It's 1941 and Erik Kingsnorth, a half-Norwegian Commando captain, lands in German occupied Norway as a radio-communications agent. He is acutely aware of the need at all costs to avoid his Norwegian relations but is spotted on a fishing boat by his cousin Bjorn. But Bjorn turns out to be a collaborator and Erik is ordered by the Resistance to shoot him. Armed with a pistol he confronts his cousin on a lonely path at dusk but cannot bring himself to pull the trigger. Later, working alongside the Resistance Erik discovers what is being constructed on a wild uninhabited coastline - a top secret U-boat staging post where he narrowly escapes capture in a fusillade of rifle fire. With the help of the Resistance leader's beautiful daughter he stumbles across a huge cache of gold ingots in a sea cave which bear Soviet hallmarks - could they really be from HMS Edinburgh previously torpedoed in the Barents Sea? Erik is soon drawn in to a world of danger, intrigue and to desperate flight from pursuing Nazis. He flies out in a commandeered float plane but crash lands into the Great Tana River near the Russian border and is arrested by the Soviets who believe him to be a collaborator. Finally, in a gulag in Arctic Russia he is overtaken by monstrous events too awful even to contemplate. Inspired by books such as Two Eggs on my Plate by Oluf Reed-Olsen and We Die Alone by David Howarth, The Ring and the Swastika will appeal to fans of historical novels, especially those with a particular interest in wartime Norway.