Chris Ryan

Having followed his brother into the army at the age of 17, Chris Ryan joined the Parachute Regiment, and six months later, entered the SAS. One of his first missions however, was as part of the now-infamous 'Bravo Two Zero' patrol in Iraq during the First Gulf War. A series of blunders and poor preparation left the patrol vulnerable, and of the initial eight SAS soldiers who were sent behind enemy lines, Ryan was the only soldier to successfully escape from Iraq and into allied territory.

He travelled over 180 miles on foot over five days, in extremes of temperature, suffering sleep deprivation, starvation, severe dehydration and other physical privations. Of the original squad of eight men, three died while the rest including the leader (and now fellow-author) Andy McNab were captured and tortured. Ryan made history with his 'longest escape and evasion by an SAS trooper', a feat recognised by is subsequent award of the Military Medal.

He subsequently (and perhaps unsurprisingly) left the SAS and has written a series of best-selling action thrillers, plus his own account of the Bravo Two Zero mission, The One that Got Away. Here, he talks about his experiences and the effect that they had on him, his approach to writing, and the inspiration behind his latest novel, Ultimate Weapon. Centring on a former SAS veteran of the first Gulf War, the novel sees a young couple - one a talented scientist, the other an SAS agent, behind enemy lines in the build up to the Iraq War to find the truth about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. Caught up in a global power play, they must fight their way through a war-ravaged Iraq as the Saddam Hussein regime collapses around them…Not as autobiographical as Ryan admits he would like to be…

Ultimate Weapon is priced £17.99, and is available from all good bookshops now.