1945. The Second World War has gone on too long. Shops are closed ''for the duration''. Trains run a restricted service ''for the duration''. Life has paused, for the duration. A little girl, Pamela, is growing up fast. A young Englishman, Rupert Blundell, vows there''ll be no more wars. Both are waiting for their lives to begin. Then comes Hiroshima. Finally, devastatingly, the war is over.

1962. Rupert is now strategic advisor to Lord Mountbatten, and his close confidant. Pamela is eighteen and has moved to London, eager for love and experience of every kind. There''ll be parties at Cliveden, Christine Keeler, Stephen Ward, the Astors. Life is a whirlwind.

But beneath the glamour lies quiet, desperate terror, as the Cuban missile crisis unfolds and the world spins ever closer to nuclear war.

Reckless is a gripping novel set against the world in crisis, by a superb novelist at the height of his powers.