"Signal Red"

… Robert Ryan is the chap who wrote "Early One Morning" the novel about motor racing and Bugatti's just before, during and after the Second World War that I reviewed previously. 

This one is about the Great Train Robbery but shows the same love of cars, albeit in this case the Mark 2 and 3 Jaguars beloved of the Flying Squad, and robbers of that era... 

It's all very evocative, and it's clear Ryan has a huge interest in the events, but when push comes to shove this is a novel about a bunch of people robbing a train and getting sent to jail.. my impression is that the book tries to elicit a sympathetic response for the robbers plight that I'm not too sure about, and unlike his earlier books I found the story fascinating, but a little flat..

Steve the Wargamer gives this one a six out of ten - but in wargaming terms it would be of more use to the Pulp gamers...!