Hardback sales of hardback thriller debuts published in 2021 as measured by Nielsen Bookscan About the AuthorAnt Middleton was the front man for Channel 4's hit show, SAS: Who Dares Wins, among other major series, and a hugely bestselling non-fiction author . I read through it in a couple of evenings and from start to finish it kept me thoroughly entertained. Sceptical initially of Middleton’s foray in to the fictional world, given his prior publications are normally of the self help and mental fitness (very good books, just an FYI), I am pleased to have been proven wrong. Mallory himself is portrayed as a complex character so the reader is not alienated from his violent actions. We follow Mallory across three continents as he races to discover the truth and save his friend's family.

Also what keeps him going and why he is determined to do right by Donno and his mother, even when the stakes are increasingly high. Donno" is originally from South Africa and his mum approaches Mallory for help as she is worried about his brother, Scott, who she has been unable to contact for several weeks. Given the author’s background the plot summary will come as no surprise: the main character, simply referred to as Mallory, was part of the best of the best; a Special Forces leader. Although spaced carefully throughout the book, the chapters give a real insight into the man and the tragedy that haunts him.

This is a compulsive, exciting and action-packed international action-adventure thriller with never a dull moment and a riveting, superbly woven plot that is all about vengeance and redemption. In this book, the main character is Mallory, his best friend Donno, is in hospital in a Coma, after they were in the special forces together and Mallory made a mistake, meaning Donno ended up this way. What follows is sequence of exciting twists and turns with Mallory travelling to SA to look for Scott and ending up being chased by a group of ex military men on a mission. This leads to Mallory going to South Africa, to the place where Scott was last seen, and try to find out where he is and if he is in danger. Everything I knew about Ant though, I learnt from watching this Russel Howard interview which was enough to see that he put a lot of himself into Mallory's struggles after getting off duty.

First time I’ve read anything related to this genre, wasn’t expecting much, however I was pleasantly surprised. That is not to say that the physical fights, spying, and pursuits are not showstopping because they are. I ended up thoroughly enjoying this book as Mallory takes up the request from his badly injured Special Forces colleague's mother to find out what has happened to her other son. After a mission to grab a High Value Target (hvt) goes wrong, Mallory consumed by guilt, is drifting through life with no purpose. Then he meets the latter’s mother at the hospital; she is from South Africa, has recently lost her husband and is worried about her surviving son who has stopped communicating from South Africa.Is a story about ex special forces soldier Mallory and how he suffers from a trauma from his last mission where some of his fellow soldiers where injured and killed. Middleton’s first foray into fiction is a decent action thriller, ticked all the right boxes for me. A frightening tale of struggling in extreme situations where only your wits and your military training can keep you safe. It's about time that we have a UK version of Reacher, Mallory can be, I want him to be, hopefully we get that as the character grows in the next book.

Ant Middleton’s previous self-help books have mostly been self-congratulatory exercises in money-making, and now this book is his first foray into novel writing. I’ve read books by former operatives such as Ollie Ollerton who Ant worked with in SAS and Jack Carr’s James Reece series.

This muscular action novel, with the mysterious Mallory leading the charge, hurtles the reader toward Hell Hour, where everything is at stake.