Zero Ri$k (Hardcover)

23 December 2024… Rob Tanner should have been enjoying a rare day off from his life-consuming work as Chief Operating Officer at one of the country's largest banks. But a panicked phone call from a senior colleague forces him to put his Christmas plans on ice: more than a thousand of the bank's accounts have seen their balances increased by a factor of ten. Exactly ten. Through the inexplicably simple addition of an extra zero. And when the inflated balances prove to be neither early Christmas gifts, nor a botched computer system upgrade, but the most sophisticated cyber attack in history, Tanner finds himself in the eye of a "Black Swan' storm no one predicted, but anyone could have anticipated.

Tanner enlists the help of brilliant American cyber security expert Ashley Markham, but the attacks only worsen: bank balances rise remorselessly and spread to all the nation's banks. The only clues to the hacker's intentions are cryptic daily emails, centred on Hieronymus Bosch's medieval representation of the seven deadly sins―and packed with colourful artistic and cultural references―taunting Tanner and the newly incumbent Prime Minister, James Allen.

With financial markets―and the very world as he knows it―on the brink of collapse, Tanner races against the clock to decode not just the bizarre emails but their deeper meaning, and the implications for who he can really trust. All the while, his former boss “The Toad” is seeking revenge... and answers of his own.

This enthralling, multi-layered debut follows the story of a disillusioned banker facing unthinkable financial Armageddon, where money has no value, stock and bond prices are meaningless, and the economy is destroyed. Can Tanner unravel the mystery of the hacker's obsession with Bosch, sin and retribution before modern society returns to the dark ages? 

Book description: 

<li style="text-align: justify;">A multi-layered, race against time, cyber-crime thriller with a simple, original, "Black Swan' premise that will keep you awake at night turning the pages… and questioning your dependence on modern technology. <li style="text-align: justify;">An intriguing cyber-take on the locked room mystery; a whydunnit as well as a whodunnit, centred on the modern seven deadly sins. <li style="text-align: justify;">Full of cryptic artistic and cultural references (or are they clues?). <li style="text-align: justify;">A thought-provoking morality tale set in London at Christmas (via Europe, the US and Africa). <li style="text-align: justify;">With short, sharp chapters and crisp dialogue from an ensemble cast… where the criminal may be the one person telling the truth. <li style="text-align: justify;">And, at its heart, an everyday tale of love, loss and redemption.

Praise for Zero Ri$k:

"I was hooked from the first sentence.' -- Reader review

"Just WOW! This reads like a sleek HBO prime time tv show.' -- Reader review

An intelligent, intriguing, sharp-edged thriller.' -- Reader review

A really fast, engaging read.' -- Reader review

An intellectual, multifaceted, thrilling story.' -- Reader review

The setting feels quite unique and realistic all at the same time.' -- Reader review

The story is written so well from the start and had me instantly captured by the interesting characters.' -- Reader review

The story is so believable.' -- Reader review

Hayes writes with an easy-flowing narrative.' -- Reader review

"This is a ready-made film script in the making.' -- Reader review

Simon Hayes is an award-winning former headhunter and investment banker. His finance career took him from his home city London, where he was a top-ranked securities analyst in the Institutional Investor and Extel surveys, to the US, Hong Kong and Japan. Search led Simon back to Tokyo, where he was recognised as the “Best Headhunting Executive” in Japan by Asiamoney, then as head of a leading London-based Financial Services practice into the City's most exclusive boardrooms.

He wrote Zero Ri$k, his first novel, whilst creating the rubriqs® people skills system, and he spent much of 2023 in Zimbabwe on a major fraud case.. Born and raised in West London, Simon was the first member of his family to attend university, graduating from Trinity Hall, Cambridge with a degree in Law.