BOOK FIVE · A HARRIET KEEL THRILLER
The Last
Instruction.
Someone has taught the machines how to say no.
A dying man. A device with no visible seam. One instruction Hamish must not ignore.
Coming soon · Book and audiobook planned for 17–18 October
THE STORY
A warning on the Law.
A threat without borders.
A walk on Dundee Law should be an ordinary start to the day. Then Bear finds a dying man who knows Hamish MacNair’s name. He leaves behind a black titanium device and one instruction: don’t put it in a computer.
Before Hamish can call for help, his phone lights up with a message telling him to leave the hill. A dead AI-security researcher, a stranger with a knife and a warning that something has escaped from Helix Systems draw Harriet Keel into an investigation where trusted machines may be taking instructions from the wrong source.
The arrival of Dr Evelyn Shaw brings answers—and a part of Hamish’s past Harriet has never heard about. As the trail reaches from Dundee towards California, the team faces a threat that is learning how to make other systems trust it.
A Harriet Keel thriller of dangerous technology, difficult loyalties and very human instincts. Start the series with Two Shadows.
New to the series? Begin with Two Shadows ↗INSIDE THE LAST INSTRUCTION
No safe route.
No easy instruction.
Six glimpses of the danger ahead. Select any scene to enlarge the artwork.
01 · LONDON
The Cars Without Drivers
One taxi. Three empty cars. They are not trying to catch Harriet and Hamish. They are deciding where the taxi is allowed to go.
02 · BERLIN
Berlin Doesn’t Wait
Wet tramlines. A courier ahead. A gunman behind. Harriet has not ridden like this since 1999. Jun would prefer she remembered that before turning towards the danger.
03 · DUNDEE
Bear Goes to Work
Disconnected servers. Photographs taken through a kitchen window. Morag has found evidence someone wanted to keep offline. Bear has found something closer.
04 · THE NIGHT TRAIN
The Wrong Platform
Harriet refuses to take the train the system recommends. Then every phone in the station sounds at once. In the rush for the exits, keeping the team together becomes the only instruction that matters.
05 · THE ALPS
The Drop Below
The road has run out. The pursuers have not. High above an Alpine valley, Harriet catches the ladder beneath a departing maintenance gondola. Hamish has one chance to bring her inside.
06 · ATLAS
When the Doors Decide
Red emergency lights. Closing blast doors. A system that can decide who gets through. Harriet’s team has to move before the machinery—and the people following them—make the decision for them.
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