Warlord
An utterly gripping thriller that sees former cavalry Major turned hardened mercenary Alex Devereux plunged into conflict in the dark heart of Africa, as he battles bloodthirsty militia in the Congo.China intends to take over the Kivu region in The Democratic Republic of Congo, a tribal slaughterhouse of rival militias who are butchering the local population and fighting over mineral resources.Alex’s mission is to defeat the dominant militia, the FDLR. But details of how Kivu will be governed under the new order are sketchy and Alex must run the gamut of the United Nations, the Congolese army and the clash of superpower claims on the region.Alex knows that the plan is risky. But he can’t resist – could he succeed in bringing stability when everyone else has failed? He and his crack regiment take on their toughest assignment yet. But the road to hell is paved with good intentions and Alex is about to find out why the region has been called the dark heart of Africa…
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James Steel
Warlord
Copyright
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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WARLORD. Copyright © James Steel 2011. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication
James Steel asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Source ISBN: 9781847561619
Ebook Edition © JULY 2011 ISBN: 9780007443291
Version: 2018-07-23
Epigraph
‘There is no book on the Congo, we must write one ourselves.’
Congo Mercenary
Colonel Mike Hoare,
Commander of 5 Commando mercenary regiment,
deployed in eastern Congo, 1964.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Map
In the Beginning
Chapter One
Eve Mapendo sees the figure lit by moonlight.
Chapter Two
‘We are going to make a new country, Mr Devereux.’
Chapter Three
Alex is struggling to get a grip on the scale…
Chapter Four
‘Come on, we’ve got to hurry up.’
Chapter Five
‘You stink of piss.’
Chapter Six
Sophie’s car pulls up to the barrier and the soldier…
Chapter Seven
The megaphone crackles and squawks, ‘Move up!’ and Eve dutifully…
Chapter Eight
Alex taps the end of a wedge into a log…
Chapter Nine
‘Hello, hello, welcome to Panzi hospital! My name is Mama…
Chapter Ten
‘You are joking, Devereux! You are joking! You’ve lost it,…
Chapter Eleven
Eve is lying on her back on a gynaecological examination…
Chapter Twelve
Alex and his men walk up the hill towards their…
Chapter Thirteen
Rukuba finishes his speech to Team Devereux and a strange…
Chapter Fourteen
Gabriel watches the bare legs of Patrice, the FDLR soldier,…
Chapter Fifteen
Alex continues his talk to the Chinese, Rwandan and Kivuan…
Chapter Sixteen
Gabriel is stuck in the narrow tunnel, underwater and in…
Chapter Seventeen
Matt Hooper is a newly commissioned sergeant in the Kivu…
Chapter Eighteen
A huge explosion comes from his right and Jason Hall…
The Promised Land
Chapter Nineteen
The two undercover Unit 17 men have been hanging around…
Chapter Twenty
Alex is standing in front of another group of people.
Chapter Twenty-One
While the troops wait by the helicopters, Zacheus is lying…
Chapter Twenty-Two
Zacheus lies in the bush and waits for the rockets…
Chapter Twenty-Three
Alex hangs on as Demon 6 flares and they decelerate…
Chapter Twenty-Four
Further back along the ridge Alex is collecting Tac, Zacheus…
Chapter Twenty-Five
‘He’s so sweet.’ Eve lets the fat baby boy get…
Chapter Twenty-Six
‘Beelzebub, this is Black Hal, do you copy, over?’
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The slight, middle-aged man wears a cheap suit and an…
Chapter Twenty-Eight
A heavy explosion shakes Gabriel awake at two a.m.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Dieudonné Rukuba stands in front of a large audience seated…
Chapter Thirty
Joseph squats on the ground and looks up as eleven…
Chapter Thirty-One
Eve looks out over the elegant hotel dining room packed…
Chapter Thirty-Two
Sophie points Alex towards the large grass field just inside…
The End of Days
Chapter Thirty-Three
The United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs,…
Chapter Thirty-Four
Gabriel heaves himself off the back of the old blue…
Chapter Thirty-Five
‘Well, welcome to Heaven,’ Alex says, spreading his hands and…
Chapter Thirty-Six
Joseph sits on the ground in the new detention facility…
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Alex looks at Rukuba across the table from him.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Alex looks at Rukuba reclining in his hammock in front…
Chapter Thirty-Nine
The two helicopters wind up their engines on the new…
Chapter Forty
Up on top of the bluff in Tac’s position, Sophie…
Chapter Forty-One
Alex looks at Sophie.
Chapter Forty-Two
A week after the battle at Violo, on 21st June,…
Chapter Forty-Three
Secretary of State Patricia Johnson has expensive blonde hair, shrewd…
Chapter Forty-Four
Joseph and Simon are bursting with excitement as the bus…
Chapter Forty-Five
The helicopter skims low over Lake Kivu. It disappears behind…
Chapter Forty-Six
Sophie turns and looks out of the rear window of…
Chapter Forty-Seven
Sophie is sitting on Alex’s lap after dinner. He has…
Chapter Forty-Eight
