Ice Cold Steel (John Steel Book 7)

A New War Begins in the Wilderness

John Steel thought his battle was behind him. After the brutal murder of his family and a near-death encounter, he's hidden himself away in the unforgiving expanse of the Alaskan wilderness. But when a plane full of tourists crashes nearby, Steel is pulled back into a world of danger he hoped to leave behind.

As he sets out to rescue the survivors, he discovers a deadly connection: among them is a target of the Santini organisation—a ruthless group determined to retrieve sensitive information at any cost. With mercenaries closing in and the stakes higher than ever, Steel must call on every ounce of his skill and strength to protect innocent lives, evade capture, and confront ghosts from his past.

Ice Cold Steel is a pulse-pounding, high-stakes thriller that explores what happens when a lone warrior is forced out of the shadows to confront an enemy who never forgot him.

Get ready for an adrenaline-fueled ride—ICE COLD STEEL is available now.

Excerpt from the book

Seven months later.

Autumn in Alaska.

A black Eurocopter SA 360 Dauphin helicopter landed at Ridgeway Creek airport, and several people got out as the top rotor blades began to slow.

Ken Henning came out of the small building, which was the airport tower, and rubbed his hands on an oily-looking rag he had stuffed into the back pocket of his denim dungarees. He stared at the strange muddle of people: a woman and three men.

The woman was tall and blonde; she looked more like a doctor or lawyer. Two of the men were tall and heavy-looking, military or cops. Then there was a third man. He was tall with dark hair and ambled as if he was injured. Dark sunglasses covered his eyes despite the grey skies.

Ken watched as they all climbed into a Range Rover Discovery that had been waiting for them. It was a used vehicle, probably a rental. The black paintwork was covered in dust and dirt. Possibly, they had kept it that way so it didn’t stand out like a clean and shiny car would.

He thought the whole thing seemed odd, but then it hadn’t been the strangest thing he had seen. Ken wondered if it was an actor or some other famous person who had just had plastic surgery and was hiding until the scars healed.

The vehicle took off, spitting dust and small stones into the air as it did so, then cruised along the road until it disappeared from view.

A woman came over and stood next to Ken. She was the local store owner, Maddy Johnson, another person who had lived in the town even before it was a town.

‘I guess we got us more rich folk hidin’ out,’ Ken grumbled. ‘I wouldn’t mind if they actually brought money to the town. Instead, they hide up in them hills and have the stuff imported in.’

Maddy nodded. She felt the same, but she recognised the man, the injured one with the glasses. ‘True, but do you know who that boy was?’

Ken shrugged.

‘That was Edward and Elizabeth’s boy. You know, the folk that built that fancy place near Edward Lake. The ones that put a whole lot of cash into this place, including your damn airfield.’ Her voice was gravelly, and her tone invited little in the way of a reminder of the family he owed his livelihood to.

‘Oh, yeah, I thought he looked familiar,’ Ken lied.

‘Jackass,’ she scorned. ‘You never met the kid, only his pa, who you badgered with the idea of him investing in your goddam airfield.’

Ken shrugged again and looked shyly at the floor.

‘Come on, let’s get to the diner; you can buy me a coffee and some pie.’

An hour later, the dusty Range Rover pulled up outside the Steels’ retreat near Edward Lake, parked in the small driveway, and the travellers got out.

The woman looked at the large modern structure and mouthed a ‘wow.’ On one side was an open plain, on the other a dense forest, and to the front a small lake.