Jack Lark Books in Order: How to read Paul Fraser Collard’s series?

Some historical action adventures!

What is the Jack Lark series about?

The Jack Lark series is historical military fiction written by Paul Fraser Collard, a fan of films like Waterloo and Zulu and, book series like Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe.

The story follows the brutally courageous Victorian rogue and imposter Jack Lark, starting in 1854 in the Crimean Peninsula to London, Bombay, America, South Africa, and beyond.

The series is about the evolution of a soldier who is changed and shaped by the events and the wars.

How to read the Jack Lark Books in Order?

0. The Jack Lark Library – A collection of prequel short stories, the complete Jack Lark backstory, including Rogue, Recruit, Redcoat, and Rascal.
1. The Scarlet Thief – 1854: The banks of the Alma River, Crimean Peninsula. The men of the King’s Royal Fusiliers are in terrible trouble. Young officer Jack Lark has to act immediately and decisively. His life and the success of the campaign depend on it. But does he have the mettle, the officer qualities that are the life blood of the British Army? From a poor background in London’s East End, Lark has risen through the ranks by stealth and guile and now he faces the ultimate test…
2. The Maharajah’s General – Jack Lark barely survived the Battle of the Alma. As the brutal fight raged, he discovered the true duty that came with the officer’s commission he’d taken. In hospital, wounded, and with his stolen life left lying on the battlefield, he grasps a chance to prove himself a leader once more. Poor Captain Danbury is dead, but Jack will travel to his new regiment in India, under his name.

3. The Devil’s Assassin – Bombay, 1857. Jack Lark is living precariously as an officer when his heroic but fraudulent past is discovered by the Devil – Major Ballard, the army’s intelligence officer. Ballard is gathering a web of information to defend the British Empire, and he needs a man like Jack on his side. Not far away, in Persia, the Shah is moving against British territory and, with the Russians whispering in his ear, seeks to conquer the crucial city of Herat. The Empire’s strength is under threat and the army must fight back.
4. The Lone Warrior – Bombay, 1857. India is simmering with discontent, and Jack Lark, honourably discharged from the British Army, aims to take the first ship back to England. But before he leaves, he cannot resist the adventure of helping a young woman escape imprisonment in a gaming house. He promises to escort Aamira home, but they arrive in Delhi just as the Indian Mutiny explodes.
5. The Last Legionnaire – London, 1859. After years fighting for Queen and country, Jack walks back into his mother’s East End gin palace a changed man. Haunted by the horrors of battle, and the constant fight for survival, he longs for a life to call his own. But the city – and its people – has altered almost beyond recognition, and Jack cannot see a place for himself there.

6. The True Soldier – April, 1861. Jack Lark arrives in Boston as civil war storms across America. A hardened soldier, Jack has always gone where he was ordered to go – and killed the enemy he was ordered to kill. But when he becomes a sergeant for the Union army, he realizes that this conflict between North and South is different. Men are choosing to fight – and die – for a cause they believe in. The people of Boston think it will take just one, great battle. But, with years of experience, Jack knows better. This is the beginning of something that will tear a country apart – and force Jack to see what he is truly fighting for.
7. The Rebel Killer – Virginia, 1861. With his comrades defeated, Jack turns his back on the battlefield. At heart he’s still a soldier, but this wholly uncivil war has left him wanting something – and someone – more. Lost in the woods with the Confederate army closing in, Jack will stop at nothing to protect Rose and the future they might share.
8. The Lost Outlaw – Louisiana, 1863. Jack Lark is on the long and lonely road to nowhere, the battlefield behind him. But soon his soldier skill lands him a job, and a new purpose – defending a valuable wagon train of cotton as it journeys down through Texas to Mexico. Working for another man, let alone the volatile Brannigan, isn’t going to be easy. And with the Deep South’s most infamous outlaws hot on their trail, Jack knows he is living on borrowed time.

9. Fugitive – London, 1868. Jack Lark is now a businessman, running a thriving club in the Whitechapel backstreets. But when he goes up against the East End’s most notorious criminal, the consequences are devastating. A wanted man, Jack joins the British army on campaign across Abyssinia, a high-stakes mission that returns him to the battlefield and on to the fortress of Magdala where the formidable Emperor Tewodros has taken British subjects prisoner.
10. Commander – Egypt, 1869. Jack Lark has reinvented himself once more. Working as an unofficial agent for the Consul-General, he moves among the most powerful men in Cairo. But when the opportunity arises to join legendary explorer Sir Samuel White Baker on his expedition into the Sudan, Jack can’t resist a new adventure. Jack assumes command of an elite cadre to protect the fleet of vessels. But, as they move down the Nile, Jack and his men soon find themselves in a land where the rule of law means nothing, and those who wield power will do anything to keep it. And when a new friend seeks Jack’s help, Jack must decide where his loyalties truly lie . . .
11. Diamond Hunter – South Africa, 1871. Jack Lark no longer walks alone. With the worldly Anna Baker by his side, he travels to the Cape Colony diamond fields determined to seek their fortune – and an adventurous new life together. The journey north soon turns violent as tensions erupt between other hopeful diggers and a gang of Boer men. Everyone has their eye on the same elusive prize – and some will stop at nothing to get it.

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