Even deadlier than terrorists … are the men trying to stop them. People-smuggling, counterfeit currency and attempted murder. It’s all in a day’s work for undercover cop Dan ‘Spider’ Shepherd. But what starts as a run-of-the mill investigation quickly turns into a matter of life and death when he uncovers a terrorist cell on a mission of death and destruction. The target: hundreds of passengers on a cross-channel train deep below the English Channel.

From the bestselling author of the Spider Shepherd and Jack Nightingale series comes First Response, the utterly addictive new thriller by Stephen Leather. ****London is under siege. Nine men in suicide vests primed to explode hold hostages in nine different locations around the city, and are ready to die for their cause.Their mission: to force the government to release jihadist prisoners from Belmarsh Prison.Their deadline: 6 p.m. Today. But the bombers are cleanskins, terrorists with no obvious link to any group, and who do not appear on any anti-terror watch list. What has brought them together on this one day to act in this way? Mo Kamran is the Superintendent in charge of the Special Crime and Operations branch of the Met. As the disaster unfolds and the SAS, armed police, and other emergency services rush to the scenes, he is tasked with preventing the biggest terrorist outrage the capital has ever known.But nothing is what it seems. And only Kamran has the big picture. Will anyone believe him?A chillingly plausible and pulse-pounding depiction of how London might be held to ransom in a concerted terrorist attack: this is thriller writing at its very best.**

When you're caught between two evils, only the most decisive will survive. The thirteenth book in action supremo Stephen Leather's Spider Shepherd series is his most pulse-pounding yet . . .A violent South London gang will be destroyed if Dan 'Spider' Shepherd can gather enough evidence against them while posing as a ruthless hitman. What he doesn't know is that his work as an undercover agent for MI5 is about to intersect with the biggest terrorist operation ever carried out on British soil.Only weeks before Shepherd witnessed a highly skilled IS sniper escape from a targeted missile strike in Syria. But never in his wildest dreams did he expect to next come across the shooter in a grimy East London flat.Spider's going to have to proceed with extreme caution if he is to prevent the death of hundreds of people, but at the same time, when the crucial moment comes he will have to act decisively. The clock is ticking and only he stands between us and Armageddon....'Let Spider draw you into his web, you won't regret it' Sun

In Jack Nightingale's world - where reality and the occult collide - sometimes the only way to fight evil is with evil. A farmer walks into a school and shoots eight children dead before turning the gun on himself. It's a harrowing but straightforward case - until police search the man's farm and unearth evidence of dark Satanic practices. When the perpetrator's brother approaches Nightingale, adamant that his brother was set up, it's clear that something even more sinister lurks at the heart of the case. And there are dark forces elsewhere. A young girl miraculously returns to life, claiming she's spoken to those from beyond the grave. Those in contact with her are dying hideous deaths . . . forcing Jack Nightingale to make the hardest decision he's ever faced.Review'Written with panache, and a fine ear for dialogue, Leather manages the collision between the real and the occult with exceptional skill, adding a superb time-shift twist at the end.' -- Daily Mail on NIGHTMARE 'Another great thriller from Stephen Leather but this time with a devilish twist!' -- James Herbert on NIGHTFALL 'Suffused with mysterious pentagrams, not to mention a creeping sense of evil, I suspect that down-to-earth Nightingale is a man we'll hear more of' -- Daily Mail on NIGHTFALL About the AuthorStephen Leather is one of the UK's most successful thriller writers and a top ebook bestselling author. Before becoming a novelist he was a journalist for more than ten years on The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post. He has also written for television and two of his books, The Stretch and The Bombmaker, were filmed for TV. You can find out more from www.stephenleather.com; Stephen's blog, www.stephenleather.blogspot.co.uk; and Twitter at twitter.com/stephenleather. Stephen also has a website for his Jack Nightingale series, www.jacknightingale.com.

Carolyn Castle is one of the most famous faces in the UK - a soap opera star known to millions. But when she witnesses a gangland killing she has to ask herself if her fame could be the death of her. The killer is charismatic gangster Warwick Richards. A man more than capable of killing again to protect his secret. But does he know that Carolyn saw him commit murder?

The thirteenth book in action supremo Stephen Leather's Spider Shepherd series is his most pulse-pounding yet . . . When a highly skilled IS sniper escapes from a targeted missile attack in Syria, Spider Shepherd makes sure to remember his face - which comes in handy when the same man turns up on a list of IS fighters who have already been smuggled into the UK. But Spider's working a different mission - posing as a hit man working for a crime family in South London, in order to eventually take them down. Then, when Spider attends a huge boxing match at a London stadium along with thousands of members of the public, he spots other IS fighters from the list in the crowds, and realizes he's about to be caught up in a large-scale terrorist attack. 'Let Spider draw you into his web, you won't regret it' *Sun***ReviewThe sheer impetus of his storytelling is damned hard to resist―Sunday Express A master of the thriller genre―Irish Times As tough as British thriller writers get―Irish IndependentAbout the AuthorStephen Leather is one of the UK's most successful thriller writers, an ebook and Sunday Times bestseller and author of the critically acclaimed Dan 'Spider' Shepherd series and the Jack Nightingale supernatural detective novels. Before becoming a novelist he was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mirror, the Glasgow Herald, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. He is one of the country's most successful ebook authors and his titles have topped the Amazon Kindle charts in the UK and the US. His bestsellers have been translated into fifteen languages and he has also written for television. You can learn more from Stephen's website, www.stephenleather.com, find him on Facebook, and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/stephenleather. Stephen also has a website for his Spider Shepherd series, www.danspidershepherd.com, and for his Jack Nightingale series, www.jacknightingale.com.