For over thirty years, Robert Ludlum has been acknowledged as the master of international suspense and intrigue. In 2000, Ludlum managed to raise the bar yet again with his widely acclaimed bestsellers The Prometheus Deception and The Hades Factor, the first novel in his exciting Covert-One series. Now Covert-One is back, in a novel that could only have come from the imagination of the world's greatest storyteller. "What they're going to do, I never would have believed it. It's insanity!" They were the final words spoken by Yuri Danko, an officer in the medical division of Russia's security service, before his body was ripped apart by a spray of assassins' bullets. In possession of Danko's classified papers, Covert-One operative Jon Smith and CIA undercover agent Randi Russell have unearthed a terrifying global conspiracy that threatens to unleash a plague of immeasurable proportions. A Serb terrorist has been dispatched from Russia to spirit hazardous vials of deadly bacteria into the United States. His mission: deliver it to an unknown American government agent-- a shadowy figure whose own motives for acquiring the bioweapon are made all the more unfathomable when both men are found murdered, and the strain is stolen. Now Smith and Russell must track it down, find the madman who possesses it, and stop him before he holds a defenseless world hostage with the power to render the human race extinct. Visit the Covert-One Web site:

On one evening in Washington, DC, several high-ranking members of government disappear in a mass kidnapping. Among the kidnapped is Nick Rendel, a computer software coding expert in charge of drone programming and strategy. He is the victim with the most dangerous knowledge, including confidential passwords and codes that are used to program the drones. If revealed, his kidnappers could reprogram the drones to strike targets within the United States. Jon Smith and the Covert One team begin a worldwide search to recover the officials, but as the first kidnapping victims are rescued, they show disturbing signs of brainwashing or mind-altering drugs. Smith's investigation leads him to Fort Detrick, where a researcher, Dr. Laura Taylor, had been attempting to create a drug to wipe memory from soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome. But Dr. Taylor's research was suspended almost a year ago, when she was placed in a mental institution. Now, if Smith doesn't figure out the brainwashing drug, and track down the kidnapped Nick Rendel, the kidnappers will soon have the power to carry out drone strikes anywhere in the world....

An unknown doomsday virus quickly claims the lives of four people across the country --- including Dr. Sophia Russell, a researcher leading the team trying to crack the disease. Devastated and enraged, her fiance, Lt. Colonel Jonathan Smith, uncovers evidence that his lover's death was no accident --- that someone out there has the virus, and the pandemic that threatens countless millions of lives was planned. Not knowing where to turn or whom to trust, Smith assembles a private team to aid his fight against the deadly virus. While the death toll mounts rapidly, their quest leads them to the highest levels of power and the darkest corners of the earth, as Smith and his team match wits with a determined genius out to destroy them, with the fate of the world in the balance ...

With U.S. intelligence agencies wracked by internal power struggles and paralyzed by bureaucracy, the President was forced to establish his own clandestine group—Covert-One. It is only activated as a last resort, when the threat is on a global scale and time is running out. In northern Uganda, an American special forces team is decimated by a group of normally peaceful farmers. Video of the attack shows even women and children possessing almost supernatural speed and strength, consumed with a rage that makes them immune to pain, fear, and all but the most devastating injuries. Covert-One’s top operative, army microbiologist Colonel Jon Smith, is sent to investigate the attack and finds evidence of a parasitic infection that for centuries has been causing violent insanity and then going dormant. This time, though, it’s different. The parasite had been purposely kept alive and crudely transmitted in acts of terrorism. Now the director of Iranian Intelligence is in Uganda trying to obtain this biological weapon to unleash it on the West. Smith and his team are ambushed and cut off from all outside support just as they begin to suspect that forces much more powerful than the Iranians are in play—forces that can be traced to Washington itself.

** With U.S. intelligence agencies wracked by internal power struggles and paralyzed by bureaucracy, the president was forced to establish his own clandestine group--Covert-One. It is activated only as a last resort, when the threat is on a global scale and time is running out. **It begins with a terrorist attack. Covert-One operative Colonel Jon Smith is attending a conference in The Hague on infectious diseases, together with leading scientists and political figures from around the world. Without warning, the conference hotel is consumed in a bloodbath. Smith is caught in the crossfire and barely escapes . . . but not before discovering a picture of himself and two other targets in the pocket of one of the shooters. But the hotel is not the only location under attack in The Hague. Bombs are going off at the train station, the airport, and the International Criminal Court, where Pakistani warlord Oman Dattar is being held while he's tried for crimes against humanity. In the resulting chaos, the prisoner escapes. Dattar nurses a special hatred for the United States and its allies. With his freedom, and access to a mysterious new weapon, Dattar puts in motion a murderous, ambitious plot to exact his revenge and bring down the West once and for all--unless Covert-One can stop him.

For thirty years, Robert Ludlum's novels have set the standard for the finest in international intrigue and suspense. With an unbroken string of bestsellers in almost every country in the world, his books have been enjoyed by hundreds of millions of readers and are widely acknowledged as classics in the field. Now, after the bestselling Covert-One novels The Hades Factor and The Cassandra Compact, comes the third thrilling novel in the series. A fiery explosion in the dark of night shatters one of the laboratory buildings in Paris's esteemed Pasteur Institute. Among the dead is Emile Chambord, one of the leaders in the global race to create a molecular or DNA computer. Unfortunately, Professor Chambord kept the details of his work secret, and his notes were apparently destroyed in either the bomb blast or the raging fire that followed. Under the cover of visiting his friend Marty Zellerbach, who was severely injured when the Pasteur lab was destroyed, Covert-One agent Jon Smith flies to Paris to search for the connection between the Pasteur explosion and the forces now wielding the computer. Following a trail that leads him across two continents, Smith uncovers a web of deception that threatens to wreck havoc and forever reshape the world.

On a remote island in the Canadian Arctic, researchers discover the wreckage of a mysterious World War II-era aircraft, a discovery that forces the Russian Federation into a shocking admission. The unmarked plane is a Soviet strategic bomber that disappeared with its crew more than fifty years ago while carrying two metric tons of weaponized anthrax. Desperate to prevent a political and diplomatic firestorm, the U.S. president dispatches a Covert-One team led by Lieutenant Colonel Jon Smith to the crash site. But others have reached the frigid, windswept island first, including an international arms dealer and his crew of vicious mercenaries. As for the Russians, they are lying: a second, even deadlier secret rests within the hulk of the lost bomber, a secret the Russians are willing to kill to protect. Trapped in a polar wilderness, Smith and his team find themselves fighting a savage war on two front--against an enemy they can see and another hiding within their own ranks.

New York Times Bestselling Series For three decades, Robert Ludlum’s bestselling novels have set the standard in almost every country in the world against which all other novels of international intrigue are measured. Now comes the latest volume in the series of novels featuring Robert Ludlum’s Covert-One In the middle of the night, on the dark waterside docks of Shanghai, a photographer is recording cargo being secretly loaded when he’s brutally killed and his camera destroyed. Shortly thereafter Covert-One director Fred Klein brings the word to the President that there’s a Chinese cargo ship rumored to be carrying tons of chemicals to be used by a rogue nation to create new biological weapons. The President cannot let the ship land and risk the consequences of a new stockpile of deadly chemical weapons. Klein is ordered to get the President solid proof of what the Chinese ship is ferrying. Covert-One agent Jon Smith is sent to rendezvous in Taiwan with another agent who has acquired the ship’s true manifest. But before Smith can get the document, the two agents are ambushed, the second agent is murdered, the proof is destroyed, and Smith escapes with only his life, scant clues to mystery behind the cargo ship, and a verbal message---the President’s biological father is still alive, held prisoner by the Chinese for fifty years. As the Chinese cargo ship draws ever closer to its end port, Smith must race against the clock to uncover the truth about the ship and its cargo, a truth that probes the deepest secrets of the Chinese ruling party, the faction in Washington working to undermine the elected government, and the international cabal who is thrusting the world to the very brink of war.

With U.S. intelligence agencies wracked by internal power struggles and paralyzed by bureaucracy, the President was forced to establish his own clandestine group - Covert-One. It is only activated as a last resort, when the threat is on a global scale and time is running out. When Christian Dresner of Dresner Industries unveils a device that will revolutionize the world - the Merge, a personal computer that communicates directly with your brain - army microbiologist Colonel Jon Smith is assigned to assess its military potential. In addition to giving you the ability to control all your applications using only your mind, the Merge also gives you perfect eyesight, infrared vision, and incredibly accurate aim with a gun. Meanwhile, in the wilds of Afghanistan, Randi Russell encounters an entire village of murdered Afghans - who all have Merge studs in their skulls. As Smith and Russell begin to delve into the circumstances surrounding the Afghans' deaths - and the bizarre fact that they all have Merges weeks before the official on-sale date - they're quickly blocked by someone at the highest level of the military. Is the Merge really as innocuous as Dresner claims? And what secrets is the military hiding about its development? Smith and Russell are determined to learn the truth. But they may pay for it with their lives...

The Matarese killers will take over the world within two years... The No.1 bestseller from 'the world's most read writer' [GQ]

CIA case officer Cameron Pryce thought he'd crushed the deadly cabal of powerbrokers and assassins. But like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the Matarese dynasty is back. Now the countdown begins -- and Pryce is already running out of time. "The Matarese Circle, " Robert Ludlum's multimillion-copy spellbinder, introduced a treacherous international cabal of powerbrokers and their hired assassins. More than 20 years ago, the top CIA and KGB agents joined together to insure that, in an explosive act, the Matarese conspiracy went up in flames. But now Robert Ludlum, the unsurpassed master of suspense, returns with a stunning thriller for the 21st century. . .Secret deals are in the making, massive mysterious transactions steeped in corruption and murder. The players stand at the highest pinnacles of global finance and government. It is an unprecedented consolidation of money, power, and ruthlessness. Their ultimate aim: worldwide economic domination and all it entails. . . by whatever means necessary. The Matarese dynasty is back in all its glory and evil. And the one man with enough knowledge to stop it, CIA case officer Cameron Pryce, may not have enough time. The Matarese countdown has begun and Pryce's only chance to cut it off is to follow the trail of blood money and stone-cold killers to the heart of this deadliest conspiracy. From the Hamptons to Monte Carlo to London's Belgrave Square, Matarese assassins have already struck with brutal efficiency, eliminating all who stand in their way. But on Spain's Costa del Sol, one victim survived long enough to breathe these dying words: '"Find Beowulf Agate' --words that reverberate all the way to CIA headquarters in Langley,Virginia. Beowulf Agate is the code name for legendary retired agent Brandon Scofield, the only man ever to penetrate the Matarese and survive. Now Cameron Pryce has to draw Scofield and his wife, Antonia, out of their Caribbean paradise hideaway and back to a place they thought they'd never have to go again -- back into the Matarese circle of death. For from the oil fields of the Persian Gulf to the boardrooms of Manhattan, from the hills of Corsica to the halls of power in Washington, the circle is closing, the noose is tightening, the panic is spreading. And Pryce has made a chilling discovery: the Matarese have broken new ground. . . deep inside the CIA. "The Matarese Countdown" is Robert Ludlum at his best, as he delivers a terrifying and persuasive vision of worldwide financial mastery that could only happen today.

War hero and infamous ladies’ man General MacKenzie Hawkins is a living legend. His life story has even been sold to Hollywood. But now he stands accused of defacing a historic monument in China’s Forbidden City. Under house arrest in Peking with a case against him pending in Washington, this looks like the end of Mac’s illustrious career. But he has a plan of his own: kidnap the Pope. What’s the ransom? Just one American dollar—for every Catholic in the world. Add to the mix a slew of shady “investors,” Mac’s four persuasive, well-endowed ex-wives, and a young lawyer and fellow soldier who wants nothing more than to return to private life, and readers have in their hands one relentlessly irreverent page-turner. Praise for Robert Ludlum   “Don’t ever begin a [Robert] Ludlum novel if you have to go to work the next day.”—Chicago Sun-Times  * “Ludlum stuffs more surprises into his novels than any other six-pack of thriller writers combined.”—The New York Times* BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Robert Ludlum’s *The Bourne Identity.*

Robert Ludlum’s wayward hero, the outrageous General MacKenzie Hawkins, returns with a diabolical scheme to right a very old wrong—and wreak vengeance on the [redacted] who drummed him out of the military. Discovering a long-buried 1878 treaty with an obscure Indian tribe, the Hawk, a.k.a. Chief Thunder Head, hatches a brilliant plot that will ultimately bring him and his reluctant legal eagle, Sam Devereaux, before the Supreme Court. Their goal is to reclaim a choice piece of American real estate: the state of Nebraska, which just so happens to be the headquarters of the U.S. Strategic Air Command. Their outraged opposition will be no less than the CIA, the Pentagon, and the White House. And only one thing is certain: Ludlum will keep us in nonstop suspense—and side-splitting laughter—through the very last page. Praise for Robert Ludlum and The Road to Omaha  * “A very funny book . . . No character is minor: They’re all hilarious.”—Houston Chronicle “Don’t ever begin a Ludlum novel if you have to go to work the next day.”—Chicago Sun-Times* BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Robert Ludlum’s *The Bourne Identity.*

Salonika, Greece: December 1939. In the dead of night, a clandestine order of monks embarks on a desperate mission: to transport a mysterious vault to a hiding place high in the Italian Alps. The sinister cache, concealed for centuries, could rip apart the Christian world. Now, as the Nazi threat marches inexorably closer, men both good and evil will be drawn into a violent and deadly hunt, sparking a relentless struggle that could forever change the world as we know it. Praise for Robert Ludlum and The Gemini Contenders  * “[Robert Ludlum’s] most ambitious novel . . . Its twist and turns carry the reader on a fast bobsled run. . . . A marvelously unflagging imagination.”—The New York Times “A winner . . . one of those books you intend to put down after just one more chapter . . . suddenly it’s two in the morning and you’ve read the whole thing.”*—United Press International “A skyrocket of a book . . . The action never stops for a second.”—The Plain Dealer  * “Packed full of excitement.”—The Denver Post*** BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Robert Ludlum’s *The Bourne Identity.*

The name on the computer screen is James Barbour Matlock, college professor and Vietnam veteran. He’s Washington’s choice to stop a far-reaching conspiracy in an undercover assignment destined to put his neck against the razor’s edge of danger. But the faceless men behind the scenes don’t care if it means savaging the woman he loves or trapping him in a maze of unrelenting terror. They just care about one thing: Matlock is the perfect man for the job—and the reason why is disturbing, explosive, and extremely deadly. Praise for Robert Ludlum and *The Matlock Paper *  “A sure winner . . . fast paced, suspenseful, and bound to keep you turning the pages.”—The Denver Post  * “A 110% story all in overdrive . . . Ludlum writes better and better.”—Kirkus Reviews  * “Suspense, violence, and total readability.”—Chicago Tribune** BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Robert Ludlum’s *The Bourne Identity.*

The Fourth Reich is waiting to arise—and the only man who can stop it is about to sign its birth certificate. In 1945 the children of the Third Reich were secretly hidden all over the world, to be concealed until they came of age in the 1970s, at which point $780 million would be waiting in a Swiss bank. But all of these elaborate plans need an unsuspecting outsider to set them in motion: Noel Holcroft, the American son of a high-ranking Nazi officer. He has just been shown an incredible document known as the Holcroft Covenant. If he signs, he will inadvertently deal a serious blow to an already fragile world—and authorize his own death warrant. Praise for Robert Ludlum and *The Holcroft Covenant *  “Pleases and seduces . . . [Robert] Ludlum stuffs more surprises into his novels than any other six-pack of thriller writers combined. . . . I sprained my wrist turning his pages and didn’t notice until an hour later.”—John Leonard, The New York Times  * “Don’t ever begin a Ludlum novel if you have to go to work the next day.”—Chicago Tribune*** BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Robert Ludlum’s *The Bourne Identity.*

Ben Hartman is vacationing in Zurich, Switzerland when he chances upon his old friend Jimmy Cavanaugh—a madman who's armed and programmed to assassinate. In a matter of minutes, six innocent bystanders are dead. So is Cavanaugh. But when his body vanishes, and his weapon mysteriously appears in Hartman's luggage, Hartman is plunged into an unfathomable nightmare… Meanwhile, Anna Navarro, field agent for the Department of Justice, has been asked to investigate the sudden, random deaths of eleven men throughout the world. The only thing that connects them? A secret file, over a half-century old, that's linked to the CIA—and is marked with the same puzzling codename: Sigma. As Anna follows the connecting thread—and Hartman finds himself on the run—she ends up in the shadows of a relentless killer who is one step ahead of her…victim by victim. Now, she and Hartman together must uncover the diabolical secrets long held behind Sigma. It will threaten everything they think they know about themselves—and confirm their very worst fears...

Michael Havelock’s world died on a moonlit beach on the Costa Brava as he watched his partner and lover, double agent Jenna Karas, efficiently gunned down by his own agency. There’s nothing left for him but to quit the game, get out. Then, in one frantic moment on a crowded railroad platform in Rome, Havelock sees Jenna. Racing around the globe in search of his beautiful betrayer, Havelock is now marked for death by both U.S. and Russian assassins, trapped in a massive mosaic of treachery created by a top-level mole with the world in his fist: Parsifal. Praise for Robert Ludlum and *The Parsifal Mosaic *  “[Robert] Ludlum’s narrative imagination is a force of nature.”—The New York Times  * “As fast-paced and absorbing as any he’s written.”—Newsday  * “The suspense never lets up.”—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution  * “A crackling good yarn.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review * BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Robert Ludlum’s *The Bourne Identity.*

Autumn 1943. American agent David Spaulding is among the global espionage elite who have converged on Buenos Aires. His top-secret mission can bring World War II to an explosive end. But what happens in this city of assassins, betrayals, and sensual encounters is the most sinister and terrifying deal ever made between two nations. Intense, high-level covert negotiations will soon bear dangerous fruit with the aid of expatriate German industrialist Erich Rhinemann. But suddenly the game changes, and Spaulding is the man caught in the middle. Struggling furiously to save his sanity, the woman he loves, and his very life, Spaulding might be the only one who can rescue the world from a shattering fate. Praise for Robert Ludlum and The Rhinemann Exchange  * “A superb plot filled with exciting chases, double crosses, secret codes, and beautiful women . . . a picture of the beastliness underlying the espionage world, a world of brilliance without scruples, brutality without restraint.”—Chicago Tribune “A breathtaking pace . . . The plot is extraordinary.”—Bestsellers  * “A paragon in the field.”—The New York Times** BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Robert Ludlum’s *The Bourne Identity.*

Alex McAuliff has received an offer he can’t refuse: two million dollars for a geological survey of Jamaica. All Dunstone Limited requires is his time, his expertise, and his absolute secrecy. No one—not even McAuliff’s handpicked team—can know of Dunstone’s involvement. But British Intelligence is aware of the deal, and they’ve let Alex in on a secret of their own: The last survey team Dunstone dispatched to Jamaica vanished without a trace. Now it’s too late to turn back. Alex already knows about Dunstone—which means he knows too much. From the moment he lands in Jamaica, Alex is a marked man. On an island paradise where a beautiful woman might be a spy and every move could be his last, Alex’s only clue to survival is a single mysterious word: Halidon. Praise for Robert Ludlum   “Don’t ever begin a Ludlum novel if you have to go to work the next day.”—Chicago Sun-Times “Ludlum stuffs more surprises into his novels than any other six-pack of thriller writers combined.”—The New York Times BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Robert Ludlum’s *The Bourne Identity.*

American agent Harry Latham has penetrated the fortresslike mountain hideaway of the Brotherhood of the Watch, a neo-Nazi organization that was born in the days after the fall of the Third Reich. But on the eve of his most spectacular success, after three years in deep cover, Harry disappears. Drew Latham, Special Officer for Consular Operations in Paris, is frantic to discover his older brother’s fate. But when Drew receives the good news that Harry has surfaced, gut-twisting doubts arise. For Harry has emerged with an explosive document: a list of secret supporters of the Brotherhood, among them high-ranking officials of the United States and its allies. But is it legitimate? The search for the truth about Harry and the growing Nazi threat will plunge Drew into a labyrinth of deceit and death. And whoever makes it out alive will hold the fate of the free world in his hands. Praise for Robert Ludlum and The Apocalypse Watch  * “A powerful, exploding novel . . . vintage Ludlum in fine form.”—Booklist “If a Pulitzer Prize were awarded for escapist fiction, Robert Ludlam undoubtedly would have won it. Ten times over.”—Mobile Register  * “Bloody great fun.”—Kirkus Reviews** BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Robert Ludlum’s *The Bourne Identity.*

In Zurich. . . in Moscow. . . in Washington. The machinery was already set in motion, while in a quiet suburb an odd assortment of men and women gathered for a momentous weekend. At stake was the very existence of the United States of America . .  . and the future of the entire free world.

Did J. Edgar Hoover die a natural death? Or was he murdered? When a group of high-minded and high-placed intellectuals known as Inver Brass detect a monstrous threat to the country in Hoover’s unethical use of his scandal-ridden private files, they decide to do away with him—quietly, efficiently, with no hint of impropriety. Then bestselling thriller writer Peter Chancellor stumbles onto information that makes his previous books look like harmless fairy tales. Now Chancellor and Inver Brass are on a deadly collision course, spiraling across the globe in an ever-widening arc of violence and terror. All roads lead to a showdown that will rip the nation’s capital apart—leaving only one damning document to survive. Praise for Robert Ludlum and The Chancellor Manuscript   “[The Chancellor Manuscript*] exerts a riveting appeal, as it seems to justify our worst nightmares of what really goes on in the so-called intelligence community in Washington.”—The New York Times Book Review “Ludlum stuffs more surprises into his novels than any other six-pack of thriller writers combined.”—The New York Times  * “Powerhouse momentum . . . as shrill as the siren on the prowl car.” —Kirkus Reviews   “A complex scenario of inventive double-crossing.”—Chicago Sun-Times BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Identity.

Her weapons: money and power. Her target: the most dangerous man in the world—her own son. Elizabeth Wyckham Scarlatti has a plan, a desperate, last-minute gamble designed to save the world from her son, Ulster, an incalculably cruel man who is working for the Third Reich under the name of Heinrich Kroeger. If Elizabeth cannot stop him, Ulster will give Hitler the most powerful instrument on earth. Praise for Robert Ludlum and *The Scarlatti Inheritance *  “[Robert Ludlum] has that sense of drama and pace that only the best storytellers have.”—San Francisco Chronicle  * “Gripping . . . Ludlum writes with imagination and convincing authority.”—Baltimore Sun  * “Great, astonishing, the most spellbinding suspense in years!”—Minneapolis Star Tribune  * “Drive and excitement from first page to last.”—Mario Puzo, author of *The Godfather BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Robert Ludlum’s *The Bourne Identity.*

On Parrish Island, a restricted island off the coast of Virginia, there is a little-known and never-visited psychiatric facility. There, far from prying eyes, the government keeps in "deep storage" former intelligence employees whose psychiatric state make them a security risk to their own government, people whose ramblings might jeopardize ongoing operations or prove dangerously inconvenient. One of these employees, former Consular Operations agent Hal Ambler, is one of the few who is so dangerous that he is in complete isolation from other patients, kept heavily medicated and closely watched. But there's one critical difference between Ambler and the other patients in the facility: Ambler isn't crazy. With the help of a sympathetic nurse, Ambler manages to first clear his mind of the drug-induced haze and then executes a daring escape. On the loose and barely one step ahead of the retrieval teams sent after him, he is out to discover who had him stashed in the psychiatric hospital and why. But the world he returns to isn't the one he so clearly remembers - friends and longtime associates don't recognize him, and there are no official records of any person named Hal Ambler. With no resources and his unknown enemies closing in on him, Ambler has to uncover the truth of who he was and figure out what it is about him - remember what he knows - that makes him such a danger that someone is willing to risk everything to see him dead.

In Geneva, American lawyer Joel Converse meets a man he hasn’t seen in twenty years, a covert operative who dies violently at his feet, whispering words that hand Converse a staggering legacy of death: “The generals . . . they’re back . . . Aquitaine!” Suddenly Converse is running for his life, alone with the world’s most shattering secret. Pursued by anonymous executioners to the dark corners of Europe, he is forced to play a game of survival by blood rules he thought he’d long left behind. One by one, he traces each thread of a lethal progression to the heart of every major government, a network of coordinated global violence that no one believes possible—no one but Converse and the woman he once loved and lost, the only two people on earth who can wrest the world from the iron grasp of Aquitaine. Praise for Robert Ludlum and The Aquitaine Progression  * “You won’t be able to put it down. (Don’t ever begin a Ludlum novel if you have to go to work the next day).”—Chicago Sun-Times “Ludlum at his best.”—Publishers Weekly* BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Robert Ludlum’s *The Bourne Identity.*

Colorado Congressman Evan Kendrick is trying to live out his term quietly when a political mole reveals his deepest secret: Kendrick was the anonymous hero who freed the hostages held by Arab terrorists in the American embassy in Masqat, and then silently disappeared. Now, brought into the light, Kendrick is a target, pursued by the terrorists he once outwitted. Together with the beautiful woman who saved his life, Kendrick enters a deadly arena where the only currency is blood, where frightened whispers speak of violence yet to come, and where the fate of the free world may ultimately rest in the powerful hands of a mysterious figure known only as the Mahdi. Praise for Robert Ludlum and *The Icarus Agenda *  “[Robert] Ludlum is light-years beyond his literary competition in piling plot twist upon plot twist, until the mesmerized reader is held captive. . . . Ludlum pulls out all the stops.”—Chicago Tribune  * “[An] intricate story of conspiracies within conspiracies . . . Once you start reading you just can’t stop.”—Library Journal  * “Readers will be hooked.”—The New York Times** BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Robert Ludlum’s *The Bourne Identity.*

Brilliant, fearless, incorruptible, Andrew Trevayne was a self-made millionaire at thirty-five, former Undersecretary of State, current head of one of the nation's most prestigious foundations. Now, at the express wish of the president, Trevayne undertakes an investigation into the "secret government"--and is swept up in a tidal wave of intrigue and danger beyond the corridors of official power...into a nightmare maze where Mafia leaders and billionaires mingle...where Congress and even the presidency itself can be bought and sold. Here, in this sizzling world of mystery, seduction, and betrayal...where his family's survival and his own hinge on a hair trigger...where sinister forces are poised to exact a chilling conspiracy...here, a man like Trevayne can become a dreaded enemy, a duped pawn--or a king.

Moscow-a city under siege by hardcore Communists threatening to plunge the country back into Stalinist darkness. Into the heart of the firestorm, American ambassador Stephen Metcalf has been summoned to find the one man who controls the levers of power in absolute secrecy-an official known only as the Dirizhor. His support of the bloody coup will bring the entire world to the brink of nuclear war. Metcalfe is the only man with the cunning to reach him and to convince him to resist. It's up to Metcalf to change the course of history. He's done it before. For Metcalf, returning to Russia is also a personal mission that will stretch across three continents and fifty years into his past where the loyalties of a former love-a woman both impossibly beautiful and possibly treacherous-were tested; where the shadow of a Nazi assassin still haunts; a debauched German aristocrat manipulated the destiny of everyone he touched. Now, as past and present converge, Metcalf braces himself for a new trial of trust and betrayal, one with chilling implications that could threaten what remains of the free world.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER   “Don’t ever begin a Ludlum novel if you have to go to work the next day.”—*Chicago Sun-Times  * Tyrell Hawthorne was a naval intelligence officer—one of the best—until the rain-swept night in Amsterdam when his wife was murdered, an innocent victim of the games spies play. Now he’s called out of retirement for one last assignment. For Hawthorne is the only man alive who can track down the world’s most dangerous terrorist. Amaya Bajaratt is beautiful, elusive, and deadly—and she has set in motion a chilling conspiracy that a desperate government cannot stop. With his life and the life of the president hanging in the balance, Hawthorne must follow Bajaratt’s serpentine trail, a path of seduction, betrayal, and the looming threat of death. Racing from a millionaire recluse’s fortress to the social whirl of Palm Beach, from the Oval Office to treacherous Caribbean waters, Hawthorne will uncover a sinister network of well-placed men and women who exist to help this consummate killer—and the shattering truth behind the Scorpio Illusion.   “Breakneck . . . readability.”—The New York Times Book Review *  “A high-voltage tale of drama and suspense.”—*The Denver Post BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity.

This edition has another cover In the tradition of such Ludlum classics as The Chancellor Manuscript and The Icarus Agenda, The Bancroft Strategy is a compelling novel of intrigue, where two figures find themselves facing a shadowy organization working to twist global politics to their own unsavory ends. When Todd Belknap - a legendary field agent for Consular Operations with a reputation as something of a cowboy - is cut loose from the agency after an operation goes wrong, his best friend and fellow agent is abducted in Lebanon by a militia group with a vicious reputation. When the government refuses to either rescue him or negotiate for his release, Belknap decides to take matters into his own hands. Meanwhile, hedge fund analyst Andrea Bancroft gets a surprising call - she is to receive an unexpected bequest of six million dollars from a cousin she never met. With one condition -- she must agree to sit on the board of the Bancroft family foundation, a charitable organization that is run by the family patriarch, Paul Newton. Having never been involved with, or even met, the family - her mother was briefly married to an Bancroft and cut off all contact many years ago - Andrea is intrigued. But the foundation, which is dedicated to doing strategic good deeds, appears less and less benign the more deeply involved she gets. What exactly is their involvement with the "Genesis" - a mysterious group working to destabilize the geopolitical balance at the risk of millions of lives? As events escalate, Todd Belknap and Andrea Bancroft come together and must form an uneasy alliance if they are to uncover the truth behind "Genesis" -- before it is too late.

A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick One of the most famous and beloved mysteries from the queen of suspense, Agatha Christie!  More than 100 million copies sold and now a Lifetime TV movie. Ten people, each with something to hide and something to fear, are invited to a isolated mansion on Indian Island by a host who, surprisingly, fails to appear. On the island they are cut off from everything but each other and the inescapable shadows of their own past lives. One by one, the guests share the darkest secrets of their wicked pasts. And one by one, they die… Which among them is the killer and will any of them survive?

A millionaire dies... 'One can see by his face that he was stabbed in the back' said Poirot. But the strangest feature of the case was where they found the body - in an open grave! Hercule Poirot had answered an appeal for help - but he was too late! MURDER - bizarre and baffling - had come to the Villa Genevieve.

E-book exclusive extras:1) Christie biographer Charles Osborne's essay on The Murder of Roger Ackroyd2) "The Poirots": the complete guide to all the cases of the great Belgian detectiveThe Murder of Roger Ackroyd broke all the rules of detective fiction and made Agatha Christie a household name. There are two things you must do if you know nothing of this book: discuss it with no one, and read it with all speed—because it contains one of the biggest surprises in crime fiction.In the quiet village of King's Abbot a widow's suicide has stirred suspicion—and dreadful gossip. There are rumours that she murdered her first husband, that she was being blackmailed, and that her secret lover was Roger Ackroyd. Then, on the verge of discovering the blackmailer's identity, Ackroyd himself is murdered.

These early short stories showcase Christie's talents across a range of styles from romance to the supernatural. Though these are not all crime stories, they reflect Christie's ability to deliver an unexpected twist in the tale. The House of Dreams The Actress The Edge Christmas Adventure The Lonely God Manx Gold Within a Wall The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest While the Light Lasts

A few weeks after marrying an attractive young widow, Gordon Cloade is tragically killed by a bomb blast in the London blitz. Overnight, the former Mrs Underhay finds herself in sole possession of the Cloade family fortune. Shortly afterwards, Hercule Poirot receives a visit from the dead man’s sister-in-law who claims she has been warned by ‘spirits’ that Mrs Underhay’s first husband is still alive. Poirot has his suspicions when he is asked to find a missing person guided only by the spirit world. Yet what mystifies Poirot most is the woman’s true motive for approaching him.

Problem at Pollensa Bay - Parker Pyne The Second Gong - Poirot Yellow Iris - Poirot The Harlequin Tea Set - Harley Quin The Regatta Mystery - Parker Pyne The Love Detectives - Harley Quin Next To A Dog - Romance Magnolia Blossom - Romance

Hercule Poirot is determined to solve an old husband and wife double murder that is still an open verdict! Hercule Poirot stood on the cliff-top. Here, many years earlier, there had been a tragic accident. This was followed by the grisly discovery of two more bodies -- a husband and wife -- shot dead. But who had killed whom? Was it a suicide pact? A crime of passion? Or cold-blooded murder? Poirot delves back into the past and discovers that 'old sin can leave long shadows'.

The tranquillity of a cruise along the Nile is shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway has been shot through the head. She was young, stylish and beautiful, a girl who had everything - until she lost her life. Hercule Poirot recalls an earlier outburst by a fellow passenger: 'I'd like to put my dear little pistol against her head and just press the trigger.' Yet in this exotic setting, nothing is ever quite what it seems...

Set at the Jolly Roger, a posh vacation resort for the rich and famous on the southern coast of England, Evil Under the Sun is one of Agatha Christie’s most intriguing mysteries. When a gorgeous young bride is brutally strangled to death on the beach, only Hercule Poirot can sift through the secrets that shroud each of the guests and unravel the macabre mystery at this playground by the sea.

Beautiful young Elinor Carlisle stood serenely in the dock, accused of the murder of Mary Gerrard, her rival in love. The evidence was damning: only Elinor had the motive, the opportunity and the means to administer the fatal poison.Yet, inside the hostile courtroom, only one man still presumed Elinor was innocent until proven guilty: Hercule Poirot was all that stood between Elinor and the gallows...

Lady Angkatell, intrigued by the criminal mind, has invited Hercule Poirot to her estate for a weekend house party. The Belgian detective's arrival at the Hollow is met with an elaborate tableau staged for his amusement: a doctor lies in a puddle of red paint, his timid wife stands over his body with a gun while the other guests look suitably shocked. But this is no charade. The paint is blood and the corpse real! Christie described this novel as the one "I had ruined by the introduction of Poirot." It was first published in 1946 in London. In the USA it was published under the title Murder after Hours. Christie adapted the novel for the stage though with the omission of Hercule Poirot.

How did a woman holding a pistol in her right hand manage to shoot herself in the left temple? What was the link between a ghost sighting and the disappearance of top secert military plans? How did the bullet that killed Sir Gervase shatter a mirror in another part of the room? And who destroyed the `eternal triangle' of love involving renowned beauty, Valentine Chantry? Hercule Poirot is faced with four mystifying cases - Murder in the Mews, The Incredible Theft, Dead Man's Mirror and Triangle at Rhodes - each a miniature classic of characterisation, incident and suspense.

It was an open and shut case. All the evidence said Caroline Crale poisoned her philandering husband, a brilliant painter. She was quickly and easily convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Now, sixteen years later, in a posthumous letter, Mrs. Crale has assured her grown daughter that she was innocent. But instead of setting the young woman's mind at ease, the letter only raises disquieting questions. Did Caroline indeed write the truth? And if she didn't kill her husband, who did? To find out, the Crale’s daughter asks Hercule Poirot to reopen the case. His investigation takes him deep into the conflicting memories and motivations of the five other people who were with the Crales on the fatal day. With his keen understanding of human psychology, he manages to discover the surprising truth behind the artist's death.

Poirot had been present when Jane bragged of her plan to 'get rid of' her estranged husband. Now the monstrous man was dead. And yet the great Belgian detective couldn't help feeling that he was being taken for a ride. After all, how could Jane have stabbed Lord Edgware to death in his library at exactly the same time she was seen dining with friends? And what could be her motive now that the aristocrat had finally granted her a divorce?

It was the match-up of the century: four sleuths--Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard; Mrs. Ariadne Oliver, famed writer of detective stories; Col. Race of His Majesty's Secret Service; and the incomparable Hercule Poirot - invited to play bridge with four specially invited guests, each of whom had gotten away with murder! But before the first rubber was completed, the host was dead.