An ex-spy is about to upend the world of international intrigue. Meet “the most degenerate and lovable character ever cast in the role of secret agent” (Manchester Evening News). Charlie Muffin is back at rock bottom. The ex-spy has had a rough few years since British intelligence first turned on him and forced him to go into hiding. He’s drinking again, forgetting things—getting soft. He hasn’t even noticed the tap on his phone. Though Charlie doesn’t know it yet, the walls are closing in again. He takes a job for his only friend, Rupert Willoughby, who sends Charlie to Rome to check the security system for some valuable jewels. Charlie has chosen the wrong time to visit the Eternal City. There’s a mole in the British embassy there, and the agents of the East and West are homing in fast. Charlie, unlucky as always, is about to find himself caught between a very solid rock and an equally hard place. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Brian Freemantle including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

The un-Bond-like British spy is back—from a multimillion-selling author who “hauls you aboard and won’t let you off until the roller coaster stops” (Los Angeles Times). “If Brian Freemantle isn’t the best writer of spy novels around, he’s certainly, along with John le Carré, in the top two.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer In his long-running Charlie Muffin series, Freemantle gives us an atypical British spy. Charlie is neither high cultured nor well mannered. He’s working-class, scruffy, and fond of a drink. But he gets the job done . . . Charlie Muffin U.S.A.: Officially declared dead, Charlie can breathe again without the intelligence forces of Great Britain and the United States hunting him. He puts his espionage skills to work for an English insurance company, ensuring the security of the Romanov stamps, a priceless collection assembled before the Russian Revolution. When the American government decides to use them as bait for a vicious drug lord, Charlie gets stuck in the middle. But he’s not licked yet. “Fine, lightweight-caper entertainment.” —Kirkus Reviews Madrigal for Charlie Muffin: Since British intelligence first turned on him and forced him to go into hiding, the ex-spy has had a rough few years. He takes a job for his only friend, Rupert Willoughby, who sends Charlie to Rome to check the security system for some valuable jewels. But Charlie has chosen the wrong time to visit the Eternal City. There’s a mole in the British embassy there, and with agents of the East and West homing in fast, he’s soon caught between a rock and a hard place. “The most degenerate and lovable character ever cast in the role of secret agent.” —Manchester Evening News The Blind Run: In this Edgar Award finalist, after a trumped-up trial, Charlie lands in jail for treason. But when KGB agents stage a prison break to free his fellow inmate, a convicted British traitor, Charlie also flees to Moscow. There he meets Natalia Fedova, the KGB interrogator assigned to determine if his defection is genuine. For anyone else, the risk would be suicidal. But for Charlie, the greatest danger may be falling in love. “Unpretentious, sly rather than stately, but powerful nonetheless: the best of the Muffin novels thus far.” —Kirkus Reviews See Charlie Run: Back at work for British intelligence, Charlie finally has a real assignment: A KGB agent in Tokyo wants to defect to the other side. Charlie’s role is to bring him across. But as he himself has learned from all those evasive years, there’s never anything simple or safe about running away. “Freemantle has merged the good humor of a Lawrence Block thriller, the seriousness of a le Carré spy novel and the slam-bang adventure of a popular espionage caper.” —Publishers Weekly

A decidedly un-Bond-like British spy outwits the Soviets—and his bosses—in this thriller from a multimillion-selling author that offers “pure delight” (Chicago Tribune). Charlie Muffin is an anachronism. He came into the intelligence service in the early 1950s, when the government, desperate for foot soldiers in the impending Cold War, dipped into the middle class for the first time. Despite a lack of upper-class bearing, Charlie survived twenty-five years on the espionage battle’s front line: Berlin. But times have changed: The boys from Oxford and Cambridge are running the shop again, and they want to get rid of the middle-class spy who’s a thorn in their side. They have decided that it’s time for Charlie to be sacrificed. But Charlie Muffin didn’t survive two decades in Berlin by being a pushover. He intends to go on protecting the realm, and won’t let anyone from his own organization get in his way. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Brian Freemantle including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

“If Brian Freemantle isn’t the best writer of spy novels around, he’s certainly, along with John le Carré, in the top two.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer Charlie Muffin isn’t your typical British spy. He’s neither high cultured nor well mannered. He doesn’t care about being smooth, pretty, or popular; he only cares about getting the job done . . . Charlie M: After twenty-five years serving the Crown in the shadows of the Cold War, Charlie finds himself under fire from a new breed of superiors who believe his lack of proper breeding makes him a liability in the spy game against the Soviets. But Charlie’s going to show them that you don’t survive as long as he has without knowing how to turn the tables on your enemy . . . Here Comes Charlie M: On the run, Charlie has slowly devolved into what his former masters once accused him of being. His formerly razor-edged instincts have been dulled by indolence, drink, and the monotonous tension of living in the dark. Believing the heat must have cooled by now, he returns to England, only to discover how very wrong he was—and how much more dangerous life has just become . . . The Inscrutable Charlie Muffin: Charlie has been keeping his head down with the help of his only friend and ally, Rupert Willoughby. But Rupert’s own fortunes turn sour when an ocean liner he invested in burns and sinks in the Hong Kong harbor. Desperate, he turns to Charlie to find out what really happened. Charlie can hardly refuse—but he’ll wish he had.

DIVCharlie Muffin’s new job puts him in the crosshairs of a vicious American drug lord/divDIV/divDIVCharlie Muffin has done well since he “died.” He’s been on the run for years from the intelligence forces of Great Britain and the United States when an official declaration of death finally puts an end to their pursuit. Suddenly, Charlie can breathe again. He’s even put a lid on his single malt whisky habit. Now all he needs is a job./divDIV /divDIVHe puts his espionage skills to work for an English insurance company, ensuring the security of the Romanov stamps. A priceless collection assembled in the years before the Russian Revolution, the stamps survived only because the Bolsheviks failed to recognize their value. Now the American government means to use them as bait for a brutal drug lord. He wants the stamps, and Charlie must stop him from getting them—even if it means getting “killed” a second time./divDIV /divDIVThis ebook features an illustrated biography of Brian Freemantle including rare photos from the author’s personal collection./div

The end of the Cold War could put British spy Charlie Muffin out of work. “Secrets hide within secrets . . . Superior work from a master of the form” (Publishers Weekly). Charlie Muffin shouldn’t be condemned for mourning the end of the Cold War. For decades the KGB provided him with endless professional success and now that it’s gone, Charlie is nearly out of a job. Removed from active duty, he is now training new recruits on operations in a post-Soviet era. It’s dull work that leaves Charlie yearning for the adventures of old and this time, he’ll get more than he bargained for. One of Charlie’s first pupils is arrested within days of arriving in Beijing to extract a blown British agent. Now Charlie must go to China and get both of them out. Meanwhile, someone is searching for Charlie—Natalia Fedova, a former lover, who surfaces with a new job high up in Russian intelligence and a daughter she says is his. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Brian Freemantle including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

DIVWhen his son is caught trafficking cocaine, a successful financial advisor swears to take down the Colombian drug lords who sold it to him/divDIV/divDIVWalter Farr has done well for himself. One of the top investment counselors in New York, he has earned a fortune and amassed everything he could ever want, except a close relationship with his son, Howard. When the boy’s mother died, Walter did what he could for their child, but each year Howard pulled further and further away. Even so, Walter never expected something like this./divDIV /divDIVHoward has been arrested for importing cocaine. The charge is not trivial—Howard’s crime could put him away for life—and to get him out of it Walter will do the unthinkable. He’ll join the FBI to go after the dangerous Colombians who sold Howard the drugs in the first place. It’s a gamble that could prove fatal, but Walter Farr will never fail his son again./divDIV /divDIVThis ebook features an illustrated biography of Brian Freemantle including rare photos from the author’s personal collection./div

Home is where the heat is for disgraced British spy Charlie Muffin, “a marvelous creation” from the multimillion-selling author (The Daily Mail). Charlie Muffin has come back to England. The ex-spy, a veteran of twenty-five years’ service to the Crown, was last seen in Berlin, where an attempt on his life by his own organization led to international embarrassment. They had expected Charlie—a disheveled, middle-aged survivor of every double cross in the book—to die easily. Instead, he disappeared. But after months on the run, dulling his instincts with alcohol and laziness, the strain of life in the shadows finally gets to Charlie. By now the heat back home must have died down, and he shouldn’t have any trouble sneaking across the Channel. Now, he expects, he can finally be safe in England. Charlie Muffin is dead wrong. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Brian Freemantle including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

In 1986, Jon Cryer won over America as Molly Ringwald's loyal and lovable best friend Duckie in the cult classic Pretty in Pink (Paramount) and went on to play Alan Harper on the massively popular sitcom Two and a Half Men. With the instincts of a natural storyteller, Cryer charts his extraordinary journey in show business, illuminating his many triumphs and some missteps along the way. Filled with exclusive behind-the-scenes anecdotes, Cryer offers his own endearing perspective on Hollywood, the business at large and the art of acting.

A British thriller featuring “the most interesting character to hit novels of international intrigue since the spy came in from the cold” (Newsday). It could be the most sensational defection of all time. The head of the Russian KGB’s cipher section comes with every code, every plot, every secret. But his most startling disclosure of all is that the Russians are planning a shocking assassination. But the defector doesn’t know who. Or where. Or how. Or when. All Charlie knows is that he must stop the murder from happening—without being marked for death himself. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Brian Freemantle including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.