Ultimatum

Reviews / Votes

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' * A terrifying and topical novel . . . Gardner's style is addictive . . . [his] riveting plot really does illuminate both the past and today's headlines. It would be a spoiler to reveal the shocking climax, but there is a hint of more to come: roll on novel three. -- Marina Vaizey * THE ARTS DESK * It's no surprise that a BBC correspondent should write knowledgeably, but this action-packed thriller has a rare authority and authenticity. * LITERARY REVIEW * Gardner . . . tells the story with a verve and expertise born of long experience of the subject . . . convincingly authentic. It is the thriller writer's trick to blur the boundary between current affairs and invention, to make the unthinkable thinkable and exciting. In this, Gardner succeeds triumphantly. * COUNTRY AND TOWN HOUSE MAGAZINE * '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 * A terrifying and topical novel . . . Gardner's style is addictive . . . [his] riveting plot really does illuminate both the past and today's headlines. It would be a spoiler to reveal the shocking climax, but there is a hint of more to come: roll on novel three. -- Marina Vaizey * THE ARTS DESK *