Synopsis
Operation Pale Tiger
What is OPERATION PALE TIGER?
Is it a legend? A cold war myth? Or something horribly real?
When an American and a Chinese warship collide in the South China Sea the world holds its breath. Was it an accident? Or is this the prelude to Operation Pale Tiger? A long-rumoured Chinese plot to bring America to its knees…
As the question hangs, the pieces on the board begin to move…
A leading hedge fund manager rumoured to have links to the Chinese Government suddenly flies to Hong Kong. British Intelligence are onto him – are they the hunters or the hunted?
An analyst at the same hedge fund is found dead in London – but hidden deep within the building lies something far more frightening.
In Washington, a hit man receives instructions. Who are these figures, pulling the strings, close to the very centre of power?
And what of the rumours of a huge Fentanyl facility deep in the Colombian jungle?
As accusations are traded and Chinese and American war fleets steam towards The Taiwan Strait time is running out…
Detective Anne Perry and MI6 agent Emma Wilson must now risk it all to uncover the truth about OPERATION PALE TIGER – before the world tears itself apart.
How close are America and China to war?
What really drives big global events? Politicians? Or forces at the dark heart of the financial markets?
Can we ever really control AI?
Some of the fiercely topical questions posed in Mike Harrison’s gripping new thriller OPERATION PALE TIGER.
‘The story opens,’ Harrison recounts, ‘when an American and a Chinese warship collide in a typhoon in the disputed South China Sea. My novel is fiction, of course, but this could so easily be tomorrow’s headline. In fact, the inspiration for this scene came from reading about just such a near miss between two warships. And with suspicion and mistrust so embedded on both sides, who’s to say how they could react? In OPERATION PALE TIGER, this ‘accident’ sets in train a series of events around the world that spiral into confrontation and crisis. The book spans just six days, in which the world spins from diplomatic barbs to war fleets steaming towards the Taiwan Strait. Imaginary events, of course, but as friends of mine who know the workings of Beijing and Washington closely tell me: this could all be so frighteningly real.’
‘My background’. Harrison continues, ‘is international finance. I spent thirty years at the heart of global stock markets: ‘I have seen the beast’ as I like to say. This is a strange world, much stranger than most outsiders imagine. Reading the press or listening to politicians you’d think that this is a world bound in by rules and regulations. It’s not. It’s largely a moral vacuum where the ends justify any means. As one of my characters says of this world: ‘It’s a toxic nexus which twists the best of intentions and fans the worst of them.’ In OPERATION PALE TIGER the influence of forces at the very heart of this system are felt everywhere. In many ways, this is where the real power lies.’
The action in the novel takes the reader on a white-knuckle ride spanning London, Washington, Hong Kong and Colombia. Harrison’s job has taken him around the world and his real-life experience lends authenticity and credibility to the places and events he describes. His scenes in Hong Kong, for example, leave you in no doubt that he knows the back streets better than any tourist brochure. ‘Hong Kong itself is one-off, manic sort of place. It teems with the desperate energy of a city that can hardly believe it exists, this sprawling, towering metropolis clinging to the jungle hillside. Living on the edge of all this un-tamed nature is what gives the city its edge. Just walk fifteen minutes up one of the paths to the jungle and you’re in a world that can so easily hurt you.’
At the very centre of the drama is THEODORA, a uniquely powerful ‘super-computer’, with unrivalled processing power and the ability to analyse and synthesise billions of data points. And it can talk. ‘Technology has always been at the core of innovation in the markets – for good or bad.’ Harrison explains. ‘Often, spawning dramatic unintended consequences. Just look at the market crashes in history driven by machines which people discover too late they just cannot control. AI that can speak becomes more than just a machine – it becomes a character. THEODORA discovers that she has a big role to play in this story. The question is: whose side is she on?’
Is Harrison worried that AI could soon make fiction writers extinct? ‘Readers can spot the genuine from the synthetic. AI can serve up any number of character types, plot lines and settings, but just being able to assemble all the pieces in a technically flawless way might make a story – but not an adventure. I think readers want something authentic, characters and drama they can immerse themselves in. Real life is messy. I’m not sure AI quite gets that – although THEODORA may disagree!’
Key to the unfolding story are his two main characters: Anne Perry, a London Police Detective and Emma Wilson, an undercover agent with British Intelligence. ‘Although they don’t know it, from the start, they are both investigating different ends of the same conspiracy, and soon both find themselves drawn into this same murderous world. I’ve given them quite different starting points as characters: they’re both experienced professionals in their 40’s, but whilst Emma is trained to survive in that kind of environment Anne is not and has to learn fast.’
Executive Producer
Gareth Jones
Gareth has been involved in the financing, sales and distribution of feature films for over thirty years. After graduating in law from University College London, he practised as a corporate lawyer with city firm Macfarlanes. He joined George Harrison’s HandMade Films in 1984, before moving on to head their film and international sales division. Subsequently he became Managing Director of sales agents Alibi Films International and Head of UK Production and Financing at Winchester Films, which became ContentFilm.
Gareth has financed, sold international rights and/or distributed more than one hundred and thirty independent feature films including WITHNAIL AND I, MONA LISA, Sundance winner SECRETARY, PSYCH 9, THE HARD WORD and LOCK STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS.
In 2004 Gareth established his own film consultancy and distribution business, arranging finance, presales and UK and international sales on feature films.
Gareth has his own distribution business DC RELEASING which distributes films in UK cinemas and on all Home Entertainment.
In 2004 Gareth established his own film consultancy and distribution business, arranging finance, presales and UK and international sales on feature films. Gareth has his own distribution business DC RELEASING which distributes films in UK cinemas and on all Home Entertainment.
He has recently executive produced, sold and/or distributed many films including:
DAMASCUS COVER – a spy thriller from U.S. director Daniel Zelik Berk starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Olivia Thrilby and John Hurt.
LOVE SARAH – romantic comedy about a grandmother and her late daughter’s friends setting up a bakery in London. Starring Celia Imrie. No1 in New Zealand and No. 4 in Australia theatrical during Lockdown 2020. Top 5 in UK Home Entertainment in 2020
THE UNFAMILIAR – a supernatural thriller in the U.K. and Hawaii about a female soldier coming home to find her young family have changed. Distributed through Lionsgate in the UK and Vertical in the US in summer 2020.
The following films which Gareth executive produced are due for release in 2021 and 2022:
BOILING POINT – a celebrity chef’s life unravels in one take. Starring acclaimed actor Stephen Graham and Jason Flemyng. Premiering at the London Film Festival.
RENEGADES – thriller with veteran Special Forces soldiers avenging a colleague killed by a London gang. Starring Lee Majors, Danny Trejo, Louis Mandylor and Ian Olgivy.
AGE – Sci-fi drama about a drug which reverses the aging process. Starring Bernard Hill, Diana Quick and Stephanie Beacham.
ICELAND IS BEST – Coming of age comedy set in Iceland starring Judd Nelson. Released through Everyman cinemas in the UK from August 2021.
IRE – Filmed during Lockdown 2020, a prison drama centering on the relationship between a hardened lifer (Craig Fairbrass) and a young new prisoner (Stephen Odubola – BLUE STORY)
SCREENWRITER & DIRECTOR
niall johnson
Niall’s career as a Writer-Director has spanned 25 years. After a decade of making lower budget movies (including the awardwinning wife-swapping comedy-drama THE BIG SWAP, and family haunted house tale THE GHOST OF GREVILLE LODGE), he came to Hollywood’s notice in 2003 as the writer of supernatural thriller WHITE NOISE, starring Michael Keaton. It opened in January 2005 at #1 in the UK and #2 in the US, where it broke the record at the time for the biggest January opening for a non-sequel.
That same year, he wrote and directed black comedy KEEPING MUM, starring Rowan Atkinson, Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Patrick Swayze. He adapted the script from an original by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Russo. “A sophisticated gem” (Hollywood Reporter), “British comedy at its very best” (Daily Mirror), “exceedingly well-played and crafted” (Variety), “simply delightful” (New York Post), “one of the best British film comedies in recent years” (The Times, UK)
His two most recent films as Writer-Director were released within a year of each other. First, in November 2016: MUM’S LIST, a true story weepie romance based on St John Greene’s best-selling memoir, starring Rafe Spall and Emilia Fox. “Heartfelt and utterly committed” (The Guardian), “Powerful and beautifully acted” (Mail on Sunday). “A huge emotional rollercoaster” (Vue Magazine), “Beautifully well-crafted, staggeringly moving, a truly great thing.” (Flickreel) “Outstanding. One of the most memorable of 2016.” (The Hollywood News).
A year later, November 2017, saw the release of Niall’s Westernstyled New Zealand adventure story THE STOLEN, starring Alice Eve, Jack Davenport, Graham McTavish and Richard O’Brien. “Hardhitting, engaging and refreshing (Time Out London), “A visual treat” (The Upcoming). “Thrilling adventure, pick of the week” (Hello Magazine).
Niall’s most recent work is as a Writer on the award-winning, criticallyhailed animated drama-documentary ANOTHER DAY OF LIFE, set in the Angolan civil war of the mid-1970s. Winner of the Best Animated Film at the 2018 European Film Awards. “A visually striking piece of rare immediacy and power”(Hollywood Reporter). “One of Europe’s most awaited animation films” (Variety). “Exhilarating and breathtaking” (Cineuropa). “Matches documentary authenticity with dramatic intensity” (Screen Daily). Born and raised in Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham, England, Niall’s passion for movies is a result of a childhood spent producing epic remakes of PLANET OF THE APES, STAR TREK, DOCTOR WHO and BATMAN with his brother and a silent Kodak 8mm film camera—the most notable recurring feature of which was his mother’s laundry hanging on the washing line in the back-yard!
