Transition will be a Trigger for Terror! It is November 1979. Unilateral Declaration of Independence and a bitter bush war that has raged for fifteen years is coming to an end in Rhodesia as the country reforms into the new Zimbabwe. A Mysterious Death An open briefcase containing sensitive documents is found on a commuter train in Devon while back along the line, a body floats in a river. When Ministry of Defence trouble shooter, Alex Swan and his new associate, Andrew Gable are called in to investigate, they discover the dead man was a biochemist working at the highly secret Microbiological Research Establishment, at Porton Down. Swan also has to face a fear that due to a government spending review, his Services Investigations Department may soon cease to exist. A Government Cover-Up While attending a funeral of an old friend, Swan is given a letter informing him of the cover-up of a British warplane which was hijacked when being towed from the factory to the test airfield. Meanwhile, in South Africa, two air to surface missiles are heisted from a military weapons store. Swan and Gable forego political differences to join forces with the South African security services to help track down the mysterious Phillip Munroe, an ex-Selous Scout, now a soldier for hire working for Rhodesian shipping magnate, Henry Mallinson. An Engineered Catastrophe With a group of UDI hardliners, Mallinson plans to bring irreparable devastation and suffering to the new Zimbabwe and its recently elected ZANU PF government, with the use of a terrifying experimental weapon. Written in the tradition of the classic political spy thriller and following in the footsteps of Frederick Forsyth, Craig Thomas and Jack Higgins, Spears of Defiance is an explosive story that will take the readers back to the days of the Cold War, crossing continents and cultures to have them on the edge of their seats, right up to its breathless climax between man and machine.