George Markstein (Estate of)

George Markstein was born in Berlin in 1929. His family fled Germany in the thirties. He became a journalist and was a correspondent on a US military weekly running the London desk.

In the sixties he became a story consultant and story editor for many series, including the ATV cult classic, DANGER MAN, starring an up and coming actor, Patrick McGoohan. George had heard of a British military intelligence facility for compromised agents who were deemed a security threat. Here they were left to cool off before being returned to the field or retired. This premise became the basis of Markstein's collaboration with McGoohan, THE PRISONER - the story of an unnamed agent (perhaps a sequel to the agent in DANGER MAN) who resigns his post, is kidnapped and finds himself interred as `Number Six' in `the Village' where everyone has a number and no one can escape. THE PRISONER establishes classic Markstein themes of the state versus the individual and the paranoid nature of the intelligence world, something which is very much still with us today.

George's first book, THE COOLER, returned to the original premise of the WW2 debriefing house for compromised agents and sold over 200,000 copies worldwide, and was translated into many languages. As well as working on the Armchair Theatre and classic series such as CALLAN, he was also a feature scriptwriter, co-adapting THE ODESSA FILE for the screen and he scripted a fine Stanley Baker heist movie, ROBBERY with Peter Yates. It was his ground-breaking car chase in this movie that led to Peter hiring George to script the legendary and innovative car chase in Steve McQueen's BULLITT. He remained a writer and script-doctor for many of Thames Television's successful drama series in the seventies and eighties. He wrote the screenplay to WHO DARES WINS (US title: THE FINAL OPTION).

George died in 1987.

Books

Soul Hunters 

Someone is broadcasting sinister threats across a pirate Soviet radio station. Could this be connected to the crazed US army colonel poised for action in Bavaria with his portable nuclear mines? And how do the Russian ballet dancers on tour in England fit into the deadly game? When a Western agent learns the terrifying truth that he is being double-crossed by a KGB spy, the pieces of the chilling jigsaw finally begin to fit together...

Ferret

Spy-plane pilots, Soviet and American alike, live with the same chilling knowledge. Should they ever be shot down or captured, they will instantly be disowned and said never to have existed. And if captured, they will never be returned, simply left to grow old in a prison camp.

Ultimate Issue

On an American airbase deep in the English countryside, an USAF captain is on trial accused of adultery.

Traitor For a Cause 

It might be the most casual of hints at a cocktail party, or a hastily scribbled note on the back of an envelope - however it starts, defection is a dangerous and often deadly choice. The novel is a case-study in defection, betrayal and counter-espionage.

The Goering Testament

Harry Heron, a washed-up journalist, does a favour for an old friend, a dealer in militaria. When his employer is murdered, Harry becomes a chief suspect, and is believed to know more than he is willing to let on.

Tara Kane

When Tara Kane’s husband disappears from his San Francisco home, she resolves to track him down, with her quest taking her to the inhospitable icy wilderness of the Klondike during the Gold Rush. 

Chance Awakening

A catalogue of second-hand books arrived in the post, one page marked in red. Michael Golly didn't even need to open the envelope for he already knew what it meant - this was the sign he had been so long waiting for.

The Man From Yesterday

A brilliant tale of a disillusioned spy who finds he has lost a day in his life when he returns from a mission in East Germany. As conspiracies are teased out and the hero begins to piece together his memory, he realises that what he uncovers could have profound effects on an US presidential hopeful, a young, charismatic senator tipped for the top. Markstein is the master of suspense.

The Cooler 

Set in the days leading up to D-Day, in the undercover world of SOE, at a time when the mounting pressure could make even a good agent a threat to the whole invasion.