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: Prague

Secret Mission #2: “Secret Mission: Prague” by Don Smith. Phil Sherman, an American electronics and computer salesman based in Paris is contacted by CIA agent, Ross McCullough, and asked to make a secret trip to Prague to see if he can interest suspected gun runners into offering his company a job getting weapons to Negro groups in America for their riots and possible overthrow of the government. We do have a couple black leaders involved, with their headquarters in a Chinese office located in a country chateau. The Chinese is heading the project, with help from European agents, and even some American pilots. There is a lot going on, and Sherman seems more like a private detective than spy, but he does run across some beautiful women to bed. Overall, this is a fun series, with plenty of action to keep the reader’s attention.