In the original dustsheet. Black cloth binding with silver title on the spine.

• F.B.A. provides an in-depth photographic presentation of this item to stimulate your feeling and touch. More traditional book descriptions are immediately available

In the heat of battle you have a choice: Death or Glory . . .

Libya, 1942 – Rommel’s Africa Korps is sweeping across the desert. Ragged Allied forces are being torn apart in brutal fire-fights on the scorched sands. A desperate message to the Prime Minister is entrusted to First Officer Madeleine Rose, WRNS. Her codename: Runefish.

When GHQ hears that Runefish’s plane is lost behind enemy lines, they send for battle-hardened Sergeant Tom Caine. Caine is a first class soldier who nearly always does what he’s told. He will lead a squad of specialist commandos into the heart of enemy territory and either rescue or execute Runefish. If he refuses to take this near-suicide mission he faces court martial. Now the outcome of the war depends on his following orders.

Death or glory beckon . . .

Reviews:

• This book reminds me a bit of one of the war comics from my youth. Not sure about some of the previous comments about some of the words/jargon used as I did not notice much that was particularly out of place. Certainly there was nothing much that hasn’t been in other novels of a similar genre. I think the action is very good and there is a nice balance of different characters. I have read the similar novels by James Holland about Jack Tanner, which I think are perhaps a bit better, but still very much enjoyed this book. If you want a good action read and enjoy the WW2 period, give it a go. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

• I’ve enjoyed Asher’s previous books, and I think this is his first venture into fiction. This is a WW2 story of a small commando unit lead by Sgt Tom Cain on a special mission to rescue a downed female officer who may hold the secret to winning the war in the desert. As other reviewers have pointed out, this is a bit like the old fashioned British ‘commando’ comics, fast action and perhaps a little unsubtle. There is some annoying repetition (a commando that looks like the guy on the Player’s cigarette pack is mentioned about 10 times for this uninteresting fact) and some phrases and dialogue do not quite gel. Probably unfortunate that this came out at the same time as James Holland’s latest and does not stand up as well. It is not that this is bad, but it needed better editing to tighten it up. The thing is, Asher can write but this does not do his ability justice and I hope he tweaks his style and editing enough to make a second book to feature Cain a real winner.

Michael Asher has served in the Parachute Regiment and the SAS Regiment. The author of twenty-four books and presenter of six TV documentaries, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1996. For his writing and travels, he has been awarded the Lawrence of Arabia Memorial Medal, the Mungo Park Medal and the Ness Award. He lives in Nairobi, Kenya.