Blood of Honour (Jack Tanner 3) by James Holland

Sergeant Jack Tanner #3

by James Holland

Crete, May 1941. Tanner finds himself embroiled in a deadly game of survival that will test his resolve more than ever before.Not only has a difficult new subaltern arrived on the island, but Tanner has offended Alopex, a powerful Cretan kapitan who has sworn to kill him. Then suddenly the Germans invade and British fortunes take another dive for the worst. At Hiraklion, Tanner and the rest of the 2nd Battalion Yorks Rangers find themselves battling in vicious close-quarter fighting against the German paratroopers. Leading a counter-attack, Peploe and Tanner's B Company drive the enemy back. But this success is short-lived and, once again, Tanner and Sykes find themselves faced with a bitter retreat.Although they successfully make it aboard a destroyer, the danger has not passed as the skies darken with enemy bombers. Tanner and his fellows are forced to swim for the shore where only one man seems able to help them -- Alopex. To make matters worse, the Germans are determined on vengeance, and Tanner soon finds himself face to face with an enemy eager to settle the score.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, World War II, Military Fiction, War, Historical

Hardcover

First published May 27, 2010

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

James Holland was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, and studied history at Durham University. He has worked for several London publishing houses and has also written for a number of national newspapers and magazines. Married with a son, he lives near Salisbury.

Reviews

[John McDermott · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Darkest Hour was like Commando comics then Blood of Honour was like the also brilliant Battle Picture Library comics. Very good indeed and I do like this series a lot.

[Dolf Patijn · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Holland's Jack Tanner series is a series about a soldier in WW II. There are very realistic depictions of battle and Holland certainly doesn't show it in a romantic light: war is dirty business. Holland also knows how to weave historical facts and real historical characters into his books, which make them interesting. They are heavily action-based, so if fighting scenes are not your thing and you want novels that are more about suspense, tension, espionage or how ordinary people coped in war time, then you probably should read something else. These books are about soldiering and about being in the thick of it.

This book is about the battle for Crete that was lost by the Allied forces, mainly because of a few fatal decision-making mistakes by Allied command. They could have won the battle if they had focussed on the airfields instead of the coast. However, because of the heavy losses among German paratroopers, Hitler decided from then on to deploy them as ground troops, while, on the other hand, Allied command started using paratroopers more, because of the possibilities of dropping them behind enemy lines.

The Second World War is often seen as the last war where there was a clear distinction between good and evil and it is easy to be against the wrong, Nazi side. There is, however, a huge grey area that has been explored by many writers: not all Germans were bad and not all the people fighting the Germans were good. In the Jack Tanner books that grey area is a bit lost, which is my only gripe.

The Jack Tanner series is a great WW II action series with plenty of historical detail and I'm looking forward to reading the next book.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

FOUR-AND-A-HALF STARS. The third of Jams Holland's Jack Tanner series, and the best so far. This is a great page-turning, bullet-spewing WW2 action-adventure. Fictional character/s in factual situations, so not only do you get a great history lesson but a cracking read too! Set on Crete in May 1941 we see how through poor decisions a potentially winning situation (huge amounts of German Fallschirmjager [paratroops] were defeated) became another Allied withdrawal as the Germans got the upper hand and occupied the island. And not content with fighting the Germans, CSM Tanner falls out with one of the Cretan kapitans, Alopex, each threatening to kill the other!
I love these books, and have 4 and 5, Hellfire and The Devil's Pact on my TBR pile…time for Mr James Holland to write some more Jack Tanner adventures…also looking forward to his second volume of The War in The West, his great take on WW2, volume one was fantastic and I'm betting vol. 2 will be equally as good.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s May 1941, and it looks like the good guys may actually win one for once. British troops have arrived in Crete to defend it against an anticipated German invasion, making it safely despite harassment from the Luftwaffe, and the locals and Brits are working closely together to ensure that Jerry will find stiff resistance when he drops in. Drop in he did, by the thousands – German troops invading from the skies, and butchered from the ground. However impressive their training, lightly armed paratroopers are a poor match for entrenched positions and thousands of riflemen. It turns out, though, that choppy communications and poor leadership can wring defeat from the jaws of victory. In Blood of Honour, Jack Tanner returns as a CSM to defend the people of Crete, and despite a series of sterling victories (including the liberation of supplies from the Germans, liberal use of high explosives to ruin the invaders’ day, and the theft of a Greek woman’s heart), he’s dismayed to find the British high command once again eying the back door for a retreat after inaction allows the Germans to capture an airfield and bring in more heavily equipped reinforcements. After reading three of Holland’s novels, I’m starting to realize he likes his formula: start with Jack, give him an officer who makes his job more difficult by being jealous/incompetent/malicious/ineffectual, and top it off with an Evil German officer who is not only Totally Evil,but also takes being frustrated by Jack personally. Season with dynamite and 1940s slang as desired. I wouldn’t recommend reading a bunch of these back to back (I’m saving the other two in the series for April), but as far as period-accurate action adventure go, these novels are a blast. This one is luring me into reading more about the invasion of Crete, which I’ve never given any attention to in the past. Holland has written quite a few nonfiction titles, so I’m going to see if there’s any overlap.

[Mark Adkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third book in the series is another fun fast past read of an historical fictional account of the British army in Crete during World War II.

The book does a good job of explaining in general what happened in the battle to the British, the German, and the local Cretan resistance forces.

Where I think the book (and the series in general) needs improvement in is the characters. The characters are not very well developed and they constantly do things that you know were just so there is tension between characters, Unfortunately the tension is just annoying and I found it more distracting than anything else.

Overall I would still recommend this series to anyone that likes military historical fiction.

[John A. Hopkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this third instalment of the Tanner series we find Sergeant Jack Tanner in Crete, a German invasion seemingly imminent. This book follows the same formula as the other three books – Tanner falls out with someone in his company, a local chief named Alopex, and a stereotypical German soldier.
German paratroops are dropped onto the island, and despite terrible losses Tanner and his team are soon involved in vicious fighting in the town, then on the retreat. They have to cross the island, led by Alopex who has sworn to kill Tanner when the chance arises.
Blood of Honour is similar to the first two in the series, just a different setting. Nothing wrong with that – I have the final two in the series already lined up.

[Andy R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had the usual historical accuracy that makes you feel like you've been dropped into the action. However, I thought the plot offered little different from the previous two books, and it descended into a series of somewhat predictable deeds of derring do from our protagonist.

[Glenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story, good historical input, shows the struggle of the troops. Even had a good demonstration of the tension between the British and Greeks etc…. For me Sykes is my favourite character… Well worth a read.

[Frances Dillistone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well researched work of fiction making it a good read

The story is fast and explosive, illustrating the errors of judgement and their consequences. Very interesting and well worth reading

[Jon Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story if a little one dimensional. Enjoyed the read but not really a very satisfying completion.

[Pete Cross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great

Yet another success I could not put it down looking forward to reading the next Jack Renner adventure. Worth the read

[Mr Aidan M. O'Donnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I like historical fiction and James Holland knows his stuff.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book by James Holland

[EUGENE HINES · Rating 5 out of 5]

Page Turner

Good tale. The series so far has been pretty good. I tend to read series until complete. Recommend it so far. On to the next one.

[Harry Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again another decent instalment to the series and the lead character makes for a great protagonist. The book really flew by.

[Goody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another rip-roaring Jack Tanner slugfest

[Huw Rhys · Rating 2 out of 5]

James Holland writes good history books. He can also write decent novels.

This one unfortunately falls between the two stools. Whilst it is a reasonably accurate outline of the German invasion of Crete in 1941, it isn't a fully blown historical expose of the events; and given that it is so bound to historical accuracy, the interesting little fictional military jaunt/ attempt at a love story that tries to break out of the historical strictures doesn't really have enough oxygen to take off.

Knowing what happens at the end of "Titanic" doesn't necessarily spoil the film - sadly, the phenomenon doesn't really work in this context.

Not an arduous read, quite an enjoyable one at times - but as the whole book is not really one thing or another, it did leave me feeling at the end of it that I wondered why I'd really bothered. Shame, probably the first of James Holland's books that I haven't really, really enjoyed. It won't put me off buying and reading the next one when it arrives.

[Fraser Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

It might be lazy to describe this series as 'Sharpe in WWII' but it pretty much is exactly that. It even says so on the cover. This is not bad thing. If you like action, strong uncompromising characters carrying out acts of daring do, with a realistic historically accurate backdrop, then this is just the ticket. if you dont, then thats a shame for you.

[Chris O'kill · Rating 4 out of 5]

My guilty pleasure are these Jack Tanner books, by James Holland. As one of the reviewers says on the back of the book, 'Tanner is a chiselled protagonist straight out of the pages of the old Commando comics...'. So very true and much has Bernard Cornwell has done for a different era, so James Holland does for WWII in Europe. A real adventure. Just about to order the next one, Hellfire.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books featuring Sergeant Jack Tanner read a lot like Richard Sharpe - a major compliment - but are centered around the Second World War. Definitely action-packed and an interesting read about the Crete Campaign, which I did not know much about. Love Tanner and his sidekick, Stan Skyes! Can't wait for many more in this series!!

[Wolf Archer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every book in this series has become immensely gripping. If you have work the following morning I do not recommend picking any book up from the Jack Tanner series the evening before. By the time I looked up it was daylight.
As each book advances you feel the group getting closer and Tanner still gets himself into the same troublesome situations that make this series so wonderfully worth reading

[Steve Markham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would say that if the Germans might be on the way that it is best not to pick fights with the locals, but Jack Tanner doesn't agree with me there.

We have the Germans, Jack Tanner, a Greek who wants to kil him and then Jack starts to fancy his sister.

Sounds like fun to me.

[Jim Brigden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Guilty pleasure. Brave Brits bashing the Bosch. What's not to like?

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable holiday read about the disastrous battle of Crete

[James]

Great

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another nice part of the series. This book seems to be even more based on historic events and known facts but it still has a good flow and feels authentic and interesting to read.

[Jonas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok bok pojkboksskildring av 2a världskriget

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series gets better with each book, this is the best one yet. Action packed Boys Own stuff. Great entertainment. Jack Tanner is turning into the Sharpe of WWII.