by Adam Hamdy
Acknowledgements
I’d like to thank my wife Amy and our three children, Maya, Elliot and Thomas, for being amazing.
I’d also like to thank my editor, Vicki Mellor, my literary agent, Hannah Sheppard, and my screen agent, Christine Glover. I’m extremely grateful for all the hard work and support from Gillian Green, Kate Tolley, Hannah Corbett, Sarah Arratoon, Matthew Cole, Jeremy Trevathan and the whole team at Pan Macmillan. I’d also like to express my gratitude to Andrew Belshaw for looking after me at events, Jot Davies for the wonderful work he did on the Black 13 audiobook, and Fraser Crichton for his attention to detail copy-editing the Scott Pearce books.
I’m also extremely grateful for all the kind words and support I’ve had from friends and family, and for the help I’ve had from so many writers who’ve generously shared their advice and experiences. I’d also like to thank all the reviewers, booksellers, journalists and readers who have helped spread the word about my books.
As always, I’d like to thank you, the reader, for giving Scott Pearce, Leila Nahum and the team your attention. I hope you enjoyed the book and that you’ll join us for another thrilling adventure.
Praise for the Scott Pearce Series
‘A terrific thriller. The action never flags . . . It. Never. Ever. Stops. Adam Hamdy is a worthy successor to Ludlum and Cussler’
James Patterson
‘Hamdy sets a new benchmark for the modern spy thriller. Relentless, intelligent, disturbing – and highly addictive. I loved it’
Peter James
‘Excellent . . . Packed with relentless pace and hard-edged thrills’
James Swallow
‘A scorching thriller that will make you question where we are as a country . . . and where we might be heading’
Anthony Horowitz
‘Scott Pearce looks set to become the British Jason Bourne or Jack Reacher. A stunning book deserving huge success’
Daily Express
‘High-speed, hi-tech, high-octane throughout. Entertaining and thought-provoking’
Amer Anwar
‘Move over Jason Bourne, Scott Pearce is in town . . . A breathless rollercoaster of a ride’
Fiona Cummins
‘Hamdy creates smart adrenaline-charged action scenes’
The Times
‘Intelligent, globe-trotting adventure thriller that introduces a great new spy hero in Scott Pearce while feeling totally fresh and cutting edge. Loved it’
C. M. Ewan, author of A Window Breaks
‘The best book I’ve read in a very long time . . . Black 13 has TV/film adaptation written all over it’
Mari Hannah
‘A kinetic ride’
Financial Times
‘Bond for the new age . . . Timely, tense, terrifying’
K. J. Howe, international bestselling author of Skyjack
Praise for Adam Hamdy
‘A relentless, adrenaline-charged thriller that grips from the first page’
Daily Express
‘Gloriously suspenseful . . . Definitely one of the best thrillers of the year’
James Patterson
‘So tense, you will be biting your nails long before the final chapter’
Sun
‘Hamdy grabs the reader from the first line and doesn’t let up on the pace or the tension for a moment . . . This is heart-stopping stuff!’
Choice
‘One of the best thriller writers I’ve read in recent years, Adam’s writing is slick and unputdownable. He hooks you in from the first chapter and doesn’t let you come up for air’
Jenny Blackhurst, number one ebook bestselling author
‘Fast-paced, cinematic thriller’
Publishers Weekly
‘A suspense-filled thriller’
New York Journal of Books
‘The very definition of addictive reading. This taut cat-and-mouse thriller throws readers immediately into the action . . . The pacing is relentless’
Shelf Awareness
‘A fabulous thriller, with a very contemporary spin . . . Excitement guaranteed’
Northern Crime blog
About the Author
British author and screenwriter Adam Hamdy works with studios and production companies on both sides of the Atlantic. He is the author of the Pendulum trilogy, an epic series of conspiracy thriller novels. James Patterson described Pendulum as ‘one of the best thrillers of the year’, and the novel was a finalist for the Glass Bell Award for contemporary fiction. Pendulum was chosen as Book of the Month by Goldsboro Books and was selected for the BBC’s Radio 2 Book Club. Prior to embarking on his writing career, Adam was a strategy consultant and advised global businesses in the medical systems, robotics, technology and financial services sectors.
By Adam Hamdy
Pendulum Trilogy
Pendulum
Freefall
Aftershock
The Scott Pearce Series
Black 13
Red Wolves
First published in paperback 2021 by Macmillan
This electronic edition first published 2021 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
The Smithson, 6 Briset Street, London EC1M 5NR
EU representative: Macmillan Publishers Ireland Limited,
Mallard Lodge, Lansdowne Village, Dublin 4
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-5098-9925-8
Copyright © Adam Hamdy 2021
Cover image: figures © Miguel Sobreira/Trevillion Images; Roy Bishop/Arcangel Images; background © Shutterstock
Adam Hamdy © Josh Sedgley
The right of Adam Hamdy to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Pan Macmillan does not have any control over, or any responsibility for, any author or third-party websites referred to in or on this book.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Visit www.panmacmillan.com to read more about all our books and to buy them. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events, and you can sign up for e-newsletters so that you’re always first to hear about our new releases.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Contents
Part One Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Part Two Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Part Three Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Chapter 102
Chapter 103
Chapter 104
Chapter 105
Chapter 106
Chapter 107
Chapter 108
Chapter 109
Chapter 110
Chapter 111
Chapter 112
Chapter 113
Chapter 114
Chapter 115
Chapter 116
Chapter 117
Chapter 118
Chapter 119
Chapter 120
Chapter 121
Chapter 122
Chapter 123
Chapter 124
Chapter 125
Chapter 126
Chapter 127
Chapter 128
Chapter 129
Chapter 130
Chapter 131
Chapter 132
Chapter 133
Chapter 134
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Acknowledgements
Praise for the Scott Pearce Series
Praise for Adam Hamdy
About the Author
By the Same Author
Copyright
