Spears of Defiance · an Alex Swan Mystery

It is November 1979.

Unilateral Declaration of Independence and a bitter bush war is about to come to an end in Rhodesia, and with historic talks reaching their final conclusions in London, a black majority government is about to take office as the new country of Zimbabwe.

In Devon, an open briefcase is found on the seat of a commuter train and sensitive documents have been scattered around the compartment while further down the track, a body of a man floats face-down in a small river.

Ministry of Defence trouble-shooter, Alex Swan and his new associate, Andrew Gable, discover the man was a biochemist working at the highly secret Microbiological Research Establishment at Porton Down. Following further investigations, they learn he once worked on an experimental top secret, but now decommissioned biological weapon. Swan also has to face a fear that due to a government spending review, his Services Investigations Department may in the near future cease to exist.

While attending the funeral of an old friend, Swan is given a letter informing him of the cover-up of a Buccaneer aircraft which disappeared while being towed by road from the factory to its test airfield. Meanwhile, at an airbase in South Africa, two air to surface missiles are stolen from a weapons store.

Swan and Gable join forces with Peter Cunningham, an agent of the South African security service to track down the mysterious Phillip Munroe, a former member of the Rhodesian Selous Scouts and now a soldier for hire working for shipping magnate, Henry Mallinson. With a conspiracy of white Rhodesian hard liners, Mallinson plans to cause economic chaos to the new government of Zimbabwe by engineering the destruction of a strategic target that could bring disaster to the whole of Southern Africa.

Written in the tradition of the classic political spy thriller, Spears of Defiance is an explosive story that will take the readers back to the days of the Cold War, crossing continents and cultures to have them on the edge of their seats right up to its breathless climax between man and machine.