In his novel Brothers of the Gun, David Alexander has redefined the technothriller. What is more, he has succeeded in writing a novel that is not only a fast-moving adventure tale that stands on its own merits, but which has unearthed the story of an incredible array of pre-20th century military technology that has, in its totality, never before seen publication in fiction or nonfiction. The way he tells the story, these weapons might well give anything in today's 21st century arsenals a run for the money.

But as incredible as these early superweapons appear, Brothers of the Gun is no mere fact-binge but a thrill-packed novel in all respects. Here too, the story succeeds brilliantly, with some of the gutsiest characters, some of the best spun action scenes and some of the most unexpected twists and turns of a great plot that have ever appeared in print.

The Brothers are a group of former soldiers of fortune who have banded together to stage an almost impossible mission into the Sudanese stronghold of the 19th Century's version of bin Laden, a warrior chieftain called the Mahdi. The Mahdi has stolen the prize possession of the Sultan of Zanzibar, who, with the blessing of the British and American governments, and the personal intervention of the age's best-known soldier-adventurer, Charles George "Chinese" Gordon, has contracted one of the era's most notorious freebooters, Snakeskin Blake, to lead the mission.

Blake assembles a team of hand-picked covert special operators, armed with a unique array of weapons, and skilled in unconventional tactics, to stage the dangerous and daring rescue into the heart of a desert warlord's territory. These are the Brothers of the Gun, comprising a collection of fighting skills and special weapons and tactics that make their small group a match for the army confronting them.

Yet once the mission is accomplished it becomes obvious that the team has only scratched the surface. The entire region is gripped by war fever and has erupted into violence. The Brothers of the Gun are then tasked with a new and far more dangerous mission, one from which it's likely that none of them will ever return alive, leading to a conclusion as powerful as it is boldly and originally conceived.