Dead Eagles

In this sequel to "Those Who Dare", U.S. Major John Randal, Commander of Strategic Raiding Forces, is back, leading an expert -- albeit motley -- crew of Royal Marines and Royal Navy officers on bigger and bolder missions to foil Hitler's Third Reich. Off the Brits' Gold Coast colony in Africa, the Germans are operating a naval intelligence ring that gathers information about British convoys in the southern sea-lane. Couriers carry the data to nearby Rio Bonita, a tiny Portuguese island protectorate, whence they are broadcast to Nazi U-boats and surface raiders from a clandestine radio station onboard one of three interned enemy ships. As a result, British convoys vital to the war effort are ravaged. Major Randal and the Raiding Forces' mission is to invade Rio Bonita and spirit away the three ships. Failure means either imprisonment or hanging for piracy -- and that Portugal will declare war on its oldest ally. Peopling "Dead Eagles" are eccentric characters new and old. There is Wild West showman Captain "Geronimo Joe" McKoy; the stunning Lady Jane Seaborn, who adopts the Raiding Forces as her own pet project; and Lady Jane's bombshell of a driver, Pamala Plum-Martin. Even Ian Fleming puts in an appearance, submitting a plan for "Operation Ruthless", the goal of which is to board a Luftwaffe bomber and crash it into the English Channel. This action-packed adventure story features a daring Commando raid, an epic sea battle, beautiful spies, head-hunting pygmy cannibals, and hooker warfare, all culminating in a deadly shoot-out in a crowded French bar.