Stevie Duveen

A specialist in discreet and dangerous missions, Stevie Duveen-striking, brilliant, and fearless-is up against human traffickers, sex slavery, and the Russian mob. Risk is her business, but this time she's in over her head. Meet Stevie Duveen, the strategic analyst for Hazard Ltd., an international trouble-shooting outfit specializing in discreet and very dangerous missions. She is gifted in seven languages and all kinds of combat. Surprise is her most effective weapon, apart from her fierce intellect, unflagging determination, razor-sharp intuition, and something even the most battle-scarred operative lacks: she cares, sometimes too much; which is why she is nursing a broken heart and telling herself she will never fall in love again. Called to Moscow to assess the security risk to the head of the Russian Central Bank, she arrives to find the find the bank regulator's teenage daughter has been kidnapped. Valery Kozcov has been a fearless crusader against widespread corruption in Russia and organized crime's infiltration of the government-and now his enemies are retaliating with deadly force. What they are demanding of him is unthinkable, but they have his beloved Anya. Stevie uncovers unspeakable evil as she finds herself caught up in the terrifying world of people trafficking and sex slavery. From the murky alleys of Moscow to forests blanketed in mid-winter snow to Switzerland's exclusive alpine resorts, Stevie tries to stay one step ahead of danger as she edges ever closer to Anya and the terrible fate awaiting her.

Death wears vintage Pucci as our stylish, shadowy, and dangerous agent comes face to face with modern piracy in a bid to stay one step ahead of some of the world's most dangerous men. She was not an action woman: she could not run very fast; she favoured ballet slippers over combat boots, never swore and still suffered from nightmares; she did not enjoy confrontation of any kind. She was reluctant to face risk, and it was a quality that made her very good at her job. Her art lay in her ability to pass unnoticed, to slip in and out of the cracks of life, to be quietly invisible. Aboard a luxury yacht as the minder of the world's greatest-and most temperamental-opera star, Stevie Duveen manages to thwart a pirate attack off the coast of Somalia, but soon realizes the attack is merely one salvo in a ruthless campaign of terror. Other vessels are being hijacked, and ransoms in the multimillions are being demanded as shipping lines and insurance companies run scared. Soon Stevie is undercover to do a threat assessment on the young son of Vaughan and Clumence Krok-who run the world's most powerful army of mercenaries. Posing as just another jet-setting party girl, Stevie cruises aboard the Kroks' mega-yacht, Hercules, surrounded by arms dealers, aristocrats, and billionaires. The action swings from the sun-kissed marinas of the Mediterranean to diva season in Venice, through the oilfields of Azerbaijan and on to the billionaires' playgrounds of Spain, but Stevie soon uncovers more questions than answers: Is the Kroks' son really in danger? What secret deal is Krok brokering? How is he connected to the pirate scourge? And why is someone trying to kill her? At her discreet and dangerous best, Stevie must fight to save everything she holds dear as she finds herself at the heart of a deadly double game.