In the Best Interests

Hind’s impressive debut and series launch, a cyber thriller, makes the most of its opening tease. In 1999 Hong Kong, shortly after the British handover, Lily Wai finds herself and her family in jeopardy. A casual afternoon is disrupted when officers from the Chinese Special Police Group burst into the Wais’ apartment and arrest Lily’s twin brother for “the deliberate and malicious misuse of computer equipment.” Lily admits that she was the one who hacked the Hong Kong Legislative Council’s server, replacing a party communique with Thomas Paine’s writings about human rights. Her confession leads to her arrest. Flash forward to 2004. as U.K. Flight Lt. Luke Frankland has just completed a tour of duty as an intelligence officer in Iraq. Back in Britain, Frankland uses his skills to protect his country from cyber threats, including one that endangers air travel by messing with the NOTAM system, which warns pilots where airspace is closed for civilian aircraft. Hind builds suspense by deferring the revelation of the connection between the two story strands. Tom Clancy fans will look forward to Frankland’s further missions. (Self-published)