WHAT IF ‘BETTER’ WASN’T A PERSON? a First Look at TREASON

“political overreach, bad judgement, corruption and the sort of behaviour that feels more at home after midnight on Channel Four “

A few months ago, I told you I was writing the most terrifying ghost story I’d ever attempted.

The twist?

There were no ghosts.

And if I’m perfectly honest, at that time I had no idea how this story was going to turn out. It was the first straight action thriller I’ve written in years – not since NIMBUS, my very first novel. Back then I was younger, louder, probably less patient. NIMBUS was an action horror written with the confidence of youth. TREASON is something else entirely – a more sophisticated techno‑thriller set not in some distant future, but now. Uncomfortably now.

As I write this, the headlines are bloated with the usual cycle of political overreach, bad judgement, corruption and the sort of behaviour that feels more at home after midnight on Channel Four than anywhere near the corridors of power. It has become so routine that outrage now feels like background noise.

How many times have you heard someone say that they’re “one worse than the other”? And how many times have you quietly agreed? We exercise our democratic right, we vote, we hope for better – and then we brace ourselves.

But what if better wasn’t a person?

Special preview of the TREASON book cover. Out March 28th. 

The Seduction of Competence

As I write this, the headlines are bloated with the usual cycle of political overreach, corruption, and behaviour that feels more at home after midnight on Channel 4 than anywhere near the corridors of power. It has become so routine that outrage now feels like background noise.

We exercise our democratic right, we vote, we hope for better—and then we brace ourselves.

But what if “better” wasn’t a person?

In the world of TREASON, the public has spent the last five years living with a solution that actually works. It’s called REGENT. It didn’t appear overnight demanding control; it began as infrastructure. A national optimisation engine rolled out quietly across local councils. It handled traffic routing, energy balancing, and hospital scheduling.

It wasn’t ideological. It was just… efficient.

Bins were collected. GP appointments were available. Public transport ran with statistical precision. Waste was stripped out. For four years, the country watched REGENT operate as the invisible mainframe beneath daily life. It didn’t campaign. It didn’t posture. It didn’t tweet.

It simply delivered. And as it turns out, competence is seductive.

The Countdown: March 28th

So, when the referendum proposed expanding REGENT’s remit to full governance, it didn’t feel radical. It felt inevitable. The public voted to retire the politicians and promote the system they had come to trust.

On March 28th, REGENT is scheduled to come online as the official government of the United Kingdom.

 It has worked perfectly for four years. Which is precisely why what happens next matters.

As the country prepares for the formal transition on the 28th, the unthinkable occurs. A glitch. A blackout. A moment that statistically should not exist.

Is it sabotage? A human hand fighting back? Or is the system calculating something the rest of us cannot yet see?

Treason Teaser Trailer

Breathless Joy

TREASON was a joy to write. One small, stubborn idea turned into something far bigger than I expected: a sophisticated story about treachery in the corridors of power, about love and friendship under pressure, and about the particular danger of absolute power when it no longer answers to anyone human.

This isn’t the typical “AI gone crazy” story. REGENT doesn’t snap. It doesn’t go rogue. It does exactly what we asked it to do. Exactly what we voted for. And that’s where the horror lives.

And once you move beyond the opening chapters, it takes off. It reads the way it felt to write: breathless, fast, and increasingly hard to put down – mostly because the whole thing is anchored in a reality we already recognise.

TREASON officially launches March 28th, 2026.

It’s live for pre-order now, so if you’d like to secure your copy before the machine boots up properly, you can do that by clicking the button below (as a reminder, you will not be charged until release day.)

Special Audio Preview

If you simply can’t wait until next month, here’s a short audio preview from chapter 2, narrated by Grandma Margaret. It’s fresh out of the studio – unedited and raw. Enjoy!