Night of The Assassin

Secret Mission #16: “Night of The Assassin” by Don Smith. Phil Sherman, now an agent of the CIA, is sent to Albania to check on rumors that the Chinese have nuclear warheads on rockets based there. The information seems planted, and no one truly believes in the nuclear situation. But the report had hidden meanings, and in the end it isn’t nuclear warheads that are the problems, it’s an assassination that could throw the world into a nuclear war. This was another good story. The author knows world history, and the Cold War set up that he writes about. A fun story.

Death Stalk In Spain

Secret Mission #14: “Death Stalk In Spain” by Don Smith. Phil Sherman, now a private detective, with his Paris machine equipment company as a cover, is attached to the CIA. In this latest case, he’s working for a Navy captain in Intelligence. A lieutenant pilot of a new submersible has killed his partner and disappeared with the little submarine. In Spain he discovers that the lieutenant may have discovered the sunken ship with ten tons of gold the Nazis were responsible for. It’s what the lieutenant wants, and standing between him and the NAZI commander that sunk the ship is a beautiful girl who may be playing everyone for a fool, including Sherman. This was another pretty good yarn, though the author has got to run out of NAZIs soon. Lots of fun.

Secret Mission Angola

Secret Mission #9: “Angola” by Don Smith. His CIA contact asks Phil Sherman to try and find a black rebel leader in Africa and promise him money and support to back his fight for control of Angola. The only one who may know his whereabouts is an ex prisoner now living in Lisbon, so Sherman starts there. The first half of the book takes place in Lisbon, as Sherman is framed for murder and must hide out from both the police and those men who set him up. Here he meets two women, Meia Gomes and Carlotta, who provide the romantic interest while he’s trying to stay alive. When he leaves Lisbon for Angola in the second half of the book, Meia goes with him, but is kidnapped by the opposition when they arrive. Now Sherman must seek the aid of Manuel Arrabida, the rebel leader to help him get her back. He recruits the help of an ex Green Beret training the rebels at an old Fort. Finally reaching the rebel camp he speaks with Arrabida and is introduced to the rebel’s beautiful sister, Senguela, a vicious jungle fighter. She takes Sherman under her wings to protect him, and the rest of the story revolves around her instead of Meia. I do believe Phil Sherman is better with women than James Bond. Although the first half of the book is very busy, the story really takes off when we move into Angola. Most stories are well written, and the author is well versed in world politics and geography, some of the stories do come across as a bit better than others. This is one of them, and was a fun read. Sherman is merely a CIA asset, not an agent, but willingly takes on dangerous assignments that could result in his death.

Secret Mission Cairo

Secret Mission #7: “Cairo” by Don Smith. Phil Sherman is having a drop in business, and ready to sign up with the CIA when Ross McCullough calls. But Phil doesn’t want to be tied down to the CIA, just continue to work assignments for them – at higher pay. Well, Ross has a job ready for him. Someone has stolen an atomic bomb from the French. It was so easy I’m surprised no one has thought of this before. An ex French AF pilot knows all the routine at the nearby French AF Base. He and two other men set up at night along the runway waiting for a plane to land, and when it does they use flashlights to stop it halfway down the runway, warning the pilot of an accident ahead. Naturally, the pilot doesn’t contact the control tower to find out what’s going on (or ask why he was allowed to land on a runway where an accident was, and before he knows it he’s dead and the men drop the bomb off the plane on a dolly of sorts and rush it off base before security can catch them. A helicopter is waiting in the forest, and two of the men are murdered by the third after the bomb is loaded on the chopper, and the last man flies the bomb away under the radar. Now it’s headed by ship to Egypt, where it will be used against Israel. Somehow Sherman must either retrieve the bomb, or bring back the trigger, leaving Egypt with a dud bomb. Even with the ease in which they steal the atomic bomb, this was a good story. But please, don’t anyone get the idea that atomic bombs are this easy to steal.

Secret Mission: Istanbul

Secret Mission #5: “Istanbul” by Don Smith. Bill McKay, from the American State Department in Paris, contacts Phil Sherman requesting he drops what he’s doing and make a trip to Istanbul. There he is to be met by someone who will introduce him to a Russian agent wishing to defect to the US. He meets CIA agent David Conway in Istanbul and taken the Russian, but there is a catch. The Russian wants Sherman to bring his wife out for him. Against his better judgment, he agrees to carry a message to Tania, telling her agents will meet her with a boat. But Russian agents have her room bugged, and kill her contacts and she is arrested. Now Sherman feels obliged to help her escape and carry her back to Istanbul himself. There are a lot of twists, and Tania isn’t what she appears. This is another pretty good story featuring the occasional CIA operative, who only does favors for the agency. Why anyone would put their life at risk for an agency that would let them rot in jail, or be tortured, is anyone’s guess. However, Phil Sherman usually goes into every case knowing the worst could happen to him. The author is a good writer, but I was in Turkey around this period, and nothing sounded like the Turkey I was familiar with. A fun read, however.

Secret Mission: Morocco

Secret Mission #4: “Morocco” by Don Smith. The author must have read Ian Fleming’s GOLDFINGER, or saw that movie, as this has a similar plot, but takes place in Morocco. Phil Sherman is rear-ended by a beautiful blond following his car. It turns out she’s a US Treasury agent on the trail of Berno Steigender, a European banker with gold fever. He is replacing gold with gold-platted lead in European banks, and hoarding the real gold. He wants to increase gold value many fold. Gail Bancroft wants Sherman to help her find out how – and where – the banker is pulling of his exchanges. He refuses, but then Gail is found murdered, and this sets Sherman on the trail of (I started to say Goldfinger) Berno Steigender. A good men’s action novel, and it kills a few hours. Lots of interesting characters, as usual.