The Zemblanity Saga
by Zach Miles
WHAT WON’T KILL HIM, WILL HURT LIKE HELL
Hong Kong, 1995.
Daniel Sagar arrives on a fast-track banking program, quickly building a reputation as a rising dealmaker inside one of the world’s most powerful corporations.
But when a brutal double murder pulls him into the city’s shadows, his perfect life begins to fracture.
Haunted by violence and trapped in a volatile romance with the Governor’s daughter, Daniel is drawn into a labyrinth of secrets—controlled by Hong Kong’s most dangerous elites.
With the Handover looming and nowhere left to run, he must negotiate the deal of his life.
HURRICANE YORK
(Compact B-format)
A novel by Zach Miles
A millennium thriller of love, power, and betrayal in the final days of Empire.
Fresh out of university, Daniel Sagar arrives in pre-handover Hong Kong for a high-stakes corporate placement—one that promises fast-track success but quickly draws him into something far more dangerous. After saving a young girl at the York Races, Daniel earns the favour of her powerful father and is soon entangled with the British Governor’s daughter, Louise Taylor—enigmatic, intoxicating, and the key to a world he never imagined stepping into.
But beneath the city’s glamour, a darker current runs. Daniel stumbles on a historical murder involving a British barrister and a Russian escort girl, both brutally mutilated. Daniel begins to suspect their deaths are linked to something far larger. As he follows the trail—unofficially and increasingly obsessively—he uncovers a web of corruption, land fraud, and secret societies woven deep into the colonial fabric.
Forced to navigate the shadows of Government House, MI5 back channels, and the city’s criminal underworld, Daniel is drawn into a high-stakes game of deception where nothing is as it seems. And all the while, the clock ticks toward the 1997 handover—a moment of historical reckoning that could either cover up the truth forever, or expose those in power.
Spanning glittering Central penthouses, steamy Kowloon streets, Masonic chambers, and high-octane rugby pitches, Hurricane York is a gripping literary thriller about identity, empire, and the personal cost of justice.
As Daniel’s romance with Louise deepens, he is faced with an impossible choice: walk away, or risk everything to expose the truth. His decisions will not only shape his fate—but echo through the final days of British Hong Kong.
Debut novelist Zach Miles blends 30 years of storytelling expertise with two decades of research to create Hurricane York, the first book in a tense, politically charged trilogy.
Zach Miles is a debut novelist with a 30-year background in advertising and storytelling, known for crafting emotionally resonant narratives with cinematic precision. His first novel, Hurricane York, is the culmination of over two decades of meticulous research, set against the politically volatile backdrop of 1990s Hong Kong. Drawing inspiration from noir thrillers, espionage dramas, and the rise of globalisation at the turn of the millennium, the book unravels a mystery steeped in corruption, lost ideals, and doomed love. As the opening volume in the Zemblanity Saga, Hurricane York sets the tone for a sweeping trilogy that fuses suspense, romance, and political intrigue into a hauntingly modern epic.
Fresh out of university, Englishman Daniel Sagar arrives in Hong Kong on the eve of its 1997 handover for a high-stakes corporate role. A chance encounter draws him into the orbit of the Governor’s beautiful and enigmatic daughter, Louise Taylor, and the rarefied world of the city’s elite. But when Daniel stumbles across a trail of murder, corruption, and espionage, he finds himself navigating a city of shadows—where trust is fatal, love is dangerous, and the truth could cost him everything.
A literary thriller set in the final days of British Hong Kong.
Hong Kong, 1995.
Daniel Sagar arrives chasing ambition—but finds himself in the crosshairs of murder, espionage, and a forbidden affair with the Governor’s daughter. As the city spirals toward the 1997 handover, the stakes escalate fast. What begins as a corporate posting turns into a deadly race through boardrooms, bedrooms, and back alleys—where the rules are shifting, the players are ruthless, and survival means letting go of everything he thought he came for.