I’ll be honest - I bought this book because W H Smith had it on offer for £2.99 and it would have been rude not to.

I didn’t have a clue what to expectas I’ve not read anything by Andy McNab before, and when the first few pages were a little glossary of terms which were going to be used in the book I almost thought about giving up before I had started.  A book full of unusual acronyms is a bit like a film with subtitles in my mind - a bit of a pain in the neck!

However, I’m extremely glad that I gave it a shot as this really was excellent.  This is perhaps the exact opposite to the last book by Kate Atkinson - noone can accuse McNab of not fitting enough action into a book that’s for sure.  Again by comparison with Atkinson, I would say that on this showing McNab has the knack of including just enough detail to set the tone and allow you to picture everything in your mind’s eye without the reader being bogged down by too much detail as can be the case with Kate Atkinson.

I’ve not read anything about this being made into a movie, but it wouldn’t surprise me as when reading it you can almost see the story unfolding before you rather than simply reading words on a page.

While I’ve never read a book by Andy McNab before, this certainly won’t be the last to pass before my eyes, it really was that good.  Some sections are pretty intense with the fighting and suspense involved.

I’ve no idea what McNab was like as a soldier in his previous career, but as a writer he is top notch.  Excellent stuff.