Hell Run Tobruk: A WWII military adventure during the North African campaign

by Justin Fox

Don’t miss this thrilling adventure in Mediterranean waters! For fans of Dewey Lambdin, Patrick O’Brian, Chris Durbin, Douglas Reeman and Max Hennessy.

Jack is out of the Atlantic … and into the Inferno…

December, 1941

Lieutenant Jack Pembroke is ordered to join a convoy and sail his small escort ship, HMSAS Gannet, from the Royal Navy base in Simon’s Town, South Africa, to Egypt.

With the Mediterranean all but closed to maritime traffic, and Rommel’s forces rampaging through North Africa, it seems unlikely that Gannet will survive the coming battles.

Jack arrives in Alexandria and is soon thrust into the action, escorting ships running supplies to the beleaguered town of Tobruk in Libya.

With the pressure building and ships around him being sunk by enemy bombers, Jack must deal with his own PTSD while leading his men to safety.

And with Tobruk surrounded, about to fall to Axis forces, Gannet is still trapped in the port…

Can Jack lead his men to safety? Will he make it out of Tobruk in one piece?

Or will this Hell Run be his last…?

HELL RUN TOBRUK is the third action-packed military adventure in the Jack Pembroke Naval Thriller authentic British Navy war stories set during the Second World War.

THE JACK PEMBROKE NAVAL THRILLERS
Book The Cape Raider
Book The Wolf Hunt
Book Hell Run Tobruk

286 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 5, 2025

About the author

Fox is a novelist, travel writer and photographer based in Cape Town, South Africa, and is the former editor of Getaway travel magazine. He was a Rhodes Scholar and received a doctorate in English literature from Oxford University after which he was a research fellow at the University of Cape Town, where he taught part time for 20 years. His articles and photographs have appeared internationally in a number of publications and on a wide range of topics, while his short stories and poems have appeared in numerous anthologies. He has written scripts and directed award-winning documentaries and is a two-time Mondi journalism award winner (1999 and 2004). Recent books include The Marginal Safari (Umuzi), The Impossible Five (Tafelberg), Beat Routes (Karavan), Place (Umuzi) and, most recently, a World War II series of novels, starting with The Cape Raider (Penguin and Sapere) and The Wolf Hunt (Sapere). Justin was longlisted for the 2011 Alan Paton Award for non-fiction, the 2012 Olive Schreiner Prize for Literature, and his debut novel, Whoever Fears the Sea (Umuzi 2014), was longlisted for the Etisalat Prize for African literature.

Reviews

[David Radulski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series and each better than the one before…

When I discover a new series I like, I immerse in it. And I did exactly that with Justin Fox’s Pembroke series, binge-reading the first three installments in three days.

Fox gives his readers a strong sense of the perils and rewards of serving on small naval vessels in war. Fox’s choice of weaving his South African roots into the tale provides a great hook. I liked it and learned a lot.

Fox’s tale-telling style was very good in the first book and in great stride by book three.

I eagerly await the next installment of Jack Pembroke’s adventures!

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Win!

It remains evident that the author has spent credible time at sea amongst those prepared to do the business of war. The characters are perfect in number and detail: enough to recognize a scope of sailors and backgrounds; appropriately few to truly learn them and their stories. The transition to North Africa injects a variety of fascinating historical fiction. The theme of imperfection of warrior is well balanced and portrayed delicately - so many novels get this wrong! I look very forward to Book IV.

[Dan O'Meara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed both of Justin Fox's two previous Jack Pembroke books. However this on is a cut above the them both, by far the best of the series so far.

The battle scenes are particularly well done. Fox succeeds brilliantly in conveying the terror, tension and exhaustion of the sailors charged with convoying Allied ships in the Mediterranean before the battle of El Alamein.

Highly recommended, I look forward to the next in the series

[Mike Whitehouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Continuing battle

As the author writes in y his comments these are stories from a war zone not previously written about involving the South African navy, This third in the series moves from South Africa to the Mediterranean and the continuing battle,excellent story worth the 5 stars looking forward to book 4.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tobruk

I was only familiar with the land war for Tobruk until reading this book! Mr. Fox's attention to detail in describing the naval battles, the living conditions both at sea and on land, and the physical/mental abuse the warriors endured is remarkable and brilliant!

[Jerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating reading

Very well written, so descriptive is draws you into the action and history of this small but so important phase of WWII. Right up there with Nicholas Monsterrat. I'm rushing out to find Mr Fox's other books in the series.

[W Haughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Naval Action

Well written and researched. A little known part of WWII is vividly brought to life. I look forward to reading the next one.

[John Fourmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done!

Captures what it must have been like during the uncertain days of the German successes in the middle east. Excellent character development. Well worth reading.

[Douglas Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good old-fashioned WW2 Naval yarn.

[John March · Rating 4 out of 5]

He’ll Run Tobruk

Although read out of sequence I enjoyed the book with a couple of characters added to entice the narrative. The realistic action scenarios kept me interested as well.

[W. P. Furrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had a hard time putting it down. I enjoyed the South African part.

[wally walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

a VERY INTERESTIN BOOK EXPLAINING THE WOrkings of the small ships of the navy during the north african campaign

[James M. Mathews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super series

I have loved reading all three books and look forward to more. Great characters and the main one shows what a war time leader can do.

[tony wallas · Rating 3 out of 5]

While far from being the worst book that I have ever read it is nonetheless far from being the best. The narrative brought to mind a tailor tasked with creating warm winter clothing but only having the thinnest of cloth to work with, repetitive layers stitched one upon the other but following the same pattern. A little too much trying for edge of the seat drama, blood and guts. Perhaps the next book in the series will be created from thicker fabric to make more enjoyable and deeper story.

[Jim Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Jack is in the Med, based in Alexandria as a convoy escort. The run to Tobruk is particularly dangerous and exhausting. Great descriptive writing: I felt his exhaustion at one point having docked after a particularly hard fought trip to Tobruk and back only to be told he needed to be ready t0 sail again in the morning. Nice character development and plenty of variety in story lines. A terrific read for naval fiction fans. Go for it.

[Larry Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good!

[Tim Richman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of Fox’s Jack Pembroke novels that I’ve read, following two others set in World War II, between Dunkirk and the South Atlantic. This one – as with the others, apparently – works as a standalone story, seeing Pembroke captaining a converted whaler doing escort duty between Alexandria and Tobruk in 1942. The story is straightforward enough and the pages turn easily – the whaler comes up against submarines, torpedo boats and plenty of aerial attacks from Stukas and the like, and there is a little on-shore romance between all the action. The dialogue isn’t always believable – it’s a little contrived and expositional at times – but I thoroughly enjoyed the novel simply because it felt true to life, as though Fox had genuinely recreated the feel and sense of the war on the boats in North Africa.
So: full marks for verisimilitude – which counts for a lot in my book. And it was what I had hoped for from Fox, given his literary chops. He is a talented and well-qualified writer with eclectic skills. I’ll look out for the next one.