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Michael J. Merry was educated at the Royal Liberty School, Essex, United Kingdom. He trained as a Telecommunications Instructor with ITT in London, and in 1959 was transferred to the Republic of Panama. In 1964 he became Assistant Manager of ITT Standard Electric (Caribbean). On the evening of October 10, 1968 the Panama National Guard revolted and overthrew the elected Government. That night Merry drove the escape vehicle with the President and three of Ministers of State out of the Republic to safety in the Canal Zone. By that time military patrols were searching the City for President Arias and his Cabinet members. With the country's leaders and a cache of automatic weapons in his vehicle, Merry avoided the searchers and drove through the military blockade to the Panama Canal Zone where a headquarters had been prepared for the Government in exile. Canal Zone authorities would not allow the weapons to remain in its territory and Merry was obliged to drive back to into Panama City, bluffing his way through the National Guard border blockade and roving patrols to safety. He later returned to Panama and in 1987 became Division Vice President of a major U.S. financial news operation covering the Caribbean and Latin America.. These days he's retired and lives in Miami Shores, Florida.
In October, 2017, Mill City Press announced that Michael J. Merry had been awarded third prize in the "Action/Adventure" category of their annual authors writing competition for his work, "Galleon, and seven other tales" .
Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite
Magician In Black is a work of historical fiction based on real events and people and was penned by author Michael J. Merry. Set during the early 1930s and continuing into the events of the Second World War, the initial plot is brought about by various assassination attempts to end the life of Adolf Hitler. When Hitler asks Himmler of the SS to get someone to protect him and prevent further attempts, Dieter Goff is recruited. Known by his titular moniker ‘the magician in black’, the novel unfolds Goff’s experiences working for Hitler, and later his time defecting to the American side prior to the war.
History comes alive under the keen watch of author Michael J. Merry, who combines a semi-biographical style with moments of heated narrative to bring his tale into being. The research behind Dieter Goff and the various attempts on Hitler’s life is airtight, giving history buffs all the details they could ever wish for, whilst also presenting an engaging work of war fiction with lots of action, suspicion, and intensity. As a central character, Goff and his incredible skills are often put to the test with a plotline that keeps the psychological thrills coming and the mysteries of each interrogation unfolding. There is much to learn that isn’t popular war knowledge and plenty of insider information woven into the storyline. Overall, Magician In Black will appeal to both fiction and non-fiction fans for its high levels of accurate historical detail, making it a war novel and a learning experience in one.
