JOHN MURRAY (as told to SHARON MURRAY with ABBY JONES) - CODE NAME: PAPA (2015)

Synopsis/blurb.....

Who’d have thought a bright, but fairly ordinary young man from middle class America who got just above average grades, dated the same girl throughout high school and went to church most Sundays, would grow up to eventually head a very secretive band of brave individuals-both men and women-who regularly put their lives on the line because they wanted to protect the rest of you. Yet that’s what we did, often sacrificing our personal lives (four marriages for me, all in the book) and our health (countless broken bones, major surgeries, even death) to do it.

Meanwhile you’re just going to have to call me “Papa” like everyone else around the globe has through most of those wildly unpredictable and dangerous years.

Not a memorable read by any stretch of the imagination, I'm afraid. Code Name: Boring would be a fitting alternate title in my opinion.

"Papa" went to Vietnam, made a couple of life-long friends in combat and was recruited along with them to a shadowy, secretive organisation which set about eliminating threats to Joe Public's well-being all around the globe.

Corrupt American Generals, dodgy politicians, Mafioso types, drug-runners, human traffickers......BOOM, because with Papa and his trusty crew on the case......they're going down!

In between our missions, we have chapters spent training, recruiting, planning and living a far from normal family life.........dull, dull, dull.

Early on - maybe chapter 5 from a total of 43, I knew I wasn't going to be thrilled by this book, but was still minded to complete - albeit at a pace of a couple of chapters a day while enjoying a couple of more entertaining reads.

Missions described were vague and sometimes seemed a bit too fanciful to be true. Conversations recalled and reported seemed incredibly wooden......

He said, "Very good sir, would you like me to have the kitchen fix you anything to take with you?" I declined.

"You do know the plane has been waiting for you for approximately an hour?"

I replied I knew.

He said, "Sir, we will miss him also, but we understand you are our primary concern from now on. We will do our best to meet your needs."

I softly thanked him. After he closed the doors, I walked over and picked up my briefcase. I opened it, checked my revolver, and put it back, along with some papers I needed.

True - false? Who cares? Memoirs or fantasy? I'm not sure, at times it read like The Man Who Saved The World meets The X-Files.

Disappointing and 2 stars from 5.
(In fairness, a few folk over on Amazon.com seemed to enjoy this a lot more than me....24 reviews - 14 @ 5 STARS, only 1 @ 2!)

After finishing chapter 43, page 313, I softly closed the book.....plucked the skewer from my eyeball - implanted around 200 pages earlier, so I could experience a different kind of pain while reading, whispered "thank fuck" to myself and went off to make a sandwich.... (turn the page to discover just what type of lunch I made for myself)......yawnsville.

Read in February, 2017
Source - Book Publicity Services review copy. (Cheers Kelsey)
Published - 2015
Length - 326 pages
Format - trade paperback