As an imperial princess and an assassin, Lien lives by three rules: never disobey the emperor, never reveal her secret gift, and never trust a barbarian. When the emperor betroths her to the barbarian she’s sworn to kill, Lien is faced with an impossible decision. Disobedience means death, but how can she marry the enemy who murdered her parents? After being given the opportunity, it proves far harder to make her first kill than she expected—especially when the khan’s eyes are so full of compassion—therefore Lien travels from the pristine palace to the dusty, sparse steppes with the barbarians. She bides her time spying, vowing to destroy them and return home. Except after spending time with the tribe, she realises they are not the monsters the emperor portrayed them as. And the barbarian khan makes her feel a longing she never expected. With Lien torn between two worlds she must choose a side, expose her secret gift and finally kill to protect them. But will those she loves accept her when they know the truth? The Assassin’s Gift is a coming of age tale full of passion, treachery, and love. *** This book was previously published under the pen name Claire Boston ***

Is this the Crime Thriller of the year? In a race against time, it's Ray Luck against the world! When Ray Luck - a top cyber security expert - accidentally stumbles upon a devastating secret while surfing the web, he knows immediately he is in way above his head and soon he is being hunted by both Mossad and the British Security Services. Alone, desperate, with only three days to live, Ray is a man with not one, but several missions: to save the life of his girlfriend who has been kidnapped by the security services; to prevent a terrorist cyber attack destroying London; to save the Middle East peace process; and to bring one of the most powerful men in the world to justice for the savage killing of an apparently innocent woman, a murder certain powerful people in the British Government are determined to cover up at all costs. Only Ray can stop them all. But as the clock starts to tick, he discovers that nothing is as it seems. Who is the real enemy? And who can he trust? Unless he finds out soon, will Ray's luck finally run out? Find out for yourself!

When the shogun's chief intelligence officer suddenly drops dead during a horse race at Edo Castle, the shogun enlists the talents of Sano Ichiro to investigate, putting the sleuth on the trail of a secret movement looking to overthrow the regime.

A murderer is at large on the streets of Lincolnshire. But why? When the body of a well-known local thug is discovered carrying a personal message for Detective Sergeant Catherine Bishop neither she, nor her team, can figure out why. Soon, a second victim is found and it is clear that Catherine and her enigmatic new boss, DI Jonathan Knight, are in a race against the clock to stop a merciless killer. Whoever it is, they are determined to put Catherine herself under scrutiny. Will the murderer be caught before they take more lives? And meanwhile will they reveal a sinister secret that threatens those at the heart of the investigation? An atmospheric and heart-stopping crime thriller, perfect for fans of L. J. Ross, David Hodges and J. M. Dalgliesh.

Cast out from her native village, 11-year-old Lale finds a surrogate mother in the charismatic Despotana of Tamurin who maintains a school for orphaned girls. There Lale finds a home and a profession that may cost her everything.

To read or not to read? With a pulse-pounding historical thriller series like The Shakespeare Plot there’s really only one answer! Journey back in time to danger-filled Elizabethan London. Alice Fletcher is a stagehand at the Globe theatre. When her brother, Richard, goes missing, Alice seeks him with the help of Tom Cavendish, servant to the power–hungry Earl of Essex. Packed with a heady Elizabethan atmosphere of political scheming, romance and murder. The swiftly paced, suspenseful plot will keep young readers on the edge of their seats while giving them an insight into the history of Shakespeare’s England.

In the fifteenth-century kingdom of Brittany, seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where she learns that the god of Death has blessed her with dangerous gifts--and a violent destiny.

‘Written with Burleigh’s characteristic brio, with pithy summaries of historical moments (he is brilliant on the Americans in Vietnam, for example) and full of surprising vignettes’ – The Times ’Book of the Week’ In Day of the Assassins, acclaimed historian Michael Burleigh examines assassination as a special category of political violence and asks whether, like a contagious disease, it can be catching. Focusing chiefly on the last century and a half, Burleigh takes readers from Europe, Russia, Israel and the United States to the Congo, India, Iran, Laos, Rwanda, South Africa and Vietnam. And, as we travel, we revisit notable assassinations, among them Leon Trotsky, Hendrik Verwoerd, Juvénal Habyarimana, Indira Gandhi, Yitzhak Rabin and Jamal Khashoggi. Combining human drama, questions of political morality and the sheer randomness of events, Day of the Assassins is a riveting insight into the politics of violence. ‘Brilliant and timely . . . Our world today is as dangerous and mixed-up as it has ever been. Luckily we have Michael Burleigh to help us make sense of it.’ – Mail on Sunday

HARD-HITTING PULP ACTION - AS THE BULLETS BLAZE IN A SCORCHED EARTH SHOWDOWN THEY'LL DISCOVER WHAT TRULY MATTERS MOST. In the cold, lonely world of hired guns, Malakai is a legendary trigger-puller. The victim of a twisted, abusive childhood that left him both physically and emotionally scarred, blood and bullets have become his religion. Once partnered with Gabriel Asher before he walked away, Malakai stayed with the Company, honing his lethal skills to become the quintessential lone wolf assassin. When he is contracted to stop the Syndicate-a powerful Japanese crime organization-from blackmailing the chairperson of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Malakai discovers someone is playing Judas and he needs to flush them out before he gets burned. As the chaos and carnage escalate, his life gets complicated by the arrival of a mysterious woman who may have even more scars on her soul than he does. But is she really who she says she is? With betrayal all around him, Malakai knows one wrong move could cost him his life. When the Syndicate hires a ruthless assassin named Jesus to hunt him down, Malakai knows the only way to survive is to fight fire with hellfire.

Book three in in the Ross Bentley series Ross has spent the past twelve months in hiding in the west coast of Ireland. He has turned his back on the Guild and his gifts. In trying to escape his past and the dangers brought with his gifts, Ross has spiralled into a world of anxiety and depression and, with Cathy leaving for Paris, Ross is completely alone. Suddenly an unexpected visitor arrives. Hunter has come to call in his favour. Through loneliness and a sense of debt, Ross agrees to join Hunter for one day only. What first appears to be a simple task becomes so much more. Ross is dragged back into the world of the gifted where a supernatural war is about to break loose. Ross must choose which side to fight on. Will he turn his back on the Guild forever? Or will he fight to save the Guild members who have kept so much from him? Praise for Million Dollar Gift: 'fast-paced, riveting and insightful... a highly recommended gripping read' Fallenstarstories.blogspot.com