MI5 1/2 Series

Richard Hugh, aka Triple-O Five of the unsung British agency nicknamed MI5 1/2, is happily making life miserable for bad guys and, when he has time, cultivating a reputation as a lady's man. But then the Americans get the notion that he's been marked for death by a notorious spy killer who has been bumping off spies belonging to an odd mix of nations. This would almost be business as usual, except that the Americans send Emma Chapman over to keep an eye on Hugh, in the hopes of catching the assassin (preferably before he bumps off 0005). Chapman is short, plain, and respectable, and couldn't care less that Hugh is suave and handsome. This is not at all the sort of female he's used to working with. Before long, the Hugh-as-rat-bait hunt for Mighty Planetary Master also involves the French, represented most notably by the fearless and philosophical Leandre Durand, who doesn't mind in the least keeping his own counsel.

The MI5 1/2 adventures continue, in this more tightly edited, 2014 edition of Not Exactly Innocent. Triple-O Five and his bride are pulled back into action sooner than planned, when a mad Viking wannabe is found to be hiring and kidnapping experts in bioweapons and missiles. It doesn't make it any easier that one of the scientists is Durand's beloved and naive uncle, who might not quite understand the evil intent of his new patrons. It also doesn't help that much of the investigation must take place in the United States, whether the feds like it or not. Which they don't. Are we having fun yet? This book is a sequel to Not Exactly Dead, and a prequel to Not Exactly Allies, both of which were also rereleased in 2014 in more professionally edited editions.

Triple-O Five and company are finding that the worst enemies a spy can have might be in his own government, even his own agency. His best help, on the other hand, might come from feral street boys in Paris, football players who are tired of being gushed over, and a doctor who has been kicked out of medical practice for offending the PC police. Meanwhile, Durand must also contend with the hazards of fatherhood, not least of which is a daughter who is drawing suitors left and right, including one of his young colleagues who, alas, is a sniper. Not to mention not Catholic. Other than that, he seems to be a nice kid. For a daughter thief. Are we having fun yet? 2014 Revised Edition.

It wasn't supposed to happen. Retirement just wasn't supposed to happen. Richard Hugh, aka Triple-O Five, had more or less planned on dying in the line of duty. But bureaucrats and life intervened. Now Richard must face enemies without the help of the agency. Worse yet, now he must face his past. Are we having fun yet?

You might think that retiring to a little mountain village in rural France would result in a quiet life, but Richard and Emma Hugh, formerly of MI5 1/2, and their friend Leandre Durand, formerly of French secret services, are not finding it so. There are suspicious characters living on a boat on the lake. There are tourists all around. There are children and grandchildren to keep up with. Durand's son-in-law suspects he has human traffickers staying at his hotel. This is just for starters. All this is happening while they are facing up to their past and questioning how to go forward. Not being a credentialed agent with special privileges is hard enough, when that is pretty much all you have ever been. But this following Jesus adventure that they've embarked on in old age is more of a ride than they ever imagined, especially after they decide to ditch their worldly weapons so they can fight - and live - more like the early Christians.

You would think that a lifetime of taking on the bad guys would prepare a man to handle whatever came his way in retirement, now wouldn't you? Think again. When MI5 1/2 pushed Richard Hugh (aka Triple-O Five) into early retirement, he was expected to go from saving the world to merely living in it. Fat chance of that happening. First off, Richard's not the retiring sort. Not really. Secondly, the bad guys are still committing crimes like arson and murder, and framing innocent people along the way. However, when you don't have an agency at your back, or proper authority any more, what's a man to do? And how in the world is a man supposed to cope with all the messy personal problems that can't be shoved aside anymore, now that a man's not working fulltime at saving the world? And how does he cobble together a team, now that he's on his own? Ah, well, this is Richard Hugh, after all. He's a never-say-die sort of British gentleman. So he'll plow ahead, with whatever he can manage to put together, with the fine and philosophical help of friends old and new. Count on it.