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Invasion

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Invasion

By: Frank Gardner
Narrated by: Frank Gardner
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Discover the explosive new Luke Carlton spy thriller from the Sunday Times bestseller and BBC security correspondent.

The world is on high alert.

Across the strait from Taiwan, China’s armed forces appear to be readying for war. Could the People’s Republic be preparing to invade its island neighbour?

A mole deep within the Chinese Communist Party leadership has some explosive intel that could defuse this geo-political timebomb. But before Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service can get hold of the data, the ‘collector’ sent to recover it is abducted.

As global tensions rise, MI6 operatives Luke Carlton and Jenny Li are dispatched to find the missing agent and the precious information she carries.

With the clock ticking and tip-offs taking them to shady Macau casinos, tawdry night clubs and down multiple dead ends, Luke is convinced they are being deliberately strung along.

Then they get the vital lead they need. It points to Taiwan – a country frantically preparing for imminent invasion. And it’s there that Luke and Jenny uncover what is really going on. . .

Drawing on his years of experience reporting on global security stories and in-depth knowledge of the security services, Frank Gardner has written his most frighteningly real, unnerving and explosive thriller yet.

‘Everything is impressive in this masterly account . . . ExhilaratingSunday Times

Genuinely unnerving and fast-paced . . . highly recommended’ Irish Independent

©2024 Frank Gardner (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Espionage Genre Fiction International Mystery & Crime Military Mystery Political Spies & Politics Suspense Thriller & Suspense War & Military China Exciting War

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Critic reviews

Tensions rise to boiling point . . . Gardner cuts to the molten core of a modern flashpoint in an electric thriller.
Everything is impressive in this masterly account . . . exhilarating (if alarming) topicality.
A genuinely unnerving and fast-paced race-against-time thriller . . . its potent combination of Tom Clancy-style hi-tech military and naval manoeuvring and a John Le Carre-like espionage thriller rings all too true . . . highly recommended.
Praise for Frank Gardner
Fast, taut, tense, accurate.
Gardner skilfully mixes knowledge garnered as the BBC’s security correspondent with breathless action.
Thriller writing of a high order . . . Gardner steadily ratchets up the tension, peppering the narrative with nuggets of expertise . . . an enthralling, intelligent read.
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.
A fast and exciting story rooted in the present horrifying dangers that surround us . . . brimful of an insider’s insights . . . reeks of authority.
Combines insider knowledge with heart-in-mouth excitement.
All stars
Most relevant
Great story, well researched and narrated. No need for wild thrills and spills to make the story tense and exciting.

Well researched

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A good plot but ended too quickly (which probably would happen) and too many loose ends. There again these may be tied in Luke’s next adventure.

Leave your phone in the house

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I am at a loss as to why a professional actor was not commissioned to narrate this book. The author is principally a BBC reporter and his delivery sounds like a news report. It does not work and rather spoilt the whole experience.

Good story.

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Fast moving, exciting, plausible, wonderful piece of escapism. Shall be listening to more Frank Gardners books.

Terrific read

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This is full of tension and obstacles for the main characters (maybe too many obstacles?), but enjoyable through the first 110-112 chapters or so. I felt a bit let down by the ending, which makes more sense if there is to be a sequel, but felt a bit like we don’t know what happened at the nation state level in terms of international politics and it was just tied up neatly. And I’m not too sure why one of the characters was cut loose near the end, as that didn’t seem to fit with the narrative about them at the start of the book.

The narrator performance was enjoyable and precise and spoke of a well- researched piece of work.

Action packed- not sure about the ending

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