The Great British Heroes and Antiheroes Trilogy

Book excerpt: A trio of gripping historical novels from an acclaimed British author who “skillfully blends fact with fiction” (Time Out London). Empire of Sand: The legendary exploits of Lawrence of Arabia are the starting point for this captivating World War I suspense novel. In the British Army’s general headquarters in Cairo, a young intelligence officer, Lt. Thomas Edward Lawrence, must contend with a notorious German spy, Wilhelm Wassmuss. Local tribes are capturing British soldiers at the German’s behest, and the War Office has sent an assassin. Lawrence must get Captain Quinn within range of his target, a challenge given Wassmuss’s deep knowledge of the desert and its people. In matching wits with a sinister European nemesis, Lawrence starts down a path that will change the face of the Middle East forever. “Plenty of action, some sharp dialogue and swift characterisation . . . Absorbing and thoughtful as well as tense and exciting.” —The Daily Telegraph Death on the Ice: The ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott to the South Pole is brilliantly reimagined in this epic novel. The expedition was Scott’s second journey to Antarctica, driven by the dream of winning the race to the South Pole for England. But small mistakes and bad luck plagued the mission from the start, and when they finally reached their destination on January 17, 1912, Scott and his team were heartbroken to find that Norwegian Roald Amundsen had beaten them there—by more than a month. Little did they know, things were about to get much, much worse . . . “Brings vividly to life the relationships and rivalries, the highs and lows, of the exploration that ended so tragically.” —Daily Mail Signal Red: Inspired by the Great Train Robbery in the United Kingdom in August 1963, Ryan’s gripping re-creation is an edge-of-your-seat caper. Traveling between Glasgow and London, a Royal Mail train was forced to make an unscheduled stop by tampered signals. Led by a charismatic jewel thief, a gang of fifteen unarmed men boarded the train, incapacitated the driver, and made off with more than £2 million. Incensed by the brazenness of the crime, Scotland Yard employed every means to get the thieves to turn on one another. Soon, a meticulous plan descended into a desperate free-for-all as the gang went down one by one. This edition features an afterword by Bruce Reynolds, the mastermind behind the robbery.