Lock Harford is exposed to an unknown drug as a teenager in South America. Its unique effects draw the attention of British intelligence, who undertake Lock’s development. He has the ability to move his body through a different dimension using the power of thought. His enhanced senses detect living beings as energy pulses, making him invaluable to military and intelligence organisations. They employ him to work alongside elite taskforces, taking passengers using teleportation, ‘Shifting’ in and lifting operatives out of hostile situations.

Lock’s handlers are put on red alert when a similar drug, Starbirth, appears in the United States and Britain sold as an illegal 'high'. Distribution spreads across the world and the results of a Starbirth pandemic are feared as criminal and insane teleporters (Shifters) wreak havoc. Lock and a small unit of covert operatives are given the task of finding the source of Starbirth and shutting it down, but their efforts are hindered by corrupt, ruthless people with their own agendas.

Lock is joined in his quest by the powerful, infuriating and immensely likeable Jimmy Mackenzie, a Special Air Service trooper whose life is changed forever by events out of their control.

In this first book in the Starbirth series, Jackie Johnson develops a brutal mix of suspense, humanity, command and action with a subtle vein of humour that keeps the reader rooting for Harford’s team.

In the New York Times bestselling Outlander novels, Diana Gabaldon introduced millions of readers to a dazzling world of history and adventure — a world of vibrant settings and utterly unforgettable characters. Now, one of these characters, Major Lord John Grey, opens the door to his own part of this world — eighteenth-century London, a seething anthill of nobility and rabble peopled by soldiers and spies, whores and dukes.

Great Britain is battling France for supremacy on three continents — and life is good for a soldier. The year is 1757. On a clear morning in mid-June, Lord John Grey emerges from London’s Beefsteak Club, his mind in turmoil. A nobleman and a high-ranking officer in His Majesty’s Army, Grey has just witnessed something shocking. But his efforts to avoid a scandal that might destroy his family are interrupted by something still more urgent: the Crown appoints him to investigate the brutal murder of a comrade in arms, who may have been a traitor.

Obliged to pursue two inquiries at once, Major Grey finds himself ensnared in a web of treachery and betrayal that touches every stratum of English society — and threatens all he holds dear. From the bawdy houses of London’s night-world to the stately drawing rooms of the nobility, and from the blood of a murdered corpse to the thundering seas ruled by the majestic fleet of the East India Company, Lord John pursues the elusive trails of a vanishing footman and a woman in green velvet, who may hold the key to everything — or nothing.

The early days of the Seven Years War come brilliantly to life in this historical mystery by an author whose unique and compelling storytelling has engrossed millions of readers worldwide.