[Charlie Fox Thriller 03] • Hard Knocks

HARD KNOCKS is the third in Zoe Sharp's highly acclaimed Charlotte 'Charlie' Fox crime thriller series, complete with author's notes, excerpt from the next Charlie Fox - FIRST DROP - and a bonus excerpt from Libby Fischer Hellmann's PI Georgia Davis/Ellie Foreman novel, DOUBLEBACK.

'Perhaps if the army had known what was inside me, what I would eventually turn into, they might not have been so keen to let me go.'

Charlie really didn't care who shot dead her traitorous ex-army comrade Kirk Salter during a bodyguard training course in Germany. But when old flame Sean Meyer asks her to go undercover at Major Gilby's elite school and find out what happened to Kirk she just can't bring herself to refuse. Keeping her nerve isn't easy when events bring back fears and memories she's worked so hard to forget. It's clear there are secrets at Einsbaden Manor that people are willing to kill to conceal. Some of the students on this particular course seem to have more on their minds than simply learning about close protection. Subjects like revenge, and murder. And what's the connection between the school and the recent spate of vicious kidnappings that have left a trail of bodies halfway across Europe? To find out what's going on, Charlie must face up to her past and move quickly before she becomes the next casualty. She expected training to be tough, but can she graduate from this school of hard knocks alive?

Praise for HARD KNOCKS and Charlie Fox 'If you only know Charlie Fox from First Drop, Second Shot, and Third Strike, you don't know Charlie. What you've got in your hands is a rare and special treat. It's like finding some lost Jack Reacher novel or a couple of non-alphabet Kinsey Millhones that nobody knew existed. Don't let anyone tear it from your hands without drawing their blood. These early Zoe Sharp books haven't been a secret, but they've been harder-to-get than Charlie Fox in your bed. Think of these as the early years of Charlie Fox she's lethal and relentless, but still raw from the military experience that made her the kick-ass, take-no-prisoners bodyguard that she's become. But there's more going on in these books than breakneck action and adventure. Charlie has heart, maybe too much for a woman in her profession . . . and it's that caring, that humanity, that makes her much more than a killer babe on a motorbike. These books are your chance to discover Charlie Fox as she discovers herself, her strengths and her weaknesses, and sustains the scars to her body and soul that make her such a unique and compelling character.' US crime author and TV producer, Lee Goldberg 'A fast moving, well-written, excellent read . . . well worth recommending.' The Bookseller 'If you're looking for an author who can deliver high-octane thrills every time and a character who is NOT to be messed with, you've found them. Zoe Sharp and Charlie Fox both kick ass.' Mark Billingham 'Ill-tempered, aggressive and borderline psychotic, Fox is also compassionate, introspective and highly principled: arguably one of the most enigmatic and coolest heroines in contemporary genre fiction.' Paul Goat Allen, Chicago Tribune