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Getting published

Broadcaster and author Tom Bradby on how to finish the first draft of your book

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Extracts

Secret Service by Tom Bradby

The unputdownable, race-against-time thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Secret Service

Triple Cross

From the ITV News at Ten Anchor 
'Bradby has the talent of a reporter but the heart of a storyteller' Daily Mail 
___________________________ 
 
Attempting to rebuild her shattered life in the South of France, former MI6 operative Kate Henderson receives an unexpected and most unwelcome visit from an old adversary: the UK Prime Minister. He has an extraordinary story to tell - and he needs her help. 
 
A Russian agent has come forward with news that the PM has been the victim of the greatest misinformation play in the history of MI6. It's run out of a special KGB unit that exists for one purpose alone: to process the intelligence from 'Agent Dante', a mole right at the heart of MI6 in London. 
 
Against her better judgement, Kate is forced back into the fray in a top-secret, deeply flawed and dangerous investigation. But now she's damaged goods. Her one-time allies no longer trust her. And neither do her enemies. 
 
With the stakes this high, can the truth ever come out? Or is the cost of uncovering it a price that no one, least of all Kate, can afford to pay? 
 
With a bonus extract of Tom Bradby's latest book, Yesterday's Spy 
___________________________ 
 
Praise for the Tom Bradby: 
 
'Cracking' Financial Times 
'A gripping thriller' Sunday Times 
'An all-too-plausible premise' Observer 
'Enthralling and fast-moving' Daily Mail 
'Teems with twists ... imaginative and unexpected' The Times

Tom Bradby knows how to write a thriller...the best of the series so far

The plot twists and turns with vigour ... the climax is nail-biting

Bradby's blend of le Carre espionage yarn with Michael Dobbs political thriller is a nifty and appealing concoction

An exciting read that has you guessing all the way through

'Bradby has the talent of a reporter but the heart of a storyteller' Daily Mail 
 
Attempting to rebuild her shattered life in the South of France, former MI6 operative Kate Henderson receives an unexpected and most unwelcome visit from an old adversary: the UK Prime Minister. He has an extraordinary story to tell - and he needs her help. 
 
A Russian agent has come forward with news that the PM has been the victim of the greatest misinformation play in the history of MI6. It's run out of a special KGB unit that exists for one purpose alone: to process the intelligence from 'Agent Dante', a mole right at the heart of MI6 in London. 
 
Against her better judgement, Kate is forced back into the fray in a top-secret, deeply flawed and dangerous investigation. But now she's damaged goods. Her one-time allies no longer trust her. And neither do her enemies. 
 
With the stakes this high, can the truth ever come out? Or is the cost of uncovering it a price that no one, least of all Kate, can afford to pay?

From the bestselling author of Secret Service

Double Agent

From author and ITV News Anchor Tom Bradby, comes the sequel to Sunday Times bestseller and bestselling Action Thriller book of 2019, Secret Service

'A high-paced thriller' Radio Times 
 
It was supposed to be a quiet family weekend away. But for Senior MI6 officer Kate Henderson, nothing is ever that simple... 
 
Kidnapped in Venice by a Russian defector, Kate knows she's in trouble. But all is not as it seems. The spy offers her conclusive evidence that the British Prime Minister is a live agent working for Moscow. Kate's holiday quickly becomes the start of her next mission. 
 
With proof of the PM involved in a sordid scandal and a financial paper trail that undeniably links him to the Russians, the evidence seems bulletproof. But the motives of the defector are anything but clear. And, more worryingly, it seems that there are key people at the heart of the British Establishment who refuse to acknowledge the reality in front of them. 
 
Kate can trust no one, and this mission will push her dangerously close to the edge... but is that the price to pay for the truth? 
 
Readers are gripped by Double Agent: 
 
***** 'Couldn't put it down. A thrilling tale.' 
***** 'Loved everything about this book, especially the lead character.' 
***** 'A page turning and addictive read!' 
 
BOOK 3: Triple Cross is out in hardback on 13 May 2021

An enjoyably labyrinthine tale with a light touch and the odd naughty satirical echo

Bradby's portrayal of squabbling Whitehall folk continues to be intriguing and distinctive (and piquantly naughty, coming as it does from ITV's chief anchorman).

Kidnapped in Venice by a Russian defector, Kate knows she's in trouble. But the spy offers her conclusive evidence that the British PM is a live agent working for Moscow. Kate's holiday quickly becomes the start of her next mission. 
 
With proof of the PM involved in a sordid scandal and a financial paper trail that undeniably links him to the Russians, the evidence seems bulletproof. But it seems that there are key people at the heart of the British Establishment who refuse to acknowledge the reality in front of them.

Secret Service

The Sunday Times top ten bestseller

The world is on the brink of crisis. With the Cold War playing out once more on the global stage, the stakes have never been higher, and governments will do whatever it takes to stay at the top…

Enthralling and fast-moving . . . packed with details of modern tradecraft in the twilight world of spooks, against a background of politics at its most Machiavellian, it is the stuff headlines are made of

Teems with twists and the denouement is imaginative and unexpected

An excellent thriller straight out of today's headlines ... a fast, riveting yarn

A cracking, uber-topical spy thriller …Bradby deftly works in current fears of Moscow infiltrating our institutions amid a plot full of twists and turns

A strong dose of international politics with an all-too-plausible premise

'A gripping thriller' Sunday Times 
'Imaginative and unexpected' The Times 
'A cracking, uber-topical spy thriller' Financial Times 
'Enthralling and fast-moving... the stuff headlines are made of' Daily Mail 
_______________________________ 
 
The world is on the brink of crisis. 
The Cold War is playing out once more on the global stage. 
The Worlds' governments will do whatever it takes to stay at the top... 
 
To those who don't really know her, Kate Henderson's life must seem perfectly ordinary. But she is in fact a senior MI6 officer, who right now is nursing the political equivalent of a nuclear bomb. 
 
Kate's most recent mission has yielded the startling intelligence that the British Prime Minister has cancer - and that one of the leading candidates to replace him may be a Russian agent of influence. 
 
Up against the clock to uncover the Russian mole, Kate risks everything to get to the truth. But with her reputation to uphold, her family hanging by a thread and a leadership election looming, she is quickly running out of options, and out of time. 
 
Secret Service is a fresh-from-the-headlines thriller for fans of Homeland, Crisis and The Bodyguard. 
 
The next two thrilling instalments in the Kate Henderson series, DOUBLE AGENT and TRIPLE CROSS, are available now.

Shadow Dancer

A knife-edge thriller - now a major film starring Clive Owen, Andrea Riseborough and Gillian Anderson.

Quite exceptional...a taut, compelling story of love and torn loyalties

A remarkable first novel...Bradby handles the tension with skill to produce a gripping tale

The best book on the northern conflict since Harry's Game...An excellent read on any level

Colette McVeigh: Mother. Widow. Terrorist. For all of her twenty-nine years she has lived the Republican cause. Her husband was killed by the Brits. Her brothers have dedicated their lives to fighting them. 
 
Until she is arrested in an aborted bombing raid in London when she has to make a choice: inform and see your children again; or stay silent and watch them grow up from the inside of a prison cell. 
 
Her MI5 handler, David Ryan, has never questioned where his loyalties lie. But as he watches Colette put herself in increasing danger to fulfil her side of the bargain, he realises that his certainty and integrity have been fatally and irrevocably compromised...

The God Of Chaos

The new thriller from the acclaimed author of Shadow Dancer, The Sleep of the Dead, The Master of Rain and The White Russian.

Bradby's best book yet... Enjoyable and atmospheric

Bradby has the talent of a reporter but the heart of a storyteller

The kind of historical fiction that may send you back to the real history books to learn more

Cairo, June 1942. A city blistering under the lash of a relentless summer and panicked by the implacable advance of Hitler's most talented general, Erwin Rommel. It is the worst possible time and place for the body of a senior British officer to be found in a rubbish bin, bathed in blood. 
 
His murder has been made to look like a political assassination by local extremists opposed to British rule, but former New York cop Joe Quinn isn't buying that. He senses more fundamental human emotions at play. For Quinn, it's like old times, a reminder of his past. One he doesn't want to revisit. Thrown out of the New York Police Department as a liability after the tragic death of his son, he probably shouldn't be a cop any longer, but maybe he's just what this case needs. 
 
The investigation leads him through the underbelly of an exotic, violent and seedy city to the heart of the Cairo's high command and the possibility that a highly placed spy is feeding the allies' most sensitive secrets to Rommel, waiting out in the desert. 
 
Only one woman has seen the killer - an American named Amy White. The trouble is Joe Quinn's already falling for her and if he doesn't stop the spy soon, then not just Amy, but everything else he holds dear is certain to be brutally eliminated ...

The Master Of Rain

A brilliant historical thriller - LA CONFIDENTIAL meets WHITE MISCHIEF

'A moody, murder mystery with all the style of a noir classic'

'Nigh on impossible to put down...This intelligent thriller brings Shanghai to life as Gorky Park did for Moscow'

'Rich, dark, atmospheric, this fine novel captures time and place perfectly. A great crime story that ends up in a place you won't predict'

The atmosphere and menace of Twenties Shanghai is brought to vivid life as the backdrop to a gripping tale'

'Master of Rain is that rare thing: a truly epic crime novel, brilliantly researched and superbly executed'

'Does for Shanghai what Raymond Chandler did for Los Angeles - stylish and cool - debauchery at its most elegant'

'Every once in a while a book comes along that combines larger-than-life epic adventure; idiomatic, pungent historical detail and genuine storytelling panache. Tom Bradby's The Master of Rain is such a book, carrying the reader headlong into a breathless tale of double-dealing and murder in 1920s Shanghai...Splendidly evocative writing'

'An immensely atmospheric, gripping detective story with just the right mixture of exoticism, violence and romance'

'Beneath the surface of this clever book, we find a wise, richly layered and utterly convincing portrait of what was the most evil and fatally fascinating of all the modern world's cities. No one has managed to bring Shanghai so alive, in all its ghastly splendour'

'A vividly set and compellingly readable thriller about corruption in all its forms'

Shortlisted for the Crime Writers Association Thriller of the Year 
 
Shanghai, 1926. A city of British Imperial civil servants, American gun-runners, Russian princesses and Chinese gangsters, where heroin is available on room service and everything is for sale. Exotic, sexually liberated and pulsing with life, it is a place and time where anything seems possible. 
 
For Richard Field, it represents a brave new world away from the past he is trying to escape. Seconded to the police force, his first moment of active duty is a brutal crime scene. A young White Russian woman, Lena Orlov, lies spreadeagled on her bed, sadistically murdered. As he begins to peer through the glittering surface to the murky depths beneath, Field sees a world beyond the glamour of the city's expatriate life - a world where everything has its price, and where human life is merely another asset to barter. 
 
The key to the investigation seems to be Lena's neighbour, Natasha Medvedev. But can Field trust someone for whom self-preservation is the only goal? And is it wise to fall in love when there is every sign that Natasha herself may be the next victim? 
 
In a city where reality is a dangerous luxury, Field is driven into the darkness beyond the dazzle of society to a world where the basest of human needs are met and where the truth seems certain to be a fatal commodity . . . 
____________________ 
 
Praise for Tom Bradby: 
 
&lsquo;Quite exceptional&rsquo; Daily Telegraph 
&lsquo;Nigh on impossible to put down&rsquo; Time Out 
&lsquo;Bradby has the talent of a reporter but the heart of a storyteller&rsquo; Daily Mail 
&lsquo;Intrigue of the highest order &hellip; Atmospheric and richly entertaining&rsquo; Washington Post 
&lsquo;This feisty, pacey thriller by TV news reporter turned writer Tom Bradby has it all&rsquo; Press Association

Tom Bradby

Atmospheric, informative and flawlessly plotted

Bradby makes the complicated history and politics of the region admirably clear

Riveting...with style and energy, evocative scene-setting and strong characterisation

'A fascinating and powerful thriller of the highest order'

The fast-paced new suspense thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Secret Service

Nothing good ever comes from a midnight phone call. For washed-up spy Harry Tower, it is the worst news at the worst possible time. His son, Sean, has gone missing in troubled Iran after writing an exposé about government corruption. 
 
Their relationship has never recovered since Harry's wife's suicide, for which Sean holds his father responsible. And Harry, with his career on the verge of disintegration, needs to find him and put things right. 
 
When Harry arrives in Tehran, he finds a city on the cusp of revolution. Foreign powers are jockeying for influence, money and, most importantly, oil. The CIA are conspiring to undermine the government with an impending coup, and there are dark mutterings about opium smuggling. But the reasons for Sean's disappearance may be even more sinister than Harry first suspected. 
 
Before long, he is on the run - not only from a faceless enemy, but from his own past. Which will catch up with him first? 
 
Yesterday's Spy is Tom Bradby at his very best, delivering a cunning espionage novel rich in intrigue and history that will keep you guessing until the final pages.

Tom Bradby

Praise for Yesterday's Spy

Atmospheric, informative and flawlessly plotted

Bradby makes the complicated history and politics of the region admirably clear

A cracking thriller! Totally recommended

Atmospheric, informative and flawlessly plotted

Bradby makes the complicated history and politics of the region admirably clear

A cracking thriller! Totally recommended

Atmospheric, informative and flawlessly plotted

Bradby makes the complicated history and politics of the region admirably clear

A cracking thriller! Totally recommended

Books by Tom Bradby

Articles featuring Tom Bradby

Broadcaster and author Tom Bradby on how to finish the first draft of your book

Secret Service by Tom Bradby

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