Jaye Rothman's Blog, page 7

Fact or Fiction?

It’s September 1978. A middle aged man is waiting at a bus stop on Waterloo Bridge, which tranverses the River Thames in London. Suddenly he feels a sharp pain on the back of his right thigh. He looks behind him. A man apologies as he picks up his dropped umbrella from the ground. The stranger hurries across the road, climbs into a waiting taxi which drives rapidly away.

The man that was stabbed by the umbrella was Georgi Markov, a 49 year old Bulgarian journalist who worked for the BBC in London. Three days later, he was dead. His murderer had stabbed him with an umbrella. A pellet was situated on the tip which contained the poison ricin.

The murder of Markov was known as the Umbrella Murder. It captured the imagination of the British public at the time and for years afterwards.

There was extensive coverage on the tv and in the newspapers. Who could have murdered him? Where the KGB responsible? How could this happen on the streets of London?

Don’t forget it was the height of the Cold War. The thought of KGB spies operating on the streets of London, caused widespread consternation throughout the United Kingdom.

I set my new book a Cold War spy thriller featuring Nikki Sinclair in 1978, because I have always been intrigued by Markov’s tragic death. It’s called Murder By Umbrella.

Here’s the link.

http://goo.gl/x7NzuB

Murdered by a tip of an umbrella

My Review for Don’t Look Back by Gregg Hurwitz

I’m giving this book 5 stars why? I couldn’t put it down. Eve is an ordinary woman, with an ordinary life and a young son. Until her husband announces he’s going to leave her for another woman, who is younger and more “elegant” than she is. Eve decides to go on a holiday to Mexico that she had originally booked with her husband.She joins a tour group and they head to the jungles of Oaxaca, Mexico.

By page 33 (print copy) you know something really, really bad is going to happen. And it does! The stroy moves at a cracking pace.

My only complaint is the back story of the antagonist – I thought this unbelievable. At this point I nearly gave up reading. So pleased I didn’t!

The story reminded a little of Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians, if you liked that you probably will enjoy this. The book is broken down to days of the week – to crank up the tension.

I loved the protagonist Eve – she was believable and most women could be able to identify with her. I did.

Highly recommended.

Murder By Umbrella

C

Coming soon!

The Mossad’s Secret Weapon

In my book The Hell of Osirak, the antagonist (this is giving away a spoiler!) is Dvora Bar Zahavi, an agent for the Mossad.

This may seem strange, but it turns out there are actually many women that are working for the Mossad, the national intelligence agency of Israel. These women risk their lives every day for the sake of the country’s national security—and it’s certainly not as glamorous as movies might have led you to believe!

 

Every day, these courageous women leave everything they know—their home, their family, and most notably, their safety—to put their lives on the line for Israel. Of course, it might sound strange, but that’s the point. After all, these intelligent women are capable of many disguises. Who would suspect a poor beggar woman to have any suspicious motives?

 

Some women choose wildly different disguises—a top executive, for example—to make themselves appear flirtatious and desirable. Their enemies, of course, are unable to resist, giving these clever women the opportunity to take full advantage.

 

In today’s feminist society, this behaviour may at first seem shocking and degrading to most of us, but opinions soon change when people come to realise just how much they must face on a daily basis.

The careers of these women are far from normal, but the truth is that the vast majority are very successful at their jobs — in fact, they’re even more successful than their male counterparts.

Their sheer strength and integrity are not something to ever be underestimated.

Your country needs you!

 

When you hear the word ‘spy,’ your brain will typically conjure up the typical image of James Bond. This is understandable, of course, because in the vast majority of these thrillers, the main characters are strong, heroic males. But what about the women who go unnoticed?

 

It turns out that female spies can actually be even more successful than their male counterparts. After all, whether we like it or not in today’s politically correct world, we are much less likely to suspect a beautiful woman of being up to anything suspicious. Consider Eileen Nearne, for example, a British spy in World War Two. Everyone thought she was just a foolish timewaster — nobody ever expected that her goal was to help bring down the Nazis.

 

The main advantage of female spies is their unique ability to use their femininity to their advantage. While many women will strictly draw the line at sex, flirting is a common, yet very effective technique used to charm the enemy — and, of course, it works! But because of the very challenging and dangerous nature of the lifestyle, a lot of these women must accept that in order to truly succeed, they will have to forfeit their hope and dreams of having a family life.

 

Yet in spite of this, women around the world still choose to leave normality behind to risk their lives for the greater good – for their country.

 

After all, many say that a woman’s intuition is the most powerful force there is.

 

Lies, damn lies and spies.

 

Did the Iranians assist the Israelis in destroying the nuclear facility at Osirak?

Is this a plot taken from an espionage novel?

It sure sounds like one, doesn’t it?

During the late 1970’s Saddam Hussein was busy amassing a huge army. This consisted of over 190,000 soldiers, 2,220 tanks, and 450 aircraft. The construction of the nuclear reactor Osirak was started in 1979.

The Iranian Revolution also took place in 1979. The Shah had been disposed, and had gone into exile. Ayatollah Khomeini returned and became the Supreme Leader of Iran.

Saddam became increasingly concerned that the Shia majority in Iraq would side with Iran. There had already been riots in parts of Iraq. Saddam believed that these had been instigated by the Iranian government.

On 22 September 1980 the Iraq/Iran eight year war began when Iraq invaded Iran without any warning. The Iranian Government were concerned that Iraq would be able to develop nuclear bombs that would be used against them.

Within eight days of the Iraq-Iran war Operation Scorch Sword was launched.

On 30 September 1980, four Iranian Phantom jets re-fuelled mid air near the Iraq/Iran border. The planes climbed to a higher altitude so they were detected by Iraqi radar. Then two of the jets then dropped to a lower altitude to avoid radar. Their destination was Osirak.

Two bombs were dropped on the facility. The Iranians were worried about radioactive fall out if they directly bombed the reactors. The bombs damaged the research labs, the reactor control building and the water cooling plant. However, the attack did not stop Saddam continuing to construct the nuclear reactor.

Reading through a considerable amount of articles and books, there appears to be a high probability that Iran gave Israel the aerial reconnaissance photos taken when they bombed Osirak. This would have been vital for the Israeli’s successful bombing of Osirak on 7 October 1981.

 

The reactor

What Women Ought to Know About Personal Safety

It’s 10.30pm on a wet cold night. You are walking home alone after an enjoyable evening with friends. You decline their offer of a ride home, because your house is only ten minutes walk away, and you can do with the exercise. You can hear your footsteps echo as you hurry down the road. The street lights are dim, bushes and shrubs overhang from gardens into the street. Suddenly you have a feeling that you’re not alone. Without any warning a large man grabs you in a bear hug from behind.

Did you know that one in four women are sexually assaulted before the age of 16 in New Zealand? Were you aware that a forcible rape happens every 6.2 minutes in the USA? In 2012 in England and Wales 491,000 women were the victims of violence. The statistics of violence against women are appalling.

What can women do to protect themselves? Apart from arming themselves with guns (illegal in the UK and NZ), and knives, what are the alternatives? More women are taking self defence classes, and Krav Maga is becoming increasingly popular. This is a form of street fighting.

In my book The Hell of Osirak agent Nikki Sinclair uses it on a number of occasions (read the book!), and it saves her life. It’s fast, explosive and brutal. I’ll write more about Krav Maga in my next Blog – which is coming soon!

Visit us at www.jayerothman.com

Follow me on  https://twitter@jayerothman

http://www.pinterest.com/jayerothman –  My boards relate to my books.

In action

What women ought to know about Personal Safety

It’s 10.30pm on a wet cold night. You are walking home alone after an enjoyable evening with friends. You decline their offer of a ride home, because your house is only ten minutes walk away, and you can do with the exercise. You can hear your footsteps echo as you hurry down the road. The street lights are dim, bushes and shrubs overhang from gardens into the street. Suddenly you have a feeling that you’re not alone. Without any warning a large man grabs you in a bear hug from behind.

Did you know that one in four women are sexually assaulted before the age of 16 in New Zealand? Were you aware that a forcible rape happens every 6.2 minutes in the USA? In 2012 in England and Wales 491,000 women were the victims of violence. The statistics of violence against women are appalling.

What can women do to protect themselves? Apart from arming themselves with guns (illegal in the UK and NZ), and knives, what are the alternatives? More women are taking self defence classes, and Krav Maga is becoming increasingly popular. This is a form of street fighting.

In my book The Hell of Osirak agent Nikki Sinclair uses it on a number of occasions (read the book!), and it saves her life. It’s fast, explosive and brutal. I’ll write more about Krav Maga in my next Blog – which is coming soon!

 

www.jayerothman.com

Follow me on  https://twitter@jayerothman

http://www.pinterest.com/jayerothman –  My boards relate to my books.

 

In action

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Welcome to Spies Lies and Lesbians

 

Why did I call it that?

SPIES – because most of the main characters in my books are female SPIES. The hero in all my books is British M16 agent Nikki Sinclair, and in The Hell Of Osirak she unexpectedly encounters her ex-lover Mossad spy Dvora Bar Zahavi. It’s been seven years since they last met, and sparks fly! Can Nikki trust Dvora? Or is she being played? Who can she trust? Her own side? Or perhaps noone at all.

LIES as spies Dvora and Nikki are experts in the three D’s – Deception, Deceit and Deflection.

Nikki and Dvora are LESBIANS and because of their sexuality were at risk of exposure to blackmail, which would have compromised their effectiveness on the field. The book is set in 1981, and attitudes to homosexuality were very different to nowadays.

Why did I write about Operation Opera?

Because it’s a great story, and it actually happened. It was the code name given by the Israelis for the surprise air strike that was carried out on 7 June 1981.

In 1976 Dictator Saddam Hussein decided to build a nuclear reactor, he claimed that he wanted it for electric power. At the time Iraq had the sixth largest reserve of oil in the world. His real agenda was to commission a reactor that would have the capacity to bomb Israel. His plan was to destroy the State of Israel.

The Arab oil embargo in the 1970’s had made the Western world nervous. The offer of a secure unlimited supply of oil was tempting, combined with the potential profit from weapon sales encouraged France to make a deal with Saddam.

Iraq and France signed an agreement, and in 1976 construction started at the Al Tuwaitha Nuclear Centre in Iraq. The French blended the name of Iraq and the reactor class and named it Osirak.

In 1978 France agreed to Iraq’s request to supply highly enriched uranium, this would be used to fuel the reactors. Israel requested through diplomatic channels that a lower grade fuel be supplied, France did not agree. Work commenced at a rapid pace, and in June 1980 the first shipment of enriched uranium was delivered. The reactor was activated!

Interestingly on 30 September 1980, shortly after the Iran-Iraq War started, Iran attacked and damaged the facility.

Have a look at my website http://www.jayerothman.com see the actual video of Operation Opera.

Here’s the link to Amazon to purchase a copy of The Hell Of Osirak. http://goo.gl/MgaMG2

Photo of the reactor at Osirak.

Part two coming soon!