The Network Book

I can highly recommend Jason Elliot's new novel The Network. He has created a richly detailed novel based in reality that is truly compelling to read. It is a spy thriller that speaks with vivid description and distinctive authenticity of someone who has lived there. It really has it all, seemingly authentic tradecraft, espionage, deceit, betrayals, religion, international affairs, exploitation, romance and friendships, all tested to the very limit. The Network is well written with a complex plot, plenty of suspense, wonderful depiction of locations and even a little romance.
On the eve of 9/11, Former army officer and Gulf War veteran Captain Anthony Taverner is living a quiet life in the English countryside. But his intimate knowledge of Afghanistan and his knowledge of explosives haven't gone unnoticed. Taverner is recruited by the Secret Intelligence Service for a mission in Afghanistan: to infiltrate a fort in Taliban-held territory and destroy a cache of the CIA's stinger missiles before they fall into the hands of Al Qaeda. Soon he finds himself moving into secret worlds; from the tunnel complex beneath SIS HQ in London's Vauxhall Cross, to the CIA's bin Laden tracking station at Langley. At first, it seems likes a straightforward mission. But Taverner has a secret past of his own which he must conceal from even his closest allies.
H, a former SAS man and security expert, is methodical, focused and supremely fit, and spends months training "Ant" in a range of 'useful' and potentially deadly skills. He will also accompany Taverner on the Op. They will destroy the fort together. But just what is the Network? What does the Baroness know about their mission? And how will all this affect history, and change the political landscape forever? As the dangerous trail leads from the pirate-haunted coast of Sudan and the company of beautiful Jameela, bin Laden's sister-in-law, to the war-torn streets of Kabul, Taverner is forced to confront the fears that belong to his most secret past.