- Author
- David Luddington
- ARRSE Rating
- 4.5 Mushroom Heads
Michael Purdy is an ex-S.A.S soldier. Sort of. Definitely not your average McNab or steely-eyed dealer of death. Rather, a sort of scaley, who hacked databases and fiddled entries to show that he had completed the selection and subsequent courses. Of course, the head shed would never know this. Obviously.
Now out of the army, he takes a very rational objection to the Minister of Benefits being disgustingly rich and decides to see if the aforementioned MP can survive purely on benefits. To this end, he hacks the minister's bank account and transfers his money to a dummy account. Nothing can possibly go wrong, right? The Emperor is strong here, and Purdy is nicked and facing a lengthy spell in one of HM's grey hotels. That is until the presiding judge - ex army and a Colonel - decides that the miscreant would be a suitable person to pioneer and run a 'boot camp' scheme, in which the offenders taking part would be sent to a desolate place and once there, build accommodation, forage for and grow food and be self-sufficient.
Despite Purdy's protests that he was just an Electronic Warfare operator and is most definitely not Bear Grhylls, the process begins. Cue mayhem.
The recipients of this scheme include an accomplished art forger, an expert car thief and Bob, who assumes identities. Anyone's that take his fancy. Oh, and a supervisor from a " security contractor" to make sure nothing goes wrong.
The author, who was new to me, has channeled the spirit of one of his favourite authors, P.G.Wodehouse, and updated him for the 21st century and in doing so has produced a very funny book. The humour is gentle, the pace less frenetic than many other books and the characters very likeable indeed. I read this book very quickly and was so enamoured of the style that I binge read several others by the same author.
David Luddington writes books that have a heart, that look at social injustices and - very softly and quietly - seek an amusing remedy. However, don't think that this is some form of political statement or a furious attack on the establishment. Far from it, the books do use the politician, the estate agent, the establishment as an obstacle to be overcome, to have fun poked at them. And it works wonderfully.
If you enjoy humour, if you need something to lift your spirit and make you chuckle, then read this author. He is excellent.
Amazon product
Now out of the army, he takes a very rational objection to the Minister of Benefits being disgustingly rich and decides to see if the aforementioned MP can survive purely on benefits. To this end, he hacks the minister's bank account and transfers his money to a dummy account. Nothing can possibly go wrong, right? The Emperor is strong here, and Purdy is nicked and facing a lengthy spell in one of HM's grey hotels. That is until the presiding judge - ex army and a Colonel - decides that the miscreant would be a suitable person to pioneer and run a 'boot camp' scheme, in which the offenders taking part would be sent to a desolate place and once there, build accommodation, forage for and grow food and be self-sufficient.
Despite Purdy's protests that he was just an Electronic Warfare operator and is most definitely not Bear Grhylls, the process begins. Cue mayhem.
The recipients of this scheme include an accomplished art forger, an expert car thief and Bob, who assumes identities. Anyone's that take his fancy. Oh, and a supervisor from a " security contractor" to make sure nothing goes wrong.
The author, who was new to me, has channeled the spirit of one of his favourite authors, P.G.Wodehouse, and updated him for the 21st century and in doing so has produced a very funny book. The humour is gentle, the pace less frenetic than many other books and the characters very likeable indeed. I read this book very quickly and was so enamoured of the style that I binge read several others by the same author.
David Luddington writes books that have a heart, that look at social injustices and - very softly and quietly - seek an amusing remedy. However, don't think that this is some form of political statement or a furious attack on the establishment. Far from it, the books do use the politician, the estate agent, the establishment as an obstacle to be overcome, to have fun poked at them. And it works wonderfully.
If you enjoy humour, if you need something to lift your spirit and make you chuckle, then read this author. He is excellent.
Amazon product
