however has to do with a modern day Academic woman named Amy, who studies historic works, who has to unexpectedly go to Ireland because of a death in her family. Her inheritance is none other than an unpublished, original, Ian Fleming manuscript. As soon as she get her inheritance, unbeknownst to her, evil forces are at work. She dives further into the novel and realizes that a major historical mystery could potentially be uncovered and change history forever.
Like I stated earlier in my review, I found this book completely riveting because I love an action-mystery book, oh and maybe if I told you that Amy has a fiance! His name is Scott and their romance is also totally in this book just for the lovely added spark of romance that goes with every Ian Fleming novel. So, in case you still didn't get it, I definitely would recommend this book!

Just started this book on cd. Very interesting; WWII spies, Princess Diana, the Book of Kells all in a bundle! Just finished listening to this. I listened as I drove, as I ironed, as I cooked, as I nearly fell asleep. This was a lighthearted and fun book filled with characters and spanning 8 decades. There were so many twists and turns and the escapades of the "heroine" were as iimprobable as those of Indiana Jones! All in all, a light, fun read even though the main character was not well developed. For a 40 year old Ph.D. she was pretty naive, immature and underdevloped. However, the stories (fact and fiction) built around the real historical characters (Anthony Blunt, W.S.C., Ian Fleming, Prince Phillip, et. al.) were interesting and stirred speculation. Fun for WWII historical fiction fans, spy fans, Anglophiles, and silly yarn addicts. The female reader seemed more "valley girl" in her delivery but the male reader did a good job.

I picked up this novel because of the interesting title, then chose to read it because the tease turned out to be more of a road sign that this is, indeed, a James Bond related story. And a smart one at that, too.

Seems that Bond's creator, Mr. Fleming, was an undercover operative - a spy - himself during WW II, collecting material for Bond's adventures first hand. And, what he uncovered was pretty darned spicy stuff, involving all the major players in the war, from the King of England and the U. S. president, to Hitler and his henchmen.

The story is passed along posthumously to an associates granddaughter, who finds herself the target of several spies in her own turn. The chase is well described, while she gradually discovers why she is in moral danger.

A highly recommended first novel by a new talent. Enjoy!

Mitch Silver had a clever idea for a novel. His premise-- real life creator of James Bond, Ian Fleming, discovers a secret left over from World War II-- this secret is so volatile that a number of people are set to prevent from being exposed.

This novel has a bit of a split personality as the author flips back and forth between the modern day holder of the document and Mr. Fleming's memoir. Silver reveals some really neat tradecraft and spycraft (in regards to a caper in a bank safety deposit vault) but beyond that... the novel is unexciting and boring... The secret itself it quite interesting speculation on the author's part-- but his author notes show that he has researched his subject well.

A great idea.. some clever moments.. but otherwise a very mediocre novel.

This is a quite well-written suspense tale. Nicely paced. I especially liked Amy, the main character. She is very intelligent and becomes stronger and more resourceful as the story unfolds. I am very much a girly girl myself and Amy's experiences would have caused me to just fall to pieces! You will be kept wondering what is fiction and what is historical fact. XOXOXOs to the author, Mitch Silver, for creating this enjoyable story:)

The writing lacks the polish of a gifted author and the story strains credulity, but I could easily see it as a big-budget actioner on screen.

The Duke of Windsor gives aid to Hitler & a young Ian Fleming finds out all the sordid details & intrusts his info to a bewildered Yale professor. Many people die. An adventure, to say the least.

When contacted to retrieve the contents of her late grandfather’s safety deposit box, history professor Amy Greenberg finds that her inheritance is an unpublished, long-hidden account of spying during the Second World War. And, to her astonishment, she discovers the author is none other than James Bond creator Ian Fleming.

Although Fleming had believed no one would read the manuscript before everyone included in the story was dead, the early closing of Ireland’s Ansbacher Bank brought the manuscript to light some ten years earlier than Fleming had planned.

And, as soon as the manuscript was in her possession, Amy became a target for killers determined to keep the contents of the manuscript from seeing the light of day.

A captivating premise, weaving both fact and fiction into a mesmerizing tale, this quick read unfolds in chapters alternating between present and past. Although some events are more plausible than others, the story carefully weaves together politics, elite society, and the shadowy world of spies with the author’s meticulous research being a highlight of the narrative. However, character development is minimal and readers may find it hard to connect with the heroine.

Despite a few plot points that seem to drift away without resolution, intrigue remains in the telling of the tale. Readers will find a tenuous connection late in the story comes off as a transparent, unnecessary ploy; nevertheless, this spy-filled tale is a delightful romp guaranteed to keep the pages turning.

Recommended.

Another audio book for the loooong drive home through OK, AR, MO, IL and finally MI! An intriguing concept (Ian Fleming writing about the Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson courting the Nazis during WW2 and a present day connection) kept us captivated during our trip.
There were a few things that we felt didn't make sense - ie - the man on the plane who died from a peanut allergy and was wearing an allergy bracelet saying so - but he ate the green beans with the "peanut looking nuts" in them anyway. Huh? All in all though - it was an exciting car ride audio book!

I wanted to really like this novel, and I was planning for a page turner. The premise intrigued me to pick it up off the library shelf, but I could never quite get into the story. The main character would have been stronger if she was more developed. That she was so naive about those trying to harm her and steal the manuscript, yet she managed to escape trained special ops personnel didn't seem plausible. Still, the plot made me want to read more about the British royals and Ian Fleming during WWII.

Too many spies

Ian Fleming writes a long letter to an Amy Greenberg setting off a series of mysterious encounters, attempts at murder, stolen letters involving the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Churchill, Elizabeth II, Anthony Blunt art historian and spy, Hitler, among others. Why Amy? Why Ian Fleming. These are only the people who really lived. Then there are the fictional characters. Too many. No humor, no wit. It just tired me, but I'm sure Mitch Silver will come up with better mysteries. I will not give up on him yet.

This book is somewhat an homage to Ian Fleming, so I should have expected it not to be moral. However, it wasn't terribly explicit either. It was good enough, and interesting enough, that I would have given it a 4 if it had been cleaner.
That said, this is a great spy/thriller/historical novel, with real people, and it seems well-researched. It left me wondering, "How much of this could be true?"

Not a bad debut. While the parts that take place in the 30's and 40's were interesting, in parts they dragged on a little too much for me. The pursuit of Amy seemed a little juvenile in the beginning but once she gets towards home the story really takes off in an enjoyable read.

A meandering story within a story. The background story builds on a rather salacious theory about Wallis Simpson that doesn’t seem to have any bearing on the story.

Not much to tell here. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen and came away disappointed.

Interesting and entertaining read. I thought it was more history of Ian Fleming at first. Then thought it was more fiction at the end. Suspenseful and a quick read.

This book was an easy read and held my interest which is strange because I just can’t tell you what the major story line even was.

Interesting concept of a non-fiction manuscript by Fleming left for 50 years in a bank box. The facts in the manuscript are some that many would like to see buried forever.

It was a little hard to follow the manuscript. It lacked a logical flow, so when story went into the manuscript it disrupted the flow of the rest of the book.

An excellent spy thriller. Combines fiction with real people and events.

This book is a bit dry and it meanders too much. Two mysteries is one book does not work here.

Slow like a lazy river. No action. I quit 1/2 way through. i found myself skimming the pages and I could skip 2 pages and still not miss anything.

Okay book. Easy to read and exciting at times. But, drags along a lot. The main character isn't likable at all.

Exelent work ! ....no wonder we have a Comintern al over the western world and making political
upheaval everywhere!
I hope you will have some new works ready!
Thanks Laszlo

Mitch Silver’s In Secret Service is, despite some flaws, a clever and fun book.

Amy Greenberg, an art history professor at Yale, learns she has inherited a safety deposit box in Ireland from her late grandfather. Inside, she finds an unpublished memoir by Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond. The memoir reveals potentially explosive secrets about intrigue and treason in Britain at the highest levels. In his cover letter, Fleming tells Amy he knew her grandfather in the War, and wanted to pass on this information to her after everyone involved has died, so that Amy will not suffer any repercussions.

Unfortunately, this does not work out quite as Fleming has planned; various dangerous parties are still after the manuscript, and Amy must go on the run even as she works through Fleming’s writings, learning all the secrets he has to tell.

The story moves back and forth between the past and the present, as we read Fleming’s manuscript along with Amy, and then see Amy attempting to elude her various pursuers and escape with her life.

In Secret Service deftly weaves together fact and fiction, drawing the abdication of Edward VIII and his courtship of and subsequent marriage to Wallis Simpson; that couple’s sympathy for Nazi Germany; Anthony Blunt’s involvement in MI-5 and secret confession to being part of the Cambridge spy ring; Fleming’s own work with British intelligence; and even the mysterious death of Diana, Princess of Wales all together in one giant (fictional) conspiracy. In doing so, the book recreates the intertwined worlds of British intelligence, politics, and high-society, peopled by not only Edward and Wallis, Blunt, and Fleming, but also the future Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth, FDR and his council of New York advisors, and of course, Winston Churchill, with his outsized influence on twentieth-century British politics.

This is a gleeful romp through history, and In Secret Service pieces together some plausible, if wildly speculative, connections. Unfortunately, the present-day portions of the story are less well-crafted. Amy displays little personality, and it is hard to become emotionally invested in her as a character. Her involvement in the plot, due to Fleming’s acquaintance with her grandfather, is a somewhat implausible plot device, though acceptable for this kind of conspiracy thriller. What is not acceptable is

Moreover, the plot, both in its past and the present iterations, is a bit thin. For all its wild connections, the conspiracy Fleming reveals is largely meaningless, and is constructed in such a way that there are no real surprises. Fleming’s memoir also spends a great deal of time on various characters and plot points that later seem to go nowhere, so that what is important to the conspiracy and what isn’t becomes muddled. That can feel a bit like filler material. More maddening, it is never quite clear who is behind the present day plot, and the reasons Amy is being pursued by various parties are either never fully explained or explained with fairly laughable motives. Sadly, this takes away from a true sense of menace or danger as Amy is on the run. The plot builds to a standard confrontational climax, but the full plot is finally resolved largely outside the world of the book, through secondary characters in a kind of deus ex machina that tries to tie up loose ends while still never fully explaining why this conspiracy was so dangerous. Ultimately, the ending falls a bit flat.

One final complaint: the book describes some real-world locations using the present rather than the past tense that is standard for fiction. This can be an acceptable technique, except for the fact that the book portrays the action in the past tense, switching back and forth when describing settings and action. Thus the book has passages such as this: “There’s an ornate stairway on the west side of the station that leads up to a couple of restaurants on the mezzanine level…Amy darted behind the [security guard]… and took off along the corridor…” That repeated shift from present to past tense feels like the author intruding into his own story to say, “Hey, look, I’m describing a real place here! Now back to the story.” For me, that came off as clumsy and distracting.

Nevertheless, despite these flaws, In Secret Service is a fast and fun read, and by virtue of its meticulous research into twentieth-century British intelligence and politics, much more intelligent than the average thriller. For anyone interested in that world, this book is not a bad way to spend a day off.

3/31/30
review/notes of "In Secret Service" by Mitch Silver, 2007

This book is a fictional history story wrapped inside a contemporary narrative related by the main character, "Amy". The fictional history is a "withheld" Ian Fleming story detailing issues surrounding Prince Edward, the Duke of Windsor, who was set to become the King of England at the outset of WW2. Amy is a contemporary character who inherits the Ian Fleming narrative from a bank lockbox.

The historical narrative primarily dealt with the support of Adolph Hitler and the Nazi's by Edward, his scheduled meeting with Rodolph Hess, and a one page torn letter in which Edward promised support for Germany in becoming King and controlling the English should operation Sea Lion succeed. The two halves of the letter were held by the Nazi's, by Edward, with copies being sent (by subterfuge) to Russia (Stalin).
A significant detailing of Wallis Simpson's (fictional) history is detailed, both prior to Edward, and after WW2. In fact, the manipulation of Wallis Simpson, and thus the control of Edward, was detailed as a manipulation by Winston Churchill and company. While fictional, it did make for a very good tale, which would rival any of the Jimbo (James Bond) stories.

The desire to have the actual copy of this letter (both halves intact and original), leads to the external contemporary story line of highly trained covert agents of England and other foreign powers attampting to steal it by any means possible from Amy. I felt that this story line included agents that were just too over the top good, too many on the edge of reality escapes by Amy, and too much public shootout with too little police or homeland security reaction.

At the end of the book, Amy's fiance is revealed to have had a family lineage related to Anthony Blunt, one of the pro-Nazi conspirators who had possession of the letter at one time. This little twist was a piece that I felt didn't need to be there. It was like adding chocolate sprinkles to a layeer chocolate topping.

I felt that the fictional narrative attributed to Ian Fleming probably rated 4 stars, while the Dan Brownesque chase scenes with gunfire and stabbings, and a little too much over the top desire by the IRA and British secret service to grab and use the historical narrative and letter (the IRA) or to destroy the evidence (the British), brought the overall effect down to 3 stars.

As I got into this book, I realized I must have previously read it. Several of the details of the Hesse flight to England stuck out, and I found myself relating to some of the research I had done previously on the first reading, but found that in my mind the fictional story had stuck better than actual historical accounts.