'It grips like a python from the first page, squeezing the breath out of the reader' DAILY MAIL

'Outstanding' SUNDAY TIMES

'Breathless action' THE TIMES

Hidden from prying Western satellites, Iranian scientists are at work on a banned device . . .

They are acting on the orders of a renegade cell within Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, whose objective is to transform their country into a nuclear-armed nation, and so seal its domination of the Middle East.

Britain's intelligence agencies know something is up. Someone on the inside is ready to hand over information - but the rendezvous with SIS officer Luke Carlton goes bloodily wrong . . .

Then MI6 sees an opportunity to recruit an individual with unique access to the IRGC hardliners. Luke is chosen to reel them in. Going into Iran undercover is dangerous enough, but then there's a killing and a kidnapping and the British government is presented with a shocking ultimatum.

With time running out, it seems only Luke can stop a cataclysmic new war in the Gulf . . .
________

Readers love Ultimatum:

***** 'An action-packed thriller . . . very authentic'
***** 'A real page turner . . . thrilling adventure'
***** 'Gripping page turner that keeps you glued to the story'

SIS officer Luke Carlton returns in the explosive, action-packed and bestselling new thriller from BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner, author of the No.1 bestseller Crisis.

About the Author
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. He still travels extensively. 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 No.1 bestseller. The second Luke Carlton thriller, Ultimatum, was also a Sunday Times top 10 bestseller, as was the third, Outbreak. Frank Gardner lives in London.

Reviews
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 . . . it grips like a python from the first page, squeezing the breath out of the reader. * DAILY MAIL *
Outstanding. * SUNDAY TIMES *
Frank Gardner's second thriller is even closer than his first, Crisis, to dealing with the world's most immediate fears . . . current international events do not necessarily turn into exciting novels, but Gardner skilfully mixes knowledge garnered as the BBC's security correspondent with breathless action. -- Marcel Berlins * THE TIMES *
Lots of twists and turns and a surprise ending. Good stuff. -- Frederick Forsyth * DAILY MAIL *
Crisis, the debut two years ago by the BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, was much admired, and the second in his Luke Carlton series is even better . . . its themes of Iranian bomb production and divisions in the country's elite have great topicality. -- John Dugdale * SUNDAY TIMES 'Thriller of the Month' *



Book Information
ISBN 9780552176309
Author Frank Gardner
Format Paperback
Page Count 464
Imprint Corgi Books
Publisher Transworld Publishers Ltd
Weight(grams) 327g
Dimensions(mm) 195mm * 130mm * 25mm