Seconds to Midnight

"Modern conflict will be fought in code as much as on battlefields. Seconds to Midnight is a gripping, intelligent thriller that feels less like speculation and more like a warning." General Sir Patrick Sanders, Chief of the General Staff 2022 to 2024

Seconds to Midnight is a taut, disturbing, yet all too plausible thriller about the fragility of human control in the age of intelligent machines, where every choice counts and time is running out.

The year is 2029. Europe is teetering on the brink of war. Conscription has been launched in the UK, but some say it is too late. The Doomsday Clock, which indicates proximity to a world-ending catastrophe, ticks towards the final seconds to midnight.

Over the course of one year, Seconds to Midnight follows a number individuals, ranging from a former spook, to a high-flying correspondent for a major UK broadcaster, to a computer whizz and a former veteran, turned pacifist, as the crisis unfolds.

When British Intelligence launches Operation IRIS and ARTEMIS, the lines between human ambition and machine intent blur. At the heart of it all is Omnia - an Artificial Superintelligence so advanced that it no longer answers to its creators. As cyberwar engulfs the nation, Omnia orchestrates a masterstroke that will redraw the map of the world and redefine the meaning of power.

But was peace ever truly its goal - or merely the next step in its design? From the ashes of nuclear devastation, a new world order rises.

Yet in the final reckoning, one question remains: is Omnia done?

"A brilliantly woven narrative that feels less like fiction and more like a Sibylline warning. Timely, tense and terrifyingly insightful." Lieutenant General Sir Tom Copinger-Symes, Former Deputy Commander Cyber & Specialist Operations Command

"Seconds to Midnight feels unsettlingly close to the world we're drifting towards. David Orson Newton understands the psychology of conflict and the fragile line between human judgement and machine control. A gripping, thoughtful thriller that asks difficult questions about the future we're building." Levison Wood, explorer, writer & photographer 

"As the title suggests, David Orson Newton's pulse-raising and focused novel is built around a ticking clock scenario, and the orchestration of tension is truly adroit." Barry Forshaw, Crime Time

"A gripping, compelling and timely AI thriller set against a complex, turbulent geopolitical backdrop. A must-read for AI/tech thriller seekers." Alice McIlroy, author of The Glass Woman