The Circuit

by Bob Shepherd

After nearly 20 years of SAS operations, including a never before published role in the infamous Bravo Two Zero patrol, Bob retired from the military to work as an advisor on the international commercial security circuit. Certain his most dangerous days were behind him, Bob settled into a sedate life looking after VIPs. Then 9/11 happened. Bob found himself back in war zones on assignments far more perilous than anything he had encountered in the from ferrying journalists across firing lines in The West Bank and Gaza to travelling to the heart of Osama bin Laden's Afghan lair. As part of a two-man team, Bob searched for ITN Correspondent Terry Lloyd's missing crew in Basra, Iraq, while in Afghanistan, he was forced to spend the night as the only Westerner in Khost - with a $25,000 bounty on his head. As the War on Terror escalated, Bob contended with increasingly sophisticated insurgents. But the most disturbing development he witnessed was much closer to home; namely The Circuit's rise from a niche business staffed by top veterans into an unregulated, billion dollar industry that too often places profits above lives. This is an important, pulse-racing and at times shocking testament to what is really happening, on the ground, in the major trouble spots of the world, culminating in an explosive The Circuit is undermining the War on Terror.

368 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 3, 2008

About the author

Bestselling author Bob Shepherd is an ex-SAS soldier and security advisor. During his twenty years of service with 22 SAS Regiment, Bob participated in the Oman campaign, the Iranian Embassy siege in London, The Falklands War, the first Gulf War and Bosnia. He left the Regiment in 1994 as a Warrant Officer and went to work on the international security circuit as an advisor to media, diplomats and VIPS. Bob’s work in the private sector has taken him to some of the most volatile places on earth including Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. He is a regular media commentator on security issues and has appeared on CNN International, BBC One, BBC World, BBC Radio and SKY News. For more information on Bob or to read his insights on security issues and politics, please visit his blog; www.bobshepherdauthor.com

Reviews

[Philip Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This non-fiction book provides an interesting insight into "the circuit," the privatised security industry, comprised mostly of ex-military from the West, that has sprung up in the Middle East and elsewhere since the beginning of the current wave of international terrorism. It is well written; Shepherd is opinionated and articulate. One gets the impression that he wrote the book because of a desire to express the frustrations that he felt when working on the circuit. I was particularaly impressed with his straight-forward writing style - he expresses himself clearly with the minimum amount of words, perhaps as you'd expect from an ex-Special Forces solider delivering a briefing. The style lends authenticity to the book. Furthermore, Shepherd does not over dramatise or boast about his adventures; this is actually a book in which very little drama unfolds. I expect Shepherd would say that this is as a result of his risk assessments and meticuous planning to mitigate those risks - he kept his clients safe and away from any drama. Yet Shepherd's constant scanning for threats where others do not see them creates a sense in the reader that anything could happen at any moment and the book maintains a tension throughout, keeping the pages turning to the end. Good stuff.

[Huguette Larochelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

the horror of war ,