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In Honor Bound
Barney Crispin, a Captain in the SAS, is as tough as they come. He is sent on an urgent mission to the Afghanistan to destroy one of the Soviet Mi-24 helicopters, a highly sophisticated and virtually invulnerable piece of military equipment, and retrieve the hardware. In order to do so, he needs the help of the Mujahidin resistance and must first train them in the ways of stealth and sabotage.But the guerillas he trains are ill-equipped and disorganised. Their attempt fails and several of them are killed in the process. Against orders and with only eight missiles and a local boy as his guide, Barney decides to undertake the mission alone, his own solitary battle for vengeance...
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 13, 2021
Genius
I now regard Seymour as better than Faulks. Shooting down helos in Soviet era Afghanistan might not appeal to everyone and the girl is unimportant, that said - the tension in this book radiates. My second Seymour. I'm going to buy the rest. He is a literary genius.
The audio book is outstanding.
I now regard Seymour as better than Faulks. Shooting down helos in Soviet era Afghanistan might not appeal to everyone and the girl is unimportant, that said - the tension in this book radiates. My second Seymour. I'm going to buy the rest. He is a literary genius.
The audio book is outstanding.
June 21, 2020
I love this book. Gerald Seymour is one of my favourite authors and this is his best book in my opinion. It's Afghanistan, 1984 and the Soviets aren't bothering with any "hearts and minds" campaign: their Hind Mi-24 helicopter gunships are causing havoc amongst the mujahadeen resistance. SAS Captain Barney Crispin is sent to Pakistan to train Afghan fighters in use of the Redeye surface-to-air missile. Not to cross the border and join in, absolutely not, under any circumstances...yeah, right.
There's a simplicity to this story, a mythic quality of 'hero on a quest'. The characters are well drawn, albeit flirting with cliche. It's atypical of the author's work in some ways as there's none of the usual moral complexity . The blurb on the cover of my first edition Fontana paperback says it's a "tense thriller of today's forgotten war" but it's more a straightforward military adventure. The passages where our hero takes on the Hinds are v. exciting - this would've made a great film.
Revisiting a favourite novel after over thirty years can sometimes be tricky but this was every bit as good as I remember. Historical perspective is always a feature with this author (loved the Kipling quotes) and there's added poignancy here given Afghanistan's plight since this book was written. The action is convincing but there's no shying away from war's bloody consequences. All in all, an under-rated classic.
There's a simplicity to this story, a mythic quality of 'hero on a quest'. The characters are well drawn, albeit flirting with cliche. It's atypical of the author's work in some ways as there's none of the usual moral complexity . The blurb on the cover of my first edition Fontana paperback says it's a "tense thriller of today's forgotten war" but it's more a straightforward military adventure. The passages where our hero takes on the Hinds are v. exciting - this would've made a great film.
Revisiting a favourite novel after over thirty years can sometimes be tricky but this was every bit as good as I remember. Historical perspective is always a feature with this author (loved the Kipling quotes) and there's added poignancy here given Afghanistan's plight since this book was written. The action is convincing but there's no shying away from war's bloody consequences. All in all, an under-rated classic.
May 18, 2013
I love Seymour's work. His journalism background shows through, and although some have not rated this book highly, I thoroughly enjoyed it. He falls into my favourite group of Forsyth, Craig Thomas thriller writers. Many years old, it is still relevant given Britain and US continuing involvement in Afghanistan.
This book sets the scene in the days when the Soviets were there. Our friends then are our enemies now. Great background, he evokes the wild landscape but brings out the beauty of the land and the hardships of the mountain people.
Our politicians would do well to read it!
This book sets the scene in the days when the Soviets were there. Our friends then are our enemies now. Great background, he evokes the wild landscape but brings out the beauty of the land and the hardships of the mountain people.
Our politicians would do well to read it!
December 1, 2025
This book was written in 1984; I read it in 2025. The era of the book covers the period when the USSR occupied Afghanistan and were surprised by battle with the mujahidin. The guerrillas were winning, until the Soviets countered with the Mi-24 helicopter. This beast was larger, heavily armoured and much more heavily armed. The mujahidin are armed with rifles, automatic rifles and a few heavy machine guns. With these, and a few light rockets, most Soviet battles were lost, and many soldiers killed. Vehicles, mobile armour and light helicopters are destroyed by the mujahidin and their light weapons. However, the guerillas discovered they could not successfully fight the armoured Mi-24. They still fought but when the Mi-24 showed up, they hid and ran to the caves and narrow valleys, suffering heavy losses they could not replace.
The Afghans asked the west for modern rockets so they could continue to fight. The United States has a suitable missile but is not ready to offer it. Britain has an older rocket, the Redeye, that could do the job however it is complicated to use and carries no documentation available in the various Afghan languages. Additionally, the Redeye user must stand to aim a hot spot and aim until the target is hit. Britain agrees to trial its rockets however it does not want to place its soldiers in Afghanistan. A retired army Major / current Foreign Affairs agent and a young army Captain are selected for the operation. Both are known for doggedly following orders without even a thought of anything above, beyond or below.
As the reader would expect, things do not start well. The two major characters individually decide to extend their orders. One will wait just outside Afghanistan, and one will enter Afghanistan to demonstrate and utilize eight Redeyes and shoot down Russian helicopters. Besides the guerrillas and Russians, the operation runs into several other characters. Including: a female European nurse, an American Vietnam vet determined to fight with the Afghans, a former teacher leading a mujahidin platoon, and a teenager, the only translator for English in the group. Several battles with Mi-24s occur with various results and various relationships are developed.
This story could only happen in a narrow slice of history. The Russian occupation of Afghanistan began in late 1979. US antiaircraft missiles were released to Afghanistan later in the 1980s and Russia left in late 1989. This story occurred between those events. This book would be of interest to those interested in warfare in Afghanistan and life in general outside the cities. The book is unabashedly British, other than the odd word or rank. Three ½ stars.
The Afghans asked the west for modern rockets so they could continue to fight. The United States has a suitable missile but is not ready to offer it. Britain has an older rocket, the Redeye, that could do the job however it is complicated to use and carries no documentation available in the various Afghan languages. Additionally, the Redeye user must stand to aim a hot spot and aim until the target is hit. Britain agrees to trial its rockets however it does not want to place its soldiers in Afghanistan. A retired army Major / current Foreign Affairs agent and a young army Captain are selected for the operation. Both are known for doggedly following orders without even a thought of anything above, beyond or below.
As the reader would expect, things do not start well. The two major characters individually decide to extend their orders. One will wait just outside Afghanistan, and one will enter Afghanistan to demonstrate and utilize eight Redeyes and shoot down Russian helicopters. Besides the guerrillas and Russians, the operation runs into several other characters. Including: a female European nurse, an American Vietnam vet determined to fight with the Afghans, a former teacher leading a mujahidin platoon, and a teenager, the only translator for English in the group. Several battles with Mi-24s occur with various results and various relationships are developed.
This story could only happen in a narrow slice of history. The Russian occupation of Afghanistan began in late 1979. US antiaircraft missiles were released to Afghanistan later in the 1980s and Russia left in late 1989. This story occurred between those events. This book would be of interest to those interested in warfare in Afghanistan and life in general outside the cities. The book is unabashedly British, other than the odd word or rank. Three ½ stars.
December 1, 2018
Seymour used, as the title indicates, the theme of honour, worthiness, decent, fair, just and upright to not only describe his hero, but also the people of Afghanistan. His descriptions of the main characters and the reasons for being in a such a violent foreign country at that time rang true and his descriptions about the afghan people and their war with the Russian army was excellent. However, this story first released way back in 1984 was well worn and cliched, not all of it, mind you, but certainly how it ended. Even so, the relationship between the main characters and that with their rivals was riveting and so was the story. "In Honour Bound", was action packed and quite different from many of Seymour's later novels because it wasn't as complexed and detailed like "The Journey Man Tailor" or "The Dealer and the Dead", focusing more upon action than detail. If you see it on the shelf, buy it because Seymour gives you, ironically, more action and less character driven dialogue that many of his other novels. So, even though the ending was unrealistic, and left me a little dissatisfied, it was 350 pages of excitement. I liked his other novels more that this one, but they are all are at least three stars. This gets 3 Stars from me.
February 7, 2020
I wasn't overly impressed with this book, the story was alright but the execution just didn't draw me in. Coming off of reading Jeffrey Archer's As The Crow Flies, this didn't even compare in terms of characters, scenes and story development.
Pretty straight forward plot set in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the British decide they want to capture some parts of the Soviet's fancy Hind helicopter and to do so smuggle in a surface-to-air missile and decide to train some locals to do the task. Sent off early and unprepared with half the missiles and the single launcher the locals are annihilated and only a boy returns carrying the single launcher.
All emotional, Barry Crispin SAS decides to take the launcher and the remaining missiles into Afghanistan to finish the job so the locals didn't die in vain, and so the meat of the story begins.
It's alright but I didn't find myself at all compelled by the story at times drifting off to read the newspaper instead when my mind wandered. Would be suitable to pass time if you have no alternative entertainment, eg on a plane.
Pretty straight forward plot set in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the British decide they want to capture some parts of the Soviet's fancy Hind helicopter and to do so smuggle in a surface-to-air missile and decide to train some locals to do the task. Sent off early and unprepared with half the missiles and the single launcher the locals are annihilated and only a boy returns carrying the single launcher.
All emotional, Barry Crispin SAS decides to take the launcher and the remaining missiles into Afghanistan to finish the job so the locals didn't die in vain, and so the meat of the story begins.
It's alright but I didn't find myself at all compelled by the story at times drifting off to read the newspaper instead when my mind wandered. Would be suitable to pass time if you have no alternative entertainment, eg on a plane.
February 28, 2020
Another tightly written, tense, action packed adventure from Gerald Seymour. This is a unique glimpse into the dedicated & single minded jihad of the mujahideen in Afghanistan against the force of Russia's Red Army in the 1980's. Great storytelling!
November 27, 2023
Seymour is a great writer.His style is not my favourite - but that is a personal taste thing - but this book, In Honour Bound, I have read five times over the years and find it gripping and entertaining every time.
November 19, 2024
This was an enjoyable part espionage part special forces warfare story set during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Tasked with training Mujahidin forces on the Red Eye hand held SAM in attempt to down one or more MI-24 Hind helicopters and to technical information on them Captain Barney Crispin is told that on no account is he to enter Afghanistan. When the locals all die and fail to to shoot down a helicopter Crispin disobeys orders and heads into Afghanistan to complete the mission. Whilst there he experience the hardship and struggles of the local people even though the never full accept him.
It all feels very real and the battle scenes are well written as are the struggles that the locals have with helping Crispin despite the danger he brings to them.
It all feels very real and the battle scenes are well written as are the struggles that the locals have with helping Crispin despite the danger he brings to them.
January 15, 2022
Fantastic job - Brits and Soviets and the mujahadin in Afganistan in the 1980s. Exciting, brilliantly done.
September 6, 2024
Great read
It is my fourth book of Gerald Seymour’s and have all been completely different except for the quality writing and research into the subject matter.
It is my fourth book of Gerald Seymour’s and have all been completely different except for the quality writing and research into the subject matter.
May 25, 2025
Solid but dragged on a bit in the final third. The insertion of an improbable love story doesn't help. Otherwise ok.
December 23, 2025
Very peculiar story on a narrow piece of history. Not always believable
November 14, 2015
Not impressed. The story was simple - an SAS officer works with a rag tag group of Afghan refugees to train them to use US SAM missiles to defend themselves against Soviet Hind attack helicopters. Unfortunately all the characters were caricatures. The writing was clumsy and ham fisted. There appeared to be no attempt to delve into the socio-political complexity of the Soviet occupation and the motives of the Mujaheddin. Just not worth finishing.
September 22, 2016
Another great book from Seymour. Although the dialogue is slightly dated the novel has pace, tension and action!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews