An author’s first novel shows how current events could be leading towards a Third World War - but believes his work may also be a handbook for saving the planet.<br />Kerry Davies, who is originally from Wales but has lived in Farnham for 20 years, said of The Fracture: “The book is set in the near future and presents a chilling yet deliberately plausible scenario in which social fragmentation, political radicalisation and international tension in the West escalate into civil unrest and ultimately nuclear war.<br />“While fictional, it is well researched, referenced and grounded in real-world trends and recent events, and seems eerily prescient, foreshadowing as it does several real-world events that have occurred as 'predicted' in the book. It is intended as a cautionary exploration of where current trajectories could lead.”<br />Mr Davies, a military contractor, explained how the book came about.<br />He said: “I looked at what was going on in the world at the time. I was voraciously reading newspapers.<br />“Reading newspapers, watching television and listening to the radio, a lot of things clicked into place. I started scribbling things down, and a lot of things started to happen, so I sketched out what was going to happen from start to finish, and it was very depressing. Is there a way of avoiding that?<br />“I started thinking about two things. Artificial intelligence is potentially the saviour, but also a curse. Religion has caused wars in the past, but could it save the planet?<br />“If we give somebody nuclear weapons, they are going to use them - and that’s the end of the world.”<br />Kerry’s business partner Pamela Rustem said: “It’s almost like a warning sign to people to read it.<br />“It’s an opportunity for people to hold back about doing these things, saying if you take a different route it could end up differently - so this book is quite intriguing.<br />“You think ‘this is exactly what’s happening’. Each chapter asks a question: ‘What can we do differently?’ I’ve never read a book so quickly.”<br />Kerry added: “I came up with this idea of artificial intelligence being a saviour, like Tom Cruise in Minority Report, with the Cask Data Application Platform (CDAP).<br />“It predicts crimes that are going to happen. They are using it in the UK at the moment and the success rate is enormous, about 70 to 80 per cent.<br />“I thought ‘how could CDAP be that successful?’, but I wondered if artificial intelligence is creating the problem so it can solve it - so that became the twist in the book.”<br />Pamela added: “There is a very strong technical background with the police and military all over the world. He has that background and puts that knowledge and experience into his writing to render that credibility.”<br />Kerry said: “I’ve written it so it’s embedded in truth. As I wrote it, I put hyperlinks in to reference my sources. It was almost like an academic work. Everything in there is true and fact checked - although you don’t want that for a novel!”<br />The Fracture is available on Amazon.
