Authors Battle Real-Life Hacking While Penning a Cyber-Thriller!
COBRA POSE (Available now in audiobook)
Susan Rogers and John Roosen
Hacking! – Is it a digital inferno engulfing entire systems or a pesky thorn in the side of banking and e-commerce?
Dive into the high-voltage world of cyberwarfare with co-authors Susan Rogers and John Roosen as they unmask the shadowy realm of hacking in Cobra Pose, a pulse-pounding techno-thriller.
In their research. Susan and John found everyone is exposed om the tempestuous seas of hacking. With cyber-threats exponentially skyrocketing, even Australia’s Prime Minister urges citizens to switch off their phones at night!
Cobra Pose is the riveting second installment in the Yoga Mat Mysteries (YMM) series. It plunges the reader or listener into the heart of hacking, delving into the minds of the hackers themselves, as well as the valiant defenders trying to thwart a crisis.
Susan and John, the tech-savvy wordsmiths behind Cobra Pose, are no strangers to the dark arts of hacking.
“Anyone who has any type of computer or smartphone; does banking; or has any digital footprint with any organization knows that unauthorized data breaches are the new norm,’ warns John.
The protagonists, Elaina Williams and Ric Peters, storm back into this riveting saga with a heart-pounding climax that alters lives forever! Elaina, drawing strength, balance, and flexibility from the Cobra Pose in her yoga studio, and must summon her ‘inner warrior’ when her father goes missing.
Ric has specialist expertise and provides invaluable insights, but he knows this odyssey is fraught with unthinkable risks. There are larger issues at play and tensions run high in this second of the YMM series, with an emotional finale you won’t want to miss.
Set in the lush landscapes of Brisbane and Queensland, Cobra Pose propels you into an unprepared world on the brink of a devastating hacking onslaught, threatening to obliterate financial systems and become the hacking tsunami of the century.
Armed with a curiosity about the number of hacking incidents spiralling out of control, Susan and John dove headfirst into the murky depths of international cybercrime.
“We have been fascinated for some time about the mechanics, the tools and the players in the world of cybercrimes including hacking,” said John. “Research-ing the subject was sometimes perilous to us. Especially when we left the internet superhighway and drilled down into some of the side streets of the dark web. It felt like looking into two-way mirror.”
A Cobra Pose character named Jeffrey Giles has this to say on the current trends:
‘Think of it this way. You don’t have to rob banks with guns blazing like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The task is to watch and question; be aware of any signs. They are always there.’
Ric added, ‘Hackers exploit vulnerabilities which can be used to launch attacks on any system.’
‘Malware can be specifically designed to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorised access,’ Giles added. ‘But that’s old school. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are now points on an expanding J curve. We have no idea where this is going.’
‘There are even ready-made kits,’ Ric said. ‘These are user-friendly, and you don’t have to know much about programming.’ [Except from Cobra Pose].
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are now also the juggernauts in cyberwarfare. This is uncharted territory. Hackers have a smorgasbord of user-friendly, ready-made kits.
“You don’t need to be a coding wizard to unleash havoc,’ Susan alerts. “It's mind-boggling that with off-the-shelf hardware, hacking software, a tech-savvy crew, and an inexhaustible supply of energy drinks, anyone can launch a full-scale hacking operation.”
John added that by 2025, cybercrime is expected to double in occurrences. “Cybercrime is recognized as one of the top ten risks to both the public and private sectors. Its impact and growth make it one of the paramount threats globally.”
The authors felt a topic of this magnitude, which a massive number of readers and listeners deal with every day in protecting their data, was also a solid thematic element for this eBook and subsequent audiobook.
“As storytellers, we developed a particular method of hacking that is somewhat unique in its approach. Several cybersecurity experts say our method is less science fiction and actually could be very viable,” John noted. “We spent a lot of time reviewing methods of manipulating or withholding data, hacking techniques and methods used in prevention.” Jeffrey Giles, a seasoned ‘tracker of hackers’ describes:
‘When I’m not surfing the beach, I’m surfing the back channels of the net, the darknet, the new silk road, the various metaverses. Whatever’s new. There are plenty of expressways out there, many of them never rising to the surface for the average internet traveller in the “Galactic Network”.
'It’s one thing to use the internet to write to mum who lives in London, play a virtual game in a metaverse environment, or order an eBook with rapid delivery. But we have warp-speeded beyond that now. And the levels and methods being used on this global connection platform are now more nefarious and continuously seeking new ways to express their greed. In a worst-case environment, just plain evil.’ [Excerpt from Cobra Pose].
For audiobook aficionados, Cobra Pose boasts an unparalleled experience. An important aspect of this audiobook is the ‘performance’ of Cobra Pose.
Acclaimed voice maestro, Rupert Degas, joins forces with Susan and John to electrify the characters with a spellbinding performance.
“Rupert doesn’t just narrate; he’s a master puppeteer breathing life into characters and weaving accents into an auditory tapestry,” describes Susan.
“With his multifaceted voice performance, Rupert is able to portray the various personalities of the many characters presented in Cobra Pose,” John adds. “Rupert has a myriad of accents and styles, which are all wrapped up in the rich texture of his voice. Despite the wide number of voices in conversations, he can maintain the continuity of the characters voices throughout the book.”
In the final stages of ground-truthing the plot of Cobra Pose, an ironic occurrence of hacking developed. In a shocking twist of fate, while painstakingly verifying locations for Cobra Pose, Susan and John fell prey to hackers themselves! Their communications company notified them that they had been hacked! This uncanny event added an extra layer of authenticity and urgency to their narrative.
“At first it was very frustrating to learned we had been hacked,” John commented. “But we realised in thinking about it, that it was the perfect validation for all the work we had done in preparation for Cobra Pose.”
Brace yourself as Cobra Pose launches you into a world where codes are cracked, secrets unfurled, and lives hang by a thread. No spoilers here! Every twist and turn is yours to discover and devour.
Grab the eBook or immerse yourself in the riveting audiobook of Cobra Pose, now available with international distribution at Audible, Barnes & Noble, Rakuten Kobo, Google Play, Chirp etc. The saga continues as the authors craft the next enthralling ebooks and audiobooks in the series: Tree Pose, Warrior Pose, and Half Moon Pose. Dead Man’s Pose was the first ebook and audiobook in the YMM series.
Title: Cobra Pose (This is Book 2 of the Yoga Mat Mysteries Series in Audio Format)
Author: Susan Rogers and John Roosen
Narrator/Voice Actor: Rupert Degas
Genre: Techno Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Romantic Thriller, Humour, with a dash of History
Book Blurb:
Australia is a surfers’ paradise … but this is nefarious surfing on the ‘net’ … and will destroy the global financial system.
It’s not just a rippling ‘scam’ job. Has Australia been infiltrated at levels they’ve never known?
Elaina Williams uses a Cobra Pose in her Yoga studio to boost her energy – she will need it! Elaina’s father, Edward, is in trouble. He’s disappeared.
As a solicitor and now yoga instructor, Elaina drags Ric, a man she’s fallen for, into the bursting web of techno-thrilling intrigue.
Ric Peters has just returned from a disastrous trip to Indonesia. Ric bills himself as a photojournalist. Elaina suspects he shoots more than just photographs. Ric has insight into the journey he and Elaina must take. He knows Elaina isn’t ready for what’s going to happen. There are too many moving parts for him to control.
Time is running out before The Cobra and The Wolf strike with their heist. They are extending their fangs towards Australia’s ‘golden coastline’ to bite into and destabilise financial institutions worldwide.
The sparkling sub-tropical city of Brisbane, Queensland, is the epicentre of this hacking tsunami of the century! But these hackers are good at hiding. They make a living out of it. They are submerged Phantoms leaving no tracks.
Can the burgeoning amateur sleuth Elaina piece this puzzle together before her father’s fate is sealed? How far is Ric willing to go in deciding to save Elaina … or Australia?
Cobra Pose is a techno-thriller and second novel in the Yoga Mat Mysteries series. This book is filled with a snappy plot, dynamic prose, witty dialogue, and slow-burn chemistry. You’ll love Susan Rogers and John Roosen’s atmospheric whodunit. Click Cobra Pose to stretch your sense of adventure today!
Next in the YMM lineup is Tree Pose – coming soon!
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Author Biographies:
Susan Rogers
Susan Rogers already knew she was a writer at age six, but as an adult she took a major detour in becoming a commissioned naval officer and a designated law enforcement officer. She has conducted sting operations, run extensive weapons training programs and directed the restoration of a Presidential yacht. In between, she has written a number of books. Susan’s work has taken her into government operations in the United States, Australasia, the South Pacific and the Middle East. She has run health and safety operations for multi-billion-dollar projects in Abu Dhabi and worked for engineering and environmental firms in the Middle East on projects across the region. She also revamped a South Pacific maritime service with responsibilities for local trade vessels and an international fleet servicing the maritime industry. Susan continues to write: whether braced against the hull of a sailing vessel on a hard tack, during a crossing of the Middle East’s empty quarter in a Mini, or bouncing around in a troop carrier in Australia’s outback.
After writing Surviving Paradise about their life in the South Pacific, John and Susan created the concept of their mystery series. Dead Man’s Pose is first in the Yoga Mat Mysteries’ line-up, with Cobra Pose as the second in the YMM series (online February 2023). Next will be Tree Pose – coming soon!
John Roosen
John Roosen started his career as a biologist, served as a commissioned naval officer, designated law enforcement officer and environmental emergency specialist in the United States, and has lived and worked in Australasia, the Americas, Antarctica and the Middle East. At a moment’s notice, he would respond to chemical and refinery plant explosions, deal with rocket fuel plant meltdowns and dismantle illegal drug labs. John worked in the Middle East on a number of projects in Iraq, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and several conflict zones and other locations. As a change-up, John switched careers to chasing pirates and dueling with a con artist extraordinaire on a remote South Pacific island as the Commissioner of Maritime Affairs. In between, he organised jungle expeditions and deep-sea scuba diving. However, John’s experience extends beyond responding to cataclysmic disasters and includes mastering the intricacies of making soufflé omelets without burning the edges.
A Sharpshooter Marries a Frogman
And Together They Write Books
Anyone looking at the backgrounds of John Roosen and Susan Rogers would wonder how they met, how they stayed together, and how in the world do they write books together. “It isn’t easy, but it’s fun” they claim.
John Roosen spent many hours of his early life underwater, diving in a number of locations across the world for both work and pleasure. After graduating from university with a degree in biology (and in scuba gear most of the time), John became a commissioned naval officer.
Susan Rogers, the other half of the writing team, has spent hours on end, grounded to a weapons firing range. As part of her US Coast Guard career, she headed up a technical team teaching safety and marksmanship to military personnel.
The Rogers-Roosen duo met at Officer’s Candidate School, had an argument and fell in love. With two similar last names (Rogers-Roosen), they stood next to each other in formations and training. So it was fate! Susan was by the book, and followed all the rules … and John was, well let’s just say tested out a different approach.
Their attraction tore them away from a conventional life casting them across the world and landing them in Australasia, the South Pacific, the Americas, Antarctica and the Middle East. Despite pirates in the South Pacific, armed militias in several locales, blizzards and tropical heatwaves, they stayed together.
The real challenge has been sitting at a table for 12-14 hours a day with two computers and copious amounts of coffee. Their first mystery novel, Dead Man’s Pose, about a murder occurring in Sydney, Australia, became three murders after wrangling a plotline from the creative ether. They argued over everything—from character flaws, to location descriptions, to unique methods of murder.
It’s challenging for two strong personality types to build a gummy web of intrigue. Most of the time (almost miraculously), they maintained their humour. The impenetrable goal was not to tarnish (too much) their long relationship by arguing over Oxford commas, how to place Australianisms, or where to bury storyline clues.
As Cobra Pose was being written, they dug deeply into their backgrounds of military, law enforcement, English, business, technical writing, biology, chemistry and trivia.
During blazing arguments and work-throughs, they pounded out the direction they were headed and how they would get there. That’s where their passion for writing burns brightest. They have now produced two eBooks and two audiobooks in a year and a half.
And what are they doing next weekend? Tree Pose (Book 3) is next up and the laptops will be opened and they will be clicking away, coffee hot, and ideas flowing.
Social Media Links:
Website: https://www.yogamatmysteries.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YMysteries