Not Exactly Dead

Mi5 1/2 #1

by Kathryn Judson

The MI5 1/2 adventures start here, in London, in the wee hours, in thickish fog, back in the days when mobile phones were becoming common enough, but a phone with a video display was still something that could draw more attention than a spy might want to have from the general public - not that either the leading man or the leading lady of this story much wanted a videophone, both of them being technophobes, not to mention not being fond of being monitored too closely by headquarters. Richard Hugh, aka Triple-O Five of the unsung British agency nicknamed MI5 1/2, is happily making life miserable for bad guys and, when he has time, cultivating a reputation as a lady's man. But then the Americans get the notion that he's been marked for death by a notorious spy killer who has been bumping off spies belonging to an odd mix of nations. This would almost be business as usual, except that the Americans send Emma Chapman over to keep an eye on Hugh, in the hopes of catching the assassin (preferably before he bumps off 0005). Chapman is short, plain, and respectable, and couldn't care less that Hugh is suave and handsome. This is not at all the sort of female he's used to working with. Before long, the Hugh-as-rat-bait hunt for Mighty Planetary Master involves the French, represented most notably by the fearless and philosophical Leandre Durand, who doesn't mind in the least keeping his own counsel. Meanwhile, gangster Frank Hoddel would like Triple-O Five either kidnapped or dead. Are we having fun yet? First book in a series. The next book is Not Exactly Innocent, followed by Not Exactly Allies, Decidedly Not Official, and Not Quite Home. This revised edition matches the ebook edition.

Genres: Mystery, Espionage

268 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2011

About the author

Kathryn Judson was a newspaper reporter and columnist for many years, before switching over to working for a small indie office supply company that morphed into the Uffda-shop, one of the largest indie bookstores in Oregon. (It has since closed.)

Almost Hopeless Horse was inspired in part by her horse Yob, who was afraid of cattle. Trouble Pug combines a love of history, time travel stories, and her late husband's fondness for a pug that traveled the country with him in his younger days. Why We Raise Belgian Horses got its start in stories from her husband's Norwegian-American family, including a story his grandfather told of a horse with an unusual phobia. The MI5 1/2 series started off as a spoof of spy novels but ended up being more serious than that in places (although still fairly silly overall). When she got tired of dystopian novels that ignore God and don't seem to understand that conversion is an option for people, she launched into the Smolder series, which also pokes sharp sticks into the evils of racism and social engineering, while still having fun with romance and friendship.

Mrs. Judson is an adult convert to Christianity. You will find, if you read her books, that the ones from early in her walk are generally more in line with an Americanized national religion than with the Sermon on the Mount (found in the Bible in Matthew chapters 5 through 7) and other foundational commands of Christ Jesus. It took her a while to realize that some of what she was taught in church and had acquired from pop culture and from reading "Christian" books was often at odds with Jesus and His apostles. Therefore, with many of her books, you'll find American "conservative" values and ways of thinking more than Christian ones. In all cases, you should always compare what is presented against what Christ teaches. When there's a difference, go with Jesus.

She has lived most of her life on the rain shadow side of Oregon, but has also lived and worked in Texas, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. She also long ago traveled through Central America, and Canada, and to Japan. Also way back when, she toured with Up With People, and as a lowly flunky helped put on a Superbowl halftime show. In her school days, she was active in community theater, both on and off stage. One summer during her newspaper days, she took time off and worked for a summer stock theater company in the Black Hills of South Dakota. In 2017, she asked her church in Idaho to plug her into something and got sent across the country to Kentucky to take care of babies and toddlers of women who were in prison, jail, or drug rehab. She did that for three years. Since then, she has been a live-in caregiver in private settings.

Always a history buff (even in grade school!), Mrs. Judson switched in recent years to studying the history of the church, from the teachings and trials of the apostolic church right on up to the present day, with an emphasis on the persecuted church. She finds the Radical Reformation (the rise of the Anabaptists), and other 'radical reformations', like the American Restoration Movement and the rise of the early Methodists, etc., especially interesting.

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I struggled through the first 40 pages but, once past that, I loved the book. Frequently hilarious, it is the story of an English, an American and a French spy in pursuit of a criminal mastermind, or, at least, a man who thought he was the master in mastermind. One of the lovely things with this book is that these were not young athletic spies, but, rather, spies that had been around a while and were nearing retirement.

[CG · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this as a free book. I thought I would enjoy it but not so much. Part of the problem was due to the way it was published. There were no page breaks between chapters. There was too much print per page. There were no line spaces between paragraphs. That made reading it very difficult. I felt as if I was slogging through dialogue and had a hard time finding my place between reading sessions. It is possible I would have enjoyed this book more if the publication was better. I'm not sure I want to attempt reading the rest in the series due to this issue. Another issue was character development. They felt rather stilted - especially Richard. I like Emma the best. I'd like to see how they fare in future issues, but not if the printing is the same as this one.

[LadyTechie · Rating 3 out of 5]

When will they institute 1/2 stars. I enjoyed this book and found the first half or so to be quite hilarious. I will continue with the series.

[Marisa Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fizzles at parts. Ending too good. Had high potential in early part of book.