2011, the Gulf of Aden, modern day piracy is a lucrative enterprise helped in part by legal loop-holes that can see captured pirates being released without charge. Emboldened by their successes pirates continue to target large vessels accruing payments in the millions of Euros. But cargo is not the only cash cow - people are profitable too.
For new SAS recruit Jason Sturrock, the Somali port town of Berbera will be a place where he can earn his spurs and he will need to draw on all the training his Hereford HQ provides when he goes head to head with the pirates. But it will not just be flying in and extracting - the law will also play its part. And, of course, there will be pressure from the media and the political elite.
In Beat the Clock Gordon Clark offers the reader a welcome addition to the dare-doing tales of the SAS Regiment.