The Martin Falconer Thrillers Series

Man against man. Face to face. One machine against another. It was shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. Martin Falconer and his friend, Frank, were anxious to ‘get into the scrap’ as soon as possible, their youth blinding them to the real danger of it all. Geoffrey, Martin’s elder brother, knew that it wasn’t a game. He had fought in the trenches, been wounded and had seen friends die. For Geoffrey the R.F.C. offered an opportunity to escape the mud and horror of the Front, while for Martin and Frank it was the chance to be in at the start of a totally different kind of fighting. They were to be pioneers. A scintillating, full-throttle thriller of the First World War, perfect for fans of W. E. Johns, Derek Robinson and Geoffrey Wellum.

To swing the tide of the war, he must take to the air once again. It was 1916. The First World War had still two years to run. Martin Falconer, at eighteen an experienced pilot with service in France to his credit, was kicking his heels in England, awaiting another posting to the Front. Throughout the spring he watched the progress of the war, especially the war in the air, acknowledging to himself the German’s superiority. Their machines were better, and they had produced the war’s best-known hero of the air, the Red Baron. British machines were poor, morale was low, and the odds were stacked against them. Finally, at the beginning of April, Martin was sent again to France – but this was the month that became known as Bloody April, when a pilot’s life-expectancy was two weeks, and Martin found himself in a unit demoralised and ill-managed. John Harris’s sombre picture of Britain at war is as compelling as only the truth can be, perfect for fans of W. E. Johns, Alexander Fullerton and David Black.

Martin Falconer had one big anxiety: would they let him fly again? Grounded in England at the beginning of 1918, it was a struggle, for escaped prisoners of war weren’t generally allowed to return to the front, but Martin pestered the authorities and, at last, found himself back in France. But the character of the war was changing. Everyone had suddenly become efficiency-conscious, and the freedom of choice which he had valued so much in his life as a pilot was disappearing. Martin had to settle down to the grim, monotonous business that aerial warfare had now become. It was work that took a terrible toll on the nerves, even of someone as young and strong as he was. He longed to be able to solve the problem, and for the war to be over, so that he could start to find out what he really wanted from life. A gripping story, totally convincing in its portrayal of the ordeals and rewards of flying in the First World War, for fans of Alexander Fullerton and W. E. Johns.

The First World War is over. But Martin Falconer’s story is only just beginning. 1919. Martin Falconer, a veteran airman while still in his teens and now adjusting to peacetime, is asked to go to Russia to fight the Bolsheviks. His answer? ‘Try and stop me.’ The Great War had taken away much of Martin’s idealism, shown him the gruesome realities of battle. But the Russia of 1919, a chaotic, desperate country, shows him another sort of conflict, a civil war of great savagery and bitterness on both sides. Nothing is as simple as he had thought. But the danger and excitement as he flies over the Russian steppes will only further his extraordinary legacy. The continuation of the completely gripping WWI aviation thrillers, for fans of W. E. Johns, Alastair MacLean and Alan Evans.

One last mission, but this time it’s personal... In the Spring of 1920 the Mexican revolution was almost over. Just across the border in Texas was Martin Falconer, barely out of his teens yet already a veteran airman. He had only just escaped from the Russian Civil War with his three friends, Slingsby, ‘Puddy’ Pudhovkin and ‘Tommy’ Tucker, and they were all looking forward to a little peace. Martin had cabled his girlfriend Charley, who was in Mexico with her father, to come and meet him. But his hopes are shattered when they arrive in the border town of Camarillo to collect Charley, and the four airmen are caught in the middle of a battle. When the dust settles, they discover that the retreating Mexican bandits had taken Charley as a hostage. Martin tries to enlist official aid, but without success. It was up to them – and all they had to use against a desperate band of rebels were two battered aeroplanes, a broken down Avro and a de Havilland with broken wings. This will be his most challenging flight. The absolutely thrilling finale to the Martin Falconer thrillers, a tour de force of wartime storytelling, perfect for fans of Alastair MacLean, Alexander Fullerton and David Black.