David Gilman – författare

PREORDER DAVID GILMAN'S THRILLING NEW HISTORICAL NOVEL THE KNIFE MAKER OF VENICE NOW!In this gripping historical adventure, Master of War Sir Thomas Blackstone must travel into enemy lands with a price on his head as he seeks gold and alliances for King Edward's war with France.THE MASTER OF WAR RIDES AGAIN.1368, Northern Italy. As the Hundred Years’ War smoulders, the Duke of Clarence, second son of Edward III, sets out from Paris to wed the Lord of Milan's daughter. The union could forge an alliance as vital as any victory on the battlefield. But the road to Milan is a road to betrayal.Riding ahead is Sir Thomas Blackstone, the legendary Master of War. Blackstone is tasked with securing the gold that, together with the marriage alliance, will fuel the House of Plantagenets’ fight against France. But with a bounty on his head, Blackstone will have to outthink and outfight foes deadlier than any he has faced before. Yet the gravest threat may lie closer to home. Blackstone's son, Henry, has inherited his father's unerring fate to walk where peril waits...Reviews for David Gilman'Page-turning and gritty' Daily Mail'Heart-pounding action' The Times'Gripping' Wilbur Smith'Vivid and inventive' Sunday Times'A master author' Army Rumour Service'The Hundred Years War brought alive' For Winter Nights

A young Englishman captured by slavers must survive the snakepit that is seventeenth-century Venice.1604. Pirate raiders terrorise the coasts of Europe, seeking slaves to sell in the markets of North Africa.When headstrong Richard Sheriff and his beloved sister Elizabeth are torn from their Devonshire home by slavers, he is cast into a living nightmare.With Richard being a talented blacksmith, the pirate captain intends to sell him for a high price. He has other plans for Elizabeth... and once they are separated, Richard has no idea of his sister's fate.He is eventually sold into servitude in Venice: glittering, vicious city of secrets, where his talents find him apprenticed to a knife maker. He vows he will never stop looking for his sister – but first he must survive that city of ghosts, where life is cheap, profit is all and escape nigh-on impossible.A powerful historical adventure perfect for fans of Ken Follett and Robert Harris.Reviews for David Gilman'Gilman does heart pounding action superlatively' The Times'A gripping chronicle of pitched battle, treachery and cruelty' Robert Fabbri'The level of suspense is ratcheted up to a truly brutal level' Sharon Penman

PREORDER DAVID GILMAN'S THRILLING NEW HISTORICAL NOVEL THE KNIFE MAKER OF VENICE NOW!In this gripping historical adventure, Master of War Sir Thomas Blackstone must travel into enemy lands with a price on his head as he seeks gold and alliances for King Edward's war with France.THE MASTER OF WAR RIDES AGAIN.1368, Northern Italy. As the Hundred Years’ War smoulders, the Duke of Clarence, second son of Edward III, sets out from Paris to wed the Lord of Milan's daughter. The union could forge an alliance as vital as any victory on the battlefield. But the road to Milan is a road to betrayal.Riding ahead is Sir Thomas Blackstone, the legendary Master of War. Blackstone is tasked with securing the gold that, together with the marriage alliance, will fuel the House of Plantagenets’ fight against France. But with a bounty on his head, Blackstone will have to outthink and outfight foes deadlier than any he has faced before. Yet the gravest threat may lie closer to home. Blackstone's son, Henry, has inherited his father's unerring fate to walk where peril waits...Reviews for David Gilman'Page-turning and gritty' Daily Mail'Heart-pounding action' The Times'Gripping' Wilbur Smith'Vivid and inventive' Sunday Times'A master author' Army Rumour Service'The Hundred Years War brought alive' For Winter Nights

The playscript to Ghost in the Machine by David Gilman begins with a common situation – that of a missing fifty dollar bill – and spins it into intriguing questions of probability, chance and the complexities of musical composition: illusion and reality.

'A gripping chronicle of pitched battle, treachery and cruelty' ROBERT FABBRI. Provoked by the Dauphin's refusal to honour the terms of his father's surrender, Edward III has invaded France with the greatest army England has ever assembled. But the English lion's attempts to claw the French crown from its master are futile. After defeats at Crècy and Poitiers, the Dauphin will no longer meet the English in the field. Mired down in costly sieges and facing a stalemate, Edward's great army is forced to argee a treaty. But peace comes at a price. The French request that Blackstone escort their King's daughter to Italy to see her married to one of the two brothers who rule Milan – the same brothers who killed Blackstone's family to revenge the defeats they suffered at his hand. Blackstone, the French are certain, will never leave Milan alive...

PREORDER DAVID GILMAN'S THRILLING NEW HISTORICAL NOVEL THE KNIFE MAKER OF VENICE NOW!A powerful historical adventure set during the bloody conflict of the Hundred Years' War from critically acclaimed author David Gilman.Winter, 1361. After two decades of conflict, Edward III has finally agreed a treaty with the captive French King, John II. In return for his freedom, John has ceded vast tracts of territory to the English. But for five long years mercenary bands and belligerent lords have fought over the carcass of his kingdom. They will not give up their hard-won spoils to honour a defeated king's promises. If the English want their prize, they'll have to fight for it... Thomas Blackstone will have to fight for it. As he battles to enforce Edward's claim, Thomas Blackstone will see his name blackened, his men slaughtered, his family hunted. He will be betrayed and, once again, he'll face the might of the French army on the field. But this time there will be no English army at his back. He'll face the French alone.'Heart-pounding action' The Times'Pacy and atmospheric' Historical Novel Society

'Page-turning and gritty' DAILY MAIL. Amid the carnage of the 100 Years War – the bloodiest conflict in medieval history – a young English archer confronts his destiny... England, 1346: For Thomas Blackstone the choice is easy – dance on the end of a rope for a murder he did not commit, or take up his war bow and join the king's invasion. As he fights his way across northern France, Blackstone learns the brutal lessons of war – from the terror and confusion of his first taste of combat, to the savage realities of siege warfare. Vastly outnumbered, Edward III's army will finally confront the armoured might of the French nobility on the field of Crécy. It is a battle that will change the history of warfare, a battle that will change the course of Blackstone's life, a battle that will forge a legend.

'Heart-pounding action' THE TIMES. FRANCE: 1356. Ten years ago, the greatest army in Christendom was slaughtered at Crécy. Archer Thomas Blackstone stood his ground and left that squalid field a knight. He has since carved out a small fiefdom in northern France, but the wounds of war still bleed and a traitor has given the King of France the means to destroy the English knight and his family. As the traitor's net tightens, so the French King's army draws in. Blackstone will stand and fight. He will defy his friends, his family and his king. He may yet defy death, but he can't defy his destiny: MASTER OF WAR.

'A gripping chronicle of pitched battle, treachery and cruelty' ROBERT FABBRI. Tuscany, 1358: Thomas Blackstone has built a formidable reputation in exile, fighting as a mercenary amid the ceaseless internecine warring of Italy's City States. But success has bred many enemies, and when a dying man delivers a message recalling him to England, it seems almost certain to be a trap. Yet Blackstone cannot disobey – the summons is at the Queen's demand. On his journey, Blackstone will brave the terrors of the High Alps in winter, face the Black Prince in tournament, confront the bloody anarchy of a popular revolt and submit to trial by combat. And every step of the way, he will be shadowed by a notorious assassin with orders to despatch him to Hell.

'Page-turning and gritty' DAILY MAIL. It is 1943 and for agents of the Special Operations Executive, a mission to Nazi-occupied Paris is a death sentence. So why has unlikely spy Harry Mitchell volunteered to return to the city he fled two years ago? The French capital is at war with itself. Informers, gangsters, collaborators and Resistance factions are as ready to slit each other's throats as they are the Germans'. The occupiers are no better: the Gestapo and Abwehr – military intelligence – are locked in their own lethal battle for dominance. Mitchell knows the risks but he has a reason to put his life on the line: his family are still in Paris and have fallen into the hands of the Gestapo. With disaster afflicting his mission from the outset, it will take all his ingenuity to even get into the capital... unaware that every step he takes is a step closer to a trap well set and baited. 'Night Flight to Paris is everything a thriller should be: fast-paced with great characters, life or death jeopardy and nail-biting action. David Gilman delivers the goods once again. A terrific read!' MATTHEW HARFFY. 'Absolutely amazing. I'd never thought that another writer could rival Bernard Cornwell... The level of suspense is ratcheted up to a truly brutal level' SHARON PENMAN. 'A gripping ride through a memorable period of history' WILBUR SMITH.

PREORDER DAVID GILMAN'S THRILLING NEW HISTORICAL NOVEL THE KNIFE MAKER OF VENICE NOW!Sir Thomas Blackstone must outwit French forces and deadly enemies in this exciting medieval historical adventure set during the Hundred Years' War.WINTER, 1362. After decades of successful campaigning in France, Thomas Blackstone, once a common archer, has risen to become Edward III's Master of War.But the title is as much a curse as a blessing. Success has brought few rewards: his family – bar his son Henry – is dead, slaughtered; his enemies only multiply. Death, in so many guises, beckons.As he battles to enforce his King's claim to French territory, Blackstone will assault an impregnable fortress, he'll become embroiled in a feud between French aristocrats, he'll be forced into pitched battle in the dead of winter... and he'll be asked to pay an impossible price to protect something much more precious to the King than mere land.All the while, out of the east, a group of trained killers, burning with vengeance, draw ever closer.Reviews for David Gilman'The level of suspense is ratcheted up to a truly brutal level' Sharon Penman'A gripping ride' Wilbur Smith'Gilman does heart pounding action superlatively' The Times'Like a punch from a mailed fist, Master of War is a gripping chronicle of pitched battle, treachery and cruelty' Robert Fabbri

Winter, 1364.The King is dead.Defeated on the field of Poitiers, Jean Le Bon, King of France, honoured his treaty with England until his death. His son and heir, Charles V, has no intention of doing the same. War is coming and the predators are circling.Sir Thomas Blackstone, Edward III's Master of War, has been tasked with securing Brittany for England. In the throes of battle, he rescues a young boy, sole witness to the final living breaths of the Queen of Castile. The secret the boy carries is a spark deadly enough to ignite conflict on a new front – a front the English cannot afford to fight on.So Blackstone is ordered south to Castile, across the mountains to shepherd Don Pedro, King of Castile, to safety. Accompanied only by a small detachment of his men and a band of Moorish cavalrymen loyal to the king, every step takes Blackstone further into uncertain territory, deeper into an unyielding snare.For the Master of War, the shadow of death is always present.Praise for David Gilman:'The level of suspense is ratcheted up to a truly brutal level' SHARON PENMAN'A gripping ride' WILBUR SMITH'Gilman does heart pounding action superlatively' THE TIMES'Like a punch from a mailed fist, Master of War is a gripping chronicle of pitched battle, treachery and cruelty' ROBERT FABBRI

PREORDER DAVID GILMAN'S THRILLING NEW HISTORICAL NOVEL THE KNIFE MAKER OF VENICE NOW!Dan Raglan, former Foreign Legion fighter, alias The Englishman, returns in Resurrection, the new high-octane, high-stakes international thriller from David Gilman.Somewhere in the Sahara, on the desolate border between Sudan and Chad, a P51 Mustang with long-range drop tanks slowly emerges from the dunes.Inside, the skeletalized remains of a man missing for three decades.His flying jacket bears no insignia, a worn leather attaché case lies by his side, held securely by a manacle around his left wrist. Inside a document men will kill for. Die for.The sands of time have shifted, and whoever finds that aircraft finds information that could expose the most valuable spy the UK intelligence service has ever known.The British, the French, and the Russians are on the trail.And so is Raglan.Reviewers on David Gilman'An author at the zenith of his powers' Peter James'Raglan is nicely complex: an action man with inner depths' Financial Times

PREORDER DAVID GILMAN'S THRILLING NEW HISTORICAL NOVEL THE KNIFE MAKER OF VENICE NOW!Wartime intrigues in France could spell personal disaster for Sir Thomas Blackstone. The latest gripping adventure in David Gilman's critically acclaimed Master of War series set in fourteenth-century Europe.Bordeaux, 1367. Having angered the bloodthirsty Don Pedro, King of Castile, Sir Thomas Blackstone is thoroughly sick of his mission for the Prince of Wales, but must remain true to his oath.But this is the Hundred Years' War, and tensions are rising once more. With the Prince of Wales deeply unpopular in his Aquitainian lands, Blackstone, King Edward's Master of War, must return to French soil to help stem the tide of support for the King of France.Meanwhile, Henry, Blackstone’s son, faces an incognito ride across France with his own motley band of outlaws and mercenaries. But the French are aware of the younger Blackstone’s journey, and see a perfect way to target the Master of War…Reviews for David Gilman'A gripping ride' Wilbur Smith'Gilman does heart pounding action superlatively' The Times'A gripping chronicle of pitched battle, treachery and cruelty' Robert Fabbri'The level of suspense is ratcheted up to a truly brutal level' Sharon Penman

PREORDER DAVID GILMAN'S THRILLING NEW HISTORICAL NOVEL THE KNIFE MAKER OF VENICE NOW!A Financial Times Thriller of the Year.Dan Raglan, Foreign Legion veteran, finds himself entering one of the most brutal Russian prisons as he tries to settle old scores. A captivating spy thriller from critically acclaimed author David Gilman. Penal Colony No. 74, AKA White Eagle, lies some 600 kilometres north of Yekaterinburg in Russia's Sverdlovskaya Oblast. Imprisoning the country's most brutal criminals, it is a winter-ravaged hellhole of death and retribution. And that's exactly why the Englishman is there. Six years ago, Raglan was a soldier in the French Foreign Legion engaged in a hard-fought war on the desert border of Mali and Algeria. Amid black ops teams and competing intelligence agencies, his strike squad was compromised and Raglan himself severely injured. His war was over, but the deadly aftermath of that day has echoed around the world ever since: the assassination of four Moscow CID officers; kidnap and murder on the suburban streets of West London; the fatal compromise of a long-running MI6 operation. Raglan can't avoid the shockwaves. This is personal. It is up to him to finish it – and it ends in Russia's most notorious penal colony. But how do you break into a high security prison in the middle of nowhere? More importantly, how do you get out? 'The pulse-pounding pace just never lets up' Peter May'An author at the zenith of his powers' Peter James

PREORDER DAVID GILMAN'S THRILLING NEW HISTORICAL NOVEL THE KNIFE MAKER OF VENICE NOW!Dan Raglan, former Foreign Legion fighter, alias The Englishman, returns in this high-octane international thriller from David Gilman.Someone's trying to start a war. And Raglan's just walked into the kill zone.It has been many years since Dan Raglan served in the French Foreign Legion, but the bonds forged in adversity are unbreakable and when one of his comrades calls for help, Raglan is duty-bound to answer.An ex-legionnaire, now an intelligence officer at the Pentagon, disappears. He leaves only this message: should he ever go missing, contact Raglan. But Raglan's not the only one looking for the missing man. From the backstreets of Marseilles, Raglan finds himself following a trail of death that will lead him to Florida, to a Vietnam vet in Washington D.C., and into the heart of a bitter battle in the upper echelons of the US intelligence community.Pursued by both the CIA and a rogue female FBI agent, Raglan's search will place him in the cross hairs of an altogether more lethal organisation. He finds himself in the midst of deadly conspiracy, and on a journey to a fatal confrontation deep in the Honduran rainforest.Reviewers on Betrayal:'Well plotted, believable, and Gilman's ace at bringing locations to life.' The Sun'Hard to put down.' Daily Express'A masterfully crafted thriller that grips from the first page to the explosive last.' Sunday Express'The hero is a veritable one-man army – think Lee Child's Jack Reacher, except English.' Newslanes'A vividly intense spy thriller overflowing with courage, resourceful smarts, and a whole host of furious combative encounters.' LoveReading