The Necessity of Killing by Terry Brighton

Terry Brighton lives in Tamaimo on the slopes of the Mount Teide volcano in Tenerife. He writes on military history.

The Necessity of Killing

Terry's forthcoming novel is an action adventure set during the Crimean War and featuring Major Jack Blake of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Department.

Historical background

On 14 September 1854, British and French troops landed at Kalamita Bay on Russia's Crimean peninsula. Their mission was to destroy the naval base of Sevastopol, home of the Tsar's powerful Black Sea Fleet. The battles that followed were among the bloodiest in the history of warfare.

The Necessity Of Killing reconstructs these great battles in an action adventure story featuring the book's hero, Major Jack Blake of the British Secret Intelligence Department.

While British and French armies clash with the Russians, Blake battles against time to uncover a conspiracy that could defeat the Allies. Against a background of graphic combat and bawdy humour, Blake's quest presents him with a terrible personal dilemma.

Death or Glory - motto of the 17th Lancers,
the regiment that rode in the front line of the Light Brigade.

Book website: JackBlake.com

Face to face with an enemy or a woman, everything is allowed - Jack Blake's motto.

In the Crimean War of 1854, working undercover for the Special Intelligence Department, he fights without rules in a race to uncover traitors within the British Army intent on leading it to defeat. He loves without rules too, but that might not save him from Sophie, who he considers more dangerous than the enemy.

For more about Jack Blake and The Necessity of Killing:

JackBlake.com

Introducing Major Jack Blake of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Department.

Hell Riders

In 2004 Terry's book Hell Riders revealed for the first time the full truth about the Charge of the Light Brigade.

Terry promised - live on the Richard and Judy Show - to write a novel that told the soldiers story of the Crimean war. The Necessity of Killing fulfills that promise.

The Necessity of Killing - Author Interview
Alan Parr interviewed Terry Brighton in Tamaimo, 1 September 2011

Alan: Where did the idea for the book come from?
Terry: It began with a promise I made to Richard Madeley after appearing on the Richard and Judy Show. I was there to promote Hell Riders, a non-fiction history of the Charge of the Light Brigade. Richard asked me why non-one had written 'the novel' - was it too big a subject? Somehow I ended up promising him I'd write it.

Alan: Did you regret that?
Terry: No, it was a great idea. I know the period. I know the men. Fiction writers have not wanted to tackle the Charge of the Light Brigade head-on, so the ground is mine to be won with The Necessity of Killing.

Alan: How accurate is your portrayal of the Battle of the Alma and the Charge of the Light Brigade?
Terry: I describe them as they really happened and from the soldiers' point-of-view. And I pull no punches. Both those engagements were war at its most brutal. My writing is true to that, and not for the faint-hearted.

Alan: The novel has a remarkable sense of authenticity. How did you achieve that?
Terry: I've visited every Crimean location I write about. But there's something more important. I've spent years working with Crimean War survivors' accounts, and that's where the authenticity comes from. I throw my imagination into the mix, of course, but under the command of these men. Anything that would have been inadmissible to them is not in the book.

Alan: Such as?
Terry: A recent novel has troops 'rushing to glory'. That's purple prose! In the Crimean War the troops were there to kill Russians. Glory was of no use to them because they couldn't spend it, drink it or bed it. These were hard men who knew how to kill - if they didn't, they either learned quickly or died quickly. They didn't fight for glory or the Queen, they fought for their lives and for the man standing next to them. There's no glory and no honour in The Necessity of Killing, just the brutal truth about fighting men.

Alan: Can you describe your approach to writing about war?
Terry: I'm not interested in the politics or the strategy, but in war as it's experienced by the men. Tolstoy said something similar, that he was only interested in the reality of war, which is the killing. You don't get close to that by observing the action from the outside. I put the reader in the saddle to charge down the valley of death with the Light Brigade, and at the Russian gun-line I put a pistol in his hand. I don't want him to just read it - I want him to feel it.

Alan: How is Blake different from the several 'likable rogues' we find in historical military fiction?
Terry: Blake is altogether darker, and he has to be. He has all the qualities that make a soldier, but taken to the extreme. He's used by the Secret Intelligence Department because he will do what is necessary when other men will not. But he worries his superiors too - killing is too easy for him.

Alan: Yet isn't there a vulnerable side to him, particularly where women are concerned?
Terry: He has a liking for strong women, yes. Me too. He goes after Sophie as vigorously as he tracks down the traitors, and she is attracted by his dark side. But he considers her to be more dangerous than the enemy.

Alan: How hard was it writing the sex scene?
Terry: Ignoring any possible double entendre there, my aim was authenticity not titillation. So Blake uses the correct and quite invo;ved technique to put on a sheep-gut condom and tie the ribbon.

Alan: After writing Hell Riders, was the research for The Necessity of Killing already done.
Terry: No. Good historical fiction requires even more detailed research than non-fiction. There's the technical stuff, such as why the Adams revolving pistol was better than the Colt when fired at close quarter, and the dangerous 'cheat' that enabled Russian gunners to knock 10 seconds off the time it took to load and fire a cannon. But there's also the personal stuff, like how a man could tell the type of corset a woman was wearing by whether she had a maid or not, and why he needed to know that.

Alan: You have a great character in Jack Blake. Will he fight again?
Terry: Many officers and men who fought in the Crimea went on to fight in the Indian Mutiny, and I'm sure the Secret Intelligence Department would use Blake there. He's a complex character living 'on the edge' and it would be fascinating to see how he develops. Later many men travelled to America to fight in the Civil War. The Confederate army, hoping to bring Britain in as an ally, accepted London's offer of SID 'advisors', so Blake would certainly see action there too.

Alan: Thank you for talking to me. I hope The Necessity of Killing is a winner.
Terry: It reads like Jack Blake fights, so it's sure to be.