Thrillers with a hint of current day, hard science fiction

Category: Book Release Page 1 of 2

A New Puzzle Book

I haven’t published anything recently under my own name, but you might be interested in a new book from Black Spring Press. CrimeBits: 100 Opening Gambits for Great Thrillers (also available at Amazon UKAmazon US  and most bookshops) contains one hundred openings to thrillers, ranked by Lee Child. I’m proud to say the great man himself nominated mine as the winning entry. Each opening is linked to a puzzle, so this book might also appeal if you enjoy crosswords, logic puzzles or word searches. The paperback version is currently available on pre-order at Amazon UK for £12.15 and Amazon US for $18.95.

The Decimation trilogy is now available as a box set

The three books in the Decimation series (Decimation: The Girl Who Survived, Termination: The Boy Who Died, and Annihilation: Origins and Endings) are now available in a Kindle box set and also as an 800+ page paperback.

You can save money by buying the boxset rather than the corresponding individual Kindle versions or paperbacks.

The Kindle box set

Get the Kindle version here: Universal Amazon link

Get the paperback version here: UK, US, AUS, CAN

Decimation Audio book cover

Decimation is available as an audio book

I’m pleased to announce that in addition to Kindle and paperback versions, Decimation is now available as an audio book.

Get it here: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/The-Girl-Who-Survived-Audiobook/B09CD153RK?source_code=AUKFrDlWS02231890H6-BK-ACX0-272521&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_272521_rh_uk

Termination Out Today and a Special Offer

Termination: The Boy Who Died is out today. As a special gift to my readers, I have made Decimation: The Girl Who Survived free for the next few days.

You can also buy Annihilation: Origins and Endings on pre-order for a mere 99p/99c.

Decimation series video

The DECIMATION series by Richard T. Burke

For sixteen years, every woman has died in childbirth.

Until now…

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Had me hooked from start to finish”

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “A brilliant thriller”

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “This is nothing short of a fantastic read”

Discover the first book on Kindle, print or FREE within Kindle Unlimited at https://mybook.to/Decimation

A new video for the Decimation series

Termination: The Boy Who Died is out on Sunday, May 16th 2021 and Annihilation: Origins and Endings on 12th September 2021.

Ahead of the launch of books two and three in the Decimation series, I have created a promotional video.

Decimation series

You can start the series with Decimation: The Girl Who Survived at https://mybook.to/Decimation (universal Amazon link).

Annihilation – out this summer

Annihilation, the third in the Decimation trilogy, will be out this summer. It’s available on pre-order. Here’s the cover.

The third and final book of the ground-breaking Decimation trilogy

Against all odds, Antimone Lessing has twice escaped from those who want to understand how she survived the deadly Orestes virus. But the greatest threat to her life still lies ahead.

The world knows the pandemic originated in a British laboratory. Keen to enhance the country’s damaged reputation, the Prime Minister sets up an international research effort to rid the planet of the disease once and for all.

But not everybody is working towards the same goal.

As past and present collide, Antimone once again finds herself sucked into a conspiracy that could spell the end of the human race.  

Termination – new book out soon

Termination is now available on pre-order and will be out on May 16th. Here’s the new cover.

Antimone Lessing returns in book two of the ground-breaking Decimation trilogy

Nearly twenty years after the Orestes virus swept across the earth, finally there is hope. Women are no longer dying within seconds of giving birth. For the first time in two decades, the global population is on an upward trend.

As the world returns to normal, Antimone is back on the athletics track and a single race away from achieving her lifetime goal of winning the Olympic 1500-metre Wheelchair gold medal.

But a deadly new threat has emerged, one that could reverse the fragile recovery and spell the end of humanity’s time on the planet. Could Antimone’s unique biology once again provide the vital clue to develop a cure?

When the details of her past become exposed, ruthless forces prepare an audacious plan to kidnap the first woman in a generation to survive childbirth. Now, the only hope for her survival and that of her young family may rest with the one person she trusts least in the world.

Decimation has a new cover

… and a sequel (Termination). In fact the third part of the trilogy (Annihilation) is well underway too.

Decimation cover

The blurb has also undergone a minor update.

Book one of the ground-breaking Decimation trilogy
Fifteen years ago, the Orestes virus first emerged, sweeping across the globe and infecting every living person within a matter of days. Despite the best efforts of the scientific community, there is no treatment, no vaccine. It lies dormant until a woman gives birth. Then she dies.
Teenage wheelchair athlete, Antimone Lessing, can’t remember how she got pregnant. She thinks her life is over as the doctors prepare to deliver her baby. Meanwhile, a hunt is underway to arrest the man suspected of raping her, but even if the police catch him, it will be too late for Antimone.
When she unexpectedly survives, she becomes a vital clue in the race to develop a cure before the global population declines beyond the point of no return.
But survival comes at a price. As her doctors try to understand why she is still alive, she must choose between preserving humanity’s future and protecting the life of her newborn child.
How far would you go to save the human race?

You can get a copy here (universal Amazon link)

Coming Soon – Termination: The Boy who Died

It’s been a while since the publication of Decimation, but finally, I’m pleased to announce that a sequel is on the way – and hopefully a third book too.

The story picks up three years after the events of Decimation. Here’s a first draft of the blurb:


Antimone Lessing returns in the second book of the ground-breaking Decimation trilogy.

Nearly twenty years after the Orestes virus swept across the earth, finally there is hope. Women are no longer dying within seconds of giving birth. For the first time in two decades, the global population is on an upward trend.

As the world returns to normal, Antimone is back on the athletics track and a single race away from achieving her lifetime goal of winning the Olympic 1500-metre Wheelchair gold medal.

But a deadly new threat has emerged, one that could reverse the fragile recovery and spell the end of humanity’s time on the planet. Could Antimone’s unique biology once again provide the vital clue in developing a cure?

When the details of her past become exposed, ruthless forces prepare an audacious plan to kidnap the first woman in a generation to survive childbirth. Now, the only hope for her survival and that of her young family may rest with the same scientist responsible for creating the Orestes pandemic.


I’m expecting a release during late autumn. If you are interested in reading this sequel, please sign up to my mail list to receive news and special offers.

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