HELLFIRE

Jack Tanner's war takes him to the treacherous sands of the North African desert.

August, 1942. North Africa. The desert war hangs in the balance. Although their retreat has finally been halted, morale in the British Army is at rock bottom. When the commander of the Eighth Army, General Gott, is killed, it seems that foul play is at work. An impenetrable Axis spy circuit could be compromising any hope the Allies have of stemming the Nazi tide.

Jack Tanner, recovering from wounds in a Cairo hospital, is astonished to receive a battlefield commission which will propel him into a very different world when he returns to action. Fit once more, he finds himself facing the full onslaught of Rommel's latest offensive.

In its aftermath, Tanner and his trusty sidekick Sykes are recruited to work behind the Axis lines in a desperate attempt to take the fight to the Nazis. But the murky world of subterfuge, deceit and murder they find themselves a million miles away from the certainties of the battlefield and somehow they must discover who they can trust in the cat-and-mouse world of counter-espionage.

Hellfire sees Tanner fighting his way through his most dangerous adventure yet -- one that takes him from the dark backstreets of Cairo to the open Mediterranean and finally to one of the decisive clashes of the entire war -- the Battle of Alamein.

JAMES HOLLAND was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, and studied history at Durham University. A member of the British Commission for Military History and the Guild of Battlefield Guides, he also regularly contributes reviews and articles in national newspapers and magazines. He is the author of five historical works -- Fortress Malta, Together We Stand, Heroes, Italy's Sorrow and The Battle of Britain -- and three other Jack Tanner novels, The Odin Mission, Darkest Hour and Blood of Honour. His many interviews with veterans of the Second World War are available at the Imperial War Museum and are also archived on www.secondworldwarforum.com.