A Masquerade of Duty
Book 1
In wartime Britain, the most dangerous orders are never written down.
London, 1915. Newly commissioned and fresh from Oxford, Second Lieutenant Charles King expects a conventional officer’s war. Instead, he is summoned to a discreet government office, where nothing is explained – and refusal is not an option.
King is tasked with assembling and leading a troupe of actors and musicians bound for the Western Front. Officially, they exist to raise morale. Unofficially, they are part of a far more secret war – one that will place King at the centre of a hidden conflict fought far from the trenches.
As he moves between Whitehall and Northern France, King is drawn into a world of shifting loyalties, half-truths, and unseen enemies. Watched by men who trust no one, he must quickly learn what is expected of him – and how far he is prepared to go.
Because in this war, nothing is ever as it seems.
The Blindness of Power
Book 2
The deeper the cover, the darker the truth.
Gallipoli, 1915. The Great War is no longer confined to the trenches of France. As the conflict spreads east, a new and volatile front opens in the Mediterranean.
Captain Charles King is no longer a novice. Drawn deeper into Britain’s shadow war, he is sent to the Dardanelles, where the fate of the Gallipoli campaign hangs in the balance – and intelligence can be as decisive as any battlefield victory.
Working undercover, King enters a world of shifting alliances, rival agents and unseen enemies. But the deeper he goes, the harder it becomes to distinguish friend from foe.
Because in a war built on deception, trust can be fatal.
As the campaign falters and the cost of failure mounts, King is forced to confront a deeper truth: not all battles are fought for the reasons men believe – and not all victories are worth the price.
Because in the end, the most dangerous lies are the ones people choose to believe.
The Burden of Silence
Book 3 - Coming Soon
Some truths can end a war. Others can never be spoken.
North Africa, 1916. The war has spread far beyond the battlefields of Europe. Across Egypt and the Western Desert, empires, tribes and intelligence services compete in a struggle fought as much with secrets as with armies.
Officially dead and unable to return to the life he once knew, Captain Charles King is sent on a mission unlike any he has faced before. A German officer carrying intelligence of immense value is attempting to defect. Britain’s Secret Service Bureau wants him found and brought back alive.
But Friedrich von Arnsberg is more than a defector. Hunted by his own side and pursued across the desert by enemies old and new, he carries information that could alter the course of the war. To some, he is an asset. To others, he is a traitor. And to those who suffered under the German invasion of Belgium, he is something far worse.
As King follows Arnsberg’s trail through a world governed by honour, loyalty and memory, he finds himself caught between justice and necessity, between what is right and what is required.
Because sometimes lives can be saved only by protecting the guilty.
And some victories demand a silence that lasts long after the war is over.