WILLIAM THOMAS COCHRANE

Full Name:	William Thomas Cochrane
Nationality:	American
Organization:	FBI
Occupation	Agent

Creator:	Noel Hynd
Time Span:	1985 - 2023

ABOUT THE SERIES

William Thomas Cochrane is an agent with the F.B.I.

The first time we meet Special Agent Cochrane, the year is 1939. America in general seems to be determined to maintain neutrality in the fights against Germany in Europe and Japan in Asia, at least Congress it; the President is very much for aiding England and France. Germany for its part knows how dangerous America can be with its shipments of vital war materials so it has secretly invaded the country with its agents acting both as saboteurs and as intelligence gatherers.

It had been a string of highly suspect incidents which slowed or even stopped vital shipments to England that caused the President to want a special investigator to find whoever was spearheading the attacks. Because of a successful case handled by the Bureau which involved infiltrating a man into Germany who returned with valuable intelligence, Roosevelt had an idea who should be that lead detective and forced Hoover to agree. That agent was Cochrane.

Cochrane is, in 1939, 33 years old with sandy, blondish hair. "His eyes were sharp and his complexion slightly ruddy and sun-beaten, the result of long weekend hikes through the Maryland countryside. He looked younger than his years, however."

He had been an agent with the Bureau since writing directly to Director Hoover applying for a job and explaining how he was been for several years "a banker and an investigator for the international division" of a bank in Atlanta. He went on to explain he was fluent in both French and German and felt, with Europe starting down the road to war, he had traits that would be needed by the F.B.I. It has been the rise to chancellorship of Hitler that prompted the move.

Now with a call from the Director himself, Cochrane will begin a series of dangerous assignments which will greatly affect his life and future.

BOOKS

Number of Books:	5
First Appearance:	1985
Last Appearance:	2023


1			Flowers From Berlin Written by Noel Hynd Copyright: 1985 Siegfried is the codename for a German agent rumored to have been unleashed to cause irreparable harm to America and keep it out of the War. The year is 1939 and Roosevelt calls upon FBI Special Agent Cochrane to do the impossible and hunt down this phantom agent.

2			Return To Berlin Written by Noel Hynd Copyright: 2019 The year is 1943. Special Agent Cochrane is now Major Cochrane in the U.S. Army and is starting combat training when he is pulled from the ranks and sent back to D.C. His new role is that of OSS operative ordered to sneak into Switzerland and meet up with Alan Dulles, there to receive further orderes.

3			Judgment In Berlin Written by Noel Hynd Copyright: 2021 "It is 1948. World War Two is over, Hitler is dead. The Nuremberg trials have concluded. The Marshall Plan attempts to rebuild Europe, though Germany remains occupied by American, British, French, and Soviet military forces. William Thomas Cochrane, an American intelligence agent, is in England with his wife, Laura, visiting friends and family. Bill Cochrane has accepted an invitation to be a guest lecturer for one year at the University of Cambridge. But when summer arrives, so does the first major international crisis of the postwar years. Under Joseph Stalin’s orders, the Soviet Union employs the Red Army to block the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control." "Cochrane’s country is calling him back to active duty for a special assignment in the newly divided Germany, one which will take him behind newly drawn enemy lines and into a perilous netherworld of ruthless black marketeers, petty criminals, prostitutes, ex-Nazis, and Soviet spies."

4			Betrayal In Berlin Written by Noel Hynd Copyright: 2022 It is now the early 1950s. The former capital of Nazi Germany has emerged as the most volatile flashpoint of the Cold War. Within days of his [return], Bill Cochrane faces a Berlin that is a more treacherous place than ever. Old friends come in and out of the rain and fog above the Rivers Spree and Havel. But so do old enemies. And so do some old friends who may actually be new enemies. Treachery and violence hang in the air, as do menace and betrayal. Berlin is a city where no one is safe, and nothing is sacred. People disappear. Traitors are everywhere. Murders are common.

5			Revolt In Berlin Part One Written by Noel Hynd Copyright: 2023 "It is the early 1950s, the end of the Truman Administration and the start of the Eisenhower years. A divided Berlin remains the focal point of the Cold War, the political tinderbox that threatens to ignite World War Three. American intelligence agent – and expert on Berlin – William Cochrane returns to Berlin under the cover of an instructor at the Free University, a beacon of western thought and freedom in a city still devastated by the world war. Berlin remains surrounded by Soviet troops from all sides. With dismay growing against Stalinist rule in East Germany, the streets seethe with violence and insurrection. Soviet tanks role into Berlin to crush a workers’ revolt, and the world has its most critical American-Soviet confrontation since 1945. For Bill Cochrane the mayhem on the streets and back alleys of Berlin propel him into yet another world of espionage, assassination, abduction, compromised principles and constant danger."

MY COMMENTS

I first read the initial adventure of William Thomas Cochrane back in the late 80's. I was not particularly interested in WWII spy adventures at the time but this one caught my eye. It would make me a fan of Noel Hynd from then on with his easy-to-read prose and his terrific history lessons pleasantly imbued in the story such as to not bog things down or worse yet, bore me. In fact, I was greatly interested in them by the way he wrote.

When I started my compendium of spy series, it was disappointing that I could not include this book since it was a singleton. I would, years later, be able to add a different series of his in Alexandra Luca and the two trilogies about her but Cochrane remained outside.

Every week I diligently peruse the latest releases to see if there was anything my site needed to know. Imagine my surprise then when looking for new books to consider for purchase, I see Hynd's name and in the description of the plot, mention of a name that rang a bell (dimly, of course, since it had been quite a few years). I grinned as I bought the book and started reading.

After 34 years, a second book about Cochrane and therefore a series I should add. I gleefully do so now.

Welcome back, Mr. Cochrane. Let me say you are as much fun to read as you were back then and that was a lot.

GRADE

My Grade: A-

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