MISCHIEF

by Brian Thomas

MISCHIEF is set in the group of atolls and reefs called the Spratly Islands. Sovereignty is hotly contested by the countries surrounding this area of the South China Sea where untold riches of oil, gas and minerals create conflict and attracts the attention of the world. Mysterious attacks on commercial shipping passing through the area creates confusion amongst the Royal Navy and British Intelligence agencies. While England is winning the World Cup, Lt Jamie Davis, with experience of working with the Special Boat Section on developing submersible delivery vehicles, joins a crack team of the Special Boat Service to investigate. The aim is to discover the true perpetrators of devastating acts of piracy and to eliminate the discredit heaping up on the innocent. Using untried torpedo tugs launched from a submarine the team discover international intrigue ranging from Hong Kong to Singapore. The fast moving and tense action builds to an explosive finish, shattering the tranquility of the archipelago. Brian Thomas brings an authentic touch to the story, having served as a submariner in this area. His duties included support for Special Forces operatives in the development of hand held sonar devices to ease the dangerous and often unsuccessful return of clandestine swimmers to a submarine.

268 pages, Paperback

Published December 8, 2020

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for the Spratly Islands setting. Although the genre (military action/espionage) was outside of my comfort zone, and half the time I didn't fully understand what was going on, I found the pacing to be quite good, the writing perfectly fine (but for a couple of glaring mistakes that jolted me out of the story) and the ending was satisfying. Once finished, I discovered that the main character had appeared in an earlier novel, but I really don't think it made any difference to my reading experience to have not had that extra acquaintance.