Jack Lark

1854: The banks of the Alma River, Crimean Peninsular. The Redcoats stagger to a bloody halt. The men of the King's Royal Fusiliers are in terrible trouble, ducking and twisting as the storm of shot, shell, and bullet tear through their ranks. Officer Jack Lark has to act immediately and decisively. His life and the success of the campaign depend on it. But does he have the mettle, the officer qualities that are the life blood of the British Army? From a poor background Lark has risen through the ranks by stealth and guile and now he faces the ultimate test....

A riveting tale of battle and adventure in a brutal land, where loyalty and courage are constantly challenged and the enemy is never far away. Jack Lark barely survived the Battle of the Alma. As the brutal fight raged, he discovered the true duty that came with the officer's commission he'd taken. In hospital, wounded, and with his stolen life left lying on the battlefield, he grasps a chance to prove himself a leader once more. Poor Captain Danbury is dead, but Jack will travel to his new regiment in India, under his name.

The bold hero of The Scarlet Thief and The Maharajah's General in an exhilarating and dangerous new adventure. Bombay, 1857. Jack Lark is living precariously as an officer when his heroic but fraudulent past is discovered by the devil - Major Ballard, the army's intelligence officer. Ballard is gathering a web of information to defend the British Empire, and he needs a man like Jack on his side.

Jack Lark, once the Scarlet Thief, has fought hard for his freedom. But will he risk it all to do the right thing? Bombay, 1857. India is simmering with discontent, and Jack Lark, honourably discharged from the British army, aims to take the first ship back to England. But before he leaves, he cannot resist the adventure of helping a young woman escape imprisonment in a gaming house. He promises to escort Aamira home, but they arrive in Delhi just as the Indian Mutiny explodes.

London, 1859. After years of fighting for Queen and country, Jack walks back into his mother's East End gin palace a changed man. Haunted by the horrors of battle and the constant fight for survival, he longs for a life to call his own. But the city and its people have altered almost beyond recognition, and Jack cannot see a place for himself there. A desperate moment leaves him indebted to the devil - intelligence officer Major John Ballard, who once again leads Jack to the battlefield with a task he can't refuse.

April, 1861. Jack Lark arrives in Boston as civil war storms across America. A hardened soldier, Jack has always gone where he was ordered to go - and killed the enemy he was ordered to kill. But when he becomes a sergeant for the Union army, he realises that this conflict between North and South is different. Men are choosing to fight - and die - for a cause they believe in. The people of Boston think it will take just one great battle. But with years of experience, Jack knows better.

Jack Lark, once the Scarlet Thief, has abandoned the rolling Virginian hills and is on the run with Rose, an escaped slave girl who is more than his match. Soon he will find his way into the uniform of the Confederate Army in an adventure that will culminate at the Battle of Shiloh - the bloodiest conflict in American history at its time.

1863, Louisiana. Jack may have left the battlefield behind, but his gun is never far from reach, especially on the long and lonely road to nowhere. Soon, his skill lands him a job, and a new purpose. Navy Colt in hand, Jack embarks on the dangerous task of escorting a valuable wagon train of cotton down through Texas to Mexico. Working for another man, let alone a man like the volatile Brannigan, isn't going to be easy. With the cargo under constant attack, and the Deep South's most infamous outlaws hot on their trail, Jack knows he is living on borrowed time.

In this ninth action-packed Victorian military adventure, Paul Fraser Collard's roguish hero Jack Lark - soldier, leader, impostor - crosses borders once more as he pursues a brand-new adventure in Africa. As he journeys across the table-top mountains of Abyssinia to the fortress of Magdala, Jack quickly discovers that nowhere is safe and nobody can be trusted. Expect devious spies, brutal murders, treasure hunting and action aplenty.

Egypt, 1869. Jack Lark has reinvented himself once more. Working as an unofficial agent for the consul-general, he moves among the most powerful men in Cairo. But when the opportunity arises to join legendary explorer Sir Samuel White Baker on his expedition into the Sudan, Jack can't resist a new adventure. Jack assumes command of an elite cadre to protect the fleet of vessels. But, as they move down the Nile, Jack and his men soon find themselves in a land where the rule of law means nothing and those who wield power will do anything to keep it.

South Africa, 1871. Jack Lark no longer walks alone. With the worldly Anna Baker by his side, he travels to the Cape Colony diamond fields determined to seek their fortune—and an adventurous new life together. The journey north soon turns violent as tensions erupt between other hopeful diggers and a gang of Boer men. Everyone has their eye on the same elusive prize—and some will stop at nothing to get it. For Jack and Anna, unearthing a diamond is only half the battle. Getting out of the mines alive will prove far more difficult—and dangerous.