Fight for your country, and fight to the last...The Falklands, 1999 – a vital strategic stronghold and oil-rich gem in the South Atlantic. For RAF pilot Sean Riever it is a place of ghosts. For Jane Clark, his co-pilot, a place of tough decisions.
An air of menace hangs over the desolate, battle-scarred landscape; present dangers and past mysteries lurk in the shadows on the skyline.
Then a Royal Navy nuclear submarine disappears, and Argentine jet fighters penetrate the Exclusion Zone. As Sean and his companions stave off wave after wave of enemy attacks, their defense becomes an epic battle for survival – in which victory can only be achieved at a terrible price…
A pulse-pounding, high-octane action thriller, Exclusion Zone is a tour de force, perfect for fans of Frederick Forsyth, Mark Greaney and Kyle Mills.
Praise for Exclusion Zone‘Fresh and compelling … as good as anything written by Jeffrey Archer or Dick Francis’ Daily Mail
‘A cracking combat thriller with a delicate love story’ Mail on Sunday
Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Flight Lieutenant Adrian John Nichol (born December 1963) is a retired Royal Air Force navigator who was shot down and captured during the first Gulf War.
An excellent read that shows the ever imminent danger the ARGENTINIANS POSE TO THE SOVERINITY OF THE FALKLAND ISLAND,especially as there are now huge oil fields around the falkland islands. It is also notable in showing the constraints placed on the armed forces by bumbling beurocrats in Whitehall who care only about balancing the books rather than ensuring the services can protect and fight effectively.
John Nichol has dedicated Exclusion Zone to the 257 servicemen who gave their lives to recapture the island, and to the hope that that particular piece of history will never be repeated. As in his previous novels, Point of Impact and Vanishing Point, the author has blended fact with fiction in this novel. Although the events in the book are imaginary, they are based on political reality: Argentina has not relinquished its claim to the Falklands, and the reserves of oil, gas and minerals in the are would be a prize for any government.
'What occurs in the book is a fairly realistic representation of what could easily happen,' Nichol says.
I found a Reader's Digest Select Editions volume containing: John Nichol's Exclusion Zone (condensed version of 132 pages); Nicholas Evans' The Loop; Jeffery Deaver's The Coffin Dancer and Robert Harris' Archangel
Not sure whether or not it is due to the condensed nature of the Reader's Digest version, I found the story to be quite exhilarating, with enjoyable enough characters and good writing that allows you to follow the aerial combat as well as land encounters quite vividly. Although there is not necessarily a strong story line, this was an interesting way to learn more about a piece of history and a country I knew almost nothing about beforehand.