Throughout the Operation series, which currently extends to ten novels, Jason Rance and Ah Fat’s lifelong bond is central to British and Gurkha success in the postwar Malayan Emergency and Indonesian Confrontation. Fluent in English, Chinese and Malay, their shared upbringing and intertwined family histories forge an unbreakable connection. In this prequel to the series, spanning three generations from the 1860s to the 1930s, Rance and Ah Fat’s ancestors take centre stage. From a dying queen in Abyssinia and a big-game hunt in Nepal to tin mining and triad conflicts in Malaya, the story of Rance and Ah Fat’s parents and grandparents unfolds against a rich and complex backdrop. These disparate threads – encompassing tea planters in Darjeeling, Chinese coolies in the Great War, and even attempted murder in Singapore – culminate in a remarkable final mission that only a young Rance and Ah Fat can undertake. Operation Link is the tenth in a series of books involving Gurkha military units that may be read in any order. The author, JP Cross, a retired Gurkha colonel, old ‘jungle hand’ and counter-insurgency expert, draws on real events he witnessed during his time fighting in the Malayan Emergency.
