Exclusive Excerpt: Code Name: Papa by John Murray

Chapter 2

After a nice little walk, talking all the way, we came to the study. The butler opened the doors for us, and then quietly closed them behind us.

Panicking a bit, I blurted out, “Jake, just who in the hell are you?” He calmly replied, “It’s not who I am; it’s who my father is.”

I took a deep breath and asked Jake for a drink; he asked what I wanted and I said a Jack and coke with one cube of ice. Bill wanted a beer. As Jake fixed the drinks, it dawned on me that in every room in the house, there was someone available to wait on us, but not in the study.


We made small talk while sipping our drinks. At precisely three p.m. by the clock on the wall (and not by my watch because I had a weary old Timex), the big doors opened and Jake’s father walked in. Smiling, he asked how our stay had been. Jake asked his father if he could fix him a brandy. He replied, “Yes, I’ll have a brandy, very small.”

I noticed all the bottles at the bar were top of the line brands. Other than the Jack Daniels, I’d never heard of them. But the brandy Jake’s father asked for was Christian Brothers that struck me as odd given how inexpensive it was compared to the rest.

BOOK NEWS: Code Name: Papa – My Extraordinary Life While Hiding in Plain Sight

Code Name: Papa – My Extraordinary Life While Hiding in Plain Sight is a literary memoir / political thriller that tells the true-life story of the head of US covert operations for a large international group, similar to the group B613 on ABC’s Scandal. This group, while not connected to the US government, operated with the full blessing of top people in our government. These are real stories, gritty and true—not the fantasy world of James Bond, Scandal, and others. The fact that the stories in Code Name Papa are true, make it an eye-opening, controversial, and scary read.

“With this book, I hope to educate the public and open up the conversation about what our country and others have really done on dangerous secret missions to help the world,” says John Murray (Papa), who deftly tells his fascinating and memorable life story, laying out facts but leaving it to readers to determine how they feel about each mission.

In forty-three chapters over the course of several decades, the highlighted missions include the deaths of eight counter covert operators in a major Las Vegas hotel conference room during a mission that has “stayed in Vegas” until now; a European mission to save sex slaves from major drug dealers; a successful all-out effort to save a small European country from takeover, and much more. All of the countries and states where the missions take place are listed at the front of the book.

For the sake of their own safety and that of their loved ones, the writers have chosen to move forward in revealing this story under aliases.

Book review: The Girl You Lost by Kathryn Croft

Eighteen years ago your baby daughter was snatched. Today, she came back. A sinister and darkly compelling psychological thriller from the No.1 bestselling author of The Girl With No Past. Eighteen years ago, Simone Porter’s six-month-old daughter, Helena, was abducted. Simone and husband, Matt, have slowly rebuilt their shattered lives, but the pain at losing their child has never left them. Then a young woman, Grace, appears out of the blue and tells Simone she has information about her stolen baby. But just who is Grace – and can Simone trust her? When Grace herself disappears, Simone becomes embroiled in a desperate search for her daughter and the woman who has vital clues about her whereabouts. Simone is inching closer to the truth but it’ll take her into the dangerous and disturbing territory. Simone lost her baby. Will she lose her life trying to find her?

* Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. *

Just finished reading this book and must say: WOW! Comparing with her previous book, another WOW! This author is getting better and better!

This time, the story starts eighteen years ago when a baby girl is missing. Little Helena is kidnapped from the park while her grandmother is watching her. Litle girl's parents never stopped looking for her, never got over the fact that she might be alive somewhere.

Eighteen years later, a young woman, Grace, appears in front of the mother. She claims that she might be the missing girl. She even has the toy the little girl had when she disappeared. But this young woman might be a criminal, might be a liar and she might have just committed a murder.

Book Review: Last Prophecy of Rome by Iain King

An ancient empire. A terrifying threat to the World’s Superpower. Only one man can stop it. ROME: Maverick military historian Myles Munro is on holiday with girlfriend and journalist Helen Bridle. He’s convinced a bomb is about to be detonated at the American Embassy. NEW YORK: A delivery van hurtling through Wall Street, blows up, showering the sky with a chilling message: America is about to be brought down just like the Roman Empire. Juma, an African warlord, set free by the Arab Spring, plans to make it happen. When a US Senator is taken a hostage, a chilling chain of events begins, and Myles finds himself caught in a race against time to stop Juma. But, he’s not prepared for the shocking truth that the woman he once loved, Juma’s wife, Placidia, has now become a terrorist.

* Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. *

"Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This arises from the fact that they are produced by men who ever have been, and ever shall be, animated by the same passions, and thus they necessarily have the same results."
Machiavelli

Facing with the modern day terrorism and so many refugees waiting at the border of my country, it was easy for me to connect with this book and the story in it. The plot is heartbreaking and I feel sorry for all those people who lost their homes and are seeking for better future. I feel mad and angry at all those smugglers who want to earn money out of people's misery and all those who put them in that misery at the first place. I hate all those people like Juma, who under the wing of „helping“ uses other people for his own satisfaction, and the others who use people like Juma to cause fear and death just for financial benefit.

For Myles and Helen, it all starts as a romantic vacation in Rome. Soon it turns out into a nightmare.