The Fifth Doctrine

Written by Karen Robards

Narrated by Julia Whelan

Everything’s on the line for Bianca St. Ives. She’s either going to save the world—or die trying.

It took one hell of an effort for the authorities to finally get the jump on master manipulator Bianca St. Ives. But now that they have, they’re not taking her in. Instead, they offer a one-shot deal that would allow Bianca to walk away scot-free. And all she has to do is run one last mission—the kind she might never return from. But if Bianca wants her normal life back, it’s not like she has a choice.

An intelligence operation is already underway in North Korea, one that’s poised to end the threat the rogue regime poses for good. But first, the US needs one of their own to go undercover as the female hacker who recently stole top secret intel from NORAD. Enter Bianca. She knows feeding fake information directly into the belly of the beast is about as dangerous as it gets. It could mean torture or endless imprisonment—assuming she survives. But it might also change the world. Besides, if Bianca has to go down, she’s gonna go down swinging…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Mar 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9781511393997

Karen Robards

Karen Robards is the New York Times, USA TODAY, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than fifty books and one novella. Karen published her first novel at age twenty-four and has won multiple awards throughout her career, including six Silver Pens for favorite author. Karen was described by The Daily Mail as “one of the most reliable thriller...writers in the world.” She is the mother of three boys and lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

Reviews for The Fifth Doctrine

[Barbara Conklin · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was the best thriller series that I've listened to in quite a awhile. It kept you revitted to the books

[Kathryn Mathias · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this. It was slow at times, though. Could have stood some parts to be edited out - a bit wordy. A light read. This final installment of the series was better than the middle book, in my opinion.

[NNEAMAKA PAYNE · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book covers very much action pack events, which were more political thoughts about people and their different countries and services. Political espionage and treason meet Bianca St. Ives in Karen Robards’s latest thriller that starts in sleepy Savannah, dives into elegant Paris, shifts to cold and bleak North Korea, and plummets into the steamy jungles of the Philippines!

The novel opens with a chilling discovery by a young programmer who is urged by her boyfriend to steal national secrets to protect the country.

Cut to Bianca’s nemesis, Colin Rogan, a British operative who has his sights on capturing Bianca’s mentor. He makes a deal with Bianca, and he says to protect her from the CIA and other alphabet agencies out to kill her, but is it just a ploy to capture Mason Thayer?

The nonstop edge-of-seat excitement as Bianca and Colin outwit their hunters is matched by the steamy attraction between the two and their quick-witted repartee that had me laugh

How KR knows so much about hand-to-hand combat, guns, cyber-crimes, and prison breaks just boggles the mind. It was a wild ride that also revealed some curious details about Bianca’s life, her father and mother, and the people Bianca calls her family.

Looks like it’s not the end of this series!

Re-read May 17th to 19th, 2023.
Bianca St. Ives the highly classified creation of the CIA secrets who was caught up in war she was not aware of fighting to stage alive, and her father was a well trained assassin known as Mason Thayer Had been hunted by the CIA killed team, and they have used Thayer family to get him as alway as a bargaining chips. Now they both have to show the top boss who they are together father and daughter. She is now recruited by the Five Eyes Intelligence comprices of the following countries the USA, the British, the Canadian, the Australian, and the New Zealand.
After her kidnapping by the North Korean and the getting away from the North Korean prison, saving some Americans prisoners, they were both set for taking down the original enemy from the Normand program. As professionals assassin that they both were without letting each other know they got the job done.
Agents Bianca St. Ives and Mason Thayer completed the needed job to protect their families.

[ftbooklover · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Bianca steps into her office expecting to see a perspective client, she finds Colin Rogan, who she previously knew as Mickey, leaning on her desk and introducing himself as Mr. Tower of Tower Consulting. The last time she saw him was when she had left him drugged in a hotel room in Moscow. But what is even worse is that he now knows who she really is and has found the only place where she feels safe, her home in Savannah, Georgia. After a CIA hit squad comes after her again, Colin offers her an opportunity to work with him and erase the threat that she has been running from most of her life. She knows better than to believe this fairy tale, but for the moment, he is her only choice. Posing as a woman who has stolen government secrets, she takes on a mission to sell falsified information that could maintain an ever eroding balance of power between the US and North Korea.
Finally, we get the story promised by the first two books in the Guardian Series. This thriller is full of action, adventure, and romance. In addition, we get answers to several of the questions raised earlier in the series. Very well written with lots of twists and turns, this book may very well be the last in the series, however, we can only hope that there might be future adventures for Bianca and Colin.