The opening of Hot Blood is familiar. A western journalist taken hostage in Iraq bides his time, knowing his captors' demands will not be met and he will be killed when their deadline arrives. It matters little that the man, Johnny Lake, is sympathetic to their cause or that the leader of the group has promised he will be released in due course. So, when he is made to wear an orange jumpsuit and placed in front of video cameras he knows the end is nigh. Cut to Dan Shepherd, flicking TV channels and seeing a friend on the screen with men cradling Kalashnikovs behind him: Geordie Mitchell, too, has been abducted by the men who beheaded Lake. Their demands for a troop pull-out remain the same, as does their two-week deadline for compliance. Having once been saved by Mitchell, Shepherd, who works for the Serious Organised Crime Agency, is propelled into action. What follows in this fast-moving military thriller is a mission to save the captive, whatever the cost. Leather's book reads like a novelisation of media reports, but he also lends a deft touch that urges readers to cling on to find out if Mitchell survives. He also includes interesting trivia: next time you need to plug a bullet wound, use a tampon.