Call to Kill

In war-torn Yemen a Christian priest from Norwich is being held hostage by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard. Laid up just a short distance away is a team of British SAS soldiers led by Staff Sergeant Matt Mason, their rescue mission planned they’re waiting for the order to go.

Unfortunately even elite soldiers don’t get it right every time and after not one but two failed rescue attempts that end with one of the team killed in action and another being captured, Captain Peter Hopkins is summoned back to Hereford to face the music. He’s expecting the worst, but his career taking a nosedive is the least of his worries when he finds out what’s expected of him. For a soldier his mates will always come first, others might not have the same priorities.

I really liked this one and pretty much read it from start to finish in one go. Its not all blood, guts and glory instead its a clever and engaging thriller set against a backdrop of politics, civil war, insurgency and commercial contracts worth billions. At the heart of any good novel is a good storyline and believable characters and this one has both. Matt Mason and the rest of his team aren’t superhero’s they’re well drawn characters who are realistic and believable, each of them with their own personalities and skills that make them part of the team. A cut above many of the other offerings in the genre, its fiction but there’s enough realism about this novel to convince me that a lot of it is based on knowledge of the area, its politics and similar events that may or may not have happened. My only disappointment is that this is the first in a new series and I can’t move straight onto the second one.