SINGAPORE, MALAYA, 1941

‘BUGGER THAT! I AM NOT BLOODY LEAVING!’ Jane thundered furiously, defying her superior when ordered to flee before the Japanese took the island. Her impulse was to desert, scarper to the bush guerrillas and fight bare-knuckled if need be.

Jane Woodley, a young British-Asian woman, doubts the ballyhoo that Singapore is an ‘impregnable fortress’. When the SOE’s Orient Mission woos her, she jumps at the chance ‘to do her bit’. They train her as a ‘pianist’ and for warfare ‘behind-the-lines’. As a femme résistante.

The ravishing beauty evolves into a prized asset, with unique knowledge of British secrets. Chief among them is their breaking of the prime Japanese naval code. Before the isle fell, she is told to evacuate to safety. But vanishes instead.

Having heard nothing for months, her masters fear the worst. They believe she perished in battle during the campaign’s last days. Or lost at sea on a sinking vessel.

Subsequently, they learn she’s alive and fighting with the jungle resistance. It sparks a desperate mission to place her ‘beyond reach’ of the ruthless Kempeitai.To safeguard their secret of secrets. One that could put victory in the Pacific at risk.

Chance favours the Allies. Operation Jaywick, targeting enemy ships in Keppel Harbour, is about to begin. The Z Special Unit commandos will sail under false colours from Australia on a Japanese fishing boat called the Krait and steal through 2,000 miles of hostile seas. At the last moment, the task team latches onto the craft. Like the raiders, they aim to breach the island’s defences by paddling folbots.

Their classified orders, given verbally, state: ‘keep her from the enemy at all costs’. But what does that mean precisely? Does it foreshadow evil?

Will the ill winds cast their breath upon her?

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A WWII women’s war adventure with morsels of guerrilla warfare, crime and culture, and romance. The tale of a strong young woman and saga fiction of her family and friends, set amid true events in wartime Singapore and Malaya. It ends in a ‘Hells Bells!’ stunner.

A page-turner Asian-British period drama.

A Review: ‘Great storyline and informative at the same time. Though a novel, it is also an intriguing historical narrative of the people, food and the war years in Malaya. The ending was most unexpected. Captivating reading!’