Brian Callison was a British novelist known for his best-selling thrillers and sea stories. Born in Manchester, England in 1934, he was educated at the High School of Dundee, and went to sea at the age of 16 as an apprentice with the Blue Funnel Line, sailing aboard cargo ships between ports in Europe and East Asia. Callison subsequently studied at Dundee College of Art in Scotland, and went into business. His first published novel, A Flock of Ships, appeared in 1970. In 2008 he completed a three-year appointment as a Fellow of The Royal Literary Fund at the University of Dundee, mentoring staff and students in all aspects of practical writing. Callison died in Dundee on 5 February 2024, at the age of 89.
A damn good yarn of the sea from the point of view of a German mariner, once a merchant navy captain, now a U-Boat commander who has to destroy the self-same vessels he's sailed in and loved. But the story is much more complicated than that. The author's love of all things maritime shines through and I was thoroughly gripped by the story from the opening pages.