‘Before she was a bodyguard, she was a soldier...’ Charlie Fox is one of the toughest cookies you could ever hope to meet. Word of advice, though—don’t try to get her to talk about her time in the military. Let’s just say it didn’t end well. Before her fall from grace, Charlie was considered a rising star. She made it through one of the toughest challenges any soldier would have to face—Selection for Special Forces. The nightmare that came next is a story I’ve explored in scenes and flashbacks throughout the series. But what happened before that? Back when Charlie was a young soldier in the regular army, on patrol in Afghanistan, being kept away from the front line fighting as stipulated by the regulations concerning female personnel. What did she do back then to prove her worth as a specialised soldier, under life-and-death conditions? How did she earn her chance? That is a story I’ve never told. Until now.

FOX FIVE is a collection of stories by the highly acclaimed crime thriller writer, Zoë Sharp. All feature her ex-Special Forces soldier turned self-defence expert and bodyguard, Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Fox. In A Bridge Too Far, we meet Charlie before she’s become a professional in the world of close protection. When she agrees to hang out with the local Dangerous Sports Club, she has no idea it will soon live up to its name. Postcards From Another Country has Charlie guarding the ultra-rich Dempsey family against attempted assassination – no matter where the danger lies. A finalist for the CWA Short Story Dagger, Served Cold puts another tough woman centre stage – the mysterious Layla, with betrayal in her past and murder in her heart. Off Duty finds Charlie taking time away from close protection after injury. She still finds trouble, even in an out-of-season health spa in the Catskill Mountains. And finally, Truth And Lies puts all Charlie’s skills and ingenuity to the test as she has to single-handedly extract a news team from a rapidly escalating war zone. Also included: Excerpt from KILLER INSTINCT: Charlie Fox book one, Meet Charlie Fox, Meet Zoë Sharp, info on the other books in the Charlie Fox series.

'Susie Hollins may have been no great shakes as a karaoke singer, but I didn't think that was enough reason for anyone to want to kill her.' This opening book in the series introduces Charlie Fox, a tough new heroine who can very definitely take care of herself. Charlie makes a living of sorts teaching self-defence to women. It's a skill she picked up out of necessity having been kicked out of the army for reasons she prefers not to go into. So, when Susie Hollins is found dead after she mistakenly tussles with Charlie at the New Adelphi Club, Charlie knows it's only a matter of time before the police come calling. What they don't tell her is that the unlucky Hollins is the latest victim of a homicidal rapist stalking the local area. Charlie finds herself inadvertently drawn into the investigation when the New Adelphi's enigmatic owner, Marc Quinn, offers her a job. Viewed as an outsider by the existing all-male security team, her suspicion that there's a link between the club and the serial killer doesn't exactly endear her to anyone. Charlie has always taught her students that it's better to run away than to stand and fight. But, when the killer starts taking a very personal interest, it becomes clear that he isn't going to give her that option.

RIOT ACT is the second in Zoë Sharp’s highly acclaimed Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Fox crime thriller series, now available in e-format for the first time, complete with author’s notes, excerpt from the next Charlie Fox book – HARD KNOCKS – and a bonus excerpt from Timothy Hallinan’s second Junior Bender novel, LITTLE ELVISES. “I am a violent man, Miss Fox,” Garton-Jones said, without bravado or inflection. “I can − and will − do whatever is necessary to control this estate. Remember that.” A self-defence expert with a motorbike and an attitude, Charlie Fox doesn’t need to go looking for trouble. It generally finds her. House-sitting for a friend seems like an easy favour at first but the house in question is in the Lavender Gardens estate. Teenage gangs are running riot and Charlie’s desperate neighbours have been forced to employ an expensive − and ruthless − security firm to apply rough justice where the legal kind has failed. The situation gets even uglier when a young Asian boy is fatally wounded in what appears to be a racially motivated shooting. Caught in the middle of an urban battlefield, Charlie’s more than able to take care of herself but then she comes face to face with a spectre from her army past. As the tensions rise, lives will depend on Charlie working out just who she can really trust . . .

‘Perhaps if the army had known what was inside me, what I would eventually turn into, they might not have been so keen to let me go.’ Charlie really didn’t care who shot dead her traitorous ex-army comrade Kirk Salter during a bodyguard training course in Germany. But when old flame Sean Meyer asks her to go undercover at Major Gilby’s elite school and find out what happened to Kirk she just can’t bring herself to refuse. Keeping her nerve isn’t easy when events bring back fears and memories she’s worked so hard to forget. It’s clear there are secrets at Einsbaden Manor that people are willing to kill to conceal. Some of the students on this particular course seem to have more on their minds than simply learning about close protection. Subjects like revenge, and murder. And what’s the connection between the school and the recent spate of vicious kidnappings that have left a trail of bodies halfway across Europe? To find out what’s going on, Charlie must face up to her past and move quickly before she becomes the next casualty. She expected training to be tough, but can she graduate from this school of hard knocks alive? HARD KNOCKS is the third in Zoë Sharp’s highly acclaimed Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Fox crime thriller series, now available in e-format for the first time, complete with author’s notes, excerpt from the next Charlie Fox – FIRST DROP – and a bonus excerpt from Libby Fischer Hellmann’s PI Georgia Davis/Ellie Foreman novel, DOUBLEBACK.

'The guy in the passenger seat was closest. He got out first, so I shot him first. Two rounds high in the chest.' It should have been an easy introduction to Charlie Fox's new career as a bodyguard. In fact, it should have been almost a working holiday. She just has to look after the gawky fifteen-year-old son of a rich computer programmer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Trey Pelzner is theme park mad and in theory all Charlie has to do is baby-sit him on the rollercoasters. The last thing anyone expected was a determined attempt to snatch the boy, or that Trey's father and their entire close protection team—including Charlie's boss, Sean Meyer—would disappear off the face of the earth at the same time. Now somebody out there wants the boy badly and they're prepared to kill anyone who gets in their way. Evading them, in a strange country, takes all the skill and courage Charlie possesses. As she soon discovers, once you've hit the first drop there's no going back, and you'd better hang on tight because you're in for a wild ride.

'If you stay involved with Sean Meyer you will end up killing again,' my father said. 'And next time, Charlotte, you might not get away with it'. Still bearing the emotional scars from her traumatic first bodyguarding job in the States, Charlie Fox returns to her former home to try and work out both her personal and professional future. Instead of the peace she's hoping for, Charlie is immediately caught up in the aftermath of a fatal bike crash involving one of her closest friends. The more she probes, the more she suspects that the accident was far from accidental - and the more she finds herself relying on the support of her troubled boss, Sean, despite her misgivings over the wisdom of resuming their relationship. And Charlie's got enough on her plate trying to work out who suddenly wants her dead. The only way to find out is to infiltrate a group of illegal road racers who appear hell-bent on living fast and dying young.

"Take it from me, getting yourself shot hurts like hell." When the latest assignment for ex—Special Forces soldier turned bodyguard Charlie Fox, ends in a bloody shootout in a frozen forest of New Hampshire, she's left fighting for her life, with her client dead. Simone Kerse had just become a lottery millionaire but never lived long enough to enjoy her riches. Charlie was supposed to keep Simone's troublesome ex-boyfriend at bay and accompany her on a trip to track down the father Simone had never really known—-a relatively low-risk job. But Simone's father has secrets in his past that are about to come back and haunt him, and the arrival of his long-lost daughter may be the catalyst that blows his whole world apart. But the closer Charlie gets to the truth, the bigger threat she becomes. Only this time she's in no fit state to protect anyone, least of all herself….

I was running when I saw my father kill himself. Not that he jumped off a tall building or stepped in front of a truck but professionally, personally what I watched him do was suicide. The last person that professional bodyguard, Charlotte 'Charlie' Fox, ever expected to self-destruct was her own father, an eminent surgeon. But when Charlie unexpectedly sees him admitting to gross professional misconduct on a New York news program, she can't just stand by and watch his downfall. That's not easy when Richard Foxcroft, always cold towards his daughter, rejects her help at every turn. The good doctor has never made any secret of his disapproval of Charlie's choice of career; or her relationship with her boss, Sean Meyer. And now, just as Charlie and Sean are settling in to their new life in the States, Foxcroft seems determined to go down in a blazing lack of glory, and take Charlie and everyone she cares about down with him. But he has not bargained on Charlie's own ruthless streak. And when the game turns deadly, Charlie will need to stake her life and her father's against a formidable foe.

The cult calling itself Fourth Day is well-funded and fiercely guards its privacy. Five years ago, Thomas Witney went in to try and get the evidence that the cult's charismatic leader, Randall Bane, was responsible for the death of Witney's son, Liam. Witney never came out. Now, ex-Special Forces soldier turned bodyguard, Charlie Fox, and her partner, Sean Meyer, have been tasked to get Witney out, whether he's willing or not. But planning and executing a clean, surgical snatch is only the beginning. Five years is a long time to be on the inside and the man who comes out has changed beyond all recognition. Can Witney be trusted when he says he now believes Bane is innocent of the crime and, if he is, who was behind his son's demise? And what happened to the safety net - the people who were supposed to extract Witney, by force if necessary, after less than a year? With Witney's ex-wife demanding answers, Charlie agrees to go undercover into Fourth Day's California stronghold. A fast covert op - there is no real danger for someone with her mind set and training. But Charlie has her own secrets, even from Sean, and she's not prepared for the lure of Randall Bane, or how easily he will pinpoint her weaknesses.

The only thing more terrifying than fighting for your life is fighting for someone else's...Bodyguard and ex-Special Forces soldier Charlie Fox would do anything to take her mind off her partner; shot, left for dead and now lying in a coma. So concentrating on a new assignment seems like the perfect way to escape the pain, and her own empty apartment. The to protect the naive daughter of an investment banker from a gang of kidnappers who prey on the children of the wealthy Long Island set. Kidnap is a lucrative crime for those with the nerve to pull it off. Usually those who disappear are returned unharmed - except this syndicate likes to take a piece of the victim as part of the pay-off. Still, it all looks simple at first. A round of exclusive boutiques, charity auctions, luxurious parties aboard million-dollar yachts - and few risks for an experienced operative. But Charlie soon finds out that defending a girl determined to put herself in danger is far from easy. And when her instincts lead her to suspect an inside job, she discovers that not everyone who mingles with the jet-set is what they seem - and the idle rich can be as ruthless as any criminal ...Fast-paced and authentic, Fifth Victim is an electrifying tale of cross and double-cross. An intoxicating thrill-ride that will keep you firmly on the edge of your seat.

A deadly hostage situation in New Orleans forces Charlie Fox to improvise as never before. And this time she can't rely on Sean to watch her back. In the sweating heat of Louisiana, former Special Forces soldier turned bodyguard, Charlie Fox, faces her toughest challenge yet. Professionally, she’s at the top of her game, but her personal life is in ruins. Her lover, bodyguard Sean Meyer, has woken from a gunshot-induced coma with his memory in tatters. It seems that piecing back together the relationship they shared is proving harder for him than relearning the intricacies of the close-protection business. Working with Sean again was never going to be easy for Charlie, either, but a celebrity fundraising event in aid of still-ravaged areas of New Orleans should have been the ideal opportunity for them both to take things nice and slow. Until, that is, they find themselves thrust into the middle of a war zone. When an ambitious robbery explodes into a deadly hostage situation, the motive may be far more complex than simple greed. Somebody has a major score to settle, and Sean is part of the reason. Only trouble is, he doesn’t remember why. And when Charlie finds herself facing a nightmare from her own past, she realises she can’t rely on Sean to watch her back. This time, she’s got to fight it out on her own. One thing is for certain, though—no matter how overwhelming the odds stacked against her, or however hopeless the situation may appear, Charlie is never going to die easy.

In the aftermath of an earthquake, Charlie Fox is working alongside a team who dig out the living and ID the dead, and hoping they won't find out why she's really there. A major earthquake sees ex-Special Forces soldier-turned-bodyguard Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Fox on a transport plane headed for the scene of devastation. The way things are coming apart at home with Sean Meyer, she welcomes the chance to get away. Tasked as security advisor to the specialist team at the centre of relief efforts, Charlie knows it won’t be easy. The team members are willing to put themselves in constant danger as a matter of course. But what kind of other risks are they prepared to take? As Charlie soon discovers, it’s not just the ground beneath her feet that cannot be relied on. Her predecessor died conveniently while investigating rumours that the team were on the take, Charlie’s been instructed to quietly uncover whether his death was as accidental as the official verdict suggests. If it was an accident, why are they so obviously lying to her? Charlie must move with care through a shifting landscape to find the answers before there are more than just earthquake victims buried in the rubble. And when disaster strikes she will learn not only whom she can trust, but whether she can she survive the darkness that comes with a total absence of light.

‘The dead man had not gone quietly… There was a time when I would have given everything I owned to be the one responsible for that.’ Charlie Fox will never forget the men who put a brutal end to her military career, but she vowed a long time ago she would not go looking for them. Now she doesn’t have a choice. Her boss and former lover, Sean Meyer, is missing in Iraq where one of those men was working as a private security contractor. When the man’s butchered body is discovered, Charlie fears that Sean may be pursuing a twisted vendetta on her behalf. Sean’s partner in their exclusive New York close-protection agency needs this dealt with—fast and quiet—before everything they’ve worked for is in ruins. He sends Charlie to the Middle East with very specific instructions: Find Sean Meyer and stop him. By whatever means necessary. At one time Charlie thought she knew Sean better than she knew herself, but it seems he’s turned into a violent stranger. As the trail grows more bloody, Charlie realises that unless she can get to Sean first, the hunter may soon become the hunted.

Charlie Fox has quit her job in close protection, been turned out of her apartment, and is apparently out of luck. Why else would she be working for a shady arms dealer? House-sitting in rural New Jersey has to be the pits—TV and TV dinners. A far cry from Iraq... Bulgaria... Afghanistan. Unlucky or not, she happens to be around at the right time to foil a violent kidnap attempt on Helena, wife of billionaire arms dealer, Eric Kincaid. Kincaid offers her a job looking after Helena. The rumours about Kincaid’s business empire say he’s gone over to the dark side, but Charlie is in no position to be fussy. And protecting people against those who want to do them harm is what she’s good at. But when the threats against the Kincaids escalate, and then follow the couple over to Europe, Charlie’s really going to have to up her game. It’s time to take the fight to the enemy. Charlie’s at her best putting an end to trouble. Now she must learn to strike first. And hope that the Kincaids don’t discover the secret she’s been keeping from them, right from the start.