VIRTUAL WITNESS - A Harry Hawkins Thriller Legendary Detective Harry Hawkins returns in this gripping thriller that pulls him from retirement into a deadly game of artificial intelligence, murder, and international espionage.When Detective Jeff Beckinsale is executed in his bedroom, H receives a mysterious recording of his friend's final moments - sent by an AI chatbot claiming to have 'witnessed' the murder. Armed only with a cryptic note and his old-school detective instincts, H must navigate a world of advanced technology he barely understands to uncover the truth.As H digs deeper, he discovers Beckinsale was involved in testing a revolutionary AI system - one that forges towards consciousness itself. With help from his former partner Amisha Bhanushali and Jeff's grieving daughter, H races to unlock the AI's secrets before more people die. But powerful forces are determined to keep those secrets buried, and they view yesterday's detective as a threat to be eliminated.The Boy from Bermondsey must now adapt to a changed London where artificial intelligence, not human intelligence, holds the key to solving his friend's murder and breaking the conspiracy. Can H's street smarts and relentless pursuit of justice survive in a world where killers hide behind computer code and even an AI can keep deadly secrets?A pulse-pounding thriller that masterfully blends old-school detective work with cutting-edge technology, Virtual Witness marks the triumphant return of Harry "H" Hawkins - London's most determined detective is back, and he's about to face his most baffling case yet. Roy and Garry Robson are, unsurprisingly, brothers from the Elephant and Castle, south east London. Their father (variously a pig farmer, cab driver, haulage contractor and general ducker and diver) and mother (homemaker, cook and doctor's receptionist with a well-timed left hook) raised them and their siblings with some old fashioned south London working class values. These included hard work, respect for their elders and a willingness to duck and dive when required.They have endeavoured, with varying degrees of success, to maintain the values their parents tried to instill in them. One day, whilst enjoying a beer or two, they decided to write a Crime Thriller Series. The gritty, pulsating and stylish London Large series is the result. Roy lives in Bromley and works as a Service Delivery Manager for an International IT Consultancy. Garry lives in Krakow and is now, of all things, a sociology professor. Both career choices served as a source of confusion and humour to their parents, who were born and raised in the days before computers and sociology professors existed.Although Harry 'H' Hawkins, the protagonist of the London Large novels, shares some of their old-fashioned values, he is not based upon Garry or Roy, neither of whom would survive the first chapter of a Harry Hawkins novel.
