Ilkley-based writer Pat Monteath's first book Who Pays The Ferryman? came about after a chance meeting in a pub with a former member of the Parachute Regiment, who whetted Pat's writerly appetite with his tales of serving in Northern Ireland during The Troubles.

Pat - real name David - had his own experiences of working in Ireland, and also had worked for the Ministry of Defence, so decided to meld the two sets of experiences for an explosive trilogy of hard-hitting fiction.

Now he's released his second novel, Operation Orpheus, under the auspices of the Quill Publishing imprint.

The first book featured friends Richard James and Paul Jones, shadowy operatives who moved between the twilight world of Republican terrorism and British special forces.

In Operation Orpheus, the divisions between the terrorists and the military forces get even murkier, as double agents criss-cross the various factions operating within Northern Ireland in the Seventies and Eighties and we are introduced to "The Circus", a clandestine organisation running a number of agents in deep cover within the IRA.

Monteath's style is concise and matter-of-fact, and while his prose might not win any awards for creative flow, the book is a well-researched and interesting addition to the military espionage thriller genre.

If the conversations sometimes seem a little clunky, they at least do drive the plot on, and Monteath's greatest strength is his depth of knowledge about this bloody and turbulent period of British history.

The book drifts into Robert Ludlum territory with enemies within and agents suffering memory loss and confusion as to their real identities when in the field, and would certainly appeal to fans of hard-hitting, nononsense thriller-writing.

With two books out of the way, it will be interesting where Monteath takes the third and final section of the trilogy, and the ending of Operation Orpheus certainly whets the appetite for more.

Operation Orpheus, by Pat Monteath, is published in paperback by Quill Publishing, priced at £7.99.

For more information write to the publishers at The Haven, Eskdaleside, Grosmont, Whitby Y022 5PS, or log on to www.quillpublishing.co.uk