A.K.A. Jane

Jane Nichols #1

by Maureen Tan

When Jane Nichol's literary agent offers her the chance to travel to Georgia and write, she realizes that it's a perfect opportunity to leave MI5 (England's FBI) and her tortured past behind. But Jane soon finds that Savannah holds more than just atmosphere, for among its historic houses and murky swamps lies a dangerous, bitter enemy -- and Jane will have to rely on all her years of espionage training to survive.

Genres: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Fiction, Romance, Mystery Thriller, Espionage

336 pages, Library Binding

First published October 11, 1997

About the author

Tan is the author of numerous articles, four fiction novels, and several short stories.

She is a consultant specializing in the science/technology and healthcare fields. Before beginning her consulting practice, she worked for the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and also served as a Public Affairs Officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Reviews

[Ollie Eubany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, read it in two days, I could not put it down. Jane is a tough cookie does not back down for anyone and has seen everything so is not surprise when she and Alex find a dead women in the park. Her lack of expression makes Alex to wonder why she shows no expression. He begins to doubt her story that she is a mystery writer who has has come from London to Georgia USA to rent a room from him to write her books. A really surprise ending.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun sumemr read about a kick-ass MI5 agent and spy with a mysterious past. Nice easy read.

[Sylvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mystery

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great page turner. The action is occassionally a little hard to believe, but better than most action stories. Some romance as well.

[Tom Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane Nichols #1: “A.K.A. Jane” by Maureen Tan. Janie Nichols works for MI-5 in Her Majesty’s Secret Service (hoping to capitalize on the James Bond books). During one assignment a red haired man, later identified as Jim O’Neil, kills her partner/lover. The first 100 pages cover her early missions and backstory. At which point she resigns to concentrate on writing a series of P.I. stories featuring her character, Andrew Jax and his secretary Millicent Jones. Her publisher pays her travel and expenses to America to promote her new book (I mean they go all out, paying hotel, Bread & Breakfast, and finally setting her up in a private home. Plus giving her a car rental, fully funded – wow!), and accompanied by her agent, no less. While there she sees the red haired killer and decides to take him out. The following two hundred pages now cover this segment of the story. Curiously, a few years ago I reviewed a Cozy Mystery novel with a similar plot to the final two hundred pages. Though this isn’t a copy of that story I think we can classify it as a Cozy Spy yarn rather than a men’s action novel. The writing is good, and the characters are interesting. However, readers looking for a fast action novel, they won’t find this a page-turner. But it is an interesting novel, and readers of Cozy mysteries will certainly like it.

[Katherine Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am in a female spy genre phases., and it has been fun. My current favorite author of this type is Taylor Smith, but I'm reading whatever I can get my hands on. anyway, Jane is an MI-5 agent which automatically makes this a possible interesting read. And it was. but it read as an amalgam of disparate episodes that were just patched together. that didn't work. Also, while I admired Jane's skill throughout most of the novel, she does come off as quite bumbling towards the end in two different scenarios--it made me question her previous work. She didn't strike me as one of the best by any stretch. Finally, as a person/character, she wasn't that interesting. Beyond her spy abilities, her insights into others seemed negligible. She just appeared to be a manipulator more than anything else, and a pretty emotional one at that. Yes, the reader kept being given reasons for her suspicions/lack of trust but well, it got old. I will very likely not read any further.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't even remember how I stumbled upon this author, but I really enjoyed this book about a burned out MI5 agent who tries to live her life as a book author but ends up sucked back into the action in spite of herself. Jane is definitely a character I felt drawn to, and the other folks in the story weren't bad either.

[Misbah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane is a spy in Her majestys service. She comes to the states on a mission and ends up in a relationship with an American cop....who doesn't know she's a spy. She's trying to focus on her mission but is distracted by the quiet life and the fact that there's a serial killer in the area dropping bodies. In the end her cover is blown and she loses the first guy she's had a connection with since her spy boyfriend was murdered during a mission.

I fell in love with the characters immediately and this book sparked my I want to be a spy phase.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of those serendipitous thrift store finds. I love getting into her spy mindset. And I love her cover as mystery writer too. Plus the touch of angsty romance. This book hits all my buttons.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Suspenseful thriller, pretty good. I would read more in the series.