Vigilante justice-seeker Claymore Straker is on the run, with a price on his head. When his lover, Rania, goes missing, he begins a terrifying search with unimaginable consequences…

'Hardisty doesn't put a foot wrong in this forceful, evocative thriller... the author's deep knowledge of the settings never slows down the non-stop action, with distant echoes of a more-moral minded Jack Reacher or Jason Bourne' Maxim Jakubowski

‘Remarkably well-written and sophisticated’ Literary Review

‘A fast-paced action thriller, beautifully written’ Tim Marshall, author of Prisoners of Geography

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Claymore Straker is a fugitive with a price on his head. Wanted by the CIA for acts of terrorism he did not commit, his best friend has just been murdered and Rania, the woman he loves, has disappeared.

Betrayed by those closest to him, he must flee the sanctuary of his safe house in Cornwall and track her down. As his pursuers close in, Clay follows Rania to Istanbul and then to Cyprus, where he is drawn into a violent struggle between the Russian mafia, Greek Cypriot extremists, and Turkish developers cashing in on the tourism boom.

As the island of love descends into chaos, and the horrific truth is unveiled, Clay must call on every ounce of skill and endurance to save Rania and put an end to the unimaginable destruction being wrought in the name of profit.

Gripping, exhilarating, and above all, frighteningly realistic, The Evolution of Fear is a startling, eye-opening read that demands the question: how much is truth, and how much is fiction?

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Praise for Paul E. Hardisty

‘A stormer of a thriller – vividly written, utterly topical, totally gripping' Peter James

'Just occasionally, a book comes along to restore your faith in a genre and Paul Hardisty's The Abrupt Physics of Dying does this in spades' The Times

‘Trenchant and engaging’ Stav Sherez, Catholic Herald

‘A solid, meaty thriller – Hardisty is a fine writer and Straker is a great lead character’ Lee Child

‘Laces the thrills and spills with enough moral indignation to give the book heft … excellent’ Jake Kerridge, Telegraph

‘Fast-paced and cleverly written, this novel has bestseller written all over it’ West Australian

‘Exceptional … beautifully written, blisteringly authentic, heart-stoppingly tense and unusually moving. Definite award material' Paul Johnston

'A forceful novel by a writer not afraid of weighty issues’ Maxim Jakubowski

‘Searing … at times achieves the level of genuine poetry’ Publishers Weekly STARRED review

‘A page-turning adventure that grabs you from the first page and won’t let go’ Edward Wilson