Soldier Spy

by Tom Marcus

The explosive, shocking and honest account from an MI5 officer, revealing never-before-seen detail into MI5's operation 'I do it because it is all I know. I'm a hunter of people and I'm damn good at it.' Recruited after the 7/7 attacks on London, Tom quickly found himself immersed in the tense world of watching, following and infiltrating networks of terrorists, spies and foreign agents. It was a job that took over his life and cost him dear, taking him to the limit of physical and mental endurance. Filled with extraordinary accounts of operations that saved countless lives, Soldier Spy is the only authentic account by an ex-MI5 officer of the round-the-clock battle to keep this country safe. ________ 'Very well written, gives a startling amount of operational detail, the biggest shock of all - MI5 agreed to its publication' Sunday Times 'A blistering, visceral insight into life on the front line against terror, revealed in remarkable detail' Daily Telegraph 'Startling, absolutely fascinating. A footsoldier's account out on the street.' Radio 4 'Gripping. One of the most successful MI5 undercover surveillance officers of his time' Sun

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Military Fiction, Memoir, Espionage, Crime, History

326 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 6, 2016

About the author

Tom Marcus, former MI5, grew up on the streets in the North of England. He joined the Army at sixteen and went on to became the youngest member of the Armed Forces to pass the 6-month selection process for Special Operations in Northern Ireland.

He was hand picked from the Army into MI5 as a Surveillance Officer. He left the Security Service recently after a decade on the frontline protecting his country due to being diagnosed with PTSD.

An extraordinary battle and recovery took place which led Tom to write his first book, Soldier Spy which has been vetted and cleared for publication by MI5, it's the first true ground level account ever to be told. The first time in the Security Services' history a Surveillance Officer has told the real story of the fight on our streets and his debut book went straight to Number 1 on the Sunday Times best sellers list and Number 1 on Amazon.

Tom's new fiction series featuring Matt Logan starts in May 2018 with his first book; Capture or Kill.

Tom, now consults on projects within TV and film including the TV dramatisation of his book Soldier Spy.

Due to the ongoing specific threat to Tom Marcus, MI5 insist he keep his identity hidden and he continues to work with the Security Service and other agencies to ensure he stays safe.

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a look into the author's life as a MI5 surveillance operator. His upbringing,  his time in the Military,  being recruited into MI5 and his career working for the Secret Service.

There's some great info here. The recruitment process, the training, Thames House and how it functions, how operations are conducted, how targets are identified. Its just such a shame the whole thing is overshadowed by a 300 page whine.

I was really hoping that by the end of the book we would see some growth and maturity from the author but no such luck. From beginning to end we have fat shaming, everyone is wrong and I am right, medical professionals don't know shit, the world needs me and me alone to be safe, mental health issues are shameful and PTSD can be solved by a decent run.

I don't know who this book is aimed at, it very much feels like a lads guide to being a w**ker and when in doubt make a joke about someone's mum.

I very sincerely hope this dude isn't representative of the UK Secret Service.

[sean murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you

This is not a review but a sincere thank you to Mr Marcus for your professionalism & dedication along with all the other members of the UK security services that help to keep these sacred isles safe & free.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book I thought I would not see in print for many years yet. It is a part biography and part operational exposé of a young man working for the Security Service (that’s MI5 to most of us) in contemporary Britain. It discloses many techniques they use to monitor, track, follow and stop potential terrorists in their tracks, whether they be in the IRA with the desire to see a united Ireland or self-radicalised Islamic extremists bent on the destruction of the whole structure of Western society.

‘Tom Marcus’ is the author’s nom de plume and obviously not his real name, and he had a troubled childhood. His father was in the army and was absent much of the time, as well as being a drinker. His mother also neglected the children and Tom grew up very fast, learning to look after himself on the streets - by the age of 16, he was rough, tough and afraid of no-one, though on the inside he was insecure, vulnerable and desperate to fit in. He is also very intelligent, though uneducated, with a quick and resourceful mind.

At 16 he became a boy soldier and hoped the army would be the family he never really had. He was different to his contemporaries, however, so didn’t really feel like he belonged. He got through by being tougher and more resilient than his peers, working extremely hard at all his training and courses to make a difference.

His skills were noticed and because he was also comfortable on the streets he was recruited by Special Operations, the army unit tasked with infiltrating the Republican areas of Northern Ireland to listen out for intelligence about any possible terrorist activity. He walked their streets, drank in their pubs and generally lived an extremely dangerous life. He had to be vigilant all the time because one slip of the tongue or some small behaviour trait could reveal his identity as a British soldier, which would have led to his probable torture and a horrible death.

Tom became so good at this that he was recruited by MI5, the Security Service (equivalent to the FBI/NSA in the USA), by which he was trained to an even higher level of expertise. He then worked the streets all over the UK, in a large team of other field officers and surveillance specialists.

The book goes into a great deal of detail about how their operations were carried out, so I was surprised to read that MI5 sanctioned the publication of the book, even though the operations he describes took place only from about 2000 onwards, so I imagine they still use many or most of the same techniques today. Some of the actions taken that Tom describes are quite extreme, especially in his own case, and I wonder if there might have been a small element of over-egging some aspects, which MI5 might be pleased about if it gets the message home to the ‘bad guys’ (and girls) that they will stop at nothing to prevent innocent people being murdered; on the other hand, maybe not.

An aspect that comes across loud and clear from the beginning is that Tom was a troubled man, and this was also an issue for his employer. They had him on their radar and tried to help him switch off when off duty, but so many years of hyper-vigilance in order to survive in dangerous environments, coupled with the fact that he could not talk about his job to anyone, on top of his poor background and lack of ‘belonging’, all contributed to make him a powder keg of unexpressed emotion and potential violence.

I noticed that at least one reviewer did not like the book because he felt it was an ego-fest and not very well written. It’s true that the feel of the book is that it was written by the man himself rather than a ghost-writer, who might have presented it in a more polished form, but for me I like the down-to-earth honesty of this man and his very real expressions of frustration, anger, hatred of the enemy (except for members of the IRA, for whom he had respect – at least they had a cause he could understand and the brains to be a very dangerous adversary) and pride in his work. He could only justify in his own mind the sacrifices he was making: the long hours of work; not being able to go for a pee for hours at a time (!); the nightmares he continually suffered and which got worse as time went on, by reconciling that life with the hundreds, if not thousands of civilian lives saved by the work he and his colleagues were doing every day.

Tom does mention throughout the book that he was saving lives and making sacrifices to save his country; this does sometimes come through as egotism but I feel it is more that he needed to continually reassure himself that it was worth the effort – he had a wife he adored and a young son he didn’t see much of.

Ultimately, his hyper-vigilance over a period of years took its toll and developed into full-blown Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Tom, even though he knew it was a risk to his career, sought help within the Service. All credit to them; he was immediately relieved of duty and given the medical help he needed, though this was a double-edged sword because he was not reinstated and had to leave after a year or more of treatment.

I’m guessing that the reasons the book was authorised for release by MI5 were threefold: to permit the author to make some money after having had to be medically retired; to reassure the British public that they are working very hard to protect our safety; and also to send a message to the would-be terrorists – don’t fuck with us because we are going to get you!

I found this book fascinating and I am sure I will read it again. I hope very much that Tom is happier now that the pressure’s off (other than the pressure of still trying to earn enough to support his family, of course) and that he is enjoying spending more time with his wife and son – he deserves it. After all, as a street-wise 16-year-old, he didn’t have to join the army and end up in such a demanding role – he could have got into drink, drugs and/or crime and been a burden on society rather than the valuable asset he clearly was. I admire the man.

[Yanny Lung · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only read 3 chapters of the book so far and honestly have no motivation to continue - although the book can be forgiven for not being written as sophisticatedly as others, the tone of the narrator Tom is very off-putting. Arrogance, overconfidence, egotistical and discriminating are just some of the words which begin to describe this character. He seems to think all others are inferior, including the other comrades of MI5 as he is seen exclaiming "I am the only option." Quite disrespectful, not only to other civil services but to other members of society in general as he keeps implying everyone else would not have survived if not for him. I was initially interested in the operations of MI5 but the character really killed it for me.

[The Lion's Share · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tom Marcus grew up on the street, which gave him a unique skill set of survival. He then joined the army, then he was recruited by special forces and finally MI5.

Tom (aka TC) has issues, you can tell that from the outset. He doesn’t realise how tightly wound he is and all he can think about is two things. Work and family. There is no inbetween for TC and that makes this book a rollercoaster thriller.

I couldn’t put this book down, it’s genuinely on the edge of your seat stuff, the way he recalls absolutely everything and the missions he has to carry out , it’s brilliant.

[Phil Byrne · Rating 1 out of 5]

This guy would bore the pants off you at a dinner party.
What an ego maniac. A low level surveillance operative telling us how he has saved us from the bad guys in this terribly written repetitive yawn fest.
I normally love these type of true crime under cover books, but Tom Marcus cant stop telling us what an amazing guy he is on so many levels. Here is a quote from his book so you can judge for yourself
"I was the person who hunted the scum of the earth and was ready to eat their faces off if they dared think about hurting my country" and then there is this gem "Its an art being able to remember the smallest of details on a massive scale. A lot of people simply cant do it. Throw into the mix the fact that you need to do all this without getting caught, in a hostile environment surrounded by known killers who would love the kudos of taking out someone like me, and your probably down to a handful of individuals in the whole world who can do this"
Im also a little skeptical about whether all of this book is true, some of it seems suspiciously fanciful
To sum up .....Dont Bother

[Jeanette · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a appalling load of self-serving tripe. This guy is SO full of himself it’s utterly untrue. How ridiculous, dishonest and disrespectful this ‘story’ is. An ‘exposé’ of his ego rather than the stories behind what our intelligence services largely do on our behalf. His attitude to other services and to his hierarchy tells you all you need to know about this Walter Mitty character; I’m glad I’ll never have to serve with him and rely on him to do anything other than serve his next ego trip. He ought to be ashamed of his attitude and approach in life. This is like a comic book for pre-pubescent fantasists; avoid and don’t waste your money or your precious reading time on it.

[Helen]

DNF. This is less a detailed insight into the inner workings of MI5 and more an ego-stroking exercise for the author. Not my cup of tea at all.

[Chris Steeden · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was recommended a long time ago and I have only now just got round to reading it.

We go back to the author’s roots in an English northern city where he grew up poor, but he had aspirations. He was not going to settle for his lot. He didn’t and joined the British Army apprenticeship scheme at the age of sixteen. Rising to the Special Ops quickly, he is later recruited directly into MI5 surveillance meaning he did not need to pass the tests although he did have to partake in the course tests.

Now a fully badged MI5 operative he goes over the operations and important events that make good reading or required for the readers better understanding of the UK’s security service. He does come over as a tightly wound coil ready to go off at anytime. A bit unhinged but good at his job. He can never switch off. Always alert even when grocery shopping with his family. Even when operating he is stretching the limits of what’s acceptable and legal causing issues with his team and senior management.

Chapter One, which is a Prologue, was exciting but unfortunately the next fifteen chapters don’t really live up to it. Surveying IRA, Islamic extremists, Russian and Chinese spies sounds like a premise for a great book and maybe, without the censoring, it could have been. As it was, it wasn’t. To tell you the truth it was dull. It feels like the meat has been pulled from the sandwich.

The author does go over his family’s financial struggles and the toll that the job took on his mental health (PTSD). It is not pretty. He is a bit of a mess (understatement).

[A Severs · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gripping tale of one MI5 surveillance operative's experiences whilst averting atrocities.

Reading this I was awed by how much is going on all around us that we just have no clue about.

The book takes a turn and becomes an emotional exploration of PTSD, mental wellbeing and anxiety.

It's not that well written but it's honest, from the heart and if it had been written in any other way it just wouldn't have conveyed the character of Tom Marcus correctly.

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the most well written book and the author seems to have a thing against educated people. Other than that, this book is such an eye opener and has given me confidence in our country's ability to protect our citizen. Bravo to you , the men and women who constantly observe.
Also - Best closing paragraph of a book I've read in a while. #godblessMI5

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is reportedly the first biography to be penned by a former MI5 surveillance officer. It's been vetted by the Security Service who gave it their blessing, so I guess no secrets have been divulged. That said there's much here that in the context is surprising, the Security Service not always coming off well.

Tom (not his real name) was unusual in that he was recruited direct from army special forces - the unit is not divulged but one gets the impression that it was not the SAS but some type of surveillance unit. The Security Service has moved away from the tap on the shoulder to a more open recruitment process, jobs and careers advertised online and in recruitment brochures, and most of his colleagues had come via this route. Right from the off Tom describes feeling like an outsider, that his team were always suspicious of him. He's extremely honest about his part in this, in that he was headstrong and quite aggressive. On one training exercise he dislocated the shoulder of one of the trainers, while on a follow he risked compromise by venturing into a target's place of work to find out where they were heading to.

The bulk of the book is taken up by anecdotes of operations and many of these are eye opening. A good example is the time he was nearly abducted by a jihadi counter-surveillance team who had a flat prepared, complete with plastic sheeting and a video camera. Apparently they intended to behead one of the team and show the film on the internet. Another example is when they followed a jihadi who was found to have a trunk full of explosives and assault rifles, his intention to massacre school children. It all makes for thrilling stuff, but these stories are sometimes difficult to follow as he uses a lot of surveillance speech with little explanation for the lay reader.

There are numerous biographies now by former CIA spooks, and special forces veterans from both sides of the Atlantic, and the vetting can make for a rather odd reading experience. Soldier, Spy suffers from this also. Stories and anecdotes are often truncated or cut short, the reader left with the impression that there is much left unsaid. While I understand that this is necessary to protect secrets and operational methods, it can be incredibly frustrating when a story seems to end on a cliff-hanger.

With Soldier, Spy the best example of this is when Tom's mentor, the man who recruited him to MI5 from the army suddenly dies. Tom is told that it appears to have been suicide, to which Tom reacts sceptically. According to his telling, Tom was told not to ask questions and to leave well alone. As an avid crime fiction reader, this sounds to me like the setup for a conspiracy storyline, the protagonist investigating suspected foul play despite his bosses trying to stop him. Of course, this is a biography not fiction. Tom left it and that was that. I'm not for a moment suggesting that there was a conspiracy of silence, or that Tom’s mentor was murdered. I’m sure it was as simple as a tragic suicide. But the way the book’s narrative just moves along left me with the impression, almost certainly unfair, that there was more to this story. As I say, I imagine this probably had to do with the restrictions he was under when writing the book, that for whatever reason, to protect the man’s identity or whatever, he just couldn’t write more. While understandable it makes for very disjointed reading.

Tom finally left the Security Service with PTSD, in part no doubt due to seeing another surveillance officer, a motorbike rider, accidentally killed in a traffic accident while following a suspect. This is one of the most moving passages of the book and one can't help but feel for the author. After leaving MI5 he of course could not tell future employers what he had been doing for the last few years and so was reduced to working in call centres and flipping burgers. This seems absurd, surely the Home Office could have provided him with fake references?

In conclusion, Tom Marcus was clearly a very brave and capable person who did much in the service of his country. His book Soldier, Spy is eye-opening and compelling but suffers much from the restrictions he was under when writing it. There is a hint at the end that he might have other writing projects in the works, who knows, perhaps a novel? If so I wish him well.

[Kaycee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some moments of greatness, with neat insight into the training of MI5 operatives. Offers an insiders look, which I found intriguing, but it was the voice of the book that killed it for me. Came across as downright horrible to the other law enforcement agencies operating in London..

[Daphne · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and gripping read. If you're interested in how the UK is kept safe then this is for you. Not normally my kind of book but I could not put this down. Hope there are further from "Tom".

[Ali · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found this book interesting in terms of the insights it gives into intelligence operations. However, I couldn't stand how full of himself the author seems to be. At times I felt he was living on another planet where he was some sort of lone wolf action man. He was the hero at every turn and it didn't seem to matter how much danger he put his team in through taking stupid risks. I found him really really annoying and his descriptions of "banter" such as taking the piss out of colleagues' mum's, derogatory comments about women and so called "posh pricks" was irritating to say the least. The structure of the book was odd and parts of it downright boring. It won't be a book I read again.

[Lee · Rating 1 out of 5]

I managed to get to page 90 before having to stop reading this book which I feel is an achievement in itself. If this is a non-fiction book about covert surveillance then the movie 'Shooter' must be a documentary about an operational Force Recon sniper!!! I think the worst thing about this book is that people will think it's all true. There's a reason the Security Service have allowed this book to be published, Lord of the Rings is more factual than this tripe.

[Allan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a supermarket impulse buy, not my usual fayre, and to be honest, I wasn't a big fan of the author as a person, or of his narrative style. May be just naive, but things seemed a little over exaggerated at times.

[Geoff Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

TC is a surveillance operative for MI5. He grew up 'on the streets' they're 'his streets' and he's at home there. Here he tells the story of his time with MI5 from recruitment to premature retirement.

The book has been read and agreed by MI5 and this may have affected the content that TC was able to include. There's a bunch of different stories here, and TC is very open... about his lack of openness, and he's right there's not a lot of a real man in the book, and a lot of macho posturing and tough bloke talk, which is fine and admirable, but makes for a slightly dull read.

And lets not forget the endless repetition of 'protecting this country' - again and again. Admirable yes, but dull. Still I guess I read this looking for insights and I did get some, only by the end I was quite glad to finish.

I hope Tom Marcus makes a good wadge of money from this book. He totally deserves it. If he writes another though, I'll probably give it a miss.

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've only rated this as 3 stars because in large parts it was difficult not to give up on it! There was about a third of the book that was purely call signs zero three oscar do you copy over! Etc! Which was simply boring to read and sometimes went on for the most of four pages at a time.
The chapters didn't seem to have an end and then the next one was straight into something else. The book just didn't flow at all.
On the positive though it's clear tom Marcus has an excellent sense of humour and some of his terminology made me laugh out loud! I was shocked as a member of mi5 he struggled financially I thought they earned phenomenal wages.
The chapters without the constant call signs were a lot easier to read and flowed better. I was saddened by what the job did to tom and feel his pain as the police pretty much did the same to me but with other mental health issues not ptsd.
Would I recommend reading this, sorry but no.
Will I remember the bits that made me laugh yes! Rubber passport 😂😂🙈 classic!

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't really know how to review this book. I have mixed feelings about this.

it wasn't an easy read, some areas were disturbing. I guess it's a part of the package when someone decides to peek into the life of a spy. I didn't find it well written. There are many missing parts. But I guess it's understandable given the nature of the book. Not everything can be enclosed. However, reading about the aftermath of being a spy is heartfelt.

Wasn't something that swept me off. Will probably donate the book. I'm not going to miss it.

[Vikas Datta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engrossing and visceral..

[Parissa Ahmadi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too Boring

[Dante Gallo · Rating 3 out of 5]

One thing you need to remember whilst reading this book is that it's a biography, as opposed to a fiction story... And what happens when you combine a biography with government vetting? Three stars, that's what you get.

'Soldier Spy' is supposedly the real life account of various operations carried out by a surveillance officer in MI5, spanning from the covert surveillance of Muslim extremists to Russian spies. Our narrator, who is predominantly referred to as "TC", is a bit of a brash fellow who was born for the rough and gritty life on the streets rather than a desk job. There are some interesting scenes don't get me wrong, but the entire book leaves you with the feeling of "Did I miss a page?"

The good:
1) These days the market is horribly saturated with "real accounts" from the SAS, Delta force and just about every other elite military unit you can think of. It's refreshing to read about an equally important section of the fight against terrorism who is seldom heard about yet operate 24/7 to keep the public safe. These people operate in the shadows so I'm always interested whenever one of them peaks out into the light.

2) Assuming this tale is truth, the author gives us quite a raw description of his experience with PTSD and how he lived with it while balancing an incredibly stressful job with a family life. This book gives us a very realistic description of how the symptoms steadily grew stronger until it reduced a hardened soldier to having to lay in the bed with the lights on to avoid falling asleep where the nightmares can haunt him. PTSD is a massive subject in the military these days and books like this perfectly describe how it can affect everyone, it has nothing to do with weakness.

The bad:
1) Obviously for security reasons we can't have an unredacted account of a MI5 surveillance officer's anecdotes, meaning that many pieces of information in this book were either heavily censored or just omitted altogether. I understand why they had to do this but I can't enjoy a book when I'm missing half the story... Put as many car chases in there as you want but that won't stop me asking questions.

2) Instead of having one overarching narrative plot, this book is more several different operations stitched together with the main PTSD part taking centre stage towards the end. They were enjoyable to be fair, but it gets to a point where you get tired with having an entire operation introduced, usually with something quite significant happening only for it to be dropped in the next chapter and not returned to.

In Conclusion, "Soldier Spy" is an enjoyable read for people with a keen interest in how the security services work, and those wanting to glean any information they can about how they operate. At quite a fast pace we see a child from the streets go from soldier to spy and the mental pressures associated with his job... But to be honest, simply too much has been removed from this book for the reader to get their teeth into.

[Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

How much of this true and how much is made up for dramatic effect I don’t know. I am hoping it’s more of the former than the latter because I really enjoyed the book. It is written in many parts as though we are looking through the eyes of the operative when they are on operations. There is also a strong part dedicated to every day life. Family, children and the way all of the training and operations affect the operative when they get home for a break.
It’s easy to read and flows very well.
Well worth a read whether this is your genre of book or not. I had picked it up randomly and wasn’t disappointed.

[June Elleey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now this book was quite fascinating and insightful being able to see the life of someone in MI5, however, it really was a struggle for me to read. My boyfriend thought it would be a good idea to swap genres to we can explore more when reading (he read romance and I read this), it took me nearly 4 months to finish it…. It was really hard to get hooked on the book but the idea behind it was actually really interesting.

[W.H. Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating account of the operations on UK streets by MI5 operatives, in so much detail that you feel like you're actually there, but also an unflinching account fo the toll this kind of work takes on even the ablest of operatives after a while.

A much more visceral account than most contemporary espionage fiction writes would have us believe!

[Vanessa Davies · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars is generous because I appreciate that this job sounds incredibly difficult and it’s amazing that someone does it. Saying that though, this guy has serious issues. He’s so arrogant and clearly has a chip on his shoulder about not being educated/typically ‘intelligent’. It was also pretty poorly written. I wouldn’t recommend

[Rebecca Drewe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read Tom Marcus’ other book “I spy”, I’ve been looking forward to reading this one for a while. He gives a detailed and uncensored version of life working for MI5. I found this to be equally as fascinating as I spy and was also a really easy simple read.

[robert proctor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great way to get PTSD

Gripping stuff and a great insight into life at the MI5 coal face and it’s effect on its people. No wonder they have a high incidence of PTSD.

[Rex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was good, not really a coherent story, just brief glimpses into operations and how he was an outsider. Bleak ending.