This new, expanded edition of AFN Clarke’s best selling and controversial book CONTACT is a raw, visceral, “no-holds-barred” account of combat from one of the men we paid to kill. It caused a furor when first published for its devastating honesty. Clarke vividly recounts his experiences of two tours in Northern Ireland (in Belfast and Crossmaglen) as a Platoon Commander with Britain’s elite Parachute Regiment during the blood soaked 1970′s. The dangers, political agendas and religious roots underlying the conflict are eerily and heartbreakingly similar to Iraq, and Afghanistan today.

Clarke takes us to the heart of the action. We feel what’s it like to live each day with senses on high alert waiting to be ripped apart by the accuracy of a sniper or a well-hidden bomb. We enter the private world of the soldiers, ordered to hold the lines in an ancient quarrel they have little affinity for, but whose consequences are deadly. We experience their emotions, fear, courage, humor, bravado and the anguish of death.

This expanded edition continues from where the print version ended, revealing the untold nightmare Clarke lived through having nearly died with half his insides missing, being medically discharged a year later, suffering from PTSD, and being expected to return to a “normal life”. A story of the scars of war that affect generations. Of heartache, courage and hope for peace.

CONTACT was first published in the UK in 1983 by Martin Secker & Warburg, was serialized for 5 days in The Mirror, a national newspaper, and became an instant best seller. In 1984 it was published in paperback by PAN Books, by Schocken Books New York and made into an award winning BBC TV film. Book length 69,237 words.

Fiction books include: Collisions, An Unquiet American, Dry Tortugas, The Book of Baker Series (Dreams from the Death Age; Armageddon; Genesis Revisited), and the Thomas Gunn suspense series coming soon.

What readers are saying:

“.. its honesty and passion cannot be denied .. Mr. Clarke has sent out a powerful and disturbing early warning signal.” Maurice Leitch Daily Telegraph.

“..a major contribution to our understanding of war and how people act .. Contact is the work of a brave writer.” Kevin Toolis, Irish News.

“There’s no sugar coating in “Contact”. If you’re looking for real life accounting and not just a Hollywood movie script, “Contact” is a must read!” Michael, 5 Stars

“Contact is one of the best military stories that I have ever read and I recommend it to you in the highest terms; it’s a book from a past conflict that has timely and resonant lessons for a present one.” Steven McLaughlin, 5 Stars

The average Amazon reader review rating is currently 4.4 stars, with 13 reviews.