This is the follow up to the best seller Eight Lives Down by Major Chris Hunter.  That book was the terrifying and hair-raising story of his time in Iraq as what is colloquially known as a “bomb disposal expert”.  Extreme Risk is the broader story of his career in the British Army as what is more properly termed an Ammunition Technical Officer or ATO.

Major Hunter takes us through the start of his career as an officer at the Sandhurst Military Academy (although he set out in the Army as a Private) through to his return to the action as a Private Military Contractor (PMC) after retiring his Commission.  The story he tells is the typical poignant story that many modern soldiers could tell; the conflict of absolute dedication to a career with that of a relationship with a wife and children.  Major Hunter tells it to us straight – he succeeds absolutely with one of these and fails absolutely in the other.

He became an ATO following the death of his brother through suicide after a life blighted by drug addiction.  Major Hunter became determined to make a difference to the world; drugs finance terrorism therefore he can avenge his brother by defeating terrorism, specifically the bomb makers!  He thus joins the Royal Logistics Corps (RLC), the only way to become an ATO.  After serving a gruelling tour as a peacekeeper during the Bosnian conflict and witnessing all the horrors of that dark time in Europe and then witnessing first hand the impact of a bomb attack in Northern Ireland he qualifies, after what must be one of the most intellectually gruelling courses in any armed force, as an ATO.  Not only that but he draws first prize in the deployment “raffle”; he deploys to the Explosive Ordnance Demolition team at Shorncliffe in Kent considered one of the best jobs in the RLC. 

Next he deploys to Northern Ireland and despite this being the time of the Peace Process life is that typical combination that any soldier will be familiar with – training, boredom and every so often extreme terror!  He reminds the reader that whilst the terrorist bomb is there to cause death, destruction and (of course) terror, it is also aimed directly at the ATO.  If they can take him out then the bad guys have gained a major victory (as well as spoiling the ATO’s day big time!).  One lesson we might all learn from Major Hunter and his time in Northern Ireland are the perils of drinking.  After being convinced by his friend that the bad guys were almost certainly going to be having the night off in the pub our hero proceeds to get pretty drunk.  And you can guess what happens then.  Of course the bad guys decided not to take the evening off.  I was impressed by the way that Major Hunter’s training and experience so comprehensively beat the affects of alcohol on this occasion!

The rest of the book focuses on Major Hunter’s time as the bomb disposal specialist working with Special Forces in the battle against domestic terrorism, his time in Colombia to teach the Colombians how to counter the tactics of the IRA, several of whom were selling their knowledge to Colombian rebels and the end of his career in the Army, after deciding he couldn’t save all of the world.  After struggling to cope with life as a civilian, including writing Eight Lives Down, Major Hunter signs up as a PMC and works for the UK Foreign Office in Afghanistan.

Major Hunter writes in an engaging and direct style.  He pulls no punches but neither does he set out to gratuitously shock the reader.  After pounding along throughout the book almost tails off rather than having a simple and satisfying ending.  However I think this is merely how the author’s life was at the time of writing rather than any lack of literary ability.  You as the reader are left as conflicted and incomplete as Major Hunter, welcome to the modern world of asymmetric warfare and the impact on its practitioners! 

This is an excellent book.  I couldn’t put his previous book down and Extreme Risk was no different.  The midnight oil was burnt whilst this one was being read in the Robinson household.  If you are interested in modern military conflict then this is most definitely for you.

Available now in paperback, published by Corgi Books, normal price £6.99 (ISBN 9780552157599)

Review written by: Paul Robinson, Staff Writer