Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Ultimatum
    The Ultimatum
    The Ultimatum
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Ultimatum

    Written by Karen Robards

    Narrated by Julia Whelan

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    "Enthralling… Readers won't want this adrenaline-rich story to end. "—Booklist (starred review)

    Thief. Manipulator. Con artist. Call it what you will—Bianca St. Ives is the best in the business.

    Growing up, Bianca St. Ives knew she was different from all her friends. Instead of playing hopscotch or combing her dolls' hair, she studied martial arts with sensei masters and dismantled explosives with special-ops retirees. Her father prepped her well to carry on the family business. Now a striking beauty with fierce skills, the prodigy has surpassed the master.

    She's known as the Guardian. Running a multinational firm with her father, she makes a living swindling con men out of money they stole—and she's damn good at it. She does things on her own terms. But her latest gig had a little hiccup—if you count two hundred million dollars and top secret government documents going missing as little. Her father also died on the mission. The thing is, the US government doesn't believe he's really dead. They'll stop at nothing to capture Richard St. Ives, a high-value target and someone who has been on most-wanted lists all over the world for over two decades, and they mean to use Bianca as bait. With only a fellow criminal for backup and her life on the line, it's up to Bianca to uncover the terrifying truth behind what really happened…and set it right, before it's too late.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateJun 13, 2017
    ISBN9781511393614
    The Ultimatum
    Author

    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.

    More audiobooks from Karen Robards

    Related to The Ultimatum

    Titles in the series (3)

    View More
    View More

    Related audiobooks

    Suspense For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Cat With No Meow

      Jan 1, 2021

      “JESSALYN, ARE YOU trying to merge with your chair at the cellular level?” Mrs. Lockwood asked me in her low, croaky voice from the front of the classroom. Twenty heads turned in my direction, to witness whatever cellular merging was. My plan to disa

      6 min read

    • Article

      Keys and TREES

      Mar 31, 2021

      Keys and TREES
      3 min read

    • Article

      POISON ON Pink Paper

      Jan 8, 2020

      POISON ON Pink Paper
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Stonemason’s Wife

      Sep 1, 2020

      JOLINA HAS been hearing voices of men she’s never met. Voices like water, clear and cold, eddying at the back of her mind. They’re not real. She knows this. As in, she’s not crazy. They’re only the voices she’s heard on the phone, voices of men who b

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Ruins

      Aug 5, 2021

      The Ruins
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Kitchen, A Sunroom, And A Thousand Days

      Aug 5, 2019

      I was young, maybe 8 or 9. My mother was going through a time: The couple she cleaned for and whom we lived with had broken up and left us lingering in their abandoned home. She had cancer, my mother, so her head was where it was, but sometimes she w

      3 min read

    • Article

      GHOST In The HOUSE

      Oct 1, 2021

      GHOST In The HOUSE
      7 min read

    • Article

      Dark DEEDS

      Jan 20, 2021

      Dark DEEDS
      9 min read

    • Article

      Quiet Night

      Aug 7, 2023

      Quiet Night
      19 min read

    • Article

      AUNT MAUD’S SECRET Part 1

      Sep 1, 2021

      “WHAT! SERIOUSLY?” “Settle down, Martin,” said Ms. Phelps as she poured herself a second mug of coffee that morning. She sat down at the kitchen table, gently blowing on the steam. “Aunt Maud is so excited about her visit and really looking forward

      6 min read

    • Article

      THE BOY WHO KEPT Bees

      Oct 6, 2021

      All you could hear was rain, rain, rain. Rain drumming on the slate roof, streaming down the kitchen window, saturating the meadows and the dark woods beyond. Jess waited until her dad had turned away to check his phone, then dropped her half-eaten s

      8 min read

    • Article

      The Education of Mrs. R.

      Sep 6, 2022

      An adolescent shriek woke her. Cockerels, she thought, cockerels, with a wry twist to the word. She lay in the dark listening. There was no use in covering her head; the screaming still came through. The soloist was suddenly submerged in the chorus.

      13 min read

    • Article

      Taking Sides

      Apr 1, 2022

      Taking Sides
      7 min read

    • Article

      Four Things You Hear

      Jan 1, 2023

      THE HOLLOW OF the oak tree wasn’t dark enough. Zoia squeezed her head between her knees, letting her wool dress mute the sunlight, the sounds of the forest, and the angry knife of grief that found her heart every time she thought about last night. Zo

      7 min read

    • Article

      The Fox And CINDERELLA

      Dec 7, 2022

      The Fox And CINDERELLA
      6 min read

    • Article

      Cricket League

      Jan 1, 2022

      It was an unusual birthday. Colorful banners blanketed the backyard. Kids chased each other through the grass. Adults talked. It all went downhill from there. My little sister was turning five. On her birthday cake, painted in frosting, was a fat, pi

      7 min read

    • Article

      “No Brown Sugar in Anybody’s Milk”

      Jun 5, 2023

      Essie T-e-e-e. Essie T. Where is that girl? Essie T., hurry up and come in here and fasten the back of this dress. Honestly, girl, are you always so slow? A big clumsy-looking girl pushed herself across the room. She walked as if she were afraid that

      10 min read

    • Article

      The Writing On THE WALL

      Apr 6, 2021

      The Writing On THE WALL
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Goblin In The Garden

      Sep 7, 2022

      The Goblin In The Garden
      3 min read

    • Article

      Trouble in Strange Places

      May 1, 2022

      Growing up in a small town has got to be different from growing up in the city, but I don’t know exactly how. I’ve never lived anywhere else but this small town, and I’m eleven years old. The rest of the family is fine with living in Luverne, Minneso

      6 min read

    • Article

      Proverbs Of A Faceless Time

      Dec 1, 2023

      Proverbs Of A Faceless Time
      9 min read

    • Article

      The King’s passion

      Aug 11, 2021

      The King’s passion
      11 min read

    • Article

      Shruti Swamy

      Jun 15, 2018

      Not the scent of the smoke, but the sight of it, not the sight itself, but the screen through which it altered the sunlight—she couldn’t articulate the change exactly, it’s just that the light seemed odd, like the acidic light of a nightmare. She had

      13 min read

    • Article

      Wishing For Christmas

      Nov 1, 2020

      Wishing For Christmas
      5 min read

    • Article

      Dark DEEDS

      Jan 13, 2021

      Dark DEEDS
      9 min read

    • Article

      All Harriet’s Pieces

      Apr 10, 2021

      Janie dropped the book into her lap and leaned her head against the outside of the translucent pig chamber. Warmth seeped from the chamber, a stark contrast to the cold atrium floor, covered with tiles Mama had found in some faraway place on one of h

      10 min read

    • Article

      The Bees Are Coming

      Aug 4, 2022

      The Bees Are Coming
      7 min read

    • Article

      The King’s passion

      Aug 11, 2021

      The King’s passion
      11 min read

    • Article

      Begin Again

      Jun 14, 2022

      My grandfather came to live with me. There was nowhere else for him to go. What had happened to all his children? Death, decay, exile—I hardly know. My own parents died of pain. But I must not be too gloomy, at the beginning, or you will leave me, an

      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Ultimatum

    3.5/5

    94 ratings15 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      This was definitely an action packed book and it starts out with a bang and a bust. The bust being the two million dollars that Bianca with her dad and their team was set up and in position to steal. However, that was kind of hard for them to do as the vault was empty when they got there. Having been found out, the chase is on and Bianca's father was killed in the getaway, or was he? No one really seems to know. No one has heard from him in years, including his daughter.Bianca then decides to go legal and opens up a security firm. She handles legit security for several companies. She is still also on the look out for signs that her father is still alive. Unfortunately, there are others who want him punished that are also looking for him.This was one of those books wherein the action just kept coming. It was definitely an entertaining and enjoyable read. Thanks to Harlequin and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Bianca St. Ives grew up learning the skills that have transformed her into the Guardian. She’s good at what she does, and she does it on her own terms. But everything has gone wrong on her latest mission. Now she needs to uncover the truth about what really happened that disastrous night, the night her father, Richard St. Ives, died.Or did he?Readers will find much to enjoy in this fast-paced, suspense-filled adventure. With believable, likable characters, an interesting premise, and enough action to keep the pages turning, readers won’t be disappointed. The quasi-cliffhanger ending perfectly ties up the plotlines in the story and, at the same time, segues into the next book in the series.Highly recommended.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Very exciting all the way to the end, and cannot wait to start the next in the series.
    • 5/5
      Loved it was hooked from the very start ! I can’t wait to listen to more of her books
    • 5/5
      Great new series. Robards has broken out of her use of a formula, that was getting too repetitious in her older books. Her recent ghost series broke the mold - but not entirely, still following her predictable pattern (to some extent). Whereas, The Ultimatum, seems completely fresh. Can't wait for the next in this series. It's difficult to review the story, without creating spoilers, so I'm not saying too much here. Can say, there is a strong female character, and believable protagonist(s).

      The audio version of this is well narrated, though my favourite narrator is the one who performs J.D. Robb's near-future 'In-Death' series in audio format.
    • 4/5
      The Ultimatum is the first book in The Guardian series which promises to be a good one. Bianca is a thief who works with her father to pull off very elaborate cons and steal valuable items. Near the beginning of the book, Bianca's father is killed in the middle of a job, so Bianca opens a security business in Savannah, Georgia and tries to live a somewhat normal life. It isn't long though, before her past comes back to haunt her. Bianca has left open several avenues of communication in the faint hope that her father is still alive. One of them has been breached by someone offering him a job. Bianca pulls the job in hopes of finding her father, but in the process, finds out more about herself and her father than she had planned. She also has several encounters with an attractive but mysterious stranger that keeps popping up in her business and making it tough for her to forget about him.
      By the end of the book, I enjoyed the story very much and am looking forward to the next installment of the series. My only complaint was that so much time was spent at the beginning of the book detailing the job in which Bianca's father died, that very little time was left for what turned out to be the meat of the story. As a result, a lot of the details and character development were left unexplored. I'm hoping for more in the next book in the series. Overall, a very good beginning to what could be a very intriguing series.
    • 5/5
      THE ULTIMATUM(THE GUARDIAN, #1) BY KAREN ROBARDS. Bianca St. Ives is not who she thinks she is. She thinks she's a thief a con artist and a master of disguise but boy is she wrong. Things for Bianca are not what they seem to be and her father, she is learning is not who she thinks he is! Sound confusing? Not if you read THE ULTIMATUM, the first in the Guardian series by KAREN ROBARDS. Robards is very well know for her thrillers & twist and turns of a story but this time she has even topped herself! Once you start reading this book you don't want to put it down until its done. Just when you think you have a handle on the plot and Bianca, Robards has tossed another monkey wrench into the mix and you start questioning the ending again. Not once during the entire book did I feel I had a handle on the ending which to me is the perfect thriller! I cant wait to read book two and see where this series goes.I recieved this book free from goodreads in exchange for an honest review.
    • 2/5
      It wasn't a good reading. First, it took a long time to get at the bottom of the thread. It was not only boring it was also very confusing and surreal. Furthermore it wasn't catching or gripping it was more a very hard deal to get through the plot. I definitely can't recommend it.
    • 2/5
      This wasn't really what I was expecting, and it has turned out to really not be my sort of thing. The story is set in the not too distant future and opens with the newly elected president of the USA confronted with the fact that the effects of global CO2 emissions are much greater and far reaching than previously thought.I had envisaged an action-packed, seat-of-the-pants, dystopian view of the world imploding under the weight of it's own carbon crimes. This book is nothing like that at all.It focuses very heavily on what the incoming president's administration is going to handle this news and how they are going to reduce emissions worldwide. It is very heavy on dialogue. We observe in detail what everyone is saying, but learn very little about who they are or how they feel about is. There is almost no background information on what has happened worldwide prior to 2032 and it is very light on humour on any level - it takes itself very seriously.I can't say anymore about it, as I have given up on it, not something I do often. It was just too dry for me, but it is very clever and obviously very thoroughly researched
    • 5/5
      Matthew Glass has given us a thriller that is all too possible, drawing the reader in from page one. The book begins innocuously enough in the year 2032 in a mood of energy and optimism for rebuilding the nation’s basic foundation. The bright and popular newly-elected U.S. president has won his seat with an unprecedented majority on a platform of honesty, decisiveness, and trust. The excitement is contagious as the population celebrates their president-elect, but hidden clouds are on the horizon when he learns that the agreements he has inherited will challenge his government’s integrity..Engrossing, tense, and tightly knit, Ultimatum is written with a strong sense of political process, heart-stopping decision-making, and intrigue. Although a work of fiction, it bestows a feeling of stark realism and drama as crises build. How these crises are approached by the president and the many people who form his government are quite fascinating to this Canadian reader. The characterizations are full-on, the plot development plausible, even perhaps ultimately probable. This book is a strong and shocking wake-up call involving the whole world.Previous policies on global emissions have done nothing to prevent the looming disaster that had escalated to extreme proportions but the severity had been downplayed. This is where the president finds himself as he takes office. President Benton is a strong presence throughout the book and the author has smoothly if urgently demonstrated the transitions in rapid succession. His torment is felt as he wrestles to keep the honesty and trust promised in his platform. The world turns upside down and inside out within the first several days of his presidency as he becomes more aware of deals made by the previous government.The story begins within the U.S. but the pace of global warming is overwhelming in its path of destruction. The horror is the speed and loss of land worldwide. Coastlines have disappeared and relocation of populations is in the millions.Matthew Glass has set a momentum that does not let up but constantly accelerates. He definitely keeps the tension building. This novel is indeed a roller-coaster of a thriller. The action keeps the reader involved from start to finish, second-guessing outcomes, trying to predict responses, and what the final horror will be. This book will definitely bring some new thoughts on how much the world is really one; how things must be tackled worldwide, parts played by arrogance and greed. Very spellbinding and thought-provoking. Great writing, Matthew, I really enjoyed my adventure into the world of politics.
    • 3/5
      Matthew Glass’s debut novel, Ultimatum, has suffered unfulfilled expectations. If you read it expecting to find the thriller it was marketed as, you will be sadly disappointed. If you’re open-minded, what you’ll find instead is a provocative novel of ideas and politics.The near-future story is set in 2032. Joe Benton, a good man with good intentions, has just been elected President of the United States. He thought he knew what he was getting into, but almost immediately upon entering office, he learns from the outgoing President that the global warming/climate change situation is SIGNIFICANTLY worse than anyone has ever publicly or even privately acknowledged. The United States and the entire world is facing a catastrophe. Rising tides, flooded cities, millions of people needing to be relocated, and much, much more.When I read the description of the novel, I was expecting an action thriller. Desperate people airlifted from the rooftops of drowning cities. That sort of thing. On the contrary, this is a serious, intelligent (and realistic, all things considered) look at the tense politics involved in negotiating a crisis. It’s suspenseful, but a page-turner it’s not.I can’t regret time spent reading books with these dire ecological warnings. What’s eerie is that as I was reading the novel, I was hearing news reports that echoed the content of the book almost exactly. Very disturbing.
    • 3/5
      I’ve had this book since the end of April and finally got to it. Since I knew it would be awhile I let my dad read it first and he loved it. He said it was totally believable, relevant to what is going on in the world and he did not want to stop reading.For myself it took awhile to get into it and then I could not put it down. I will say the book did tick me off and I really wanted to smack a couple of the characters on the back of their heads after some of their actions. The way all the characters interact seems totally believable to me as to how our president, secretary of state, etc would really talk. It also again makes me realize it’s not surprising how little our government is really able to get done on big issues like the environment with all these factions squabbling. Olsen as secretary of state seemed to know what he was talking about in regards to China but seemed to have no real filter between his brain and mouth so he alienated those around him even if his basic ideas were sound. It was understandable to me that instead of responding in a logical manner Ball started to be defensive and argumentative in regards to anything Olsen said. In the end I did feel like because President Benton wasn’t fully willing to commit to Olsen’s plan he brought the final attacks upon the US. I think if he had made more of a stand earlier on we wouldn’t have gotten to that point.I know others will disagree with my opinion and I think that is what is great about this book. It makes you think and everyone will probably have a slightly different take on who was right, who was wrong and could anything have been done differently. The premise of this book is a scary thing because the problems are realistic and it’s a matter of how the people all over the world respond to our environmental problems that will determine if we ever reach this point in reality.
    • 3/5
      Ultimatum is the first novel from English writer Matthew Glass. It's set in the near future, 2032 to be precise, and Joe Benton has just been elected as President of the United States of America. Before he takes office, the incumbent president asks to meet him in private. What he tells Benton is shocking. Global warming is accelerating much faster than anticipated and action must be taken quickly. The previous administration had been in talks with the Chinese trying unsuccessfully to reach a bilateral agreement to cut emissions.This news radically changes the focus of Benton's administration. He had been planning to push through a series of laws to reform education and health, as well as funding a Relocation plan, to help move people from areas affected by climate change. Now he needs to find the time and resources to deal with this new crisis. Benton is a man who genuinely wants to make change, meaningful change that is, but the world is frighteningly close to catastrophe.Ultimatum gives detailed insight into the pressures and actions of an American president and his administration. Like Lincoln, Benton appoints a cabinet who are not always unified in their views. As Benton tries to formulate a plan, he also has to deal with warring cabinet members. At this stage, the book is filled with dialogue and detail, but somehow, it stays interesting.As a result of his desire to truly make a difference and create a better world for his children, Benton takes the USA down a decisive and controversial path, leaving America stranded on the global stage. As he faces the consequences of his actions, it is interesting to see how he questions his actions and responsibilites.Ultimatum is billed as an environmental and political thriller, but it's not quite balanced on a knife-edge. It does deliver keen insight into modern global politics and the current greenhouse gases crisis. It is unsettling and thought-provoking, but with the occasional feel of a scientific paper.
    • 3/5
      This book is touted as a thriller, but that characterization is just inaccurate. A better description might be "a good text for a political science class on how the presidency operates." Joe Benton is President-Elect in 2032. The date only comes into play in two senses: one, in 2032 the world is that much closer to environmental disaster, and two, that puts us far enough in the future to imagine the truly science fiction scenario of Benton having been a three-term Democratic senator from the rather red state of Arizona!President Benton finds out that environmental devastation is getting to “the tipping point” at which time the acceleration from the feedback loop will make recovery untenable. He has to act immediately to cut emissions, and he needs China to go along, since they have become the biggest carbon emitters. Without the U.S. and China agreeing to painful cutbacks, the rest of the world will not cooperate. Too much time has already been wasted because of political pressures from competing interest groups. President Benton wants to make meaningful change, for a change.For the next 400 pages or so, strategy is discussed. In great detail. There is no real information given on the environmental problems. Rather, there is political squabbling among cabinet members vying to influence the president, and there are political discussions among a diverse group of actors trying to discern the motives and future behaviors of other countries. Many characters are introduced: Cabinet members, Senate and House members, staff aids, press aids, speech writers, assistant writers, communication aids, legislative aids, and aids to aids. A spreadsheet would have been helpful. It gets a little bit more interesting when President Benton begins to question the advice he has gotten and his responsibility for having acted on it. Otherwise, it is mostly all angst and no action. For a more entertaining way to learn about how the presidency operates, I would probably recommend the television drama “West Wing.”
    • 3/5
      In Ultimatum, Matthew Glass, puts together an eerily possible futuristic scenario. President elect in 2032, Joseph Benton, discovers the global warming problem he was preparing for is more rapidly approaching then he’s prepared for. Political maneuvering ensues. The action does stall at times giving way to much dialogue and consequential discussion. . However, Glasses writing is crisp and the conclusion is dramatic as could be desired. The fear this novel conjures is in its realism. Though disturbing, Ultimatum is not a traditional thriller as expected, but more of a look at cause and effect politics and international policy which to some may be even scarier. Those interested in political and environmental intrigue will surely enjoy this debut.