Guardian (Robards)

Thief. Manipulator. Con artist. Call it what you will - Bianca St. Ives is the best in the business. Growing up, Bianca St. Ives knew she was different from all her friends. Instead of playing hopscotch or combing her dolls' hair, she studied martial arts with sensei masters and dismantled explosives with special-ops retirees. Her father prepped her well to carry on the family business. Now a striking beauty with fierce skills, the prodigy has surpassed the master. She's known as the Guardian. Running a multinational firm with her father, she makes a living swindling con men out of money they stole - and she's damn good at it. She does things on her own terms. But her latest gig had a little hiccup - if you count two hundred million dollars and top secret government documents going missing as little. Her father also died on the mission. The thing is, the US government doesn't believe he's really dead. They'll stop at nothing to capture Richard St. Ives, a high-value target and someone who has been on most-wanted lists all over the world for over two decades, and they mean to use Bianca as bait. With only a fellow criminal for backup and her life on the line, it's up to Bianca to uncover the terrifying truth behind what really happened... and set it right, before it's too late.

Clever, cunning and highly skilled-there's only one Bianca St. Ives and don't you dare forget it. Bianca St. Ives was recently put through the wringer, but she came out the same way she always does-the way her father trained her to-hungry for a fight. Still navigating the fallout from a shocking revelation that's left a network of assassins' crosshairs trained on her, Bianca's ready to take fate into her own hands. It's kill or be killed, and she's got her finger flush against the trigger. But as Bianca races to outmaneuver her tireless pursuers, her father loops her in on a job that might just do the trick: recover King Priam's Treasure, a collection of heavily guarded, priceless artifacts stolen by the Russians during World War II, and return it to Germany. Impossible? Maybe for some, but a high-risk heist is all in a day's work for Bianca St. Ives, especially when there's intel on the line-intel that could finally bring down the shadowy forces seeking to bury Bianca for good. Faced with threats that circle closer with every move she makes, she knows the stakes have never been higher, but when you're already living on borrowed time, you have to hustle if you want to live to see tomorrow.

With her back against the wall, everything's on the line for Bianca St. Ives. She's either going to save the world-or die trying. It took one hell of an effort for the authorities to finally get the jump on master manipulator Bianca St. Ives, but now that they have, it's far from the capture she expected. Instead of taking her in, there's an offer on the table, a one-shot deal that would allow Bianca to walk away scot-free as if they'd never found her. And all she has to do is run one last mission-the kind she might never return from. But if Bianca wants to go back to her normal life in Savannah, it's not like she has a choice. An intelligence operation is already under way in North Korea, one that's poised to end the country's existing tyrannical regime for good. But first, the US need one of their own to go undercover as the female hacker who recently stole top secret intel from NORAD. Enter Bianca. After everything she's seen, Bianca knows feeding fake information directly into the belly of the beast is about as dangerous as it gets. It could mean torture or endless imprisonment-assuming she survives. But it might also ignite the kind of chaos that forces a revolution. It might just change the world. Besides, if Bianca has to go down, she's gonna go down swinging...

From the New York Times–bestselling author of The Ultimatum, a master thief is forced to rob a Moscow museum to save her life. Clever. Cunning. Highly skilled. There's only one Bianca St. Ives. And for her enemies, that's one too many . . . Bianca St. Ives was recently put through the wringer, but she came out the same way she always does, the way her father trained her to-hungry for a fight. Still navigating the fallout from a shocking revelation that's left a network of assassins' crosshairs trained on her, Bianca's ready to take fate into her own hands. It's kill or be killed, and she's got her finger flush against the trigger. But as Bianca races to outmaneuver her tireless pursuers, her father loops her in on a job that might just do the trick: recover King Priam's Treasure, a collection of heavily guarded, priceless artifacts stolen by the Russians during World War II, and return it to Germany. Impossible? Maybe for some, but a high-risk heist is all in a day's work for Bianca St. Ives, especially when there's intel on the line-intel that could finally bring down the shadowy forces seeking to bury Bianca for good. Faced with threats that circle closer with every move she makes, she knows the stakes have never been higher, but when you're already living on borrowed time, you have to hustle if you want to live to see tomorrow. Praise for The Moscow Deception "The delightful, capable, and frequently funny Bianca is an intoxicating combo of Stephanie Plum and James Bond. . . . Dodging bullets and fists are all in a day's work for Bianca, and, while her adventures may stretch credulity, readers will likely be having too much fun to care." -Publishers Weekly "A fast-paced, exciting and highly readable thriller. . . . Author Karen Robards has crafted a novel that reads very much like the literary versions of "Alias" or "Mission: Impossible" might, and Bianca is every bit as capable and inventive as Sydney Bristow or Ethan Hunt." -Bookreporter

A master thief is blackmailed into a mysterious mission in this action-packed thriller series launch by a New York Times–bestselling author. Growing up, Bianca St. Ives knew she was different from all her friends. Instead of playing hopscotch or combing her dolls' hair, she studied martial arts with sensei masters and dismantled explosives with special-ops retirees. Her father prepped her well to carry on the family business. Now a striking beauty with fierce skills, the prodigy has surpassed the master. She's known as the Guardian. Running a multinational firm with her father, she makes a living swindling con men out of money they stole-and she's damn good at it. She does things on her own terms. But her latest gig had a little hiccup-if you count two hundred million dollars and top-secret government documents going missing as little. Her father also died on the mission. The thing is, the US government doesn't believe he's really dead. They'll stop at nothing to capture Richard St. Ives, a high-value target and someone who has been on most-wanted lists all over the world for over two decades, and they mean to use Bianca as bait. With only a fellow criminal for backup and her life on the line, it's up to Bianca to uncover the terrifying truth behind what really happened . . . and set it right, before it's too late. Praise for The Ultimatum "Enthralling . . . Readers won't want this adrenaline-rich story to end." -Booklist (starred review) "Robards begins a new series with a fascinating main character, blazing action, a Jason Bourne–esque central mystery, and an intriguing cliffhanger ending. . . . Fresh, sexy, and eminently readable." -Kirkus Reviews

Thief. Manipulator. Con artist. Call it what you will—Bianca St. Ives is the best in the business. And these three pulse-pounding international thrillers by New York Times bestselling author Karen Robards will prove it. Growing up, Bianca St. Ives knew she was different from all her friends. Instead of playing hopscotch or combing her dolls’ hair, she studied martial arts with sensei masters and dismantled explosives with special-ops retirees. Her father prepped her well to carry on the family business. Now a striking beauty with fierce skills, the prodigy has surpassed the master. She’s known as the Guardian. Running a multinational firm with her father, she makes a living swindling con men out of money they stole—and she’s damn good at it. She does things on her own terms. But her latest gig had a little hiccup…one that puts her in several crosshairs and takes her across the globe in the race to escape them. Faced with threats that circle closer with every move she makes, she knows the stakes have never been higher, but when you’re already living on borrowed time, you have to hustle if you want to live to see tomorrow.