RICHARD BRODICK

Full Name:	Richard Brodick
Series Name:	Brodick Cold War Thriller Series
Nationality:	British
Organization:	MI6
Occupation	Agent

Creator:	John Fullerton
Time Span:	2021 - 2022

ABOUT THE SERIES

Richard Brodick is an agent with MI6.

The time period for the trio of adventures that exist of this man is 1981 - 1992 and the locations for his activities range from Beirut, the closest to his native England, and Beijing, the farthest.

As we are told in a blurb about this operative in the beginning of the first recorded adventure, "Richard Brodick wants to do his patriotic bit in the Cold War and has set his sights on joining the Secret Intelligence Service as a full-time officer, following in the footsteps of his father's illustrious career as a World War Two spy." That his parent had also become for a time the SIS Director added to his determination to make something of himself in the clandestine world.

That sounds rather noble and honorable and it may very well be the case but when we initially meet him, in Peshawar, Pakistan, he lets us know he is seriously rethinking his career choices and doubting he would ever make it as an operative with the Secret Intelligence Service. "He'd given up his marriage, a well-paid job, his dog, and his home for a career in intelligence", he muses, because working in this new capacity "meant everything to him and he'd been willing to pay almost any price". Unfortunately, he was discovering very quickly that "the dream had turned out to be a mirage".

Of course, a good deal of that was a bad case of the nerves and as we continue to follow him, we will watch Brodick get over that, and subsequent repeat though less severe bouts and eventually become a trained, seasoned, and trusted agent.

One that happens, though, things begin to really get interesting (okay, they were pretty interesting already) when a slightly more seasoned albeit still quite inexperienced Brodick is put into a situation involving the extremely dangerous and seemingly ever-present Chen Meilin, workname of Fang, deputy chief of the Chinese Foreign Intelligence Service and codenamed DRAGON by MI6. What makes this woman so fascinating is that we are always a bit in the doubt about one thing. Did Brodick recruit Fang to work for him or did she recruit him?

BOOKS

Number of Books:	3
First Appearance:	2021
Last Appearance:	2022

I have marked 3 books in the Richard Brodick series but 4 appear below. The fourth one is set in the Brodick universe and deserves mentioning here.


1			Spy Game Written by John Fullerton Copyright: 2021 The year is 1981. "The Cold War is in full swing. Richard Brodick decides to follow in his father’s footsteps, joining Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service. As a contract ‘head agent’ based in Pakistan, Brodick’s job is to train Afghans to capture video of the war against the Soviets. However, he finds himself in a murky world of blurred lines and conflicting stories, where he cannot trust anything he has been told, by anyone. What he had thought would be an adventure spying on the Soviets and their Afghan communist allies turns sour when he's ordered to kill his best friend. Will he betray his country or his friend? Which side will he choose?"

2			Spy Dragon Written by John Fullerton Copyright: 2021 The year is 1984. "Having survived Afghanistan, Richard Brodick is now a fully qualified member of the Firm - an officer in the British Secret Intelligence Service. But what should be a proud moment, quickly turns sour. Dangerously sour. Despatched to Beirut at the height of the civil war, Brodick becomes embroiled with a mysterious Chinese operative known only as Fang. He finds himself in a new and dangerous game of double and triple agents, and double and triple crosses. Can he trust anyone, even himself?"

3			Spy Trap Written by John Fullerton Copyright: 2022 The year is 1992. "As a seasoned British agent, Richard Brodick now occupies a respectable – in as far as any spy can be respectable – position in the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service. ... When a British man dies in a Chinese hotel, Brodick finds himself face-to-face once more with the ruthless and ambitious Chen Meilin, better known as Fang, codename DRAGON. Their working relationship both pleases and torments Brodick, but in this case he cannot operate without her. As they delve deeper into the events surrounding Roger Peacock’s death, Brodick and Fang uncover corruption and betrayal at the heart of China’s communist regime. But as events unfold and their own conflicting interests, hopes and ambitions collide, it is not clear that either of them can survive, this time …"

4			Emperor Written by John Fullerton Copyright: 2022 Note: this is NOT a Richard Brodick adventure as he appears nowhere in these pages. However, the always fascinating and ever dangerous Chen Meilin, once known as Dragon to MI6, has a pretty interesting part. "Can ex-NSA agent Ava stop the Emperor’s war plans before he kills millions - and her? There’s a new Cold War…and it’s about to erupt into World War Three. Emperor Qin - absolute ruler, dictator for life - has one task before he succumbs to brain cancer, and it means war. Can ex-spy Ava stop him in time to save millions - and survive?"

MY COMMENTS

For a series to be successful, you must have an interesting main character that is compelling to follow, either because he is worthy of it or because the things he does are worthy. You definitely get that with Richard Brodick.

If at the same time you can also have really interesting co-stars, well, so much the better. And again we have that big-time in the delicious, super-deadly Chen Meilin. Wow, what an ally/adversary - the reader and Brodick never can be really sure which she is when. That makes the stories so much fun and well worth the cost and the time.

GRADE

My Grade: A-

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