A man in a suit aiming a sniper rifle from a rooftop at night, overlooking a cityscape with tall buildings illuminated by lights.

Book 1

The Controlled Identity

A Finlay Knox Spy Thriller

Release Date - October 2026

Finlay Knox is a young academic specialising in language and identity, until his research draws the attention of MI6

Pushed through a brutal selection process, he learns that observation, manipulation, and the art of persuasion define success. Recruited into a part-time role within the Service, he is drawn into a world that operates in parallel to his academic life. 

As Knox attempts to balance two identities, scholar and spy, the boundary between them begins to erode. When an overseas assignment draws him into a high-risk operation in Beijing, the consequences become real.

The Controlled Identity reveals the origin of a man forced to live between roles… and the moment he understands that living two lives means belonging to neither.

Read the opening chapters for free.

A man in a suit standing under an archway looking towards a large historic building in the distance, with snow on the ground.

Book 2

Île Vermillion

A Finlay Knox Spy Thriller

Release Date - January 2027

Dr. Finlay Knox, senior lecturer in linguistics at Dunleigh University and a part-time MI6 asset, thought his days in the field were over. Haunted by a failed mission in Beijing, he has no desire to return. But when a routine surveillance assignment in Southeast Asia offers the safety of academic cover, Knox is drawn back in. 

Île Vermillion, a luxury island owned by a powerful Chinese tycoon, appears to be paradise. Beneath its gleaming surface, however, lies a web of covert operations, shadowy alliances, and high-stakes intrigue. 

When Knox discovers that one of his most promising students has been spying on him, the mission fractures into something deeply personal. Loyalties blur. The island turns hostile.

As the past closes in, Knox is pulled into a deadly game where nothing is as it seems, and trusting the wrong person could be fatal.

A desk with a large folder labeled 'Confidential', glasses, a smartphone, and various papers, in front of multiple computer monitors displaying data and graphs in a dark office setting.

Book 3

The Intelligence Fellow

A Finlay Knox Spy Thriller

Release Date - May 2027

Dr. Finlay Knox is a respected university lecturer. He is also one of MI6’s most valuable assets, slipping away on research leave to do the kind of work that never appears in academic journals.

When a Chinese academic defects in London and insists on speaking only to Knox, his two lives collide with deadly urgency. At the same time, a student disappears. MI6 brands her a threat. Knox is not convinced.

What begins as whispers of stolen research escalates into global chaos: a professor executed mid-speech, encrypted warnings that no one can crack, and identities crumbling under pressure.

From the quiet quads of Dunleigh to the marble halls of Hanoi and the back alleys of Hong Kong, Knox must draw on every skill as both scholar and spy to uncover a truth his own government is desperate to bury.

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