This book is around 150 pages too long but it is a good story and the not so hidden message it contains is worthy of a documentary style book let alone a novel.

Basically, this is a story of Soviet involvement in Afghanistan in the 1980s and was originally published in 1984. Sadly of course, Afghanistan is still not a settled country; but at least the Soviets learned their lesson and left!

Seymour has put together a story of how the British sent a spoiler into Afghanistan to destabilise the life of the Soviets: remember, this book was written seven years before the fall of the Soviet Union. Their vehicle was an SAS soldier, Capt Barney Crispin. What a name!

Crispin takes with him a rocket launcher that he is given two weeks to train some Afghani freedon fighters how to use. He fails as they fail: they cannot use the launcher in anything like the way they have to do. That should be the end of it and Crispin should go home.

Well, the book would end with chapter four if that had been the case so you can imagine that Crispin takes the law into his own hands and off he trolls to Afghanistan. Crispin's guide is a young local lad who is also his interpreter.

We are treated to some of the ways in which an SAS officer works, how he deals with a variety of situations and how he helps the Afghani cause by shooting down several Soviet helicopters.

Why is this book 150 pages too long? The build up to Crispin's trek is too long as we meet Crispin and the other people and situations along the way; there wasn't enough information in the development of the long trek to keep this part of the story as interesting as the rest of it.

Seymour treats us to the Soviet side as well and he has the officer invovled in a sexual liaison, the helicopter pilots are a bit gung ho and of course, the Soviets get their come uppance!

What Crispin does is to achieve his objectives and more but an important message comes from the local freedom fighters who are not especially impressed by what Crispin is doing. Their point is that Crispin is a Brit, he is here today but gone tomorrow: he won't be staying behind to suffer the backlash from the Soviets. This point does get to Crispin and he has something of a conversion during this operation. I have to say that one of the reasons why he comes to agree with this conclusion is that the woman he wants to sleep with is angry with him and his methods.

A decent read with a decent story and even though I think it's a bit long, it is worthy seeking out, 20 years old as it is.

If I revealed much more of this story I would spoil it: what about the characters at the start of the book? They are important. What about the interpreter? He's important. What about the Afghanis? They are important. What about the British Government and the Foreign Secretary? They are important.

Tuck in!

Duncan Williamson
17 July 2004