Book excerpt: As British sovereignty over Hong Kong entered its final years, the prime concern of the colonial administration was to effect a smooth transition of power to China. But for the Triads, whose ruthlessness ensured their supremacy in the colony's thriving underworld, it was business as usual. Every night, crammed with contraband, their powerboats continued to run the gauntlet of police and Royal Marine patrols. For Sergeant Des Cooper of the Special Boat Squadron, a trip to Hong Kong offered a chance to revisit places he had got to know many years earlier. He jumped at the opportunity to accompany an anti-smuggling patrol, but during a search of a vessel he uncovered a cargo far less predictable than the electrical goods that were usually seized. Suddenly the spectre of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists looked menacingly real. Cooper and his highly trained team would risk their lives in their bid to crush a plot that threatened not only Hong Kong but the entire globe. This is classic military fiction at its best.