Rick Brindle

We Are Cold Steel  is free to download from Amazon for a limited time. The second novel in the Cold Steel trilogy, this installment introduces Cold Steel to Sean Sawyer, a mad ex-soldier who first becomes their fitness instructor, and then turns into their guardian angel. A day after their historic concert on the Caribbean island of St Clements, heavy metal band Cold Steel are heroes. Now, all they have to do is stay out of trouble and enjoy a well-earned holiday until they start work on their next album. Except that the owner of the recording studio hates all things Cold Steel. Except that Cold Steel’s record company has blackmailed the studio into accepting them. Except that not all reporters are as friendly as band manager Johnny Faslane’s girlfriend, Rachel Shaw. With a tight deadline, Cold Steel have to get the next album out before their tour starts. They can’t afford any delays, and Johnny has his work cut out keeping the band in line. Feral former soldiers, reporters with an ag

 For me, it's got to be  The Eternal Idol. And that’s even more surprising when you consider the revolving door of band members at the time, and the sheer daily truckload of coke that Tony Iommi was snorting. But hey, there’s no denying the music. And what a shedload of sheer metal magic there is on this album. And yes, Tony Martin sounds a lot like Ronnie James Dio, which may be part of the appeal. I don’t know, but what I do know is that The Eternal Idol is one of Black Sabbath’s most complete albums. At the time this album came out, Black Sabbath were in real danger of imploding. Tony Iommi was the only original member, while everyone else in the band barely stayed long enough for the odd live performance. Ray Gillen didn’t even stick around long enough to record some songs. And maybe it was that desperation that inspired Tony Iommi to create this masterpiece. Because he’d said so many times, he was Sabbath or nothing, and when it all comes down, this album is absolute Black Sab

  I was recently asked a question on Quora, if there were any badass Irish soldiers, and yes, of course there are. But the one example that really sticks in my mind is  the siege of Jadotville.   A Company, 35th Infantry Battalion, They held their positions, they didn’t give in, they killed a lot of their enemies and suffered no casualties. They had no resupply, no support, and only surrendered after they ran out of ammunition and could no longer fight. They were a credit to their uniform, their unit, their regiment, their country. The action is a text book example of point defence, par excellence. If I’d been half the soldier any of them were, I’d have been twice the soldier I actually was. It's Not For Everyone Cold Steel on the Rocks We Are Cold Steel Cold Steel and the Underground Boneyard