Uncle Target

Infobox Book |
name = Uncle Target
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = 1990 UK paperback cover
author = Gavin Lyall
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series = Harry Maxim
genre = Military Thriller Novel
publisher = Hodder & Stoughton
release_date = 1988
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 300 pp
isbn = ISBN 0-340-48841-7
preceded_by = The Crocus List
followed_by = Spy's Honour

"Uncle Target" is a third person narrative novel by English author Gavin Lyall, first published in 1988, and the fourth and last in his series of novels with the character “Harry Maxim” as the main protagonist.

Plot introduction

The Palestinian-dominated Royal Jordanian Army's 17th Armored Brigade has revolted with Syrian assistance, and has seized the southern part of Jordan, including the port city of Aqaba. However, the major concern for the British Army is that a prototype main battle tank on trials in the Jordanian desert has gone missing. After a terrorist attack in London fails, British military intelligence discovers that the tank is hidden in the ruins of an ancient Crusader fort near Wadi Rum. SAS-trained Major Harry Maxim, who formerly trained the Jordanian Army, is the ideal candidate to send in a commando raid to destroy the tank before it can fall into rebel (and thus Soviet) hands. However, the mission is botched when Maxim's helicopter crashes, and Maxim, an infantryman with no Armoured experience, decides that the best chance for the survival of his small team is to attempt to drive the tank across a hundred miles of rebel held desert to the presumed safety of Saudi Arabia.

The continuing romance

Agnes Algar, now Maxim's significant other, finds the role of nervous Army wife more draining than the pressures of her work at MI5.

Review

The tank itself, and the culture of the soldiers who operate it, are the focus of this book, which has been compared to Tom Clancy's Hunt for Red October in terms of the amount of detailed information conveyed to the reader.