Richard and Barbara Osborn’s “On Her Majesty’s Cyprus Mission”

This week I’m excited to review a prequel of some local authors. You may remember my review of Richard and Barbara Osborn’s The Red Moon Affair (if not, you should really check it out). Their newest book, On Her Majesty’s Cyprus Mission is a prequel of sorts to that novel, following Ian Black in his earlier days with British intelligence in the late 1950s. Black is assigned to the Royal Artillery 188^th Radar and Searchlight Battery in Cyprus. As the novel’s opening points out, Cyprus has a history of military turmoil, and the location sits at a crossroad that many intelligence operations would kill (literally) to get their hands on. Black’s management assignment will quickly lead him into far more dangerous territory than he ever expected. As a Greek terrorist organization plots the political decimation of Cyprus, Black finds himself fighting on a new front: espionage.

As much as I liked the techno-thriller aspects of the modern The Red Moon Affair, I have to say that On Her Majesty’s Cyprus Mission is my favorite of the two. Taking place in the 1950s, Cyprus has an overall grittier tone, focusing on backroom politics, arms dealing, and a more personal experience of war. Richard Osborn is a veteran of both the British Royal Artillery and the United States Air Force, and in this novel you can tell. Many authors are heavy-handed with their soldiers, either stripping them of all military identity to favor an “everyman” character, or making the soldiers unrealistically hardened to normal human interaction. The Osborn duo excels in their characterization: Ian Black, among a host of other memorable characters, feels like a real human being, while retaining his sense of honor and duty to his country. The Osborns’ international experiences are also clearly at work on the page, as the couple readily bring to life every location, from villas to back alleys. To top it off, the novel’s running theme of bureaucratic red tape and political agendas overruling strategic military action is an ever-relevant issue that developed countries all around the world are facing today.

I greatly enjoyed my last foray into the minds of Barbara and Richard Osborn, and I can safely, and happily, say that this venture was even more fun. On Her Majesty’s Cyprus Mission is a great espionage-thriller that boasts a well-developed cast of characters, top-notch action and drama, and an impressive historical backdrop against which the plot is set. If a more classic military thriller is your style, or you want to see a shining example of local authorship, then Richard and Barbara Osborn’s On Her Majesty’s Cyprus Mission is a book you should definitely check out. The “An Ian Black Novel” has me particularly hopeful that there is a great deal to look forward to in the next Ian Black novel.

Keep your eyes peeled for my review of the newest Ian Black installment, “On Her Majesty’s Berlin Mission,” which I will have posted in a couple of weeks! Until then, I’m taking a look at a particularly compelling popular sci-fi book that is rather unlike anything I’ve ever read.