Land of Fire

by Chris Ryan

Fans of Andy McNab, Lee Child, Clive Cussler and Stephen Leather will love this gripping, no-holds-barred, all-action thriller from the Sunday Times top ten bestselling ex-SAS novelist Chris Ryan. A story of bravery, hardship and comradeship...

'Hard as nails' - Mirror
'Well worth 5 stars, I couldn't put it down' -- ***** Reader review
'Brilliantly written' -- ***** Reader review
'Exiting from start to finish' -- ***** Reader review
'Hard to put down. Had you fighting with them' -- ***** Reader review

*******************************************************************************************
CAN THEY ESCAPE IN TIME?

1982: The Falklands War.

Young SAS trooper, Mark Black, risks his life to capture a female Argentine spy. To knock out enemy bombers, a daring mission is planned against a fortified airbase on Tierra del Fuego, the remote tip of the South American mainland. Black and his fellow SAS are sent in ahead to reconnoitre. Detected by the enemy, they must fight their way out...

Twenty years later. The Argentinians invade again.

Now a senior NCO, Black is back in the South Atlantic, haunted by memories he thought he had buried. British air defences have been knocked out in a sneak attack. Once again Argentine forces are being secretly readied for an assault on the Islands. A team from the crack SAS Mountain Troop is inserted by submarine.

But has the mission been compromised from the start? When fate throws Black together with a girl from his past, he is faced with a conflict of loyalties. Can he trust her now? And can they escape in time to destroy the enemy bombers and prevent all-out war?

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, War, Military Fiction, Action, Ebooks, Audiobook

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Colin Armstrong (b. 1961), usually known by the pen-name Chris Ryan, is a British author, television presenter, security consultant and former Special Air Service sergeant.
After the publication of fellow patrol member Andy McNab's Bravo Two Zero in 1993, Ryan published his own account of his experiences during the Bravo Two Zero mission in 1995, entitled The One That Got Away. Since retiring from the British Army Ryan has published several fiction and non-fiction books, including Strike Back, which was subsequently adapted into a television series for Sky 1, and co-created the ITV action series Ultimate Force. He has also presented or appeared in numerous television documentaries connected to the military or law enforcement.

Reviews

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Your typical Chris Ryan SAS novel. Plenty of good action which he is good at writing and some of the usual sex action which he is NOT so good at writing.


3.5 stars

[L.M. Mountford · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good read but lacks any real hook, a good read with Ryan typical gritty realism, but lacking any real impression. Good read, lots of action but low on story.

[Paulien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Argentinië, 1982. In de Falklandloorlog is Mark Hood (en niet Mike, zoals op de achterflap staat vermeld) een 19-jarige SAS-soldaat die aan de vooravond van zijn eerste missie staat. Voordat de missie goed en wel is gestart, is hij al mislukt.

Argentinië, 20 jaar later. Mark Hood heeft meerdere missies op zijn naam staan en keert terug naar Argentinië. Het doel van de missie is hetzelfde als twintig jaar daarvoor. Niet alleen de missie is hetzelfde, ook de mensen die hij in 1982 al eens in Argentinië tegen was gekomen zijn weer aanwezig. Het is nog maar de vraag of deze missie een betere afloop zal kennen.

Het boek zit vol met actie. Heel veel actie en af en toe wat elementen van een thriller. Het ongeluk in open zee en de gebeurtenissen in de onderzeeër gaven me de kriebels.

Duidelijk is dat de schrijver kan putten uit zijn eigen ervaringen als SAS-militair waardoor dit boek als geloofwaardig beschouwd mag worden. Wat me soms uit het verhaal haalde waren de omschrijvingen van sommige wapens die werden gebruikt en wat voor munitie daarbij hoort. De paar seksscènes die het boek kent waren daarentegen niet zo best omschreven.

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

(2 Stars) This was looking like 3.5 stars for a long time

Not much to say. I liked that this book didn't focus on combat a lot. I usually don't read military fiction for that reason. But when the main character you are supposed to root for rapes a woman and its played off as love and romance I'm out.

[Elliot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Epic

[John Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book by Chris Ryan, and again a fast thriller of a war novel I don't usually go for, but it was really good! It was fast paced and exciting, a basic plot of a Falklands SAS veteran going back 20 years later to disrupt the Argentine plans for a second invasion through covert means of stolen RAF planes but a plot done well. There were hints of the dark past this soldier had had, including what we knew from the beginning scene of losing his brother in the original Falklands conflict but these were not dealt on; and that is something I am pleased about as it was not that kind of story. This was action all the way, BUT also with deep details about the equipment used alongside a brief history of the guns, vehicles and aircraft which again added so much to the story and never got in the way.

I will defo be reading more of his books and more stories like this in general going forward. Side note, he also wrote one of the best sex scenes ever, with the spy (Concha) our hero first met onboard a royal navy ship during the original conflict and then bumped into as a rebel against the Argentine junta 20 years later; the chemistry, animalistic nature of the act itself, mixed emotions of hate, desire and passion all worked really well together and this is something it is notoriously hard to do :D a good thriller of a novel.

[Harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Falklands War redux. Once you get past the British military jargon and the testosterone induced bravado, the narrative can be quite entertaining. Plenty of action, especially in the last half of the book.

Mark Black, an SAS commando, fought in the Falklands War and lost his brother in a failed mission. Twenty years later, he sent back to Tierra del Fuego, to spy on an Argentine military buildup. In both cases, there is a traitor within the organization that sabotages the SAS's effort. It's not hard to figure out who is the saboteur.

I assume Ryan titled the book Land of Fire because of all the fire fights. Yet it would be better is he called it Land of Snow due to the action being set so close to Antartica.

[Tom Thornton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big Chris Ryan fan having read most of his books. My advice to others is to focus on his more recent books because the early ones seem a noticeably lower standard. This being an earlier one, it reads too much like a survival guide, a series of situations which Special Forces agents might find themselves in, and how they're trained to get through them. It makes for long, dull waves which drag on. The characters (especially the narrator) seems that little bit too indestructible, plus because it's written in 1st person (unlike most Chris Ryan Books) there's never any doubt that they'll survive, taking the danger away. I recommend "Who Dares Wins" as Chris Ryan's best book.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting for the fact that this is a Boys Own Adventure, war and fighting, boom boom bang novel; a genre I doubt I've read more than two others of in my life. I read it from start to finish, found it interesting for the differences of genre, fast paced and breathless and full of hazard and jeopardy. But not for me.

[Dave B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Randomly picked this book and was impressed. The author is a former British SAS solider and he does a great job bringing his first hand experiences to paper. His references to military life, specs on weaponry and just basic survival techniques demonstrate he’s extremely knowledgeable on the subject.

[gordon coggon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly written

The story is realistic and probably true to a certain point but one thing I find disturbing is the unnecessary sex description, you are a very talented author Chris, no need for undermining your natural talent with lewd passages about other topics. Overall, a very very good read.

[Rarben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prima boek beetje veel details over de fucking wapens enzo die ze gebruikten like wat boeit het me nou welke kogels er gebruikt worden en welke wapens en voor de rest ineens in volledig detail verteld hoe die guy seks met iemand heeft beetje weirdchamp had niet persé gehoeven maar voor de rest goed boek hoor redelijk vermaakt.

[Phillip McGrath · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doors not stand up

Why would a SAS leader tell a guy he briefly met on an operation 20 years earlier, all about the vulnerability of the Falklands because of Salmonella? Lost all credibilty.

[Giles T · Rating 3 out of 5]

beach read

Decent action but a touch repetitive in parts and in a couple of places the story line got a bit clunky / went into simplified ffw. Whipped through it quickly though and a good read on the beach.

[PTPrice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heroes again

Ryan has you engaged with the characters from the start.
From the Falklands war through the Argentine junta.
You are taken on a very aggressive military journey, with intrigue and violence.
Good read.

[Mr Donald Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Land of Fire

Excellent story that kept my interest throughout. The constant change worked very well and the use of Argentina as the location was very different from other stories related to the Falklands operations.

[Johan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Het verhaal op zich was goed, maar de schrijfstijl is minder; het is eerder spreektaal dan schrijftaal. Het kan ook dat het aan de vertaling ligt.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

Interesting how the past and present collide.

[Jon Bowers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

The usual excellent storytelling by a master.literally could not put the book down,and when I absolutely had to,I couldn't get back to it soon enough! A must read!!!

[john coe · Rating 5 out of 5]

2nd war

Another good book from Chris,kept you guessing all way through. Dissect and double cross bring on the next one.fanta read.

[MR A GRUBB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping

Well worth it's 5 stars, couldn't put it down. Read on one sitting. Almost felt as if I was there

[Billy Forbes]

grips you from page 1 until the last page.

[Allan Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally forgot about this one, like a good film need to watch again

[Mark Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite slow and predictable

I've read most of his other books but found this to be quite slow with not much substance
Not one of his best books but die hard fans will read it anyway

[Jack Haslem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

Amazing book chris ryan has done it again, worth a read you wont be disappointed, not his best but top ten

[Mr Roy Davidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

442 pages

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love a good page turner like this.. jam packed with adventure...

[Titus Van Veen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was written quite well, a lot of action, a few military terms and a great description of the environment. The plot twist wasn't really unexpected, but for the most part I loved the book.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story, fast paced

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn’t put this down, it has grammar and spelling mistakes but as an ex servicemen myself it’s so relatable. I can see myself in the patrol with them. I may have found my favourite author.