Ultimatum: The explosive thriller from the No. 1 bestseller

Description

SIS officer Luke Carlton returns in the explosive, action-packed and bestselling new thriller from BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner, author of the No.1 bestseller Crisis. 'It grips like a python from the first page, squeezing the breath out of the reader' DAILY MAIL 'Outstanding' SUNDAY TIMES 'Breathless action' THE TIMES Hidden from prying Western satellites, Iranian scientists are at work on a banned device . . . They are acting on the orders of a renegade cell within Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, whose objective is to transform their country into a nuclear-armed nation, and so seal its domination of the Middle East. Britain's intelligence agencies know something is up. Someone on the inside is ready to hand over information - but the rendezvous with SIS officer Luke Carlton goes bloodily wrong . . . Then MI6 sees an opportunity to recruit an individual with unique access to the IRGC hardliners. Luke is chosen to reel them in. Going into Iran undercover is dangerous enough, but then there's a killing and a kidnapping and the British government is presented with a shocking ultimatum. With time running out, it seems only Luke can stop a cataclysmic new war in the Gulf . . . ________ Readers love Ultimatum- ***** 'An action-packed thriller . . . very authentic' ***** 'A real page turner . . . thrilling adventure' ***** 'Gripping page turner that keeps you glued to the story'

Born in 1961, Frank Gardner is the BBC's Security Correspondent, reporting for television and radio on issues of domestic and international security, notably on Islamist extremist related terrorism. A fluent Arabist, with a degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies, he was previously the BBC's Middle East Correspondent based in Cairo, and before that in Dubai. In June 2004, while reporting in Riyadh, Frank and his cameraman, Simon Cumbers, were ambushed by Islamist gunmen. Simon was killed outright, Frank was shot multiple times and left for dead. Against all expectations, he survived and, in 2006, published his acclaimed and bestselling memoir, Blood and Sand. In 2009 he published Far Horizons, a much praised account of his life as an inveterate traveller and explorer. His first novel, the thriller Crisis, was a No.1 bestseller. Awarded an OBE for services to journalism, Frank has also written for the Economist, Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph and Time Out and has been published in The Best of Sunday Times Travel Writing. He lives in London with his family.

Confirms Frank Gardner's place among the pantheon of distinguished reporters who have become excellent thriller writers, including Gerald Seymour and Frederick Forsyth . . . utterly authentic . . . it grips like a python from the first page, squeezing the breath out of the reader. * DAILY MAIL * Outstanding. * SUNDAY TIMES * Frank Gardner's second thriller is even closer than his first, Crisis, to dealing with the world's most immediate fears . . . current international events do not necessarily turn into exciting novels, but Gardner skilfully mixes knowledge garnered as the BBC's security correspondent with breathless action. -- Marcel Berlins * THE TIMES * Lots of twists and turns and a surprise ending. Good stuff. -- Frederick Forsyth * DAILY MAIL * Crisis, the debut two years ago by the BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, was much admired, and the second in his Luke Carlton series is even better . . . its themes of Iranian bomb production and divisions in the country's elite have great topicality. -- John Dugdale * SUNDAY TIMES 'Thriller of the Month' *