Nick Stone (Andy McNab character)
Encyclopedia
Nick Stone is the main fictional character in a series of books written by Andy McNab
, who is an ex-member of British Army
regiment the SAS
. Andy McNab has written about Nick Stone in thirteen different books. Nick has undertaken many missions including kidnapping a powerful Russian Mafia
lord and killing a money-laundering Algerian business man.
Nick Stone left the SAS in 1988, soon after the shooting of three IRA volunteers in Gibraltar
. Once working for British Intelligence as a 'K' on deniable operations, he also briefly worked for an American agency. Now he roams the world as somewhat of a mercenary just trying to keep his head above water. Early novels are accounts of assassination and intrigue filled with tradecraft and detail. Later novels, while still detailed, deal with more social topics such as White slavery/prostitution, government corruption, war profiteering, Human rights and torture with Nick never having answers to these complicated topics, but normally just bearing witness.
afterwards. Nick treated his home as a waiting room until he could leave and, when lhe finally did, he signed up to the Army, eventually being recruited into the SAS. The characters' name and early years were allegedly based on those of a teenage acquaintance of McNab last known working a postman in Dartford
.
In Remote Control he is asked if he is still married to which he replies 'no I divorced her', she is also mentioned in subsequent novels as a gauge on women's effect on him, such as references in Crisis Four where his new found love for fellow operative Sarah is listed on his file at MI6 for the reason he divorced his wife.
After the murder of a fellow SAS soldier and his family, Nick becomes the sole guardian of their seven year old daughter Kelly, and the two went on the run from unidentified pursuers, unaware of who was the real target. In Dark Winter
, Stone unearths a doomsday threat against the populations of New York, London and Berlin and finds himself facing an unspeakable trade-off; the life of someone he loves, against those of millions he doesn't even know.
In 1987, Stone was involved with a mission in Gibraltar to prevent three PIRA members from detonating a bomb there. This mission involving Stone is a reenactment of the actual event, Operation Flavius
. This ended with the shooting in public of all three PIRA officials. This event drove Nick to retire from the SAS at some point between then and 1995. He says in Aggressor that his last job with the Regiment was supervising and being actively involved in the infamous Waco siege
in 1993, he also refers to carrying out operations in the Gulf War
in some of his books, mirroring Andy McNab
's own SAS
career. It seems he was being used for unofficial jobs by British Intelligence as early as 1995, as the character Sarah in Crisis Four encouraged him to approach them
He has had many chapters in his life and led a path that has taken him all over the world (including The Congo
, Bosnia, Iraq
, Afghanistan
, Southern France
, Éire
, Ulster
, Switzerland
, Malaysia, Georgia
, Great Britain
, the USA, Syria
, Algeria
, Libya
, Italy
, Dubai
, Russia
, Gibraltar
, Finland
, Moldova
and Denmark
), mostly under order of "The Firm" but others out of pure bad luck or personal quests for revenge or escapism.
Andy McNab
Sergeant ‘Andy McNab’ DCM MM is the pseudonym of an English novelist and former SAS operative and soldier.McNab came into public prominence in 1993, when he published his account of the failed Special Air Service patrol, Bravo Two Zero for which he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal in...
, who is an ex-member of British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
regiment the SAS
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
. Andy McNab has written about Nick Stone in thirteen different books. Nick has undertaken many missions including kidnapping a powerful Russian Mafia
Russian Mafia
The Russian Mafia is a name applied to organized crime syndicates in Russia and Ukraine. The mafia in various countries take the name of the country, as for example the Ukrainian mafia....
lord and killing a money-laundering Algerian business man.
Nick Stone left the SAS in 1988, soon after the shooting of three IRA volunteers in Gibraltar
Operation Flavius
Operation Flavius was the name given to an operation by a Special Air Service team in Gibraltar on 6 March 1988 tasked to prevent a Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb attack...
. Once working for British Intelligence as a 'K' on deniable operations, he also briefly worked for an American agency. Now he roams the world as somewhat of a mercenary just trying to keep his head above water. Early novels are accounts of assassination and intrigue filled with tradecraft and detail. Later novels, while still detailed, deal with more social topics such as White slavery/prostitution, government corruption, war profiteering, Human rights and torture with Nick never having answers to these complicated topics, but normally just bearing witness.
Biography
Nick Stone's story is depicted as a traumatic one. He grew up in England with parents who he feels did not care about him. They hardly ever spent family time together, and they never did anything to make his childhood happy. His father is also suggested to have been a very violent man, and certain passages hint that Nick was a victim of child abuse at his hand (one passage says that his father locked him in the garden shed on a stormy night and left him there, in the dark and on his own, until the morning). Another says that his stepfather used to beat him, just because he liked to do it. His mother did nothing to stop this abuse, Stone stating that all she did was let it happen, then give him a Mars BarMars Bar
Mars is a chocolate bar manufactured by Mars, Incorporated. It was first manufactured in Slough, Berkshire in the United Kingdom in 1932 as a sweeter version of the US Milky Way bar which Mars, Inc. produced...
afterwards. Nick treated his home as a waiting room until he could leave and, when lhe finally did, he signed up to the Army, eventually being recruited into the SAS. The characters' name and early years were allegedly based on those of a teenage acquaintance of McNab last known working a postman in Dartford
Dartford
Dartford is the principal town in the borough of Dartford. It is situated in the northwest corner of Kent, England, east south-east of central London....
.
In Remote Control he is asked if he is still married to which he replies 'no I divorced her', she is also mentioned in subsequent novels as a gauge on women's effect on him, such as references in Crisis Four where his new found love for fellow operative Sarah is listed on his file at MI6 for the reason he divorced his wife.
After the murder of a fellow SAS soldier and his family, Nick becomes the sole guardian of their seven year old daughter Kelly, and the two went on the run from unidentified pursuers, unaware of who was the real target. In Dark Winter
Dark Winter (novel)
Dark Winter is a 2004 novel written by Andy McNab featuring the fictional character Nick Stone.- Plot introduction:Nick Stone's bosses get wind of an act of terror that will dwarf even the nightmare of 9/11. When Stone is despatched to Malaysia by the CIA to assassinate a biochemist, he expects his...
, Stone unearths a doomsday threat against the populations of New York, London and Berlin and finds himself facing an unspeakable trade-off; the life of someone he loves, against those of millions he doesn't even know.
In 1987, Stone was involved with a mission in Gibraltar to prevent three PIRA members from detonating a bomb there. This mission involving Stone is a reenactment of the actual event, Operation Flavius
Operation Flavius
Operation Flavius was the name given to an operation by a Special Air Service team in Gibraltar on 6 March 1988 tasked to prevent a Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb attack...
. This ended with the shooting in public of all three PIRA officials. This event drove Nick to retire from the SAS at some point between then and 1995. He says in Aggressor that his last job with the Regiment was supervising and being actively involved in the infamous Waco siege
Waco Siege
The Waco siege began on February 28, 1993, and ended violently 50 days later on April 19. The siege began when the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms attempted to execute a search warrant at the Branch Davidian ranch at Mount Carmel, a property located east-northeast of Waco,...
in 1993, he also refers to carrying out operations in the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
in some of his books, mirroring Andy McNab
Andy McNab
Sergeant ‘Andy McNab’ DCM MM is the pseudonym of an English novelist and former SAS operative and soldier.McNab came into public prominence in 1993, when he published his account of the failed Special Air Service patrol, Bravo Two Zero for which he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal in...
's own SAS
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
career. It seems he was being used for unofficial jobs by British Intelligence as early as 1995, as the character Sarah in Crisis Four encouraged him to approach them
He has had many chapters in his life and led a path that has taken him all over the world (including The Congo
Congo Basin
The Congo Basin is the sedimentary basin that is the drainage of the Congo River of west equatorial Africa. The basin begins in the highlands of the East African Rift system with input from the Chambeshi River, the Uele and Ubangi Rivers in the upper reaches and the Lualaba River draining wetlands...
, Bosnia, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Éire
Éire
is the Irish name for the island of Ireland and the sovereign state of the same name.- Etymology :The modern Irish Éire evolved from the Old Irish word Ériu, which was the name of a Gaelic goddess. Ériu is generally believed to have been the matron goddess of Ireland, a goddess of sovereignty, or...
, Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Malaysia, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, the USA, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
and Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
), mostly under order of "The Firm" but others out of pure bad luck or personal quests for revenge or escapism.
In Books
The character Nick Stone appears in the following books:- Remote Control (17 February 1998)
- Crisis FourCrisis FourCrisis Four is a 1999 thriller novel by Andy McNab, that was on the Sunday Times bestseller for three and half months. This is the second novel in a series featuring fictional character Nick Stone, the book follows ex-British soldier Nick Stone as he discovers a plot to assassinate the leaders of...
(22 August 2000) - FirewallFirewall (Andy McNab novel)Firewall is a novel written by the ex-SAS member turned author Andy McNab. Released in 2000 it is the third book written about the fictional character Nick Stone.- Synopsis :...
(5 October 2000) - Last LightLast Light (novel)Last Light is a 2002 novel by Andy McNab. It is the fourth book in the Nick Stone adventures series. It was a number one bestseller.-Synopsis:...
(1 October 2001) - Liberation DayLiberation Day (novel)Liberation Day is a 2003 novel by Andy McNab.It is the fifth book in the Nick Stone adventures series. It was a number one bestseller.-Synopsis:A Zodiac inflatable slips away from an Egyptian submarine off the North African Coast...
(1 October 2002) - Dark WinterDark Winter (novel)Dark Winter is a 2004 novel written by Andy McNab featuring the fictional character Nick Stone.- Plot introduction:Nick Stone's bosses get wind of an act of terror that will dwarf even the nightmare of 9/11. When Stone is despatched to Malaysia by the CIA to assassinate a biochemist, he expects his...
(3 November 2003) - Deep BlackDeep BlackDeep Black is a 2004 novel written by Andy McNab featuring the fictional character Nick Stone.- Plot introduction:After running into an old friend whose life he saved 10 years earlier....
(1 November 2004) - AggressorAggressor (novel)Aggressor is a 2005 novel written by Andy McNab featuring the fictional character Nick Stone.- Plot introduction:After visiting an old friend, Nick Stone finds himself thrown into the modern streets of Istanbul and catapulted into the world he believed he had left behind.-External links:*...
(1 November 2005) - Recoil (6 November 2006)
- CrossfireCrossfire (2007 novel)Crossfire is a 2007 novel by Andy McNab. It is the 10th book in the Nick Stone series. The paperback version was released on 5th Nov 2007.- Plot summary:...
(12 November 2007) - Brute Force (3 November 2008)
- Exit Wound (5 November 2009)
- Zero Hour (28 October 2010)
- Dead Centre (15 September 2011)
In Films
In production: Echelon - based on the novel FirewallFirewall (Andy McNab novel)
Firewall is a novel written by the ex-SAS member turned author Andy McNab. Released in 2000 it is the third book written about the fictional character Nick Stone.- Synopsis :...