Showing results by publisher "Isis Publishing Ltd" in War & Military

This collection of stories goes back to Dan “Spider” Shepherd’s SAS days, and the missions that shaped him. From his training in the welsh hills and the jungles of Belize, through to his early missions in Sierra Leone and the Middle East, these nine stories chart his rise through the SAS, and his involvement with the elite Sabre Squadron. Along with his comrades Jimbo, McKay and Geordie, Spider puts his life on the line on active duty…and sows the seeds of his future career.

February, 2022. Russia invades Ukraine, the biggest attack on a European country since World War I. Matt 'Lastman' Standing and a crack SAS team are sent into the war zone. Their mission - to help the Ukrainians defend their country from the Russian invaders. But when Russian mercenaries begin committing atrocities and war crimes in occupied Ukraine, MI6 decides to change the rules of engagement.

MI5 officer David White was always a good father, so when his daughters want to go to a music festival in Israel, he agrees to take them. But his daughters are killed in the Hamas massacre that left 1,400 innocent civilians dead. White is taken hostage down in the tunnels under Gaza and Dan 'Spider' Shepherd and a crack SAS team are sent in to rescue him. Back in London, White is a changed man. He wants revenge for what happened to his family and wants to kill the men who planned and financed the Hamas attacks.

1796. John Pearce is stuck with a difficult mission, a crew of Quota Men forced to enlist in the Royal Navy, four new midshipmen as well as Samuel Oliphant, companion cum spy, whom he finds a constant irritant. In his favour, he commands HMS Hazard, a speedy warship, a pair of competent officers and, of course, his trusty friends the Pelicans. Their mission is to head for the Mediterranean Fleet and warn Admiral Sir John Jervis of impending danger he will face, fighting a combined French/Spanish fleet.

July 1241. Christendom cowers in terror before the threat of a Mongol invasion. The swift-moving, invincible cavalry of Genghis Khan has smashed the proud, steel-clad knights of Russia, Poland and Hungary – and now Austria lies directly in their path. At a skirmish outside the walls of Vienna, German knights capture a squad of Mongol scouts, and are astonished to discover one of their number is an Englishman – a Templar knight – who has been riding with these Devil’s horsemen for more than 20 years.

1936. Devastated by the death of her brother Hugh, Emma seeks to keep his memory alive by embracing his dreams of a communist revolution. But when she marries an ambitious diplomat, she must live within the confines of embassy life in Paris and Nazi Berlin. 1979. Emma's grandson, Phil, dreams of a tour of Europe, but is nowhere near being able to fund it. So when his beloved grandmother determines to make one last trip to the places she lived, and to try to solve a mystery that has haunted her since the war, he jumps at the chance to accompany her.

Britannia, 45 AD: Vespasian's brother, Sabinus, is captured by druids. The druids want to offer a potent sacrifice to their gods – not just one Roman Legate, but two. They know that Vespasian will come after his brother and they plan to sacrifice the siblings on midsummer's day. Vespasian must strive to save his brother whilst completing the conquest of the south-west of the haunted isle, before he is drawn inexorably back to Rome and the heart of Imperial politics.

Duke Widukind, leader of the Saxon rebels, is sheltering in the North, beyond Karolus's reach. He hopes to persuade Bjarki Bloodhand - once a famous berserker, but now a father and family man - and his fierce sister the shield-maiden Tor, to join his revolt against tyranny. But Bjarki has eloped with Widukind's sister Edith, who was betrothed to Abbio the Crow. In revenge, Abbio uses seithr to strike at Bjarki - a powerful spell to drive him insane. Can Bjarki resist the long slide into madness?

"So if you can’t find a helicopter anywhere in Sierra Leone for a lift-out, you’d better order up four body bags instead.” Spider Shepherd and his SAS mates are stranded, low on rations and ammunition, waiting for a ride to Freetown before they are overrun by rebels. Upon their return to the capital, they are pressed into service by MI6, tasked with destroying a rebel arms dump. But to do this, they must wade through infested swamps and face rebel soldiers. Many of the soldiers are boys.

An Iranian defector shows his true colours and returns to his own country—taking a vital piece of intelligence equipment with him. The race is on to capture the turncoat and get the equipment back. Only one man is up for the job—American super-spy Richard Yokely. In the past Yokely served in the Army, the CIA, DEA and the NSA. But now he works for Grey Fox, the super secret agency that takes care of business that the White House would prefer stays hidden. And with a possible World War Three approaching, Yokely is America's only hope. The chase is on.

"For eight hours Spider Shepherd had been lying up in a sand dune overlooking the six-lane highway that slashed through the desert like a knife. It was a moonless night, the blackness dotted with so many stars that looking up made his head spin." Fresh from a sniper mission in the Middle East, Spider Shepherd is sent to Afghanistan on a new assignment. Teamed up with former trainer Spud and Lex, a young Para, he receives intel that the man the Americans seek is hiding in the White Mountains.

Dan 'Spider' Shepherd was sipping his first coffee of the day as the sweat from his morning run slowly dried on his skin. Kept on standby in Cyprus, Shepherd and his patrol mates are getting fed up with the lack of action. When they're offered the opportunity to spend some time in Nepal, they jump at the chance. Whilst there, they meet an SAS living legend, and are roped into a mission.

"Dan 'Spider' Shepherd shifted position slightly, trying to ease the pressure from the rocks beneath him and the ammo belt pressing into his chest. He lay prone, scanning the terrain through his sniper scope." After the Taliban unleash an attack on a military checkpoint, Spider Shepherd suspects foul play. He was too late to stop the attack, but he’s determined to find out how they knew where to strike. With the help of a local boy named Karim, he decides to investigate.

"Sorry, boys, my hands are tied. The order comes from Special Force HQ, and I can’t countermand it. So I’m giving you a warning order for an imminent active service operation. You’ve got forty minutes to call your wives and girlfriends and sort your kit." After the tragic loss of one of his patrol on an ill-advised training exercise in the Arctic Circle, Spider Shepherd and his comrades are angry at their incompetent commanding officer.

Tom Harrison is the Tick Tock Man. He has the most dangerous job in Britain: defusing terrorist bombs. A job that demands nerves of steel and courage to match. But his skill is being tested to the limit by a new IRA bombing campaign. It's different from the others, each device more deadly and cunning than the last, each more difficult for him to neutralise. It's almost as if someone is testing him, trying to find his limits - a long-dead adversary reaching out to him from beyond the grave.

The British government is worried. Rumours have spread about a new monster in the armoury of the Irish terrorist movement: an utterly ruthless team of American special forces mercenaries. The top secret, top priority order goes out: seek and destroy - no matter where. For the four-man Sabre team this will be their toughest ever assignment...probing the inner sanctum of the IRA's terror machine, fighting in the bloody carnage and chaos of Ulster. Never before has so much been at stake.

"Spider Shepherd squatted on his heels outside his tent, drinking his first brew of the day from a battered mug as he watch the wind stirring dust devils from the dirt floor of the compound." When an inexperienced officer sends out innocent paratroopers to be betrayed by a surrendered Taliban sniper, Spider Shepherd is the man chosen to clean up the mess. With his old friends Jock and Geordie to help, along with SAS hopeful Lex, can they take their revenge? Or are they just putting themselves in the kill zone?

Summoned to war-torn Bosnia, ex-SAS officer Jeff Hawkins' main role is to keep UN aid convoys running at all costs. But his new company commander isn't up to the job and his colleague in Liaison is running his own agenda. The arrival of the winter snow brings another problem. It's vital that one huge convoy runs the gauntlet of fighting along the icy mountain roads, breaking the siege of Sarajevo with essential provisions and medical supplies before Christmas.

Thanks to the stratagems of Bohemund de Hauteville, leader of the Apulian Normans, the Crusade has taken the city of Antioch, and just in time. Once the besiegers, Bohemund and his men are about to become the besieged - a huge Turkish-led army, commanded by the fearsome General Kerbogha, is fast approaching. Provisions are desperately needed, but the surrounding countryside is near barren and the storerooms of Antioch much depleted. The Crusaders will not hold out for long without falling prey to starvation.

Dan Shepherd stared at the canvas ceiling above his bed as the dawn light slowly strengthened. His tent was pitched on the edge of the airfield outside Sarajevo in Bosnia. 1995, and Dan 'Spider' Shepherd is on active service as a paratrooper in war-torn Sarajevo. Frustrated by the army, when he is tasked with accompanying an SAS patrol in the area, he realises that the SAS is where he belongs.