Hot Blood

Dan 'Spider' Shepherd is used to putting his life on the line. It goes with the turf when you're an undercover cop.

Now working for the Serious Organised Crime Agency, Shepherd is pitting his wits against the toughest criminals in the country. But when the man who once saved his life is kidnapped in the badlands of Iraq, thrown into a basement and threatened with execution, Shepherd has to decide whether his loyalties lie with his country, his career, or his friend.

Shepherd and his former SAS colleagues realise that the hostage has been abandoned by the Government and that officially nothing is being done to rescue him. And with the execution deadline only days away, Shepherd knows that the only way to stop his friend being murdered is to put himself in the firing line in the most dangerous city in the world - Baghdad.

“The sheer impetus of his storytelling is damned hard to resist.-- Daily Express”

'Crime that's not so much hard-boiled as vitrified - Shepherd dives in head first and defies all the rules in his outrageous rescue mission.' -- Glasgow Herald 'As usual the strength is in visceral action scenes and a lot of details about weapons, bullets and surveillance equipment. Authentic stuff.' -- Observer 'As good as anything Leather has turned out.' -- Sunday Tribune, Dublin 'Stephen Leather's strongpoint has always been his ability to pitch his novels at a bang-up-to-the-minute level. HOT BLOOD is no exception. It will provide everything that lovers of contemporary action fiction could ask for.' -- Yorkshire Post 'A brilliant read that stands out of the morass of so-so military thrillers around nowadays.' -- News of the World 'This is an aggressively topical novel but a genuinely thrilling one, too.' -- Daily Telegraph on COLD KILL 'A grand finale that'll have readers on edge' -- Literary Review on COLD KILL 'Leather can dispense high-adrenaline plotting but never at the expense of remembering that his characters are humans rather than Action Man dolls ... It's Shepherd's pungently drawn personality that makes him such a memorable hero' -- Sunday Express on SOFT TARGET 'Reading Stephen Leather at leisure is always a pleasure. The pacing of SOFT TARGET is superb ...' **** -- Ireland on Sunday 'As tough as British thrillers get ... gripping' -- Irish Independent on HARD LANDING 'A riveting read' -- Sunday Life, Belfast on SOFT TARGET 'Exciting stuff with plenty of heart-palpitating action gingered up by mystery and intrigue ... Leather is an intelligent thriller writer' -- Daily Mail on THE TUNNEL RATS 'As high-tech and as world-class as the thriller genre gets' -- Express on Sunday on THE BOMBMAKER 'There's a new breed of British crime writer giving the genre a much-needed shake-up - and Stephen Leather is at the forefront ... the sheer impetus of his storytelling is damned hard to resist.' -- Daily Express on COLD KILL 'A brilliant read that stands out of the morass of so-so military thrillers around nowadays.' -- News of the World 'There's a new breed of British crime writer giving the genre a much-needed shake-up - and Stephen Leather is at the forefront ... the sheer impetus of his storytelling is damned hard to resist.' -- Daily Express on COLD KILL 'From page one I knew I was in good hands; Stephen creates the world of the story and takes the reader through it with total ease and command. Some authors play at sounding authentic with this kind of material. This book is totally convincing.' -- Meg Gardiner

Stephen Leather was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. His bestsellers have been translated into more than ten languages. You can find out more from his website,

Dan 'Spider' Shepherd is used to putting his life on the line. It goes with the turf when you're an undercover cop. Now working for the Serious Organised Crime Agency, Shepherd is pitting his wits against the toughest criminals in the country. But when the man who once saved his life is kidnapped in the badlands of Iraq, thrown into a basement and threatened with execution, Shepherd has to decide whether his loyalties lie with his country, his career, or his friend. Shepherd and his former SAS colleagues realise that the hostage has been abandoned by the Government and that officially nothing is being done to rescue him. And with the execution deadline only days away, Shepherd knows that the only way to stop his friend being murdered is to put himself in the firing line in the most dangerous city in the world - Baghdad.

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