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Ballistic
  • Published: 24 November 2026
  • ISBN: 9781787635500
  • Imprint: Bantam
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $38.00

Ballistic

Formats & editions
Tr. Paperback
24 Nov 2026
EBook
30 July 2026
Audiobook
30 July 2026
Hardback
30 Aug 2026
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With the action powering its way from the frozen wastes of the Russian Arctic to the warm azure sea of the Caribbean, Ballistic is the explosive, frighteningly relevant and alarmingly prescient new international thriller from BBC security correspondent and Sunday Times bestseller Frank Gardner

THE NEW LUKE CARLTON THRILLER.

MI6 operative Luke Carlton returns in his most exciting and unnervingly up-to-the-minute mission yet . . . Get ready for the new edge-of-your-seat spy thriller from the bestselling author.

In the dying light of an Arctic afternoon a monstrous black shape slips beneath the waters of Murmansk bay. Murmansk in the Arctic Circle is where Russia's fleet of nuclear-powered submarines is based - and the Novorossiya is one of their navy's most advanced - and dangerous - vessels . . .

Acting on information received from a high-ranking mole deep inside Russia's FSB, Britain's security services are convinced that the submarine is about to deploy a terrifying, game-changing device. As Europe goes into a state of high alert, MI6 operative Luke Carlton is sent into the hot zone that is the Finnish-Russian border. His mission to secure the safe extraction of this valuable MI6 asset and the intel he has in his possession - because it seems the West could be staring Armageddon in the face.

It's then that things start to go devastatingly wrong . . .

Breathlessly exciting, brilliantly authentic and unnervingly prescient, Ballistic is the new Luke Carlton thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author and journalist who has his finger on the pulse of 21st century geo-politics and knows where the dangerous flashpoints are likely to be . . .

Praise for Frank Gardner's other Luke Carlton thrillers:

‘Tensions rise to boiling point . . . Gardner cuts to the molten core of a modern flashpoint in an electric thriller.’ SUN

‘Fast, taught, tense, accurate. A terrific read.’ FREDERICK FORSYTH

‘Thriller-writing of the highest order . . . Gardner steadily ratchets up the tension, peppering the narrative with nuggets of expertise.’ FINANCIAL TIMES

‘Full of tomorrow’s headlines . . . this is intelligent, high-voltage storytelling of the very highest order.’ TONY PARSONS

‘Confirms Frank Gardner’s place among the pantheon of distinguished reporters who have become excellent thriller writers, including Gerald Seymour and Frederick Forsyth . . . utterly authentic.’ DAILY MAIL

‘Combines insider knowledge with heart-in-mouth excitement.’ i-NEWSPAPER

‘Everything is impressive in this masterly account . . . exhilarating (if alarming) topicality.’ SUNDAY TIMES
  • Published: 24 November 2026
  • ISBN: 9781787635500
  • Imprint: Bantam
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $38.00
Categories:

About the author

Frank Gardner

Born in 1961, Frank Gardner has been the BBC's Security Correspondent since 2002. He holds a degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies. In 2004, while filming in Saudi Arabia, he was ambushed by terrorists, shot multiple times and left for dead. He survived and returned to active news reporting within a year. Although paralysed in the legs, he still travels extensively, reporting from Ukraine to Colombia to Saudi Arabia. Awarded an OBE in 2005 for services to journalism, Frank published his bestselling memoir, Blood and Sand, in 2006. His first novel, the thriller Crisis, which introduced readers to SIS operative Luke Carlton, was a Sunday Times No.1 bestseller. The second and third Luke Carlton thrillers, Ultimatum and Outbreak, were also bestsellers, as was the fourth, the Taiwan-set Invasion. Frank Gardner lives in London.
portrait photo of Frank Gardner

Also by Frank Gardner

Outbreak
Ultimatum
Crisis
Invasion
Far Horizons
Blood and Sand
See all

Praise for Ballistic

Tensions rise to boiling point . . . Gardner cuts to the molten core of a modern flashpoint in an electric thriller.

THE SUN (on Invasion) 

Everything is impressive in this masterly account . . . exhilarating (if alarming) topicality.

SUNDAY TIMES (on Invasion)

A genuinely unnerving and fast-paced race-against-time thriller . . . its potent combination of Tom Clancy-style hi-tech military and naval manoeuvring and a John Le Carre-like espionage thriller rings all too true . . . highly recommended.

IRISH INDEPENDENT (on Invasion)

Fast, taut, tense, accurate. A terrific read.

FREDERICK FORSYTH (on Crisis)

Gardner skilfully mixes knowledge garnered as the BBC’s security correspondent with breathless action.

THE TIMES (on Ultimatum)

‘Frank Gardner’s up-to-the-minute thrillers combine authentic tradecraft, geopolitical insight and page-turning suspense.’

CHARLES CUMMING, bestselling author of Box 88

Carlton is a brilliant creation and his fifth outing makes Ballistic another must-read for fans of the intelligent thriller. Gardner is a worthy successor to the late, great Frederick Forsyth in writing topical, thought-provoking and prescient books that engage the brain while never letting up on the tension nor drama. 9/10

DAILY EXPRESS