Chris Ryan: Soldier of fortune

Chris Ryan was a member of the disastrous "Bravo Two Zero" SAS mission in the first Iraq War, and recorded how he evaded capture and escaped across the desert in the bestselling The One That Got Away. Since then, he has written two further non-fiction titles, nine novels, and five Alpha Force adventures for younger readers.

Blackout opens as a man wakes with serious wounds sustained in a battle in the wilds of Arizona. He is Josh Harding of the SAS; but, suffering amnesia, he has lost his knowledge of his identity, and of his mission. He soon discovers that, buried in his mind, is the secret to the whereabouts of a young computer hacker--and that al-Qaeda and a sinister private corporation will go to any lengths to get him to remember it.

"I got the idea originally from the fact that the Ministry of Defence was using a new system that wasn't secure. That system is what we will go to war with--and it can be hacked into.

"When I was in the SAS, I learned that communications were key to every operation. Satellite telephones would crash, and you'd be back to the old Morse code. Now everything is done on a laptop, and transmitted through the internet. That's quite a frightening thought, because if your communications go down, you're finished.

"Some of these hackers are just young kids, doing it for fun or for the ego trip. I was in Perth, Australia, and I saw some kids roll up to a deserted office with two laptops. They went up to the roof, and then one came down; they started pointing into the laptops and waving at one another. They'd obviously hooked up to some satellite photography system. If that system belonged to a government agency, there would be a good reason to grab hold of them.

"You can cause havoc throughout the world by hacking. Just a simple thing like shutting down the traffic lights can gridlock a city and cause damage that would cost millions to repair.

Morally flexible

"There was a case in the regiment of a guy suffering amnesia. But he was with colleagues. I started wondering what would happen if you didn't have people around you to give you help.

"Everyone has characteristics inside them that will come out. Josh has a trained side that can react to various situations in certain ways. The SAS soldier thinks differently to the normal person on the street. He may be morally flexible, or more determined, or think in a more black and white way. I've been out of the regiment for 10 years, and I certainly couldn't do the job now, because the way I think has changed.

"These guys have to be morally flexible to get the job done. If that is for the greater good, so be it. I have the highest regard for the regiment, but now I couldn't do what they do, because I'd question things.

"There's a lot at stake in the private sector. I know of big companies with security departments that are hiring ex-SAS guys. These are guys who were prepared to kill while they were in the regiment, and they're getting a better wage in the private sector--who knows what they're prepared to do?

Supporting Saddam

"Nothing is black and white. The first job we got in the regiment was training the Khmer Rouge; it was the politically acceptable thing to do at the time. I was on the team that trained the Indonesian special forces. Some of the guys from the marine unit left the service and set up as pirates on the high seas--using tactics given to them by Her Majesty's Government.

"We were supporting Saddam right up until the time he invaded Kuwait, sending him weapons and training teams. If a minister in charge of schools gets things wrong, that minister gets the sack. But no minister is ever held accountable for sending in these teams, which is just another form of arms sale.

"My children's books are steadily growing. Being cynical, you could say I want to get kids reading so that they'll move on to my adult books. But when a young boy puts pen to paper to say how much he likes your books, or when a parent says that her son didn't read before but has read Alpha Force and can't wait for the next one--that's a hell of a buzz."

Nicholas Clee

Chris Ryan

Blackout (Century, 1st September, £17.99, 1844133842)