Having never read any of the Clancy, Ryan, McNab style books, I thought I'd give it a try as a change from my usual fantasy/sci-fi fare and I wasn't disappointed.

First off, those expecting this to be explosions and gun fights may be a little disappointed. This book tells the story of Nick Stone, a British special forces member who is living a pretty pitiful existence in America following the death of someone close to him. Sinking in self pity, he is given the chance to return to the world he knows when a journalist, Jerry, friend asks him to accompany him to Iraq in the hunt for an elusive 'Che Guevera' style Bosnian who Jerry is convinced will be the next Ghandi or Mandela. Rather than an action onslaught, this book is more of a social commentary than anything else.

Of course, things are never that simple but to reveal more would bring in too many spoilers so I'll leave the plot at that.

The book itself is well written and you can tell that this is a guy who has been there, done it and got the T-shirt, no cars exploding in balls of flame from a couple of bullets here. The story itself is also very gritty and the way you see people going about their business in what amounts to a war zone reveals a lot more of the true situation in the Middle East than any sugar coated American cable news broadcast.

A great read and one that has definitely encouraged me to look up more of this authors work, particularly his Nick Stone series.