Book Review - Citadel by Jordan Wylie

A fascinating insight into the world of contemporary piracy and a remarkable man's journey to fight it. CITADEL is straight from the pages of a Boy's Own novel but it's worth remembering that it's a true story. Jordan Wylie takes us on a journey to places most of us will never see, and thankfully so. A riveting tale of swashbuckling, war and banditry on the high seas in the modern era.

Being an Ex Gunner I’m more comfortable watching cartoons and colouring in with flavoured crayons than I am reading books but when my old boss and friend Jordan Wylie released his first book I had to read it.

I first met Jordan when I was the Training Coordinator at The Training Wing, (TTW) one of the leading Maritime Security Training Companies in the UK and every month we would see a fresh batch of new veterans wanting a piece of the Maritime Security pie.

I knew that Jordan had been on the Close Protection Circuit in the sand pit and worked in Maritime Security but it wasn’t something that he ever talked about much, I also new that something had happened during one of his transits that again he never spoke about, so reading the book helped fill in the gaps.

I had owned the book for about 12 months before I finally got around to reading it, that long in fact that Jordan had released a second book (Running Dangerously) but once I got started I couldn’t put it down and managed to finish it in a day.

From the first chapter I learned more about Jordan and the Maritime Security Industry than I had learnt in the 12 months that I had worked at The Training Wing. Jordan wasn’t the goodie two shoes that everyone thought he was and had his first run in with the law at a very young age.

I also learnt that the Maritime Security Industry wasn’t as glamorous as I though it was, I had imagined that the lads where off sunning themselves on the ships deck and eating exotic foods, drinking fancy wines and foreign beers, I had no idea that on the occasional transit the fancy food was substituted with chickens feet and dirty water.

Jordans book takes you through the rise and demise of the Anti Piracy gravy train and how some had made the big bucks while others spent time in foreign jails and others stranded on distant shores.

Citadel is available on Amazon and gets a 10/10 from me. A must read if you want suspense and a giggle in the same book.

Darren.

Tactical Coffee.