— Tu es si bête que tu n’as même pas appris à me connaître. Tu me crois toujours le bon vivant d’avant la guerre, le papa rigolard qui rencontrait son fils au bordel à deux heures du matin. J’ai changé, Michel. Je suis riche. Je tremble pour mes millions. Je suis méfiant. Je n’ai plus d’amis, plus de plaisirs. Je ne peux rien désirer sans me trouver en face de ma galette. Il ne me reste qu’une joie, c’est la souffrance des autres, le mal que je peux leur faire et celui qu’ils se font eux-mêmes. Je suis condamné à mon argent, je ne peux aimer personne, pas même moi, mais je hais tout le monde. Mon régal, c’est de lire dans les journaux les listes de fusillés, le compte rendu des procès, les dénonciations. Ça me fait jouir. Des juges bien dégueulasses, des journalistes indicateurs, des besogneux de la Résistance et des vaniteux, qui hurlent à la mort ou qui vendent leurs copains pour une petite place au soleil ou un reflet à la boutonnière, et les bons cons de la collabo, les sincères, les paumés, les salauds aussi, tout ça en vrac au poteau, en prison, aux travaux forcés. Ça me fait jouir. Ça me fait jouir. Moi le gros dégueulasse, le vendu numéro un, je suis considéré, le préfet à mes bottes, les sourires de monsieur le ministre. C’est pour moi qu’on fusille les miteux, les plumitifs, les subalternes, pour rassurer la grosse épargne. J’en suis très touché.

Review

‘A vivid and absorbing portrayal of a unique and dedicated group of soldiers.’ – General Sir Mike Jackson, formerly Chief of the General Staff.‘[a] scintillating book’ – Short List

Product Description

'Afghanistan is just like Iraq – hot, dusty and full of people who want to kill you', SSgt Simon Fuller, Royal Engineer Search AdvisorBomb Hunters tells the story of the British army's elite bomb disposal experts, men who face death every day in the most dangerous region of the most lethal country on earth – Helmand Province, Afghanistan.Bomb Hunters are up against the Improvised Explosive Device – the IED – the deadly homemade bombs planted by the Taliban. Hard to detect and easy to trigger, an estimated 10 bombs for every one of the 10,000 British troops have been planted in the region. IEDs are now the main killer of British troops in Afghanistan and the ultimate psychological weapon.Bomb Hunters work in 50-degree heat as they take the 'long walk' into the kill zone, defusing as many as 15 bombs a day. In the past year the casualty rate has soared as the troops have become locked into a deadly game of cat and mouse – to locate and deactivate the deadly bombs before they maim and kill soldiers, police and civilians. Skill, cold courage and inevitably pure luck play a huge part in the survival of these men and as the British public have already seen – a single lapse of concentration can result in instant death.Ex-paratrooper, now defence journalist, Sean Rayment, takes the reader on a journey into the heat and dust of Helmand Province as he meets these courageous soldiers while they put their lives at risk to prevent other British troops falling victim to the IED. He interviews the Bomb Hunters as they perform their duties on the frontline and paints a breathtaking picture of what life is like for the men who play poker with their own lives every day, who live knowing the enemy watches their every move, waiting for a weakness to show itself, a pattern in technique to be exploited, or an error to be made that triggers the device itself.This is as vivid and dramatic as war reporting gets, mixing 'close to the bone' narrative and dead-pan black humour from the Bomb Hunters themselves, some of whom were subsequently killed in action. No punches will be pulled on what these men feel about the war, their place in it, the politicians and generals who send them there, and how they deal with the relentless pressure of the job itself in the heart of the world's most hostile combat environment.