I never liked Ben Elton........when he first appeared on our screens back in the late 70's early 80's, together with comedians like Alexi Sayle, they drove me round the bend. Some 18 years later I was nagged into reading Stark, Ben Elton's first novel. I absolutely loved it. I then revisited some old videos of Ben's T.V. performances. I started to think that either Ben Elton had been so ahead of his time when he first came to us, or I was behind my time. It would appear that the latter is true. I have since read every Ben Elton book as it becomes available and loved every one of them. The First Casualty is just a superbly written book which draws you into the plot. Just simply unputdownable......If you do one thing in your life you must read this book......My only problem is that Ben Elton can't write books fast enough.