April 29th:Krantu is a good way off the coast of Sarawak, a Malaysian island. No one lives on Krantu anymore and it'll soon sink into the sea. May 2nd:This is just like when I went on digs. Dad is up to his eyeballs in work. June 4th: ...He put the edges of the scrolls near to each other. What happened next made me jump backwards, my heart pounding. July 5th: I'm not sure what happened. The bright beam of the torch was shining directly into a huge pair of eyes ...Whatever had been caught in my torch beam had crashed through the flimsy wall of the shed and stampeded into the rainforest beyond it. At first, Max's diary seems like any other entry on a teenager's blog but closer reading reveals an incredible adventure story. As the reader absorbs the strange events that unfold, Max and those around him are drawn deeper and deeper into danger. Surrounded by spies and pirates, Max makes a terrible discovery - a secret that could change the world for ever ...

Garry (Douglas) Kilworth is a varied and prolific writer who has travelled widely since childhood, living in a number of countries, especially in the Far East. His books include science fiction and fantasy, historical novels, literary novels, short story collections, children's books and film novelisations. This autobiography contains anecdotes about his farm worker antecedents and his rovings around the globe, as well as his experiences in the middle list of many publishing houses. The style is chatty, the structure loose - pole vaulting time and space on occasion - and the whole saga is an entertaining ramble through a 1950s childhood, foreign climes and the genre corridors of the literary world.
'Kilworth is a master of his trade.' ("Punch")
'Garry Kilworth is arguably the finest writer of short fiction today, in any genre.' ("New Scientist")
'Kilworth is one of the most significant writers in the English language.' ("Fear")

Garry Douglas Kilworth's third Jack Crossman novel finds the man they call 'Fancy Jack' with little time to recover from the horrors of Balaclava. Following the terrible massacre of the Light Brigade, morale is low, supplies are scarce and the Crimean Winter is beginning to take its toll. Determined to capture the Russian port of Sevastopol, the British and French lay siege to the city. The Russians send a huge force to break the siege and the scene is set for the Battle of Inkerman. Jack Crossman is sent on another covert mission to cut Russian supply lines but there is an added element of danger when it is discovered that there is a traitor on the loose in the British ranks. Fancy Jack and his men are once again risking their lives to help ensure the success of the Allied war effort.

Sergeant Jack Crossman's second adventure finds him still in the heat of battle in the Crimea. Having survived a dangerous covert mission in The Devil's Own the man known to his comrades as 'Fancy Jack' now faces new horrors at the Battle of Balaclava. In the confusion of the conflict Jack witnesses the carnage during the hopeless and tragic charge of the Light Brigade when more than six hundred British cavalry troops charged Russian gun emplacements, mistakenly following orders that, as they were passed down the chain of command, had been misinterpreted. Kilworth's rousing narrative of courage on the field and his vivid descriptions of the horrifying realities of the Crimean campaign are related with verve and meticulous historical detail, in the spirit of the great military adventures.

The fourth Crimea adventure for Sergeant 'Fancy Jack' Crossman and his band of brothers Jack Crossman and the privations of war during a Russian winter, in which a few hardy soldiers cause confusion and havoc among the enemy. After the battle of Inkerman on 5th November 1854 the British Army face a terrible winter with inadequate provisions and clothing. In this grim season Sergeant Jack Crossman and his men are billeted at Kadikoi village near Balaclave harbour, with instructions to blow up the magazine in the Russian Star Fort. Yet it transpires this is not to be Crossman's main mission. His true task is to spy on a British general accused of corruption, and to bring about his downfall. Set against a bleak backdrop it is only the grit and determination of Crossman and his men which allows them to survive against all odds in the field.