The Recruit
On sale
9th July 2026
Price: £24.99
The spy game has a brand new player . . .
Sarah Black is startling smart and super frustrated . . . while her fellow fresh graduates are signing away their souls to square mile internships, she is sabotaging civil service exams and beating any chess opponent who dares face her. Surely there has to be more to life?
And then, Michael.
Enigmatic, suave, and looking for a new recruit to his band of elite spies. His offer is irresistible, and Sarah leaps into the world of international espionage without hesitation.
But when Michael hears rumours of a catastrophic attack on an oil pipeline in the Caucasus, he whisks Sarah from London to Georgia with a new identity, a meagre brief and no backup.
Thrown into a hostile environment where nothing is as it seems, and no one can be trusted, Sarah must learn the rules of the game quickly, just to survive.
But is she really a player, or merely a pawn?
—————
The Recruit is the first instalment of L.D. Sharpe’s series of modern spy thrillers. Perfect for fans of Mick Herron, I.S. Berry, Ava Glass and David Goodman.
—————
The Recruit was previously published by Burning Chair in 2022 as The King’s Pawn by Lucy Hooft.
Sarah Black is startling smart and super frustrated . . . while her fellow fresh graduates are signing away their souls to square mile internships, she is sabotaging civil service exams and beating any chess opponent who dares face her. Surely there has to be more to life?
And then, Michael.
Enigmatic, suave, and looking for a new recruit to his band of elite spies. His offer is irresistible, and Sarah leaps into the world of international espionage without hesitation.
But when Michael hears rumours of a catastrophic attack on an oil pipeline in the Caucasus, he whisks Sarah from London to Georgia with a new identity, a meagre brief and no backup.
Thrown into a hostile environment where nothing is as it seems, and no one can be trusted, Sarah must learn the rules of the game quickly, just to survive.
But is she really a player, or merely a pawn?
—————
The Recruit is the first instalment of L.D. Sharpe’s series of modern spy thrillers. Perfect for fans of Mick Herron, I.S. Berry, Ava Glass and David Goodman.
—————
The Recruit was previously published by Burning Chair in 2022 as The King’s Pawn by Lucy Hooft.
