Tana
Standish, a child-survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto, was adopted by a
British naval lieutenant and in 1965 joined the British Secret Intelligence
Service. She is a psychic with a photographic memory. Each adventure begins
with the passing of a collection of papers and manuscripts to the author (Nik
Morton) by one of her secret service associates. He then writes down her
experiences.
The Tana Standish psychic
spy series
The first is The
Prague Papers (Czechoslovakia, 1975), followed by The Tehran Text (Iran, 1978), [both of which were previously
published (2008 & 2009 respectively), though the latter received minimal
exposure as the collapse of the publisher occurred almost at the same time as
its release. Both available as Crooked Cat e-books.
At least two more adventures are planned: The Khyber Chronicle – (Afghanistan, 1979/80), a
work-in-progress, and The Caldera Cryptogram (Argentina, Falklands,
1982).
Snippets
from 12 reviews of The Prague Papers follow,
with sections excised to avoid too much repetition.
Reviews of The Prague Papers
By means of a first
person Foreword and Afterword, author Nik Morton employs a nifty ruse to create
the impression that his fast-paced spy novel is his rewritten version of a
factual story passed to him in the bar of a hotel in Portsmouth, Hampshire, by
British ex-agent Alan Swann. The ploy certainly gets matters off to a good
start and sets the scene for this novel and a major spy mission into the Soviet controlled Czechoslovakia of
1975.
Enter Tana Standish, a wiry, attractive, all-action female version of
James Bond. Once a five-year-old orphaned Polish Jewess adopted by a Royal Navy
Lieutenant and his wife, she is not only very fit and lightning fast with her
feet and hands—not to mention guns and the other tools of her trade—but she has
psychic powers which enable her to see into the minds of her enemies (and
friends), virtually regardless of where they are. This has to be the most
useful tool a spy could have in her armoury and Tana puts hers to very good
use.
… she is invited by her former lover and comrade,
Laco
Valchik, to return to Czechoslovakia to ‘repair and rebuild’ a spy cell they
created in 1968. She’s also about to face some old enemies... Unbeknown to
Tana, somewhere in Kazakhstan there are other ‘Psychics’ at work. Indeed, there
is a secret psychic listening station there and one of the psychic operatives
is inconveniently picking up some of the thoughts and emotions passing through
Tana’s mind hundreds of miles away...
Reading this excellent novel is a bit like an extreme sport. The pages
fly by at a pace… becoming engrossed in this relentless flow of exciting action
and carefully researched information which lasts right up to the climactic
denouement—in itself, both satisfying and rewarding—because Morton’s writing is
very smooth and totally believable. All-in-all, The
Prague Papers gave me that feeling of ‘being there myself’, rubbing shoulders with
his characters, and for quite a while after finishing it, I found myself
thinking about them and all they had been through. – William
Daysh,
author of Over by Christmas
… As well as creating memorable characters (Tana
Standish will stay with me for a long time), Morton captures the essence of
Prague and the Czech soul, educates us into the world of Eastern Bloc politics,
and tells an intricate tale of espionage. As if this weren’t enough, he
explores the fields of psychics and telepathy, adding intriguing depth to his
story.
Far more
than a ‘spy thriller’, this book will astound both lovers of that genre and
those looking for a truly satisfying read. – Maureen
Moss, editor and travel writer
I found myself in a world of double-dealing and intrigue at
a level which made James Bond and Modesty Blaise look like rank amateurs...
This Cold War espionage tale was fast moving and had more than one sting in it…
This tale is a lively, well written espionage adventure with plenty of twists. –
The New Coastal Press
… that’s the plot in a nutshell, but the skilful Mr. Morton
does some entrancing work within that results in a gripping read that will
enthral the reader to the last page. Interestingly, Morton sells it as a true
story passed to him by an agent and published as fiction, a literary ploy often
used by master thriller writer Jack Higgins. Let’s just say that it works
better than Higgins…. – Costa Blanca News, Danny Collins, author
of The Bloodiest Battles
Welcome back to the Cold
War…. Snatches of John le Carré, Len Deighton and Adam Hall are in effect sewn
into the secret weave that runs like a latent thread through the pages of Nik
Morton's spy adventure set in Eastern Europe… Morton's heroine, Tana is
made of stern stuff and possesses a savant like ability to move out of her
consciousness and into an ethereal plane... – Michael Parker, author of The
Devil’s Trinity
… an exciting and well-constructed espionage thriller. I do
not usually like these sort of books (I prefer horror stories) but I thought
that this was an intelligent and nicely-paced story. Morton pays great
attention to detail and he has created a memorable heroine with Tana Standish… The
year is 1975 and Tana is sent on a special mission to Czechoslovakia … and this
sets off an intriguing chain of events and some nail-biting set-pieces as Tana
encounters Russian soldiers, ruthless assassins and sadistic torturers… There
is plenty of (literally) thought-provoking material thrown in along the way
making this an extremely entertaining read. Even if you do not normally like
spy thrillers, The Prague Papers is
well worth checking out. - Amazon UK, 2010
…Tana Standish… is a brilliant character, being a spy with
amazing ability and deadly expertise to easily rival any top spy from previous
literary works… the book is spell-binding with great depth and wonderful
characters which is on par with any top spy novel, (or any thriller novel for
that matter). Nik Morton (has) the ability to make you believe that you are in
the story yourself, which is a rare thing. I can honestly say only a handful of
novelists have that kind of skill…. – Amazon UK, 2011
… Tana Standish, a female ‘Bond’ is a wonderful, stylish
character who carries the story through a roller coaster of chases, shootouts,
and devious undercover operations. Highly trained and fearless, she also
possesses a psychic ability that gives her an advantage but also places her in
the crosshairs of enemies who track her from a secret base in Kazakhstan. The
locations are detailed, as are the workings of the intelligence agencies,
evidence surely of an in-depth knowledge and extensive research. The pace is
full speed ahead and often the subject matter is brutal but I couldn’t look
away and I certainly didn’t want to stop reading. If you enjoy Bond or Bourne
then you will enjoy this, it just begs to be a movie.
Well plotted and executed this
is a story that held me enthralled and intrigued from the first page to the
last...and then I read the epilogue, and I realised just how eye-opening this
novel is... – Amazon UK, January 2015
… You are immediately immersed into the action. Ingenious
switches of time and place present the back-story without disturbing the flow,
and an exciting thriller with psychic undertones takes off. I could not put it
down. – Amazon UK, March 2015
Thoroughly enjoyed this. The very opening chapter is a
promise of intrigue and suspense. I wasn't disappointed. Good fast pace. Characters
that are so vividly and craft-fully developed that I very much felt a part of
their lives. I am now in the second of the series for another rollercoaster
ride. – Amazon UK, August 2015
… Tana Standish has one more thing going for her: psychic
talents. There’s nothing outlandish in the psi-spy’s capabilities – they’re
neatly underplayed, a talent which isn’t understood or entirely controllable but
which frequently tips the odds in her favour.
This mild shift into the land
of ‘maybe’ is carefully contrasted with the grim, grey reality of life in
Czechoslovakia in the Seventies, brought to heel seven years earlier by Soviet
tanks, its citizens stifled by the relentless brutal mechanisms of an efficient
totalitarian regime. An underground resistance cell has been compromised. Tana
is assigned to put the network back together and use her special talents to
ascertain if communications have been compromised, or worse.
The result is a running chase
through the back streets and sewers of Prague, where the protagonists barely
taste their black bread and spicy sausage between violent and amorous
encounters. This isn’t a slow-burn spy story a la Alan Furst where the tension
builds over quiet encounters and long railway rides. Instead it’s more of a
headlong hurtle through rapid liaisons and botched ops; there’s every
opportunity for Tana to show off not just her psi skills but also her street
savvy and close-quarters combat.
For me, the best scenes are
the one-on-one confrontations, claustrophobic closed room battles of expert
second-guessing. There’s a superb fight sequence which takes place in a
pitch-dark living room, where weaponless Tana must defend herself against an
armed opponent using her memory, wits, senses and what falls to hand. It’s
beautifully choreographed and delivered.
The finale (is) preceded by a
simply chilling chapter, the best in the book, where Tana must marshal all of
her mental strength to resist the worst that her opponents employ against her.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the scenes in the Soviet psychic investigations unit.
Likewise, the author’s attention to detail in his descriptions of Prague, and
Tana’s cracking back-story, were superb… In the main, The Prague Papers made for a rollicking read, an intriguing mix of
action-adventure, actual events and augmented espionage. There are further Tana
Standish novels in the pipeline, which takes place at other pivotal points in
political history. I very much enjoyed the overlap in this one between ‘real’
and ‘fiction’... – Amazon UK, October 2015
This was a brilliant read from the exciting beginning right
through to the end, the pace constant and the story of the young Tana Standish
engrossing…. The story has many dark moments but the writing is sharp and crisp
making the more gory bits not too awful for the reader who isn’t into serious
pain and bloodshed. The locations are very well described – something I’ve
noted with other novels that I’ve read by Nik Morton. His research seems
faultless to me as an occasional reader of politically based spy thrillers.
Tana is a woman with a mission; in part her drive having been moulded by her
background which we glean just sufficiently to make it all believable... –
Amazon UK, November 2015
My sincere thanks to all of the above reviewers!
Amazon UK
here
The Blurb:
Czechoslovakia, 1975. Tana is a spy - and she’s psychic. Orphaned in the Warsaw ghetto
during the Second World War, she was adopted by a naval officer and his
wife. Now she works for the British Secret Intelligence Service.
Czechoslovakia’s people are still kicking against the Soviet invasion.
Tana is called in to restore morale and repair the underground network.
But there’s a traitor at work.
And she learns about a secret Soviet complex in the Sumava
Mountains. Unknown to her there’s a top secret establishment in
Kazakhstan, where Yakunin, one of their gifted psychics, has detected
her presence in Czechoslovakia.
When Tana infiltrates the Sumava complex, she’s captured! A
desperate mission is mounted to either get her out or to silence her -
before she breaks under interrogation.
