Rick Brindle

Well, n ot just Britain’s air force, but pretty much every air force didn’t grasp the need to give airfields adequate defence against being targeted for capture by enemy forces. Operation Mercury, as the Germans called it, was an absolute game-changer. For the first time, airfields were specific targets, as opposed to simply being over-run as the front lines ebbed and flowed. And although the British commander, Freyberg had been warned thanks to Ultra decrypts of Enigma intercepts, the intel was taken out of context, and Freyberg also had plenty of other places to defend. The end result, though, was that Maleme airfield was captured by the Germans. It didn’t matter that the British forces still had the harbour and a big chunk of the rest of the island, the Germans had the airfield, and supplies and reinforcements poured in. There was lots of heavy fighting, and many so-called behind the lines jobs suddenly became front line. German casualties were savagely high, but the British forces ...

  We Are Cold Steel,  the second novel in the Cold Steel series, is free to download from Amazon for a limited time. Get your free copy now! 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 agenda, cake-obsessed studio execs and international criminals all work their way into the mix as the band hurtle from one im...

One hundred percent yes! It' s mostly what I play on mine. But unless you’re in the same league as Jimi Hendrix, Ritchie Blackmore, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Norum or similar, you might want to change any single coil pickups your instrument came with, but after that it’s full-volume face melting all the way! If you’re right handed, you’ll find spares or replacement items all over the shop, but if you’re a leftie, like me, things like pickguards are a bit harder to source, but I guess that’s what hot rails are for! My fictional band, Cold Steel, even though they only exist in my imagination (until I can convince Rob Reiner to film the books, that is), made very good use of Ceramic humbuckers of Squier guitars for their career saving concert in their third adventure, Cold Steel and the Underground Boneyard .  Cold Steel on the Rocks We Are Cold Steel Cold Steel and the Underground Boneyard It's Not For Everyone