A FORMER soldier who fought in the second Gulf War will be celebrating the launch of his first novel tomorrow (November 28). Captain Alexander Janaway of the Royal Engineers retired from the army in 2006 to concentrate on his career as a writer. The Saffr

A FORMER soldier who fought in the second Gulf War will be celebrating the launch of his first novel tomorrow (November 28).

Captain Alexander Janaway of the Royal Engineers retired from the army in 2006 to concentrate on his career as a writer.

The Saffron Walden-based novelist said his time in the army had greatly informed his writing and his first novel Redoubt is about a captain and his company of men being driven by political machinations into a desperate last stand in an old abandoned fort.

Alex fell in love with Saffron Walden when he was invited to a carol concert at St Mary's Church at Christmas in 2001 and moved to the town a year later.

Redoubt has been described as part hardboiled war novel and part epic fantasy. It is a gripping, darkly witty riff on the age-old story of men fighting against the odds.

Alex is currently writing his second novel, provisionally entitled The Coming of Night, a fantasy horror story, due to be released in 2009.

Redoubt is being launched at Heffers bookshop, Cambridge, on Friday. It will be on sale in Game On, Saffron Walden High Street.