Gob Off
There'll be no more gobbing off here
Due to time constraints, we'd prefer you contact us by commenting on the Andy McNab News Blog. Your comment, question, or message to Andy doesn't have to be apropo to a given post, so just pick a post at random and comment away.
If you absolutely need to comment privately or need a private response-- or have materials or info to contribute, you can email unclejon at greymansland dot com. I will respond from my personal email as time permits.
Thank you for your cooperation, and for the thousandth time I AM NOT ANDY MCNAB.
Below are archived comments and responses from our old system:
FROM: Brugge in Belgium
MESSAGE: If anything changed my life, it's McNab's books. I'm 26 and live in Belgium. Due to B20 and the books that followed, I've joined the Infantry in the Bel-Army. After a few years I started working in private security. I still learn from every book he makes and try to apply his points of view in real life. It has certainly made me succesfull in everyday life and career. So here it is: thanx Andy, your a great writer and you inspired me to choose a certain way of life that makes me very happy. To any other fans: if you are young and doubting wether of not to join the military, go for it! Start with a few years and then you can still doe something else. To me, the army made me what I am. No doubt, it gives you a good platform after school, sort yourself out to get ready for life. Great site by the way, altough just a bit to much of the happy fan thing to me. Talking about it all day means nothing if you just go out and do it for real. Cheers from Brugge in Belgium
RESPONSE:Great comment, thanks for the feedback.
FROM: Anonymous Fan
MESSAGE: Can anybody tell me a summary of the ending to "remote control"?
RESPONSE:Yes.
FROM: Anonymous Fan
MESSAGE: Andy mcnabs books are great i've them all and three signed keep up the good work.
RESPONSE: Signed copies are the best! I've got three or four personally signed to me thanks to a secret "connection," and they'll always be among my more treasured possessions.
FROM: Anonymous Fan
MESSAGE: Finished the Mcnab series of books a couple of months ago and found them a great read, once i started one i couldn't put it down. after reading bravo two zero, like most people i read chris ryans and Mike Coburn's books and it's amazing how different they are. I also read Michael ashers book and thought your comments about him were a tad extreme, he does a fairly good job of shooting holes in all 3 books (I think you have to be pretty simple to beleive everything that these 3 people write especially chris. after the way he writes about petrol members that didn't make it out of Iraq, is frankly a disgrace) On the other hand the only people that know the real truth are the people that experienced it first hand and who can blame them for trying to glam the books up abit they'd be pretty boring if they told the complete truth.
I've just finished reading a series of books by a guy called Duncan Falconer (SBS) very cool books similar to Mcnab. "first into action" is well worth a read. it's Mr Falconers autobiography and tells a lot about the differences between the SAS nd SBS from his point of view. He does tend to slate the SAS from time to time. (So die hard SAS fans you've been warned!!)
Who do you think is better, SAS or SBS? (or both the best but in different situations)
If you speak to Mcnab ask him what he thought about the SBS when he was in the regiment it would be interesting to know.
RESPONSE: Now that's the kind of feedback we love--thoughtful and informed. I'm glad to hear you've discovered Duncan Falconer, as he's a fantastic writer and a pretty decent chap. As for the SAS vs. SBS, I'm not qualified to judge but I'd agree that it really depends on the mission. And what does Andy think of the SBS? Well, Andy?
FROM: Anonymous
MESSAGE: Hi guys,i would just like to say that i too am a fan of him and the site works well.I have also been on a You tube site and happened to spot him on Video showing diffrent types of guns and how to fire them. I would love to know what he looks like? becouse its either his eyes that are blacked out or its his face, i know that it would be for security and no doubt his own privercy but it would be quit cool to see the man just once.
RESPONSE: Offer me money.
FROM: Anonymous
MESSAGE: im too young to be in the amry but i have always dreamed of being n the sas its the excitment of being there if andy mcnab could give me any tips to surviving i would be verly greatful
RESPONSE: If survival is your goal, joining the SAS would be counter-productive.
FROM: A young fan
MESSAGE: Just gotta say, i'm totally luviin andy and all his books- i 'got into' his writing with the boy soldoer series (yes i'm only 13....) and then read Brvo Two Zero- I haven't looked bak since!!!
Ps, i totally agree wiv the chick who thinks that us girls shud b able 2 join the SAS, we're just as good!!!!
RESPONSE: U r rite, grrls shld B able to join the SAS.
FROM: Maria W
MESSAGE: I couldn't respond before as I've been out and about as you do to earn a crust. Fantasy men don't do it for me, whoever you are, SORRY! Nick Stone is vulnerable because though he is hard and professional, where girls are concerned he is unsure, and not pushy... very sexy, so note this please guys! As an ex-QARANC I have a soft spot for these army/forces guys! Anyway as a fan I have to say that Andy is fab - as they all are, every single man(or woman) who signs the dotted line to serve us deserves our admiration, truly!
RESPONSE: I've known loads of pricks in the forces, so I have to disagree when you say anyone that signs up is worthy of admiration. What I would say is, "Anyone who joins the military for the primary purpose of serving their fellow citizens, and completes his or her enlistment with honour, is worthy of professional respect whether or not they are admirable people." Hope that makes sense.
As for Nick being hot or not, all I can say is that it's easy for Andy to type what women want to hear. Watch out or that smooth-talking cockney will be shagging you next!
FROM: Anonymous fan
MESSAGE: Read all the books, Immediate Action Thru to Aggressor, about to start Recoil. Then I guess I'll do the Boy Soldier and GreyMan book.
Excellent Author, so much experience and truth there.
Also read, 'The one the got away' and 'Soldier Five'. And I must say, Soldier Five resolves a lot of the untruths that it would seem McNab and Ryan have been forced to tell by the MoD. It seems to pain a truer image of what really happend, by someone who was really there.
RESPONSE: Yes, we love "Soldier Five" in that it's true. I'm not sure the MOD forced Ryan to make up a story about knifing some Iraqis, or forced Andy to uh, well...stretch things a bit, but then again the MOD wasn't promising them loads of cash.
Remember, McNab is a manipulator and has always lied when it served him--part of what made him a great operator. Coburn's different and thus his book reflects what he actually experienced rather than what he wants you to think he experienced. Having said that, "Bravo Two Zero" is a better read than "Soldier Five", and Andy's omissions and embellishments are minor compared to Ryan's, whose "One that Got Away" is right up there with "Star Wars" and "Lord of the Rings" as far as fantasy tales go.
FROM: Kev
MESSAGE: Great books, big fan, read all Andy`s books just reading Recoil, Nick Stone, great character, if they made film of his books Tim Roth could play Nick.
RESPONSE: Tim Roth? Jesus, why not John Malkovich if we're just gonna pick some emaciated "artist" to play Nick? I love Tim Roth, but Nick Stone he ain't. He's about as hard as my knob after swimming in cold water with the local Weight Watchers Aquatic Team. Sorry, but that's the worst suggestion for Nick I've ever heard, and I've heard some bad ones. Thanks for writing, though, honey bunny.
FROM: Anonymous fan
MESSAGE: Having seen your response to "some wanker" [see further down this page--ed.], I wonder what you make of Billy Ratcliffe's version of events prior to the mission, and after regarding the Reg x-briefing?
RESPONSE: First off, I respect Ratcliffe, but you have to understand where he's coming from. He's not going to blame anything on the powers that be if he can blame mistakes on "lowly" patrol members. On the veracity scale, I would put his account of B20 somewhere between Chris Ryan's (not pure fantasy like Asher but still pretty "creative") and Andy McNab's accounts. For the real story of B20, we still recommend Mike Coburn's excellent "Soldier Five."
FROM: Anonymous fan
MESSAGE: What tablets did Nick Stone take in Remote Control when he was on the plane with Kelly to make him come across as being unwell?
RESPONSE: Well, if it was Andy McNab rather than Nick Stone trying to come across as unwell, I'd say placebos would do the trick. I actually don't know the answer, though in my younger and crazier days I certainly took some pills that left me looking, and feeling, unwell. Can any fans help out with a definitive answer on this one?
FROM: A German fan
MESSAGE: I've only just discovered the fantastic Nick Stone thrillers a couple of months ago (forgive me, Andy is not very well known in Germany). I enjoy listening to the audiobooks read by Clive Mantle.
My English is not too bad, but in "Aggressor" I keep coming over a term that sounds to me like "paperclip" when he refers to written information. As I couldn't find any other meaning of paperclip apart from the office tool - did I simply mishear? If so, what is the correct word? If not, could you add "paperclip" to the MSR? Please, enlighten me.
RESPONSE: He uses the term "paperclip" as a joke--the cyrillic characters look like paperclips to Nick. A great example of Andy's humour.
FROM: Nigel (not my mate Nigel, another Nigel)
MESSAGE: Have any of Mcnabs, or Ryans books been made into films. I seem to recal a couple were bought as film rights can anyone answer.
RESPONSE: Well, "Bravo Two Zero" was made into a film starring Sean Bean. The rights to "Crisis Four" were optioned long ago, but I doubt it will be filmed based on what I hear from my contacts in L.A. As for Chris Ryan, I don't know.
FROM: Marco
MESSAGE: You may update the "Press" links on your site mate.
Especially the links under "Articles by Andy McNab".
Many of the links just don't seem to work anymore. Many just show a note; "page not found".
Otherwise I really appreciate to visit Grey Mans Land.
It is a great site!
I fucking love Andy McNabs books and own them all.
I really hope future will give us fans movies about Nick Stones adventures.
I think the actor Hugh Jackman would be perfect for the part as Nick Stone.
Cheers!.
RESPONSE: I apologise for not checking the links and all. My profession keeps me so busy, I admit I neglect this site. I would just copy the articles and post them but I try to be reasonably cool about copyrights and all. I totally agree about Hugh Jackman, he's made to play Nick Stone!
FROM: A chick (I assume)
MESSAGE: Hi, I think that the SAS is the most elite troop in the world and that it deserves all due respect! But, why can't girls join, in this day and age I think that it is sexist and that girls should be allowed to join.
RESPONSE: I agree, someone's gotta cook these guys dinner and give them sex when they want it.
FROM: Maria W
MESSAGE: As a commuter who has at least 4 hours a day to kill I read anything, which as a woman, most people think is romance. WRONG. Ilove anthing historical and I am a military history freak. Hated McNab for years for all the wrong reasons -but love his style and have in a few months read everything connected with him. Come on Andy write more than 1 book a year... please, I want to marry Nick Stone, sad or wot? Seriously... more please!!
RESPONSE: Maria, many of us feel the quality of the books suffers because he produces them at such a fast pace. If he wrote them more frequently you'd basically have the "Boy Soldier" series featuring Nick Stone.
As for marrying Nick Stone, I have learned that women fall in love with fictional written characters while men fall in love with photographs of women in fictional situations. Both men and women prefer fantasy to reality when it comes to the opposite sex.
FROM: Some Dude
MESSAGE: hi i love this site ive read bravo 2 Zero 5 times at least, best book ever. ive read Mike Coburns Soldier 5 also, and Ryans the 1 that got away, all great reads. Andy is the beez neez, do u know where i can get a copy of THE REAL BRAVO 2 ZERO by michael asher? thanx
RESPONSE: If I did I wouldn't tell you. Michael Asher is a faggot and a liar. I'm glad you're interested in SAS history, but Asher ain't the one to learn it from. He's a fraud, a joke, and an Arab-obsessed wannabe Muslim. "Soldier Five" is the best book on the whole deal as far as veracity goes. Forget Asher.
FROM: Some Wanker
MESSAGE: He bullshitted about Bravo Two Zero because he fucked up. He might as write books about it, because his characters are obviously better at it than him. Just because he's ex SAS doesn't mean he doesn't lie.
RESPONSE: He fucked up, did he? Was it Andy's job to provide decent maps, to get a decent weather report? He himself said he should have aborted based on conditions on the ground--he didn't and he lives with that. It was others who didn't care enough to put that patrol in that situation in the first place, and if you knew the people involved you'd know that. Fuck off.
FROM: Random Person
MESSAGE: best author ever!!
RESPONSE: Dude, we thank you, but...Read a bit more, please.
© 2004-2007 Goedgekeurd door de Nederlandse Vereniging van Huisvrouwen