"Hawke is . . .strong, shrewd, savvy, with an aplomb not seen since James Bond." NPR Off the coast of Maine, an esteemed former CIA director is found dead on his sailboat, his head bashed in. Half a world away in Paris, another senior CIA officer die... Read more

"Hawke is . . .strong, shrewd, savvy, with an aplomb not seen since James Bond." NPR Off the coast of Maine, an esteemed former CIA director is found dead on his sailboat, his head bashed in. Half a world away in Paris, another senior CIA officer dies of a heart attack while making love in a posh hotel room. When counterspy Alex Hawke hears the news, he believes the deaths can be tied to one source: Spider Payne, a rogue intelligence officer whose exploits got him fired by the CIA. Now the former star agent seems to have evolved into a serial killer-and MI6 officer Alex Hawke is directly in his line of fire. In Russia, Vladimir Putin is determined to forge his country into a formidable superpower once more, and he'll stop at nothing to realize his global fantasies. Meanwhile, Kremlin scientists are developing a radical new weapon that could forever alter modern warfare. NATO knows Putin will not hesitate to use it. But they feel powerless while they're locked in a tense standoff as Russian Army forces are arrayed on Eastern Europe's borders. Only one man can bring the world back from this apocalyptic brink: Alex Hawke. Intelligence officer Alex Hawke takes on power-hungry Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is wielding a terrifying new weapon, in the latest adrenaline-fueled thriller in Ted Bell's New York Times bestselling series. In corrupt Russia, an erratic Vladimir Putin is determined to forge his country into a formidable superpower once again. He intends to redraw the map of Europe, and will go to impossible extremes to realize his fantasies-including shooting down a civilian airliner packed with tourists bound for China. Kremlin scientists have developed a radical new weapon that could forever alter modern warfare. NATO, locked in a tense standoff over Ukraine, Poland, and Estonia, knows Putin will not hesitate to use it. But there is one man who can bring the world back from the brink: Britain's foremost intelligence asset, Lord Alexander Hawke. The intrepid MI6 officer's latest challenge begins in the Gulf of Aden and soon has him searching for the link to a series of bizarre assassinations. Spies are dying all over the world-from London, Washington, D.C., and Maine, to Moscow, and even the glittering Cote d'Azur. In the murky world of counterterrorism and high-stakes intrigue, the odds have never been higher. Once again, Alex Hawke must save the world . . . one bullet at a time. Less