Anthony Holt News & Views
Follow Anthony’s news, views and memoirs.
‘An Evening at the Club’ An extract from ‘Four of Clubs
The dinner had already begun when one of the guests arrived late. He drove up to the basement garage in something of a panic, waited impatiently while the shutters trundled noisily upward, brought his car just inside and hopped out heading rapidly for the dinner,...
Out to Lunch
At half past two the engines were shut down again to allow them to cool. The hands were stood down. There was no sign of the Skipper. By three o’clock the First Lieutenant was looking really worried. He was the one who would get it in the neck if we failed to...
Jim’s startling arrival at the conference
About ten past midday, I was sitting in my cabin, finishing off my letter home, and re-organising my pile of files and divisional papers when the door cracked open about eight inches and a familiar bearded face of my friend peered in. “What time is it?” he said....
Pirates prepare to attack in “Privateer”
Hamid eased the outboard throttle open a little more as he settled on a course towards the lights. Ahmed moved forward quietly through the boat pushing and nudging the silent reclining forms. Those who had been sleeping were now awake, carefully adjusting...
An extract from “Harry’s Revenge”
Harry cowered, terrified, clinging onto any fixture he could reach inside the wheelhouse, as the boat gradually righted herself, slowly responded to the demands of the autopilot and started to climb the front wall of the next wave. As the boat reared and...
Did I Really Want to be Here
Blog 24th July 2002 Did I Really Want to be Here? Way back when we were all struggling with pounds, shillings and pence, wondering what a foreign holiday would be like, repaying the wartime American loans, and enjoying a nice simple trading...
All good things come to an end
We had enjoyed our late winter break in the sun. The hotel in Barbados had everything suggested by the brochure – and maybe more. The food was plentiful, varied and of high quality, unusual these days in a hotel offering an ‘All Inclusive’ package. The staff were...
HMS Bulwark v Portland Coastguard – Dispute in Lyme Bay
My thoughts were drawn back to an incident in a past summer. My wife and I were sailing our Dufour 36 Classic in Weymouth Bay on a gentle, sunny morning, when the radio suddenly burst into life. A fishing boat was making a “Pan Pan” call and was quickly...
Privateer reprinted
Privateer 2nd Edition print Put several ‘James Bond’ characters together, give them a couple of elderly ships and a plan created by a female intelligence expert who knits as she schemes, send them to deal with modern pirates in the Indian Ocean and watch them create...