The Third Woman

A Stephanie Patrick Thriller, Book 4

By: Mark Burnell

Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden

The fourth audiobook in the international espionage Stephanie Patrick Thriller series, soon to be a major motion picture from the producers of the James Bond film series, starring Blake Lively, Sterling K. Brown, and Jude Law.

Icily professional, Stephanie has been living life as her alias - the professional terrorist, Petra - to the full. Having completed an intelligence contract in St. Petersburg, she returns home, but civilian life eludes her when she is lured to France by the call of a friend in need. In Paris, a bomb blast triggers a chain of events that contaminates every aspect of Stephanie's life. It's clear she's been betrayed. But by whom? She must identify the threat before she can run from it!

Stephanie saves herself by taking a hostage, but soon, the tension between captive and captor accelerates dangerously beyond her control.

As powers shift critically, Stephanie struggles to maintain Petra's professional cool and to hold herself together. Ultimately, she's the only one who can save them - but will it be at the price of the hostage's life?

©2005 Mark Burnell (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

Satisfying Conclusion To the Series

It’s been 20 years since its publication so I guess it’s safe to say that this is the conclusion to Petra’s story. It’s a satisfying conclusion, even though it is just open ended enough to hint at the possibilities of more to come.

The fault of this book is the same fault I found with its predecessor Gemini, to much exposition which throws the pacing, the rhythm of the story off.

Burnell got it right in the first book of the series; by the fourth book, the exposition really started to distracted, to the point where I sometimes felt I was reading an article from The Economist. Not enough for me to dislike the book but enough to make me glad he didn’t continue the series.

Best series EVER

I loved these books! Loved the ending! Loved the narrator! Couldn’t stop reading! Highly recommend them all.