Roger Gray's books.
Feb 2010 - Roger is currently engaged in producing a new factual book and has a 'Faction' of huge authenticity complete and available to any interested party.
| Book Details: |  |
| Paperback Publisher: Virgin Books (February 22, 2001) ISBN: 0753505614 |
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Testimonials
| Ross Brown - FHM - "An essential purchase" |  |
| Barry Simner - Scriptwriter and co-deviser of The Vice "I was gripped by the Trojan Files for the whole of a five-hour train journey. Not only gripped but deeply moved". |  |
Reviews
Roger Gray's book hits you straight between the eyes - but then it should as Gray was one of the founders of the Metropolitan Polices armed response unit, SO19. This book is racy, compulsive reading and, although it sounds clichéd, really is one of those that you won't want to put down you've turned the last page.
Why?
It's a personal history, action thriller, tragedy and comedy all wrapped into one. In saying this I am not trying to belittle that deadly serious job that the armed officers of SO19 do but merely describe how it is that I managed to read this book in 3 days!
Gray takes you on a potted history of his childhood and describes how his steadfast father, who had a feeling for doing things right, led to him to join the police. The training regime of the police is described in detail but it is the graphic detail in which the many situations that result in the deployment of firearms, as the police call them and not guns that make this book.
Gray portray the given situations extremely well to the point where I could easily visualise the situations that he found himself in; what more could a reader ask for?
On a serious note this book is informative reading for anyone who thinks that criminals are just 'cheeky chappies' who do no harm to anyone whilst trying to earn a living. It is compassionately written and helps reinforce the fact that policemen, armed or unarmed, are human beings; Gray has to deal with the loss of more that one colleague during the book and the grief is very obvious. More revealing are the petty battles over funding for the unit, and police in general, and narrow-mindedness that some members of the community exhibit.
I have one criticism of book but it is only a minor one. I felt that the descriptions of driving to incidents was a little overplayed. Gray describes on more that one occasion the car that he was in lifted onto 2 wheels as they speed round corners. Do the police really do that? I don't know but the message is clear - Gray and his colleagues were trying to get to an incident as fast as possible to prevent the loss of life.
This is an extremely well-written book that is a bit gung-ho, but at the same time extremely humbling...and it's message is deadly serious. Carry a gun on the streets of London, intend to use it and you can expect to face the might of SO19. I have the ultimate respect for the people that man this unit and that is partly due to this book - go read it!