Michael Evans
Introduction
I am Michael Evans, longstanding national newspaper journalist and author of Shadow Lives, a spy thriller with a strong Russian theme and two leading female characters, and First with the News, a memoir of my adventures as a reporter on home and foreign assignments. Welcome to my site.
"Writes exquisitely, drawing the reader in right from the start, offering the promised thrill of a good story."
Goodreads
About Me
After studying English at London University, I joined a local newspaper in East London before getting my first job in Fleet Street, as a reporter on the Daily Express. I spent 16 exciting years on the paper, ending up as defence and diplomatic correspondent, travelling around the world. In 1986 I was offered the job of Whitehall correspondent on The Times, but was soon promoted to defence correspondent, and in 1998 to defence editor. Over the next 12 years I covered six wars for The Times, first in Bosnia and Kosovo, and later in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2010 I was posted to Washington as The Times’ first Pentagon correspondent. I returned to London in 2013 and continue to write on defence and intelligence issues for the newspaper.
Books
Shadow Lives
First With The News
Double Lives
Geraldine Hammer, MI5's director of counter-espionage, is in the crosshairs of a gunman. What first appears to be a terrorist plot evolves into a deadly revenge mission by a Russian spy and assassin. Rebecca Strong, a young artist, unwittingly gets caught up in the drama, and the two women from different worlds find themselves confronting the same assassin.
I have been a Fleet Street journalist for more than 40 years and this memoir has been significantly shaped by my experience as a war reporter. I covered six wars in the field, including Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. Being sent off on perilous but exciting assignments over a period of two decades had a dramatic influence on my career and on my life. This memoir gives an insight into what it is like to cover a war as a reporter: doubts, terror, tragedy and life-changing decisions but also humour and an appreciation of human courage in times of great suffering and torment.
Clarence Blackpool Mahoney is a low-grade intelligence analyst at MI5 specialising in Middle Eastern terrorism. His family believes he works as a civil servant for the Department of Environment. He is obsessed with secrecy. Unbeknown to him all the members of his family also have secret lives. His wife, Suzanne, is having an affair with his best friend, his son, Bobbie, still at school, has been seduced by a passionate, Mediterranean-type older woman and his daughter, Rosie, 15, has a fixation about revealing her exotic underwear in public places.
By a quirk of fate, food poisoning at MI5's canteen puts out of action the agency's top surveillance experts, and Clarence is drafted in to follow a known Palestinian terrorist called Abou Khaddabra who has entered Brtain to check on a secret bank account that helps fund his organisation, Black January. The consequences for Clarence are both hilarious and life-threatening as he follows the terrorist , first in London and then across to France.
Testimonials
"This was a quick, suspenseful read. The paragraphs were concise which added to the overall fast-paced tone of the book. The character development was outstanding. There was enough back story to give insight into them as individuals withut distracting from the present storyline. They were also inherently human; flawed and relatable. As a reader I felt really connected and invested, particularly in Rebecca. I would recommend this novel to those that enjoy plot twists and intensity in every sense of the word. Reading this novel was like watching a puzzle being put together, slowly deciphering where each piece of information fits." Hannah Mcintosh, reviewer on Goodreads
"I really enjoyed this book. Within the first couple of chapters I was easily sucked in. I 10/10 recommend it. I really enjoyed the book and can't wait to read more by this author."
Carmen Norris, reviewer on Goodreads
"I don't usually read spy novels but Shadow Lives was a gripping read from start to finish. I found the plot to be well written and detailed with plenty of plot twists throughout." Georgina Bulga, reviewer on Goodreads
"In a profession tarnished by hackers and liars, Mike Evans is one of the good guys who does in his book what he did all his career - tells it as he sees it. Straight."
Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's chief press secretary, then director of communications and strategy at 10 Downing Street
"In two decades of war reporting I only ever encounered one true gentleman of Fleet Street, Michael Evans.This is the tale of his life and times, and it is as fine a read as you could hope for, complete with a fabulous cast of spooks, war lords, gangsters and whores. Most memorable of all though is Evans' own modesty and tireless professionalism, qualities which run through this dark and exciting world as a golden thread, drawng the reader effortlessly onwards in the footsteps of the author's graceful integrity. "
Anthony Loyd, war correspondent for The Times
"A genuine tour de force, I cannot recommend this highly readable book strongly enough. An exciting autobiography and insightful modern history in one volume, it's beautifully and modestly recounted as is Mike Evans' hallmark."
Lord Richards of Herstmonceux, Chief of the Defence Staff, 2010-2013
A brilliantly crafted and quintessentially British spy story. The hilarious plot follows Clarence Blackpool Mahoney as he is forced from his desk job at MI5 into the frontline of 1980s Middle Eastern terrorism (to which he is not entirely suited). I thoroughly recommend you read this book.
Review on Amazon
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It had a great sense of humour throughout, plenty of twists and turns and enough insight into the spy world to show you that this author really knows their stuff. Will definitely read the next installment.
Review on Amazon from the United States