Robert Ryan writes what he calls fact-ion - fact served with generous dollops of fiction. His latest book hot off the shelves is 'After Midnight' and quite like his earlier offerings is immensely readable.
If you pick this book, get ready to be transported back into the World War Two years.
A novel of heroism, love and a war that refuses to die, this story begins in 1944, when a Liberator bomber pilot writes a letter to his daughter.
The occasion being her first birthday. He posts it moments before embarking on a mission in Northern Italy.
Tragically he never returns. What's worse neither the wreckage of his plane nor his body has ever been found.
In 1964, his daughter Linda Carr embarks on a mission to find out what happened to her father on that terrible night. All of this may read like fiction, but the letter which inspired this story is as real as it gets.
To get her mission going, she employs the help of Jack Kirby, a British fighter pilot who was on operations in the area when her father died. He is now a motorcycle racer competing in the Isle of Man TT.
But Jack is also a man who is finding it hard to adjust to life during peacetime. He's a man fighting his own inner demons.
He too was shot down during the war and spent some time helping the Italian partisans on the ground.
He knows all there is to know about Nazi brutality, betrayal, corruption and the settling of scores that was the partisan's life in Italy at the time.
He also fell in love with Francesca, one of the partisan leaders, and he wants to find out what happened to her.
What Jack and Linda discover in their journey deep into the uncharted mountain regions as they attempt to piece together the fragments of their personal stories, is more dangerous, complex and life-changing than anyone could ever have imagined.
'After Midnight' makes for compelling reading from start to finish. The backdrop is the war, the message though is that of the never-ending cost of a war.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert Ryan was born in Liverpool. He moved to London when he was eighteen to attend university. He lectured in natural sciences for several years before moving into journalism in the mid-1980s.
He has written for The Face, Arena, Conde Nast Traveller, Esquire, GQ Magazine and The Sunday Times.
He is best known for his Morning, Noon and Night Trilogy - Early One Morning (published 2002), The Blue Noon (published 2003) and Night Crossing (published 2004).
He still contributes to The Sunday Times and is Writer at Large for GQ. To relax, he plays the trumpet.
He lives in North London with his wife and three children. Writing remains one of his many loves. |
Deepika Shetty is a Producer with Prime Time Morning and takes care of the book segment 'Off The Shelf' as well. | 
