Four Cardinal Cities. Three AIs. Two Estranged Brothers. Only One Winner.
Tragedy strikes plunging Colonel Nathan Helix into a crucible of terrifying choices where the line between humanity and Artificial Intelligence blurs.
Ebola has resurfaced twenty years after its last deadly rampage across the planet and the source is perilously close to home. In a tragic twist of timing Prime Minister Janet Archer and her cabinet fall victim to the outbreak.
Helix and Archer have history. She wanted him to succeed his murdered mentor as Cardinal General for London. He declined, but this time she's not taking no for an answer. Appointed by Archer, Helix's techno-genius brother Ethan is in the vanguard of the Prime Minister's crusade to eliminate all AI from city life.
But enigmatic tech entrepreneur Khan Sumerian aided by his pet politician Julian Tope have a different plan. With Archer side-lined and Ethan in their sights they seize their chance. Helix must fight to end Sumerian's grab for power, liberate the country, save himself and his brother in a gripping tale of high-stakes subterfuge, unyielding sacrifice, and a battle for a future where the choices made will define who we truly are.
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The truth hides where you fear to look.
When technology expert Mo Archer's father Roland goes missing he is unwittingly dragged into a Nazi art swindle 80 years in the making.
Mo tracks the last known location of the retired art lecturer's phone to a place that makes no sense. When an old family friend calls, equally desperate to find his father, Mo is drawn in deeper. Emilia Carducci unfolds a decades-old family feud linked to a rediscovered masterpiece that has set the London art world and media abuzz.
Mo refuses to see the link between Roland's disappearance and the painting until he uncovers what his father left behind. Fuelled by fear and armed with his discovery he turns to the only other person he can trust, his assistant Sapph. Ex-military, retired MMA champion and with an unhealthy interest in the dark web, Sapph gets to work.
A high-stakes race against time ensues to find Roland while picking through and peeling back the layers of treachery to right a historical wrong.
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A family betrayal. A brother taken hostage. A priceless ransom. An impossible choice.
When Major Nathan Helix's commanding officer plunges 55 floors to his death, everybody agrees that Helix is the obvious choice of investigator.
Conflict erupts when the Home Secretary intervenes. Helix refuses to stand down and chooses suspension over desk duty. Determined to discover who murdered his friend and mentor, he joins forces with his cyber-genius brother Ethan.
Chains of evidence point back to a celebrated case, a case centred around politics and power, the pinnacle of Helix's career. The case is closed and Helix wants it left that way. But long lost family links lurk in the shadows and blood is thicker than water. He's not the only one determined to reveal his version of the truth.
The Home Secretary is handed explosive new evidence. The leaked documents demand the case be reopened placing Helix and the main prosecution witness, Doctor Gabrielle Stepper in the dock. She orders their arrest.
When he learns who's behind the leak and their lust for revenge, Helix knows he's waging a war on two fronts. Pitted against that and the system he thought he was part of, he has to find Gabrielle. This time, it's not just a fight for her reputation and his career, but a battle for their lives.
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The only weapon she had was her art.
Pandora Strafer's consuming passion is her art. Celebrity is within her grasp. However, a terrible secret she shares with her despised brother Tobin threatens to destroy everything she has worked for.
But Pan knows something Tobin doesn't - there is a witness. With their livelihoods and liberty in jeopardy, both will do almost anything to conceal their side of the story. Tobin's increasing paranoia and desperation drag Pan deeper into his sinister world.
Pan fights back with the only weapon she has: her art. She has the time, the talent and the opportunity. But can she find the killer instinct?
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A vengeful war hero. A politician's wife. A lethal pathogen. Scores to settle.
Post-pandemic Britain is socially fractured. The London elite enjoy a life of privilege, comfort and plenty, while those outside forage, hunt and dig for survival.
Major Nathan Helix has survived twenty years of service to his country at the cost of one brother and almost the second. Doctor Gabrielle Stepper, wife of the Chancellor and venerated scientist credited with defeating the virus, craves normality and anonymity. Her dream is shattered along with her reputation when she is accused of murdering of her lover.
Helix is assigned to investigate. Stepper’s revelations about a genetically engineered pathogen point to a spurned former colleague with a score to settle. Confronted by his own demons, Helix fights for his and Stepper’s survival in the shadow of a government conspiracy, a lust for revenge and the threat of another global catastrophe.
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A little bit about me.
I'm Chris Lofts. I live in Herne Bay which is the county of Kent in the United Kingdom. Together with my wife Corinne we are the human slaves to our cat Monty and a family of chickens.
Previously, I worked as an IT Project Manager and I started writing when commuting and "living" in hotels while away with my job. I came relatively late to writing but always felt I had a book or two in me. I love action and psychological thrillers so it seemed natural to me to write in the same genre. Now, having hung up my project plan, I spend my days writing and marketing my work which is a labour of love. I'm putting together a page of books I've read; both fiction and non-fiction and I'll add that to the site soon.
These interviews provide some additional reader background and context to Helix Genesis, Helix Nexus and Helix Trinity. I originally wrote them to develop the characters and specifically “hear” their voices. By having a conversation with them about their lives what they were doing during and immediately after the pandemic, I discovered how their experiences shaped them into the people they are.
My second objective was to gain a better understanding of the physical environment in which the drama unfolds. The world depicted is different in many ways and familiar in others. At its extremes it is order and chaos and it is the narrow path between both that Helix and Gabrielle must walk.