Talon

By Antony Melville Ross

The war in Europe is over. But on the other side of the world Lieutenant John Gascoigne takes command of HMS Talon, a submarine patrolling the treacherous waters of the Java Sea. Gascoigne is a man haunted by past loyalties; by the ever-present ghost of a woman he loves, but can never have.

The constant successes of the American submarine commanders, his allies and rivals, only fuel his resentment of the present. Gascoigne is desperate for success in Talon, and he will take any risk to get results. But a Japanese destroyer is a formidable target – even when dead in Talon’s sights . . .

Anthony Melville-Ross was born in Hastings, East Sussex on November 11 1920. He published six novels between 1978 and 1985, all inspired by his background as a sub-mariner in the Second World War. He had an extremely successful career in the navy, rose to command his own boat and transferred into the Secret Service after the end of the war. He died in his hometown on January 10 1993, aged 73.