The Alex Boyd Spy Thriller Series by Mel Harrison

The Author Mel Harrison is an American author from The Villages in Florida where he presently lives with his wife Irene to whom he has been married to for some considerable time. He spent twenty-eight years working for the US Department of State. Most of his career years were spent working in the Diplomatic Security […]

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The Author

Mel Harrison is an American author from The Villages in Florida where he presently lives with his wife Irene to whom he has been married to for some considerable time. He spent twenty-eight years working for the US Department of State. Most of his career years were spent working in the Diplomatic Security Service, he was assigned to the embassies in Saigon, Quito, Rome, London(twice), Seoul, and Islamabad. While serving at the various embassies he worked as a Regional Security Officer (RSO) a special agent of the US Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) responsible for regional security at that those sites. In acknowledgement of his outstanding achievements in this field of high sensitivity he was awarded the departments Award of Valour and the worldwide RSO of the year award.

Prior to joining the US Foreign Service, he graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in Economics, followed by post graduate work at The American University. The Department of State assigned him to the NATO Defence College in Rome for Political-Military studies. Did Mel enjoy his time working at the various embassies, most definitely! In fact, when you look at his books, they are all based on his experiences at the time of his watch while working in those countries. The stories and characters have been modified somewhat for diplomatic reasons. On all his overseas assignments his wife Irene accompanied him as she followed her own diplomatic career at the embassies albeit working in a slightly different field of diplomatic expertise.

Life after being a special agent for the US State Dept saw Mel working in corporate security or consulting work for ten years, this work very often entailed trips to Latin America and The Middle East, something he equally enjoyed in addition to his world of security and counter-espionage.

Mel has written five books in the Alex Boyd series so far, but for the purpose of this podcast we’re mainly concentrating on his latest book ‘Spies Among Us.’ However, we will give a nod to the other books so that you can get a flavour of what they are about.

Check out our video chat here!

The Books

Spies Among Us (Book Five -the latest novel in the series)

This latest book in the Alex Boyd series set in the UK is another scintillating story line of the spy world with which Alex and his cohort of characters operate within. The depth of detail around the planning and strategy Mel Harrison the author goes into is what you would expect from a very good spymaster writer. There is so much evidence like with all the other books in the series of Mel’s own first-hand experience in this mirky world of counter-espionage. The plot has an air of reality too it, what I liked most about this book was the interactions between the US Embassy, Scotland Yard and British Intelligence Services working together to get to the bottom of an unscrupulous co-worker who’s passing highly classified information from the US government and NATO to a deep undercover Russian spy. The Russians have quite a few tricks up their sleeves which complicates matter for Alex, the CIA and FBI. With more information being leaked to the Russians the urgency to flush out all involved is a matter of huge concern. Alex needs to find out who are the spies among them.

For me the following chapters stood out, but don’t let me influence you in any way. All I say is read the book and see if you agree with me, or not.

Chapter 1: The Rendezvous

Chapter 3: The Offer

Chapter 11: First Impression

Chapter 21: Red Flag

Chapter 33: The Sting

Chapter 36: Another Traitor

Chapter 40: Russian Response

Chapter 44: Life or Death

Characters-Acronyms:

DS-Diplomatic Security

DCM- US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission

RSO- Regional Security Officer

MI5- British Security Services (Domestic)

MI6- British Secret Intelligence Service (Foreign)

SAS- Special Air Service (British special forces elite regiment)

Spetsnaz- Russian Army equivalent to US Army Delta Force Navy SEALs

SVR- Russian Overseas Espionage Service, successor to the KGB

Major American Characters in US and London:

Alex Boyd- Special Agent DS and RSO at US Embassy London

Dennis Hager- Under Secretary of State for Management

Charles Martin- Secretary of State

Jim Riley- Director Diplomatic Security, State Department

Rachel Smith- Political Counsellor, US Embassy, London wife of Alex Boyd

Wakefield Summers- Deputy Secretary of State

Archibald Watson, Assistant Secretary for Europe, State dept.

US Embassy London

Anna Battles- CIA Station Chief

Roger Carpenter- FBI Legal Attaché

Erica Evans- Management Counsellor

Gary Jones- Outgoing RSO

April Scott- Political Officer

Bainbridge Wellington- DCM US Embassy London

United Kingdom

Geoffrey Carver- Assistant Director, MI5

Gerald Davies- Ass’t Comm Metropolitan Police London (aka Scotland Yard)

Hilda Humphries- PhD Professor- Oxford University

Lars Nilsson- Swedish boyfriend of April Scott (Dimitri Vasiliev)

Ray Penner- Commander, Special Branch, Metropolitan Police

Deirdre Plummer- Public Affairs, Metropolitan Police

Sir Nigel Sharpton- Permanent Secretary, Foreign Office

Mark Thompson-Parker- Colonel, 22 SAS

Bill Turpin- Warrant Officer, 22 SAS

Josh Rosen- Inspector, Special Branch Metropolitan Police

Russian Diplomats Washington DC

Andrei Balakin- Senior SVR official, Russian Embassy

Nickolai Petrov- SVR handler of senior American spy for Russia

Ludmilla Petrov- Wife of Nickolai, SVR official, Russian Embassy

Russian Officials, Moscow

Anton Kuznetsov- Director SVR

Illya Sokolov- Deputy Director for Operations SVR

Russian Assasins

Sergei- Sgt in Russian Army, Spetsnaz

Viktor- Sgt in Russian Army, Spetsnaz

Terror in Cairo (Book Four)

Egyptian Islamic Jihad, (EIJ) a vicious terrorist organisation is determined to thwart peace with Israel, attacks an important Middle East Conference in Cairo attempting to stop any chance of a successful conference outcome.

Alex Boyd and his Diplomatic Service colleagues try to stop waves of bloody attacks along with the Egyptian Police. As a special agent with the State Department Diplomatic Security Service, Alex is responsible for the overall protection of the US delegates attending the conference especially the Secretary of State and senior senators. Alex is tasked with identifying the leaders of EIJ and with a team of highly trained US Navy SEALs he heads off for the harsh desserts of Libya to terminate them.

Moving Target (Book Three)

Alex Boyd, restless at a desk jo in Washington DC, hates bureaucracy and misses the excitement of an overseas assignment. When unexpected opportunities arise, he and his new wife Rachel Smith jump at the chance to work in Paris. But nothing goes as planned. Soon their lives are at risk from a vicious Sicilian Mafia leader, their bosses Henri and Giselle Ducat have disappeared. Were they kidnapped? Or did they run?

The Ambassador is Missing (Book Two)

It’s more nonstop action when RSO Alex Boyd arrives in at the US Embassy in Rome expecting a comfortable assignment after the terror attack in Pakistan where he almost lost his life. The Ambassador and his wife are kidnapped, Alex swings into action. He must carefully pick his way through a sway of bureaucratic incompetence and FBI interference. Embassy staff are not forthcoming with the truth so after a fortnight of stalemate Alex leads the way with the Italian Police in a bold rescue mission.

Death In Pakistan (Book One)

In the early 1990s, America changed course and supported military and economic assistance to India at Pakistan’s expense. As a result, Alex Boyd, deputy RSO at the time at the US embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, must defend the embassy, employees and a visiting US delegation against vicious, heavily armed fanatical terrorists who are supported by a rogue element within Pakistan’s military intelligence service (ISI). Now they are determined to teach America a lesson and force it to reverse its new policy with India. Alex and his team fight for their lives. Before the battle begins Alex must overcome the staid traditionalists within the Foreign Service itself who believe nothing should be done to aggravate the locals even in self-defence. When you go to Pakistan, no one promises you’ll return alive.

Social Media sites

Https://www.linkedin.com/in/mel-harrison-b859841ba

Https://www.facebook.com/mel.harrison.7771

If you wish to buy Mel Harrison’s latest book you can either click the Amazon link below.

Thank you, Me, for giving me the opportunity to chat to you about yourself and your books.

The post The Alex Boyd Spy Thriller Series by Mel Harrison appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.