BOOK BLURB:April 1940. Nazi Germany has invaded neutral Norway. Fleeing north from their brutal Blitzkrieg advance are three officers of the King’s Guard – men who have been entrusted by the Norwegian King with a vitally important mission: to getleading scientist, Hening Sandvold, out of Oslo and away to the safety of the Allied ranks.
The only military force standing between the Nazis and total victory are the poorly equipped and largely underprepared troops of the British 148th Brigade. Among them is Sergeant Jack Tanner, recently returned from the Middle East to join the 3rd Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Rangers. As the British are pushed back from Lillehammer, Sergeant Tanner and his patrol are left stranded in the mountains. As they struggle to rejoin their unit, they stumble across first Sandvold and his protectors, and then a French patrol of alpine troops.
The odds are stacked against this ragtag group of soldiers and civilians making it to safety. Trekking through snow-clad mountains with the Germans dogging their every move, Tanner is forced to try to outfox and outfight not only their pursuers but also the best efforts of his own side.And as the Allied resistance collapses, it quickly becomes clear that the small band of fugitives can rely on no one but themselves.
Yet Tanner knows he has to succeed. For, as he discovers, Sandvold holds the key to a vital secret – one that could change the outcome of the entire war...
REVIEW:
Fans of the genre will remember with great fondness books by authors such as Sven Hassell and have long sought an Allied alternative to which to while away a few pleasant hours. What you get in this, the first offering of James Holland is set in Norway in September 1940, the reader will get a tale of Jack Tanner as he seeks to undermine the Axis and strike a blow for the Allies in this offering. Ideal for fans of Sharpe it really did get to grips with not only the subject matter but also allowed the reader the chance to follow in the footsteps as they darted from shadows to cover in such a way that you felt you were there. A great offering and a series that will have a fair crack with many HF readers. Great Stuff.
BOOK BLURB:
May 1940. Sergeant Jack Tanner has been posted to a training company on the south-east coast of England. But all is not well in the camp. The mysterious death of two Polish refugees leads Tanner to believe there has been foul play. When he and his corporal, Stan Sykes, are nearly killed, Tanner finds his suspicions directed at an old comrade from his early days in the army. As the Germans launch their Blitzkrieg in Europe, training is abandoned and the entire company are sent to join the battle to stop Hitler's drive across the Low Countries. Almost immediately, they are thrust into the thick of the action and cut off from the rest of the battalion. Trapped behind the enemy advance, Tanner must use all his ingenuity to get his men back to Allied lines. Soon enmeshed in the long withdrawal to the French coast, Tanner, Sykes and his new platoon commander, Lieutenant John Peploe, find themselves pitted against not only the die-hard Nazis of the SS 'Death's Head' Division but also the great panzer commander himself, General Rommel. Even then, in the chaos of retreat, Tanner must deal with the corrosive treachery bubbling within the company's ranks - and an enemy more deadly than the Germans - if he and his men are to have any hope of surviving the mayhem of Dunkirk.
REVIEW:
After an offering that just grabbed me with the original novel I had high hopes for this tale and whilst it did keep a lot of what was great with the original it did flag a little as the author hit second book blues. A prime example of this was the way that an enemy commander came to the fore only to weakly fade back when he would have suited the brief of an ideal combatant for the hero. Why?
Whilst the book is still well written that little niggle did get to me and with great combat description becoming a trademark for the author means that I hope that he picks up in subsequent outings as it would a shame for the character to just fade away after his explosive introduction.
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