THE NEW LUKE CARLTON THRILLER.BBC Security Correspondent FRANK GARDNER'S thrillers are . . .
'Fast, taut, tense, accurate.' FREDERICK FORSYTH

'Utterly authentic.' DAILY MAIL

'Enthralling, intelligent.' FINANCIAL TIMES

'Nerve-shredding.' TONY PARSONS

'Heart-in-mouth.' i-NEWSPAPER

'Compulsively readable.' RADIO TIMES
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The world is on high alert.

Across the Strait from Taiwan, China's armed forces appear to be readying for war. Could the People's Republic be preparing to invade its island neighbour?

Britain's Secret Intelligence Service has a mole deep within the Chinese Communist Party leadership - an individual in possession of intel that could defuse this fast-escalating situation. A 'collector' is sent to meet the spy and, in an anonymous Hong Kong café, the information is handed over. But before the collector can get the data to MI6, she is overpowered, drugged and abducted by persons unknown. Is it the MSS, China's feared state security agency? Or has another, less predictable player entered the game?

As geo-political tensions rise, MI6 field operatives Luke Carlton and Jenny Li are dispatched to find the missing agent and the precious intel she carries. With the clock ticking and tip-offs taking them to shady Macau casinos, tawdry night clubs and multiple dead ends, Luke is convinced they are being deliberately strung along.

Then they get the vital lead they need. It points to Taiwan - a country frantically preparing for imminent invasion. And it's there that Luke and Jenny uncover what is really going on. . .

Drawing on his years of experience reporting on global security stories and in-depth knowledge of the security services, Frank Gardner has written his most frighteningly real, unnerving and explosive thriller yet.

'Grips from the very first page . . . this is thriller writing of a high order . . . Gardner steadily ratchets up the tension, peppering the narrative with nuggets of expertise to make an enthralling, intelligent read.' Adam LeBor, FINANCIAL TIMES (about Outbreak)

Discover the explosive new Luke Carlton spy thriller from the Sunday Times bestseller and BBC security correspondent.

'Everything is impressive in this masterly account . . . Exhilarating' Sunday Times

'Genuinely unnerving and fast-paced . . . highly recommended' Irish Independent

The world is on high alert.

Across the strait from Taiwan, China's armed forces appear to be readying for war. Could the People's Republic be preparing to invade its island neighbour?

A mole deep within the Chinese Communist Party leadership has some explosive intel that could defuse this geo-political timebomb. But before Britain's Secret Intelligence Service can get hold of the data, the 'collector' sent to recover it is abducted.

As global tensions rise, MI6 operatives Luke Carlton and Jenny Li are dispatched to find the missing agent and the precious information she carries.

With the clock ticking and tip-offs taking them to shady Macau casinos, tawdry night clubs and down multiple dead ends, Luke is convinced they are being deliberately strung along.

Then they get the vital lead they need. It points to Taiwan - a country frantically preparing for imminent invasion. And it's there that Luke and Jenny uncover what is really going on. . .

Drawing on his years of experience reporting on global security stories and in-depth knowledge of the security services, Frank Gardner has written his most frighteningly real, unnerving and explosive thriller yet.

Praise for Frank Gardner:

'Fast, taut, tense, accurate.' Frederick Forsyth, bestselling author of The Day of the Jackal

'Utterly authentic.' Daily Mail

'Thriller writing of a high order.' Financial Times

'Nerve-shredding.' Tony Parsons, bestselling author of the Max Wolfe series

'Heart-in-mouth.' i-Newspaper

'Compulsively readable.' Radio Times