Outbreak
a terrifyingly real thriller from the No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author
Published on 27. May 2021
Book
Hardback
416 pages
978-1-78763-238-7 (ISBN)
Description
***THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER***
The explosive new thriller featuring MI6 operative Luke Carlton on his most terrifying mission yet.
Deep within the Arctic Circle, three scientists from the UK's Arctic Research Station trudge through a blizzard in search of shelter. They see a cabin ahead. It appears abandoned. No lights. No snowmobile outside. But as they push open the door, the smell hits them. Rank and foetid: there's something bad inside.
Then movement. A man lies slumped, his face disfigured by livid pustules. Blood runs from his nostrils; his chest glistens blackly. The team's medic, Dr Sheila Mackenzie, pushes forward to examine him when the convulsions start. Blood, bile and mucus spray into the air. The doctor knows it's too late - she's been contaminated . . .
Within hours, a full-scale operation to contain this contagion is underway. Samples are rushed to the laboratories at Porton Down on high alert. What they discover changes everything. Supported by phone and data intercepts, British Intelligence reaches a terrifying conclusion: that Russia has been developing a new generation of bio-weapons.
Dispatched to investigate, MI6's Luke Carlton finds himself on a serpentine trail of lies and deception. From a mysterious factory in Lithuania, via arrest and imprisonment, and ultimately back to Britain, he discovers that they've been looking in the wrong place all along . . .
Readers are raving about Outbreak
***** 'A fast-paced espionage thriller with a timely premise'
***** 'A sharp and fast-paced thriller'
***** 'A great read for fans old and new'
***** 'One of the best thrillers of 2021'
The explosive new thriller featuring MI6 operative Luke Carlton on his most terrifying mission yet.
Deep within the Arctic Circle, three scientists from the UK's Arctic Research Station trudge through a blizzard in search of shelter. They see a cabin ahead. It appears abandoned. No lights. No snowmobile outside. But as they push open the door, the smell hits them. Rank and foetid: there's something bad inside.
Then movement. A man lies slumped, his face disfigured by livid pustules. Blood runs from his nostrils; his chest glistens blackly. The team's medic, Dr Sheila Mackenzie, pushes forward to examine him when the convulsions start. Blood, bile and mucus spray into the air. The doctor knows it's too late - she's been contaminated . . .
Within hours, a full-scale operation to contain this contagion is underway. Samples are rushed to the laboratories at Porton Down on high alert. What they discover changes everything. Supported by phone and data intercepts, British Intelligence reaches a terrifying conclusion: that Russia has been developing a new generation of bio-weapons.
Dispatched to investigate, MI6's Luke Carlton finds himself on a serpentine trail of lies and deception. From a mysterious factory in Lithuania, via arrest and imprisonment, and ultimately back to Britain, he discovers that they've been looking in the wrong place all along . . .
Readers are raving about Outbreak
***** 'A fast-paced espionage thriller with a timely premise'
***** 'A sharp and fast-paced thriller'
***** 'A great read for fans old and new'
***** 'One of the best thrillers of 2021'
Reviews / Votes
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 * Tackles what must now be most governments' worst nightmare: the deliberate generation of a pandemic by bio-terrorists . . . packed with authentic detail, Outbreak is both horrifying and entertaining. -- Natasha Cooper * LITERARY REVIEW * A gripping zeitgeisty thriller . . . an authentic feel . . . plenty of action . . . a proper page turner. -- Paul Burke * NB magazine * Compulsively readable. * RADIO TIMES *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Transworld Publishers Ltd
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 37 mm
Weight
648 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78763-238-7 (9781787632387)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
05/2021
1st Edition
Transworld Digital
€8.99
Available for download
Person
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.
He lives in London with his family.