Strike Back Ryan, Chris

John Porter was SAS. The best of the best. Until a mission in Afghanistan went sideways and he took the fall. Now he's washed up, divorced, barely keeping it together — until a hostage situation in Iraq drags him back into the game. The captive? A journalist who was embedded with Porter's unit the night everything collapsed. Chris Ryan, himself an ex-SAS soldier, writes combat with brutal authenticity — the weight of gear, the split-second calls, the noise. This is military action stripped of Hollywood gloss: gritty, fast, and unforgiving. The story inspired the hit TV series, but the book hits harder. If you want tactical thrillers that feel lived-in rather than researched, Ryan delivers.