Invasion: (Luke Carlton 4)

(Hardback)

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Sunday Times bestselling Frank Gardner's new international thriller sees his MI6 agent hero Luke Carlton caught up in events that could lead to what is in all likelihood going to be the next terrifying, world-destabilising geo-political cataclysm- China's invasion of Taiwan. It's furiously fast-paced, hair-raisingly real and utterly compelling . . . 2024, and China is massing troops on its coast across the Strait from Taiwan. This time it looks like they're serious about invading an act that would result in a full scale war between the People's Republic and the US and its allies, including the UK. But Britain's Secret Intelligence Service has an agent in play - a source close to the top of the Chinese Communist Party who's ready to pass on vital secrets that could defuse the looming conflict. But just as the handover is taking place in a backstreet cafe in Hong Kong, the agent's MI6 handler is snatched before she can transmit the data back to London. There are few clues as to who might be responsible. Is it the MSS, China's infamous state security agency Or could it be another, less predictable player in the game Luke Carlton, now one of MI6's most experienced field operatives, is sent to track down the missing agent. It's a highly sensitive mission for a multitude of reasons and accompanying him is his Mandarin-speaking colleague, the highly capable Jenny Li. Following various tip offs, they make their way from lavish Macao casinos to seedy night clubs but Luke senses something's not quite right. Too late they discover that their agent has been kidnapped and now on a rusting cargo ship churning through the South China Sea. So Luke and Jenny head for Taiwan and find themselves in a country frantically preparing for imminent invasion. It's there, in a remote mountain temple, that they find the missing MI6 officer. But as China's People's Liberation Army begins to flex its muscles, tensions escalate. The world holds its breath and Luke finds himself facing a seemingly impossible dilemma- choose between losing a person he realises he's come to love and averting what could become a cataclysmic global war. He should really have no choice . . .

Author Bio

Born in 1961, Frank Gardner has been the BBC's Security Correspondent since 2002. He holds a degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies. In 2004, while filming in Saudi Arabia, he was ambushed by terrorists, shot multiple times and left for dead. He survived and returned to active news reporting within a year. He still travels extensively. Awarded an OBE in 2005 for services to journalism, Frank published his bestselling memoir, Blood and Sand, in 2006. His first novel, the thriller Crisis, which introduced readers to SIS operative Luke Carlton, was a No.1 bestseller. The second Luke Carlton thriller, Ultimatum, was also a Sunday Times top 10 bestseller, as was the third, Outbreak. Frank Gardner lives in London.