Red Scorpion
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The Times best thrillers for April 2026
'A propulsive thriller' Irish Independent
'A tense, fast-paced thriller about moral compromise' i PAPER
'Tom Bradby has created a magnificent woman in Dr Laura Strong. [A] powerfully entertaining novel' Literary Review
Life for Dr Laura Strong shouldn't be this hard. Nights working thankless A&E shifts. A much-loved disabled brother to look after. Loan sharks at her door. She needs a miracle to stop her life collapsing around her.
The arrival of South American coffee magnate Rafael Fernandez appears to be the answer to her prayers. A devoted father with a sick son requiring a 24/7 care, he is prepared to pay any price for expertise he can trust.
But if something appears to be too good to be true, then it probably is. Behind the façade of Rafa's gilded existence lies a dark family history which he has been doing his best to avoid - until the death of his estranged father brings it crashing back into his - and Laura's - world.
What had at first seemed to be a remarkable escape from an impossible situation now threatens to destroy everything Laura cares about. Friendless and far from home, she must rely on her own instincts to find a way out of this terrifying new landscape. Sometimes it's easier to trust the devil you know...
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TOM BRADBY is a novelist, screenwriter and journalist. He has written nine previous novels, including top-ten bestselling Secret Service, and its two sequels, Double Agent and Triple Cross. The Master of Rain was shortlisted for the Crime Writers Association Steel Dagger for Thriller of the Year, and both The White Russian and The God of Chaos for the CWA Historical Crime Novel of the Year. He adapted his first novel, Shadow Dancer, into a film, the script for which was nominated for Screenplay of the Year in the Evening Standard Film Awards.
As a broadcaster, he is best known as the current Anchor of ITV's News at Ten. In his first year in the job he was named Network Presenter of the Year by the Royal Television Society. He has been with ITN for thirty years and was successively Ireland Correspondent, Political Correspondent, Asia Correspondent (during which time he was shot and seriously injured whilst Covering a riot in Jakarta), Royal Correspondent, UK Editor and Political Editor- a job he held for a decade - before being made the Anchor of News at Ten in 2015.