Showing results for "Harry Sidebottom" in Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

The far-flung and isolated citadel of Arete faces out across the wasteland, awaiting the inevitable invasion. One man is sent to marshal the defences of this lonely city; one man to shore up the crumbling walls of a once indomitable symbol of Roman power; a man whose name itself means war, a man called Ballista.

AD 265, Gaul—The Roman Empire is on the brink. Emperor Gallienus has amassed a huge army across the Alps to seize back the mountains from the usurper Posthumus. War has come. Ballista and his cavalry are on the frontline, battling in the most brutal of conditions. But if he is to survive the campaign and finally retire to his beloved Sicily, it's not just the battlefield he needs to navigate. As he and Praetorian Prefect Volusianus lay siege to Posthumus' armies, it becomes clear the greatest threat to Ballista's life might just come from within his ranks.

A lone figure stands silhouetted atop the Mausoleum of Hadrian. Behind him, the sun is setting over the centre of the known world. Far below, the river is in full flood. The City of Rome lies spread out before him on the far bank. Footsteps pound up the stairs. He's been set up. An enemy is closing in; he is cornered. He jumps.

AD 260 - Betrayed by his most trusted adviser, the Roman Emperor Valerian has been captured by the Sassanid barbarians. Ballista looks on helplessly, but vows to avenge those who have brought the empire to the brink of destruction with their treachery. First he must decide what price he will pay for his own freedom. Only the fearless and those whom the gods will spare from hell can now save the empire from a catastrophic ending. Ballista, the Warrior of Rome, faces his greatest challenge yet.

Alexander of Macedon was just twenty years old in 334BC when he set out with a small army to challenge Persia, the largest and most powerful empire in the world. The Macedonians marched East into the unknown, won battles against overwhelming odds, stormed impregnable fortresses. In the deserts and mountains between the Aegean and India they conquered nature itself. Yet disaster was never more than a sword stroke away. Alexander`s companions were riven with murderous rivalries, their loyalty contingent.

AD265 - In the shadow of Mount Etna, slaves are rising up. As the rebel leader declares Sicily the new land of the free, men and women are slaughtered and cities across the island are sacked and burned. When a ship is wrecked off the island's west coast, all but two survivors are cut down in the surf by the rebel slaves. Ballista, an experienced Roman soldier, has always found a way to survive against the odds - but his son Marcus is still just a boy.

AD 264 - The Roman Empire is torn in two. The latest blazing novel in the Warrior of Rome series. The western provinces - Gaul, Spain and Britain - have been seized; to the east, on the plains of northern Italy, armies muster. War is coming. Everyone must choose a side. Ballista must journey the Amber Road to the far north to Hyperborea, back to his original home and the people of his birth. Yet not all welcome Ballista’s return. Does treachery pose the greatest danger?

Treachery hangs ominously over the Roman Empire and sparks of Christian fervour have spread through the empire like wildfire. The battle-bloodied general Ballista returns to the imperial court from the fallen city of Arete only to find that there are those who would rather see him dead than alive.

145 BC - Calabria, ancient Rome. After years of spilling blood for Rome, Gaius Furius Paullus has returned home to spend his remaining days working quietly on the family farm. But it seems death has stalked Paullus from the battlefield. Just days after his arrival, bodies start appearing - murdered and mutilated. And as the deaths stack up and panic spreads, the war hero becomes the prime suspect. After all, Paullus has killed countless enemies on the battlefield - could he have brought his habit home with him?

When Valens, a junior officer in the Roman Army, joins a crack squad of soldiers on a dangerous mission, little does he know what's in store for him. Tasked with rescuing the young Prince Sasan, who has been imprisoned in the impenetrable Castle of Silence, the troops set out across Mesopotamia and into the mountains south of the Caspian Sea. Deep in hostile territory, inexperienced Valens finds himself in charge. And as one by one his soldiers die or disappear, he begins to suspect that there is a traitor in their midst and that the rescue is fast becoming a suicide mission.

A tense and brilliantly dramatic short story from the best-selling author of The Throne of the Caesars Series. AD 238. Emperor Maximinus' reign is under threat as Gordian the Younger and Elder are proclaimed emperor. Julius Burdo, official of the empire, must accompany the knife-boy Castricius north to assassinate Maximinus. The order is from the new Augusti; death is a certain fate to both men whether they succeed or fail.

Britannia, AD 45. Rome's plan to establish a new friendly king over a hostile native tribe is in grave danger. A sinister new Druid sect, led by a charismatic priest, is threatening to destabilise the province and has taken several Roman soldiers prisoner. Now Optio Horatius Figulus faces his most dangerous mission yet. He must venture deep behind enemy lines in search of his captured comrades and the Druids' secret fortress.