What do you think?
Rate this book
Paul Richter #1-6
The Paul Richter Omnibus
The bestselling military thrillers, now in a special omnibus editionPaul Richter: listed as working with the Foreign Operations Executive. Special forces and pilot experience. Trouble? Guaranteed.
From supersonic chases above the Russian tundra to terrorists in Dubai and covert battles in North Korea, these are the most explosive thrillers you’ll ever read.
This omnibus edition contains all six thrilling books in the series, perfect for fans of Robert Ludlum, Frederick Forsyth and Brad Thor.
From supersonic chases above the Russian tundra to terrorists in Dubai and covert battles in North Korea, these are the most explosive thrillers you’ll ever read.
This omnibus edition contains all six thrilling books in the series, perfect for fans of Robert Ludlum, Frederick Forsyth and Brad Thor.
2605 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 15, 2017
20 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
James Barrington
45 books76 followersI also write as Max Adams, James Becker, Tom Kasey, Thomas Payne and Jack Steel.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 6, 2017
RUE BRITANNIA.
"By strength and guile"- UK Special Boat Service Motto.
Commander Denniston: This is Stewart Menzies, MI6.
Keith: But there are only five divisions of Military Intelligence. There is no MI6.
Menzies: That's the spirit!
— The Imitation Game
"Semper Occultus - Always Secret"
— SIS motto.
The British Intelligence community, contrary to its portrayal in James Bond does not (officially)have a paramilitary unit of its own. Unlike the trigger-happy cousins across the Atlantic, the British way has been gentler. The intelligence services are to be used for only gathering intelligence useful to the state. And for the enemies of the British state, it is not the SIS or Security Services task to annihilate them, but the job for the SAS, SBS and the London Metropolitan Police C019 teams. Admittedly, there has been increasing rumours of the murky joint SAS/SBS Increment organization, but those rumours have remained that, rumours. While this system has served Britain well, it can be argued, that the lack of a kinetic strike capability run by the SIS and MI5 can leave both organizations impotent.
So what if the British intelligence community had a paramilitary unit? This is the starting point for the Paul Ritchter series by James Barrington. A former Royal Navy Veteran who served in the Harrier strike force, Barrington’s work centres around an organization known as the Foreign Operations Executive. Based on the rumoured “Increment” that may or may not exist, the FOE is the British answer to the CIA Special Activities Division, but able to operate both foreign and domestically and equipped with the budget and political capital that can slice through red tape and afford the best assets that your average intelligence service could only dream about owning, whether it be in the case of kit, or men. One of those men, is Paul Ritchter. A former Royal Navy Harrier pilot turned world class intelligence agent, Ritchter is the top man in an organization full of top men. He’s the primary operator that the FOE deploys for its most dangerous operations and he’s very good at his job. Islamist extremists, psychotic American assassins, Russian nuclear bombs or even North Korean fighter jets, Ritchter encounters them on a day to day basis in his line of work. Today, I’ll be reviewing an Ebook omnibus edition of the first six Paul Ritchter novels which are well written, and packed with enough surprises. Now to the review. In the 21st century, what does Britain need to truly punch above its weight?
The chronological first story in the series “Manhunt” is actually a prequel novel written around 2011. Set in early 2000s it introduces Paul Ritchter as a gifted but jobless pilot. With his life seemingly going nowhere, he’s contacted to serve his country in a seemingly boring fashion. A Whitehall Mandarin from the Foreign office contracts him to act as a diplomatic courier shepherding documents to Central – Southern Europe. What Ritchter does not realize however is that he’s been drawn into one of the covert battles fought between Britain and her most dangerous European enemy, Russia. At stake is the Russian SVR’s HUMINT community and soon seeing Ritchter as a threat, they begin hunting him across Europe. The second story titled “Overkill” is more conventional and is the first published. Set after 9/11, we have an angry Russian who wants to annex Europe in order to prove the glory of the former USSR hatching a plot to seed the capitals of the Free World with nuclear and atom bombs using Al – Qaeda as the proxy. Standing in their way is the blunt instrument of British foreign policy, Richter who goes on the hunt after the SIS Moscow Station chief is assassinated by the officers of the Russian SVR. In the third book “Pandemic”, the story concerns a mysterious project conducted by the CIA in the 1970’s that one of the most powerful Company grandees is willing to kill anyone to cover up his sin. “Foxbat”, the fourth book is centred around a global theft of a specialist piece of kit by a pariah state who seeks to use them for something world changing, with Richter uncovering the scheme during a sudden job in Algeria. Time bomb, the fifth book is a European odyssey where a collection of international terrorists and a foreign spy attempt to destroy London with a real life explosive device located at the mouth of the Thames presently. The Sixth book, “Payback,” is set in Dubai where a simple assignment taking place in the backdrop of the oncoming Arab Spring turns into a deadly race against time to prevent two terrorist attacks that would consume the city of Dubai in fire and blood. Covering more than one decade of the Post 9/11 world, the Paul Richter saga captures a chaotic world were one good man always goes out to do battle for Queen and Country regardless of how high the United Kingdom rises or how low it sinks.
In terms of plot, having the first six books bundled in a collection (the seventh most recent book “Insurrection released in 2017) are fun, well written novels. A higher class of espionage thriller is how I’d describe them. Balancing straight - forward classic fun storylines, appealing characterization from the main cast, superb action scenes which are smartly crafted, astonishingly fascinating real-world detail that is masterfully integrated into the narrative and a dash of sardonic British humour, the Paul Richter omnibus is a true contemporary thriller delight which mixes the realities and complexities of modern day espionage with surprisingly smartly written wish fulfilment. Richter’s life is not all fun and games, but he gets the tools and political blessing to let him and Britain kick arse and take names, not prisoners. And all of the central elements of the evil schemes in the book are full of surprises and well thought out.
Action and setting? As the contemporary blunt instrument for Her Majesty’s government, Richter racks up the miles and bullets during his career. From ambushing Russian spies on French motorways to speeding over North Korean airspace in a harrier jump jet, to investigating rogue CIA paramilitary officers in the Persian Gulf states and racing across the North African deserts, Richter is a true international man of mystery who travels the world, meets interesting and exotic people and cultures and then tries to avoid getting killed in the process. Through all this epic violence, Barrington is able to construct fascinating backdrops on which the action in his stories takes places. Two of my favourite highlights are the climax of the Fifth and six books, the former which takes place on a boat chase across part of the river Thames that few go to and the latter, which involves an infiltration of the most iconic hotel in Dubai. Whether it be a gun fight or a car chase, or even a small theatre of war, James Barrington has proverbial full spectrum dominance over any time of action or setting, giving his books a seemingly adaptable quality, being epic and sweeping when called for and then being down to earth when necessary.
Research? A true masterpiece, the Paul Richter series befitting a contemporary spy novel has plenty of real world detail, that is perfectly integrated into the narrative so that it doesn’t interrupt the narrative flow of the plots. There’s a lot of things here from a crash course in nuclear WMD warfare that cut through the misconceptions that lump different kinds of atomic bombs together to combat tactics like room breaching and securing perimeters, to law enforcement procedures and the political shenanigans that go on in far flung nations like North Korea. One of the highlights of the Richter books is the use of aircraft in the stories. Being a former harrier pilot, Barrington gives Richter the skills he learned serving in the Royal Navy and the character puts them to good use several times, such as in the fifth book where he has to steal a getaway aircraft from the Italian Air Force in one of the most spectacular scenes in the series. Most authors can’t capture that sort of audacity but Barrington does with a judicious use of high tech kit, and smart tradecraft on the part of his characters.
Characters? Quite good. But for brevity’s sake I’ll talk about two characters who are the heart and centre of the series. First, there’s Richter. Paul Richter starts the series as a jobless Harrier pilot with his life going nowhere. By a chance of fate he’s selected by a high ranking bureaucrat to go on a dangerous mission with everyone believing that this nobody will probably get killed sooner or later due to a distinct lack of combat training or smarts. When he not only survives but actually pulls of a victory against the Russian SVR, Richter soon finds himself in the fast lane as one of the defenders of the realm, given the best training, equipment and political capital to help defeat Britain’s enemies, foreign and domestic. Very smart, very sardonic and always deadly, Richter is a good, sensible man who doesn’t take fools gladly and is the consummate professional to end all consummate professionals. He’s the man you would want in your corner or to have your back if someone is shooting at you from the front. In this day and age of social justice warrior nutters and weak politicians who happily pander to the populist mob mentality within all of us, Richter is refreshing as he takes no prisoners without the arrogant testosterone that many of his many American equivalents possess.
Then, there’s Simpson. Simpson is the director general of the Foreign Operations Executive and Richter’s boss. A Whitehall Mandarin with initially no – intelligence experience, Simpson gained the respect and fear of established spymasters at Thames House and Vauxhall Cross with his take no prisoners approach to his job. Having amassed a huge amount of favours and presumed blackmail material, Simpson is by default one of the most powerful men in the United Kingdom and able to whip the usually moribund British government that is risk adverse to any “cowboy antics” into shape and get it to cover its ears and close its eyes while giving him and the FOE the backing it needs to stave off the next threat to British interests. Simpson is not a nice man and has amusing prima – donna like clashes with his top man Richter whom he constantly seems to obstruct on the surface and despises for being one of the only things on earth Simpson’s power cannot fully control. However he’s not obstructive just for the sake of being obstructive and rather uses it as a technique to force his agents to think before going on a half cocked, ill – thought out rampage. Like Richter he doesn’t suffer fools gladly and the moments when he breaks out his vise to crush the cojones of any poor, clueless sod who has gotten in the way of his job of defending British interests is a joy to behold. Above all, Simpson is a patriot and if you wanted to work under a bureaucrat, he’d be one of the better (fictional ) choices out there.
Overall the Paul Richter Omnibus series is a standout work of spy fiction. Mixing old school wish fulfilment devoid of cheesy Rodger Moore elements with realistic research and a keen eye for detail, James Barrington has created perhaps the coolest fictional super spy in 21st century British fiction as all other contenders have gone off to retirement homes or just don’t have the cool toys Paul Richter does. With well crafted, innovative plots, action scenes that span the gauntlet from world changing and epic to narrow but brutally visceral and well-drawn, appealing heroes and smartly written, competent bad guys, buy the omnibus copy and get ready to go for a ride with this most underrated of fictional secret agents today.
"By strength and guile"- UK Special Boat Service Motto.
Commander Denniston: This is Stewart Menzies, MI6.
Keith: But there are only five divisions of Military Intelligence. There is no MI6.
Menzies: That's the spirit!
— The Imitation Game
"Semper Occultus - Always Secret"
— SIS motto.
The British Intelligence community, contrary to its portrayal in James Bond does not (officially)have a paramilitary unit of its own. Unlike the trigger-happy cousins across the Atlantic, the British way has been gentler. The intelligence services are to be used for only gathering intelligence useful to the state. And for the enemies of the British state, it is not the SIS or Security Services task to annihilate them, but the job for the SAS, SBS and the London Metropolitan Police C019 teams. Admittedly, there has been increasing rumours of the murky joint SAS/SBS Increment organization, but those rumours have remained that, rumours. While this system has served Britain well, it can be argued, that the lack of a kinetic strike capability run by the SIS and MI5 can leave both organizations impotent.
So what if the British intelligence community had a paramilitary unit? This is the starting point for the Paul Ritchter series by James Barrington. A former Royal Navy Veteran who served in the Harrier strike force, Barrington’s work centres around an organization known as the Foreign Operations Executive. Based on the rumoured “Increment” that may or may not exist, the FOE is the British answer to the CIA Special Activities Division, but able to operate both foreign and domestically and equipped with the budget and political capital that can slice through red tape and afford the best assets that your average intelligence service could only dream about owning, whether it be in the case of kit, or men. One of those men, is Paul Ritchter. A former Royal Navy Harrier pilot turned world class intelligence agent, Ritchter is the top man in an organization full of top men. He’s the primary operator that the FOE deploys for its most dangerous operations and he’s very good at his job. Islamist extremists, psychotic American assassins, Russian nuclear bombs or even North Korean fighter jets, Ritchter encounters them on a day to day basis in his line of work. Today, I’ll be reviewing an Ebook omnibus edition of the first six Paul Ritchter novels which are well written, and packed with enough surprises. Now to the review. In the 21st century, what does Britain need to truly punch above its weight?
The chronological first story in the series “Manhunt” is actually a prequel novel written around 2011. Set in early 2000s it introduces Paul Ritchter as a gifted but jobless pilot. With his life seemingly going nowhere, he’s contacted to serve his country in a seemingly boring fashion. A Whitehall Mandarin from the Foreign office contracts him to act as a diplomatic courier shepherding documents to Central – Southern Europe. What Ritchter does not realize however is that he’s been drawn into one of the covert battles fought between Britain and her most dangerous European enemy, Russia. At stake is the Russian SVR’s HUMINT community and soon seeing Ritchter as a threat, they begin hunting him across Europe. The second story titled “Overkill” is more conventional and is the first published. Set after 9/11, we have an angry Russian who wants to annex Europe in order to prove the glory of the former USSR hatching a plot to seed the capitals of the Free World with nuclear and atom bombs using Al – Qaeda as the proxy. Standing in their way is the blunt instrument of British foreign policy, Richter who goes on the hunt after the SIS Moscow Station chief is assassinated by the officers of the Russian SVR. In the third book “Pandemic”, the story concerns a mysterious project conducted by the CIA in the 1970’s that one of the most powerful Company grandees is willing to kill anyone to cover up his sin. “Foxbat”, the fourth book is centred around a global theft of a specialist piece of kit by a pariah state who seeks to use them for something world changing, with Richter uncovering the scheme during a sudden job in Algeria. Time bomb, the fifth book is a European odyssey where a collection of international terrorists and a foreign spy attempt to destroy London with a real life explosive device located at the mouth of the Thames presently. The Sixth book, “Payback,” is set in Dubai where a simple assignment taking place in the backdrop of the oncoming Arab Spring turns into a deadly race against time to prevent two terrorist attacks that would consume the city of Dubai in fire and blood. Covering more than one decade of the Post 9/11 world, the Paul Richter saga captures a chaotic world were one good man always goes out to do battle for Queen and Country regardless of how high the United Kingdom rises or how low it sinks.
In terms of plot, having the first six books bundled in a collection (the seventh most recent book “Insurrection released in 2017) are fun, well written novels. A higher class of espionage thriller is how I’d describe them. Balancing straight - forward classic fun storylines, appealing characterization from the main cast, superb action scenes which are smartly crafted, astonishingly fascinating real-world detail that is masterfully integrated into the narrative and a dash of sardonic British humour, the Paul Richter omnibus is a true contemporary thriller delight which mixes the realities and complexities of modern day espionage with surprisingly smartly written wish fulfilment. Richter’s life is not all fun and games, but he gets the tools and political blessing to let him and Britain kick arse and take names, not prisoners. And all of the central elements of the evil schemes in the book are full of surprises and well thought out.
Action and setting? As the contemporary blunt instrument for Her Majesty’s government, Richter racks up the miles and bullets during his career. From ambushing Russian spies on French motorways to speeding over North Korean airspace in a harrier jump jet, to investigating rogue CIA paramilitary officers in the Persian Gulf states and racing across the North African deserts, Richter is a true international man of mystery who travels the world, meets interesting and exotic people and cultures and then tries to avoid getting killed in the process. Through all this epic violence, Barrington is able to construct fascinating backdrops on which the action in his stories takes places. Two of my favourite highlights are the climax of the Fifth and six books, the former which takes place on a boat chase across part of the river Thames that few go to and the latter, which involves an infiltration of the most iconic hotel in Dubai. Whether it be a gun fight or a car chase, or even a small theatre of war, James Barrington has proverbial full spectrum dominance over any time of action or setting, giving his books a seemingly adaptable quality, being epic and sweeping when called for and then being down to earth when necessary.
Research? A true masterpiece, the Paul Richter series befitting a contemporary spy novel has plenty of real world detail, that is perfectly integrated into the narrative so that it doesn’t interrupt the narrative flow of the plots. There’s a lot of things here from a crash course in nuclear WMD warfare that cut through the misconceptions that lump different kinds of atomic bombs together to combat tactics like room breaching and securing perimeters, to law enforcement procedures and the political shenanigans that go on in far flung nations like North Korea. One of the highlights of the Richter books is the use of aircraft in the stories. Being a former harrier pilot, Barrington gives Richter the skills he learned serving in the Royal Navy and the character puts them to good use several times, such as in the fifth book where he has to steal a getaway aircraft from the Italian Air Force in one of the most spectacular scenes in the series. Most authors can’t capture that sort of audacity but Barrington does with a judicious use of high tech kit, and smart tradecraft on the part of his characters.
Characters? Quite good. But for brevity’s sake I’ll talk about two characters who are the heart and centre of the series. First, there’s Richter. Paul Richter starts the series as a jobless Harrier pilot with his life going nowhere. By a chance of fate he’s selected by a high ranking bureaucrat to go on a dangerous mission with everyone believing that this nobody will probably get killed sooner or later due to a distinct lack of combat training or smarts. When he not only survives but actually pulls of a victory against the Russian SVR, Richter soon finds himself in the fast lane as one of the defenders of the realm, given the best training, equipment and political capital to help defeat Britain’s enemies, foreign and domestic. Very smart, very sardonic and always deadly, Richter is a good, sensible man who doesn’t take fools gladly and is the consummate professional to end all consummate professionals. He’s the man you would want in your corner or to have your back if someone is shooting at you from the front. In this day and age of social justice warrior nutters and weak politicians who happily pander to the populist mob mentality within all of us, Richter is refreshing as he takes no prisoners without the arrogant testosterone that many of his many American equivalents possess.
Then, there’s Simpson. Simpson is the director general of the Foreign Operations Executive and Richter’s boss. A Whitehall Mandarin with initially no – intelligence experience, Simpson gained the respect and fear of established spymasters at Thames House and Vauxhall Cross with his take no prisoners approach to his job. Having amassed a huge amount of favours and presumed blackmail material, Simpson is by default one of the most powerful men in the United Kingdom and able to whip the usually moribund British government that is risk adverse to any “cowboy antics” into shape and get it to cover its ears and close its eyes while giving him and the FOE the backing it needs to stave off the next threat to British interests. Simpson is not a nice man and has amusing prima – donna like clashes with his top man Richter whom he constantly seems to obstruct on the surface and despises for being one of the only things on earth Simpson’s power cannot fully control. However he’s not obstructive just for the sake of being obstructive and rather uses it as a technique to force his agents to think before going on a half cocked, ill – thought out rampage. Like Richter he doesn’t suffer fools gladly and the moments when he breaks out his vise to crush the cojones of any poor, clueless sod who has gotten in the way of his job of defending British interests is a joy to behold. Above all, Simpson is a patriot and if you wanted to work under a bureaucrat, he’d be one of the better (fictional ) choices out there.
Overall the Paul Richter Omnibus series is a standout work of spy fiction. Mixing old school wish fulfilment devoid of cheesy Rodger Moore elements with realistic research and a keen eye for detail, James Barrington has created perhaps the coolest fictional super spy in 21st century British fiction as all other contenders have gone off to retirement homes or just don’t have the cool toys Paul Richter does. With well crafted, innovative plots, action scenes that span the gauntlet from world changing and epic to narrow but brutally visceral and well-drawn, appealing heroes and smartly written, competent bad guys, buy the omnibus copy and get ready to go for a ride with this most underrated of fictional secret agents today.
April 20, 2018
Omnibus
Well written and developed set of Barrington's stories. Easy to read, with interesting information woven in the stories and in the author's notes at the end. Good action tales.
Well written and developed set of Barrington's stories. Easy to read, with interesting information woven in the stories and in the author's notes at the end. Good action tales.
June 13, 2019
Good story telling, once you get used to the jumping from story thread to story thread but it is well done.
One small quibble - if I wanted so much info re small arms I'd subscribe to one of those American "Gun" magazines.
But as I say - a small quibble
One small quibble - if I wanted so much info re small arms I'd subscribe to one of those American "Gun" magazines.
But as I say - a small quibble
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews