McNab, Andy 1959-

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McNab, Andy 1959-

PERSONAL:

Born December 28, 1959; children: one daughter.

CAREER:

Writer, novelist, screenwriter, lecturer, educator, film producer, soldier, security consultant, and counterterrorism expert. FBI training academy, Quantico, MD, lecturer to U.S. security and intelligence organizations, 1996—. Contributor, Timewatch documentary on Hannibal, BBC-2, 1992; technical weapons advisor and trainer on film Heat, 1995; advisor and narrator, Ultimate Warrior (video), BMG. Spoken Entertainment (a digital content producer and distributor), founder, 2007. Operates a security company that trains journalists, news crews, and other nongovernmental groups to work safely in war zones and hostile environments. Motivational and training speaker for corporations in the United States and abroad. Producer of adaptation of film, Crisis Four. Military service: British Army, infantry, beginning 1976; British Special Air Service (SAS), commander of special operations in Middle East, Far East, South and Central America, Northern Ireland, and Iraq, 1984-93; awarded Distinguished Conduct Medal and Military Medal.

WRITINGS:

Immediate Action (autobiography), Bantam (New York, NY), 1995.

NOVELS

Bravo Two Zero, Island Books/Dell (New York, NY), 1993.

Remote Control, [England], 1997, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1999.

Crisis Four, Ballantine (New York, NY), 2000.

Firewall, Bantam (New York, NY), 2000.

Liberation Day, Bantam (New York, NY), 2002.

Last Light, Atria Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Dark Winter, Bantam (London, England), 2003.

Deep Black, Bantam (London, England), 2004.

Aggressor, Bantam (London, England), 2005.

The Grey Man, Corgi (London, England), 2006.

Recoil, Bantam (London, England), 2006.

"BOY SOLDIER" SERIES; WITH ROBERT RIGBY

Traitor, G.P. Putnam's Sons (New York, NY), 2005, also published as Boy Soldier, Doubleday (London, England), 2005.

Payback, Putnam (New York, NY), 2006.

Avenger, Putnam (New York, NY), 2007.

Meltdown, Putnam (New York, NY), 2008.

ADAPTATIONS:

Bravo Two Zero was adapted to audiotape by Chivers North America, 1996; several of McNab's novels have been optioned for film by Miramax; Crisis Four is being adapted to film by Miramax.

SIDELIGHTS:

Novelist and career soldier Andy McNab was trained as an agent for the British Special Air Service (SAS), specializing in counterterrorism work. While a member of the SAS, he often worked in covert operations, and he conducted both antiterrorist and antidrug operations throughout the Middle East, South and Central America, and in Northern Ireland, noted the author's biography on his home page. He served in Iraq during the Gulf War, leading "the eight-man Bravo Two Zero patrol, whose mission was to disable underground communication links between Baghdad and north-west Iraq and destroy mobile scud missile launchers," according to his profile on Random House's Web site. McNab was captured during a raid, and his treatment during captivity seriously damaged his body. He was mustered out of the service in 1993, and upon his retirement "was the British Army's most highly decorated serving soldier," reported the author's home page. Since that time he has served as a consultant, security expert, trainer, weapons advisor for motion pictures, and writer of both fiction and nonfiction, with his autobiography, Immediate Action, a best seller in Great Britain.

McNab's novel Remote Control draws on his experience working for the SAS. His protagonist, Nick Stone, is "a rogue Special Air Service agent on the lam in suburban America," explained a Publishers Weekly contributor, "with the seven-year-old daughter of a murdered colleague." The girl is the only surviving member of SAS soldier Kev Brown's family, and Stone is determined to uncover the reason for the murders. Stone makes connections between the murder of his old friend, a terrorist attack in Gibraltar, and the drug lords of Colombia. "McNab reliably delivers the believable, real-life details," the Publishers Weekly critic concluded, and brings the story to a "predictable but satisfying end."

In Crisis Four, Stone returns to take on a mission that is part business, part personal: he is out to track down rogue British secret service agent Sarah Greenwood, whose quick willingness to use her gun has given her superiors reason to want her to disappear forever. Making the mission more difficult for Stone is the fact that Greenwood is his former lover. His involvement with her led to the destruction of his marriage, and it turned out that Greenwood's interest in him was designed solely to advance her career. When he locates Greenwood, however, she tells him that she has information that will stop a terrorist attack during a visit to the White House by American, Israeli, and Palestinian leaders. Caught between following orders or believing his deceptive ex-lover, Stone struggles to reach a conclusion before the situation degenerates into disaster. McNab "adeptly puts the reader right in the thick of things," commented Booklist reviewer Mary Frances Wilkins. The author "delivers authenticity in spades; this thriller is full of the kind of grit that gets under the fingernails," commented a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

Stone's physically arduous and harrowing adventures continue Firewall, in which he becomes involved in the kidnapping of Russian mob boss Valentin Lebed in Helsinki. When the mission erupts into violence and goes terribly wrong, Stone lets Lebed go free for a price. Stone takes on another lucrative mission when Lebed's beautiful assistant Liv hires him to break into a safe house in Finland and steal an important piece of computer software. In the background, Stone's morally and professionally dubious behavior is explained in the plight of his ward, Kelly, who is suffering from severe psychological problems and requires expensive treatment. "In this genre, all plans are made to fail, except perhaps McNab's plan to take the thriller world by storm," mused a Publishers Weekly critic. Wilkins, in another Booklist review, called Firewall "a fast and often compelling read."

With coauthor Robert Rigby (a children's theater writer), McNab is the author of the "Boy Soldier" series, a group of books geared to attract the attention of teenage male readers. In the first book, Traitor, the authors introduce Danny Watts, a seventeen-year-old orphan who has just been turned down by the British Army. Danny is shocked to discover that he was rejected because of traitorous acts by his grandfather, former SAS member Fergus Watts. However, the Army offers him a second chance if he will locate the old man for them. With the help of his friend Elena, a computer expert, Danny soon learns that Watts's military service was exemplary before he betrayed his country. When he finally tracks down his grandfather, Danny is told a much different story about Fergus's past, which convinces him that the old man is innocent. Despite the looming danger, Danny and Fergus set out to clear the old soldier's name and locate the real traitor within the military. The authors' "combined efforts here make for a compelling thriller with highly realistic details about covert operations," remarked Claire Rosser in Kliatt. Rigby and McNab "deliver hearty doses of adventure and suspense," commented School Library Journal reviewer Emily Garrett. Booklist contributor Robert Leslie concluded, "this story of intrigue rises above many standard adventure stories."

In the sequel, Payback, Danny and Fergus are hiding out in Spain, dodging the attention of the high-level British intelligence officer, and traitor, they encountered in the first book. After avoiding a murderous squad of assassins sent to kill them, Danny and Fergus head back to England, where the country is on edge following a series of suicide bombings. When Fergus is seriously injured, Danny turns to his computer-expert friend Elena for help in identifying the attackers. An even greater challenge looms when Danny seeks to break into the British Ministry of Defense to find information that will save their lives and provide conclusive proof of Fergus's innocence. Booklist reviewer Todd Morning observed that young spy fiction and thriller fans "will enjoy entering Danny's murky world, where things are not as they initially seem." A Kirkus Reviews critic named the novel "good entertainment for the action and suspense crowd."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

McNab, Andy, Immediate Action, Bantam (New York, NY), 1995.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 15, 2000, Mary Frances Wilkens, review of Crisis Four, p. 1732; May 15, 2001, Mary Frances Wilkens, review of Firewall, p. 1736; July, 2002, Mary Frances Wilkens, review of Last Light, p. 1797; October 15, 2005, Roger Leslie, review of Traitor, p. 43; November 1, 2006, Todd Morning, review of Payback, p. 42.

Bookseller, August 31, 2001, "Crisis to Hit Cinemas," p. 6; August 12, 2005, Neill Denny, "McNab Exposed: Neill Denny Chose a Suitable Day to Meet the Top-selling Action Thriller Writer," profile of Andy McNab, p. 16; February 17, 2006, review of Avenger, p. 40.

Byte, December, 1994, review of Bravo Two Zero, p. 236.

Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2002, review of Last Light, p. 832; September 15, 2006, review of Payback, p. 962.

Kliatt, November, 2005, Claire Rosser, review of Traitor, p. 9; September, 2006, Claire Rosser, review of Payback, p. 15.

New Media Age, July 5, 2007, "Book Publishers Make First Mobile Moves," p. 2.

Publishers Weekly, July 8, 1996, review of Immediate Action, p. 81; May 31, 1999, review of Remote Control, p. 67; June 26, 2000, review of Crisis Four, p. 51; June 4, 2001, review of Firewall, p. 53; June 18, 2001, "Corrections," p. 62; March 24, 2003, review of Liberation Day, p. 55.

School Library Journal, January, 2006, Emily Garrett, review of Traitor, p. 138; December, 2006, Michael Giller, review of Payback, p. 151.

Spectator, December 2, 1995, "Dustmen Who Think They Are Brain Surgeons," review of Immediate Action, p. 45.

Times Educational Supplement, December 17, 1999, review of Bravo Two Zero, p. 19; April 21, 2006, Tony Bradman, "Destroy after Reading," p. 32.

Voice of Youth Advocates, April, 2006, Diane Tuccillo, review of Traitor, p. 50; February, 2007, Diane Tuccillo, review of Payback, p. 530.