Andy McNab steps out of the shadows

Ex-SAS man’s books put him in the spotlight.

From juvenile delinquent to the most decorated soldier in the British Army it’s a journey that has shaped author Andy McNab.

As he introduces himself in our London office, Andy has the firm handshake of a man whose hands once earned a living far away from a keyboard.

He writes under an assumed name and hides his face because of a spell working with undercover informants in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

If his real identity became known, there could be reprisals against some of the people who helped the security services.

Andy came to public attention with his first book Bravo Two Zero, the story of his experiences as an SAS group commander behind enemy lines during the first Gulf War.

These days he’s the best-selling writer of a string of thrillers, but he hasn’t forgotten his roots.

Found abandoned as an orphan in a Harrods carrier bag, he was adopted by a family in Peckham, south London. Andy spent time in juvenile detention, before joining the army at 16.

“We used to sleep in rooms of 24, but I couldn’t understand why all the others didn’t like it,” he says.

“We had our own bed space, clean sheets every Tuesday and all the food you could eat. In the last place I’d lived we hadn’t had hot water for two years, so I thought it was brilliant.”

Andy decided to see if he had what it took to be the best, and joined the SAS. There was no tap on the shoulder from someone who’d spotted his potential.

“It’s really boring,” he laughs. “You fill in a form and send it off. They write back with what the requirements are.”

He joined 200 hopefuls who were whittled down to 30 over the first four weeks of mostly physical tests.

“That’s to get rid of everyone who thinks they’re going to be James Bond!”

The rest of the selection process is about ensuring applicants can adapt, work on their own as well as in teams, and learn new skills quickly.

“They train you, give you the best gear and feed you, but you have to deliver. If you don’t like it, get out.”

Thanks to the success of Bravo Two Zero, Andy found himself having to cope with the different demands of the civilian world after leaving the army.

“The first couple of years were a pain as I didn’t understand the way the real world worked. The army was all I’d done since I was 16.”

These days he splits his time between writing and working for a firm which provides security personnel in hot spots around the world.

“One of my books, set in Somalia, was based on a kidnap and ransom job in which we had to get two journalists out of the country,” he adds.

“I took the transcript of the negotiations and slotted it into the book!”

In his latest, For Valour, the central character is once again Nick Stoner, a man he admits is based on himself.

“The best bits, anyway,” he laughs.

Andy has maintained close contacts with the military.

“On trips to Iraq and Afghanistan I see the best of both worlds. Top hotels where they have sushi bars and nail parlours because that’s what the political and military elite want, and places like Camp Bastion, where it takes three months to get the dust out of your system after a visit.”

He still accompanies younger versions of himself on patrol, and says they’re keen to get one over on him.

“If there’s contact with the enemy and I hit the deck first, they’ll take the mickey, so if something happens I make sure a couple of them have gone down first before I move!”

Once a soldier, always a soldier.