Jack Tanner Series

May 1940. Sergeant Jack Tanner has been posted to a training company on the south-east coast of England. But all is not well in the camp. The mysterious death of two Polish refugees leads Tanner to believe there has been foul play. When he and his corporal, Stan Sykes, are nearly killed, Tanner finds his suspicions directed at an old comrade from his early days in the army. As the Germans launch their Blitzkrieg in Europe, training is abandoned and the entire company are sent to join the battle to stop Hitler's drive across the Low Countries. Almost immediately, they are thrust into the thick of the action and cut off from the rest of the battalion. Trapped behind the enemy advance, Tanner must use all his ingenuity to get his men back to Allied lines. Soon enmeshed in the long withdrawal to the French coast, Tanner, Sykes and his new platoon commander, Lieutenant John Peploe, find themselves pitted against not only the die-hard Nazis of the SS 'Death's Head' Division but also the great panzer commander himself, General Rommel.
Even then, in the chaos of retreat, Tanner must deal with the corrosive treachery bubbling within the company's ranks - and an enemy more deadly than the Germans - if he and his men are to have any hope of surviving the mayhem of Dunkirk.

Blood Of Honour

by James Holland

Published 10 June 2010

It's Crete, May 1941. Jack Tanner finds himself embroiled in a deadly game of survival that will test his resolve more than ever before. Not only has a new subaltern, Guy Liddell, who seems determined to make life difficult, recently arrived on the island, but Tanner has offended Alopex, a powerful Cretan kapitan who has sworn to kill him. Then suddenly the Germans invade and British fortunes take another dive for the worst. At Hiraklion, Tanner and the rest of the 2nd Battalion Yorks Rangers find themselves battling in vicious close-quarter fighting against the German paratroopers. Leading a counter-attack, it is Peploe and Tanner's B Company that helps drive the enemy back. But this success is short-lived and, once again, Tanner and Sykes find themselves faced with a bitter retreat. Enemy bombers, however, ensure their attempted evacuation is scuppered. Making their way back to the island, Tanner and a handful of Rangers are now forced to flee to the mountainous interior where only one man seems able to help them - Alopex. To make matters worse, the Germans are determined on vengeance, and Tanner soon finds himself face-to-face with more than one enemy eager to settle the score.

Hellfire

by James Holland

Published 7 July 2011

August, 1942.North Africa. The desert war hangs in the balance. Although their retreat has finally been halted, morale in the British Army is at rock bottom. When the commander of the Eighth Army, General Gott, is killed, it seems that foul play is at work. An impenetrable Axis spy circuit could be compromising any hope the Allies have of stemming the Nazi tide. Jack Tanner, recovering from wounds in a Cairo hospital, is astonished to receive a battlefield commission which will propel him into a very different world when he returns to action. Fit once more, he finds himself facing the full onslaught of Rommel's latest offensive. In its aftermath, Tanner and his trusty sidekick Sykes are recruited to work behind the Axis lines in a desperate attempt to take the fight to the Nazis. But the murky world of subterfuge, deceit and murder they find themselves in is a million miles away from the certainties of the battlefield and somehow they must discover who they can trust in the cat-and-mouse world of counter-espionage.
Hellfire sees Tanner fighting his way through his most dangerous adventure yet - one that takes him from the dark backstreets of Cairo to the open Mediterranean and finally to one of the decisive clashes of the entire war - the Battle of Alamein.

The Odin Mission

by James Holland

Published 4 September 2008

April 1940. Nazi Germany has invaded neutral Norway. Fleeing north from their brutal Blitzkrieg advance are three officers of the King's Guard - men who have been entrusted by the Norwegian King with a vitally important mission. The only military force which stands between the Nazi forces and total victory are the poorly equipped, undertrained squaddies of the British 148th Brigade. Among them is Sergeant Jack Tanner, recently returned from the Middle East. As the British are pushed back from Lillehammer, Sergeant Tanner and his patrol are left stranded in the mountains in the chaos of retreat. Trying to rejoin their unit, they stumble first across Sandvold and his protectors, and then a French patrol of alpine troops. Trekking through snow-clad mountains with the Germans dogging their every move, Tanner is forced to try and out-fox and out-fight not only their pursuers but the best efforts of his own side. And as the Allies' resistance collapses, it quickly becomes clear that the small band of fugitives can rely on no-one but themselves.

The Devil's Pact

by James Holland

Published 18 July 2013

Readers of Robert Harris, Bernard Cornwell and Ken Follett will love this all-action, high-octane wartime thriller from bestselling author and historian James Holland. With its authentic and vivid depiction of war, its gut-punchingly realistic battle scenes and its amazing characterisation, this is one not to miss!

'Absorbing and thoughtful as well as tense and exciting' -- Daily Telegraph
'A rollicking good and authentic read' -- ***** Reader review
'Fantastic - couldn't put it down' -- ***** Reader review
'Terrific writing' -- ***** Reader review
'Great writer, great book. Buy anything by Holland and you will not be disappointed. Excellent!' -- ***** Reader review
'I have read all 5 books and they keep you enthralled from start to finish every time' -- ***** Reader review
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Sicily, 1943: TO CHANGE THE COURSE OF HISTORY, DIRTY DEALS MUST BE DONE...

With North Africa secured, the Allies launch an invasion of Sicily, and the 2nd Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Rangers are in the vanguard of the assault on the Italian beaches.

But promotion to Company Commander has brought fresh trouble for Jack Tanner. Not only has his new Battalion Commander decided to make his life as difficult as possible, but they soon find themselves battling against some of the toughest, most determined troops in the Wehrmacht.

In the bitter fighting that follows, Tanner witnesses a new reality. Forced to question the cause for which they have fought so long, Tanner and his trusted sidekick, Sykes, find themselves embroiled in a deeply personal fight, in which they have to use all their resolve, skill and experience if they are to stand any chance of survival...

Have you read the other Jack Tanner adventures? Discover The Odin Mission, Darkest Hour, Blood of Honour and Hellfire now!

Untitled Jack Tanner 4

by James Holland

Published 31 August 2010

'Has all the pace of the previous three, and is bang on form.' (Daily Mail)

August, 1942. North Africa.

The desert war hangs in the balance. When the commander of the Eighth Army, General Gott, is killed, it's clear that foul play is at work. An impenetrable Axis spy circuit is compromising any hope the Allies have of stemming the Nazi tide. Jack Tanner, recovering from wounds in a Cairo hospital, is astonished to receive a battlefield commission which will propel him into a very different world when he returns to action. Fit once more, he finds himself facing the full onslaught of Rommel's latest offensive.

In its aftermath, Tanner and his trusty sidekick Sykes are recruited to work behind the Axis lines in a desperate attempt to fight back. But the murky world of deceit and murder they find themselves in is a million miles away from the certainties of the battlefield. Somehow they must discover who they can trust in the cat-and-mouse world of counter-espionage before it's too late...