A remarkable first novel, "A Flag on the Abbey", tells the tale of Finlay, a boy growing up just after the Second World War. His mother joins his father, stationed with the Navy in the Far East, and Finlay is left with his grandfather, living on a large estate in rural Hampshire. The intense relationship of grandfather and grandson, family and farmworkers is vividly evoked as all must learn to cope with the aftermath of war and the profound changes which swept through the English countryside in the 1950s.Though reminiscent of "Hardy" in its vivid re-creation of rural society, Rod Brammer also delivers page-turning brilliance as Finlay, following his father's military footsteps, is recruited to become a member of a secret, elite naval group sent to retrieve a crashed satellite in Northern Europe before the Russians, Americans and Israelis find it. The novel's gripping final pages will leave the reader anxious to read the next volume, which will continue Finlay's involvement in the world of espionage. (A film option is already under negotiation.)