Freefall

A former member of the British Parachute Regiment, Tom Read was preparing to freefall from more than 23 miles above the earth to become the first man to punch a hole through the sound barrier unassisted. It didn't work out that way. From his hospital bed in a French sanatorium, Tom began to review his life in an attempt to trace the roots of his madness: the tough childhood, moving from place to place; joining the Parachute Regiment at seventeen and confronting riots, IRA snipers and booby-traps; doing more than 1,000 jumps with the Red Devils and the first ever Parachute drop onto the Falklands; and the high-altitude work that may have created a chemical imbalance in his brain.