Commando

Combined Operation #1

by Griff Hosker

It’s 1940 and the British Expeditionary Force is caught ill prepared for the onslaught of the German Blitzkrieg and its deadly panzers. Caught in the desperate retreat to Dunkirk, Tom Harsker, son of a World War 1 ace, discovers he is a natural soldier. Escaping to England and with complete disaster narrowly averted, Tom is selected to join the newly formed Commandos. With Britain standing alone and the seemingly inexorable German forces massing across the Channel for invasion, Tom and his fellow Commandos must battle against all odds in daring raids to buy precious time.

Genres: Historical Fiction, War, Military Fiction, Fiction

213 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 12, 2015

About the author

I was born in 1950 in Lancashire and attended a boy’s grammar school. After qualifying as an English and Drama teacher in 1972, I worked in the North East of England for the next 35 years. During that time I did write, mainly plays, pantos and musicals for the students at the three schools in which I worked.

When I stopped teaching I set up my own consultancy firm and worked as an adviser in schools and colleges in the North East of England. The new Conservative Government ended that avenue of work and in 2010 I found that I had time on my hands; having started work at the age of 15 I found the lack of work not to my liking and used the time to research the Roman invasion of Britain and begin to create a novel. The result was The Sword of Cartimandua.

My decision to begin writing was one of the best I have ever taken.

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Reviews

[Kris McCracken · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t usually go in for the whole “guilty pleasure” routine, but “Commando” might be the exception. It’s not a good book. Let’s get that out of the way. The prose is flat, the characters are cut from cereal boxes, the Germans are the most cartoonish you’ll find this side of a 1940s propaganda reel and the emotional beats are ladled on like bad gravy. And yet - somehow - I didn’t hate it.

It clips along, I’ll give it that. The sentences are functional, like scaffolding, and they hold up just enough plot to get you from one scrap to the next. There’s always a fight, a bit of derring-do, a selfless act of valour. It’s the kind of story where things explode on cue, and no one ever has a quiet moment unless it’s to reflect on courage, mateship or mum.

Then there’s Tom. Good grief. He’s meant to be fresh out of school, but the moment he puts on a uniform, he transforms into a one-man military-industrial complex. He can fight, fly, sail, drive, shoot, patch up wounds, speak multiple languages and lead men into battle without blinking. Stone-cold killer. Kind heart. Natural leader. Probably irons his own shirts in the middle of firefights. Rambo wouldn’t last two minutes with this bloke. You get the feeling if there was a lion loose in the jungle, Tom would tame it, ride it into combat and then feed it by hand while reciting a poem about sacrifice.

It’s honestly a relief there are no women in the book beyond his mum and sister. If there were, their ovaries would be detonating every time he walked past. He’s less a character than a walking wet dream stitched together from war films, recruitment posters and deeply confused national pride.

The rest of the cast are exactly who you’d expect: the grizzled sergeant, the noble Scot, the slippery Nazi. Dialogue’s wooden, motivations are shallow, and the action scenes could’ve been lifted straight out of a Commando comic, complete with WHAM and BANG if you squint hard enough.

Yet, there’s something weirdly enjoyable about it. Maybe it’s the sheer shamelessness. Maybe it’s the pace. Maybe it’s the fact that sometimes, after a long day, your brain just wants to switch off and let a flawless teenage super-soldier punch his way through the Wehrmacht. I can’t defend it, but I also didn’t stop reading.

Two and a half stars. One for the pacing, one for the unintentional comedy, and half a star because Tom is, frankly, the most stupidly competent fictional creature I’ve ever encountered. God help us all if he turns up in another book.

[Veljko · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate to do this but i simply had to write my opinion of Mr.Hoskers works. I read first couple or 3,4 books of every of his series. Why you ask, I have bloody no idea! I knew Mr. Hosker writes A LOT, and FAST so i wasn't expecting miracles. I simply love the themes and periods he chooses to write about, I also love the fact that he writes in first person pov and that his series are long. So I went into his work with vigour, and boy oh boy was I disappointed. As I already said I thought that maybe books will improve with later additions or different series, but it did not happen. He is to put it mildly a BAD writer. Prose is dull, boring, unimaginative, unengaging, workmanlike... Books are filled with grammatical errors and sentences that don't even make sense. Characters are cliche 100%, but even that is not bad if you know to flush them and make reader care about them, but Mr. Hosker doesn't. I like when books start with strong and capable characters but he does it soooo over the top that they become boring marry sues. I don't know how his books get 4plus star ratings. Now you will say you are looking for some easy raiding, and thats fine, but even most of those are not badly written like these, and they don't get 4, 5 star ratings. These books are at best 2 star, because they are not awful even though they are bad.
As you can summarise I don't recommend any of His works, but that is just my opinion, which to be fair is not mostly shared by other readers.

[Rob Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read - shame about the grammer

I really enjoyed this book, however the poor grammar and spelling mistakes distracted me. Really annoying - please Gruff, have a word with your editors! Moving straight on to the second book now - which I hope is as enjoyable as the first.

[S.J. Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book as it covers a period when my own father was at Dunkirk and then back into France in 1944 in Normandy. I listened to all the tales and stories my father told and I thought that Griff's account was accurate and well written. He really brought the story alive.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoying another Griff Hosker

I was thrilled to see Griff Hosker had a new series out, this time about WWII, following his WWI series that I enjoyed so much.

[Gene Rosso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun fast read.

[J. Griff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its the beginning of WWII & young Tom Harsker, son of the WWI flying ace Bill Harsker, is set to go to college to become an officer. When an incident makes him realise that he doesn't want to get out of his father's shadow. Young Tom decides to enlist as a Private in the Army Infantry. After the ruininess defeat of the British Expeditionary Forces in France Tom & a few other survivors make it back to England. Due to his performance Tom is recommended for a new type of unit that operate differently than regular Army units. This book is the introduction of the British Commandos.
I found this book as a quick read/listen & quite entertaining. I did find the main protagonist a little to perfect in knowing alot of the skills he has. I also know that for the time era it may not have been that odd (shrugs) Most of the men in Tom's life were veterans from WWI & his own mother was a nurse. Maybe if he wasn't the "best" at everything it would've been a bit more paletable. Overall it wasn't enough that took away from the story. I still would recommend this series as I would several of Hosker's other book series.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

'YyA great WWII story about the Commandos

I never had heard of the British Commandos until this book. The author has the ability to weave fact with fiction to keep you spell bound. I had to read the book straight through. We meet our hero Tom at the very beginning the war has not started yet but Tom has this feeling about him. He is the son of a WEI ave and Tom keeps trying to distance himself from his famous father but cannot. You will meet some great characters including Tom's mother and sister. If you enjoy military stories then this book is for you. Looking forward to The story. A great 👍 read.

The story takes you to the retreat to Dunkirk. It also shows how the British were I'll prepared to fight this war in the beginning. You will meet some great characters in this story including Tom's mother and sister and be able to witness the devastation of London. This book has a lot of great WWII history in it. A

[Ilan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave up around 25% into the book.

For starters, the narrator (Audible) was awful. Why do authors keep doing this?

Secondly, how a rookie who didn’t even complete his first year at University ends up saving his buddies with street wise sensibilities on the battlefield having had zero experiences of being in battle 5 minutes earlier and now ends up being John Rambo is both puzzling and frankly disingenuous.

Want a proper soldier’s story?

Richard Sharpe (Bernard Cornwell)

Have a good day.

[Mike Lloyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Commando.

What a great story and this is just the beginning. Almost a Boys Own story but for grown ups. I enjoyed every page and was so engrossed that I forgot my tea - twice!
Griff Hosker can really write a great tale as we know but in Commando you are thrown back 80 years to a time when this country was under attack and it needed exceptional young men and women to bring us through those awful times. This is a great story of those men.

[John Hulet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting story and a tribute to the Commandos.

My one real issue with the story is the main character feels cardboard. He does everything well, is perfect and a total hero with no real emotions...he feels like he's 60 years old in a 17 year old body and that really spoils things. Doesn't drink much, doesn't smoke or curse and shows no interest in the fairer sex. Come on....that is totally unrealistic.

[Anton Fourie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't think I've ever had the misfortune of reading a book with as many spelling and grammar mistakes. The author and/or editor clearly has a dislike in commas too. I'm no English purist (it's my second language), but this butchering of a language is disgraceful.
As for the book itself - Tom must be Superman's brother.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars says it all.

My first reading of Hosker story and it won’t be my last. Great story of the beginning of a British commando command at the beginning of the war. Never a dull moment. Highly recommended.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable read but German soldiers all seem to be SS when they were in fact in the minority.
The soldiers on the book cover are clearly American (you can tell by the helmet and rifle) yet it would be sometime after this time period when the US formally took up arms in this war.

[Michael S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining but flawed WW2 adventure story about an indestructible British commando who seemingly can do no wrong. Fast moving, held back by childish dialogue and stereotyped, class based characters.

[Joe D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good story. If you are interested in WW2 history, you may consider it a little light on details.

[Dana Reeves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrilling

Excellent tale of the retreat from Dunkirk as well as the formation of the early commandos of world war 2.

[Hamish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book with a good story, but the main character is just too good at every task they come across. Gets a little tiresome after a while

[David Welch · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at about 20%. Cliched characters and generic action. Among other annoyances: the author has the BEF deployed on the Luxembourg border; it was actually on the Belgium border.

[Candace Simar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book about commandos in WW2.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom leaves university to join the regular army as a trooper. After surviving Dunkirk, he joins the newly formed Commandos.

[bill white · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new war needs to have new means to fight it!

This book appeals to readers of mulatto history! Before the Navy Seals there were the famous British Commandos. This is their story!

[Mr Mark F Burgess · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was like you were there

A brilliant story, so well written that you felt you were with the boys out on operations, very exciting at times.

[David Parr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good not great, worth a quick read.

[Corey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was decent but not spectacular. The characters are well done and I felt a genuine connection to the protagonist. I will almost certainly read the next installment if that is any measure of how I felt about the book.

[bruce bottolfson · Rating 5 out of 5]

.

Great start of a new series keep them coming. Great characters and a feel of true action.Tom Harsker is taking over from his father.