This is a searing debut novel that reads like a British Matterhorn. Tom Chamberlain was always destined to be a soldier. From the moment when, as a young boy, he discovered a faded picture of his father patrolling the streets of Belfast his path was set. And despite all entreaties, the tragic early loss of his beloved father to illness, and even his own better judgement, the lure of the Army proved irresistible. With the long war in Afghanistan at its savage peak, Tom is despatched from home with his men in the dead of an anonymous September night, a blood tribute leaving the country without fanfare. Full of eagerness, but wracked by self-doubt, he must discover both who he is and what he is capable of in a nightmarish land of heat, hardship and terrifying enemies seen and unseen. But as the bonds with his comrades grow and deepen, home - and the loved ones left behind - seem ever more remote and dislocated from the surreal violence and exhilaration of the war that engulfs them.
Praise for Rain: 'One of the most powerful and emotional works ever written about British soldiers in battle. Troubling, funny, upsetting, exhilarating and deeply moving. You will never forget it.' Colonel Richard Kemp
'Simply superb. It could become the defining account of British soldiers in Afghanistan.' Tom Petch, Writer and Director of The Patrol
Author
About Barney Campbell
Barney Campbell lived in many places as a child, due to his father being in the British Army. He was educated at Eton College and Oxford University. He in turn joined the Army in 2006, and was commissioned into the Blues and Royals. He served in Afghanistan on a tour of Helmand Province in the winter of 2009-10. He lives in the Scottish Borders. Rain is his first novel.
