Mike Martin is the protagonist in two novels, ''

The Fist of God ''The Fist of God'' is a 1994 suspense novel by British writer Frederick Forsyth, with a fictitious retelling of the Iraqi Project Babylon and the resulting "supergun". Featuring a story set during the Persian Gulf War, the novel details an Al ...

'' (1994) and ''

The Afghan ''The Afghan'' is a 2006 thriller novel by British writer Frederick Forsyth. Plot summary A joint operation by MI6, the CIA, and Pakistan's ISI against al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan uncovers documents concerning a planned terrorist attack ...

'' (2006) by Frederick Forsyth. Martin is an Englishman who looks remarkably

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

because his maternal grandmother (mentioned in the novel as "Indira Bohse" - likely to be Indira Bose) was

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

. His father (Nigel Martin) was an accountant in an unnamed English Oil Company and his mother (half-Indian Susan Granger) was an air-stewardess with

BOAC British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the passi ...

. His father was posted in the Middle East and so he (and his brother) grew up in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

, becoming fluent in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. After moving to England during a time of great political uncertainty in Iraq, he joined the Paras at the age of 19, and soon became an officer. Later, he was accepted into the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...

. In his late 30s, he was employed by the

Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

during Operation Desert Shield to lead the

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

i resistance disguised as a

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...

. Shortly after he was sent to run the agent "Jericho", along with the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

, in Baghdad. Upon learning of the location of the ''Fist of God'', he leads the SAS patrol that paints it for an airstrike. He retired from the army after 25 years of service. However, he was called by Secret Intelligence Service and Central Intelligence to infiltrate the

Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

using his knowledge from the 1980s Mujahideen resistance-assistance to his advantage. After several months successfully undercover inside Al-Qaeda, he sacrificed his life in order to stop an attack against the ocean liner Queen Mary 2, where the G8 summit was being held.

Sources

Martin, Mike Characters in British novels of the 21st century Martin, Mike {{novel-char-stub