JP Cross – författare

After the ceasefire in Laos in February 1973, London forbids Colonel Jason Rance, the British Defence Attaché in Laos, from continuing his search for four Lao ‘moles’, who work within the Communist Party and wear a dedicated ring as a talisman.

Based on historical fact and the author’s personal knowledge, Operation Black Rose is the first in a series of books involving Gurkha military units that may be read in any order and includes Operation Janus, Operation Blind Spot, Operation Stealth and Operation Four Rings.

Based on historical fact and the author's personal experience, Operation Stealth is the fourth in a series of books involving Gurkha military units in SE Asia that may be read in any order. The author, JP Cross, a much revered retired Gurkha colonel, draws on real characters and events he witnessed across various theatres of war.

Following the assassination of a British Colonel in a guerrilla ambush by communist terrorists during the Malayan Emergency in 1954, Jason Rance, an English company commander in a Gurkha battalion and jungle expert, is tasked with tracking down the bandits.

At the end of the Malayan Emergency Jason Rance visits the orang asli hill tribes in Malaya and only the skill of a Gurkha saves him from being killed by four poisoned blowpipe darts.

The story of what would become the tipping point of the Malayan Emergency in favour of the security forces is retold against a background of events in Moscow, Darjeeling, Delhi and Calcutta, where senior communist party members plot to infiltrate Gurkha units and destabilise Malaya.

In 1938 Malaya, a young English boy named Jason Rance rescues Siu Tse, a Chinese girl, from a vicious assault. Their paths diverge before she learns his name, leaving her to idolise the memory of her unknown saviour. Fast forward to 1953, and the height of the Malayan Emergency, where tensions and conflicts engulf the region. Siu Tse discovers she is pregnant by a British officer who is planning to join the Malayan Communist Party. In the process of defecting, he is tracked down and killed by British security forces. Misinformed and believing a ‘Jason Rance’, an officer in a Gurkha batallion, to be responsible, Siu Tse is consumed by a burning desire for vengeance. Unaware of their past connection, she is prepared to join the communist guerrillas to seek her revenge. In this complex tapestry of loyalty, betrayal and unresolved pasts, the paths of Jason Rance – saviour or foe – and Siu Tse – lover or avenger – are destined to cross again. Operation Hunter is the ninth in a series of books involving Gurkha military units that may be read in any order. The author, JP Cross, a retired Gurkha colonel, old ‘jungle hand’ and counter-insurgency expert, draws on real events he witnessed during his time fighting in the Malayan Emergency.

Throughout the Operation series, which currently extends to ten novels, Jason Rance and Ah Fat’s lifelong bond is central to British and Gurkha success in the postwar Malayan Emergency and Indonesian Confrontation. Fluent in English, Chinese and Malay, their shared upbringing and intertwined family histories forge an unbreakable connection. In this prequel to the series, spanning three generations from the 1860s to the 1930s, Rance and Ah Fat’s ancestors take centre stage. From a dying queen in Abyssinia and a big-game hunt in Nepal to tin mining and triad conflicts in Malaya, the story of Rance and Ah Fat’s parents and grandparents unfolds against a rich and complex backdrop. These disparate threads – encompassing tea planters in Darjeeling, Chinese coolies in the Great War, and even attempted murder in Singapore – culminate in a remarkable final mission that only a young Rance and Ah Fat can undertake. Operation Link is the tenth in a series of books involving Gurkha military units that may be read in any order. The author, JP Cross, a retired Gurkha colonel, old ‘jungle hand’ and counter-insurgency expert, draws on real events he witnessed during his time fighting in the Malayan Emergency.