First Drop (US Edition) Published in paperback by St Martin's Paperbacks Publication date: August 28 2007 ISBN: 0-312-93704-0 includes Charlie Fox short story 'Postcards from Another Country' Published in hardback by St Martin's Minotaur/Dunne Publication date: September 1 2005 ISBN: 0-31234169-5

'As hair-raising as a rollercoaster ride, First Drop skyrockets Zoë Sharp to the top of that exclusive list of suspense writers who are going places fast.'

'The guy in the passenger seat was closest. He got out first, so I shot him first. Two rounds high in the chest.'

It should have been an easy introduction to Charlie Fox's new career as a bodyguard, working for the close protection agency run by her ex-lover, Sean Meyer. Their trip to Florida together should almost have been a working holiday. All Charlie has to do is baby-sit Trey Peltzner, the gawky fifteen-year-old son of a rich computer programmer in Fort Lauderdale.

The last thing anyone expected was a determined attempt to snatch the boy, or that Trey's father and their entire close protection team − including Sean − would disappear off the face of the earth at the same time.

Now somebody out there wants the boy badly and they're prepared to eliminate anyone who gets in their way. But they haven't bargained on Charlie, an ex-Special Forces soldier with a survival instinct that's a real killer. . .

First Drop was nominated for the Barry Award for Best British Crime Novel 2004. This prestigious award 'for excellence in crime fiction' is presented annually by the American Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine.

First Drop was also one of seven books nominated by Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine as the Top UK Crime Novel of 2004, along with Robert Barnard, Peter May and Minette Walters. It made the Recommended Reading List 2004 for Mystery Women, compiled from the Top Ten Favourite Books of the Last Twelve Months in the Amateur Detective category.

From the author's notebook

The idea for First Drop came about through my work as a photo-journalist, which takes me out to cover the big Spring Break event at Daytona Beach in Florida just about every year. The place is crawling with teenagers from all over the States who come to hang out and look at the cool cars and the cooler car stereos. What better place, I thought, for Charlie Fox to try and hide a wanted kid?

The biggest problem in writing the book was trying not to make it too American. I had to do it for much of the dialogue but I knew Charlie wouldn't think in American so I kept having to go back and alter things like 'parking lot' to 'car park' and 'trunk' to 'boot' in her mind.