On the eve of 9/11, disillusioned Gulf War veteran Captain Anthony Taverner is living a quiet life in the English countryside. But his intimate knowledge of Afghanistan - and of explosives - has got him noticed. The Secret Intelligence Service has a mission in Afghanistan with his name on it: to infiltrate a fort in Taliban-held territory and destroy a cache of the CIA's precious Stinger missiles before they fall into the hands of Al Qaeda.
Ant soon finds himself inducted 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 like a straightforward mission. But Ant 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 accompany Ant on the Op. They will destroy the fort together.
But just what is the Network? What does the poised and formidable 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 in the company of beautiful Jameela, sister in law of bin Laden, to the war-torn streets of Kabul, Ant is forced to confront the fears that belong to his most secret past.
Richly detailed, utterly compelling and set among landscapes of breathtaking beauty, this is a thriller with unusual and distinctive authenticity; a story of war, espionage, deceit, religion, international affairs, exploitation, and of friendship, tested to the very limit.
