1870s, the Black Country. Michael is a miner. But it's no life for a man. Michael exhausts himself working two jobs, to send his son Luke to school, so he won't have to be a miner too. Down the pit one day, he finds a seam of gold. If he gets it out, he can save his own life, and Luke's. But his workmate has other ideas... Mercia's Take summons an England in the heat of the industrial revolution, and the lives it took to make it. Gripping, powerful and intense, it is the debut of an astonishing new talent.

'Thrilling, propulsive and terrifying' Simon Sebag Montefiore THE SECOND NOVEL FROM FORMER CIA OFFICER AND THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF ***THE TIMES THRILLER OF THE YEAR*** DAMASCUS STATION ('One of the best spy thrillers in years' THE TIMES) A daring CIA operation threatens chaos in the Kremlin. But can Langley trust the Russian at its center? CIA operatives Sia and Max enter Russia to recruit Vladimir Putin's moneyman. Sia works for a London firm that conceals the wealth of the super-rich. Max's family business in Mexico - a CIA front since the 1960s - is a farm that breeds high-end racehorses. They pose as a couple, and their targets are Vadim, Putin's private banker, and his wife Anna, who is both a banker and an intelligence officer herself... PRAISE FOR MOSCOW X: 'The most authentic depiction of CIA deep cover operations you'll find in print' - John Sipher, Former CIA Senior Operations Officer 'A terrific read, cementing McCloskey in my mind as the best spy fiction writer since le Carre' - Nicholas Kristof, New York Times 'Spellbinding ... An electrifying read. I could not put it down' - Clarissa Ward, CNN Chief International Correspondent RAVE READER REVIEWS: 'Moves at a ripping pace. A terrific, unputdownable page-turner' 'A page-turner, the pace is frantic ... Superb fun' 'A barnstorming tour de force. I loved it!'