George just wanted to play his favourite game. Then a boy called Echo99 started asking questions — friendly ones. Easy ones. And the grey cube on the desk began to glow.
Five symbols, etched into the metal, ringed with holes like pinpricks. One for each member of the Squad — and the Cube decides when to call them.
The story
Nine-year-old George Mitchell is good at his game and bad at bedtime. When a new player messages him — funny, friendly, nine years old, lives just down the road — George messages back.
He gives away his name. Then the part of London he lives in. Then his school. None of it feels like a big deal. That is exactly the trick.
Because Echo99 is not nine. And on a grey cube on George's desk, a fan-shaped symbol has just started to glow red…
The heroes
Five digital defenders, built by a mysterious genius known only as The Architect — a man who gave his life to protecting children online after a young person close to him was put in danger. They live inside the Cube, and they only appear when it calls them.
The leader, and the first one out of the Cube. Calm, kind, and impossible to rattle. It was Aisha who traced Echo99's address and took George and Kate into the Cyberworld after him.
Technical and completely focused. Her digital arrows stop harmful programs mid-flight — and when they stopped working on Echo99, she kept firing anyway, to hold his attention.
Agile, sporty and three steps ahead of everybody. She can slip through systems nobody else can see — and she was the one who worked out what was really keeping Echo99 alive.
A quiet, deep thinker who says very little and notices everything. When Echo99 escaped, Ishmael was the one who knew he'd have left a trail behind him.
The youngest, the funniest and the loudest. His boomerang repairs digital damage faster than anyone on the team, and he will tell you so himself.
The big idea
Nobody hands a stranger something dangerous. They hand over three harmless things to somebody who seems friendly.
Your name is one piece. Your town is one piece. Your school is one piece. On their own, they're nothing. Put them together and they are a map to your front door.
This is the idea at the centre of the book — and the one children remember long after the story ends.
Cyber Squad tips
Never share your full name, address, school or phone number online — not even with someone who seems friendly.
Don't click links or downloads unless you know they're safe. Free coins are never free.
Never send pictures of yourself to people you don't know.
If someone online makes you feel uncomfortable, tell a trusted adult straight away.
Use strong passwords — and don't share them with your friends.
Always ask before chatting or gaming online.
Your name and your school and your town together can be just as dangerous as sharing a photo. Keep each piece private.
Be smart. Be safe. Be Cyber Strong!
Messages arrive while you play. Which ones are normal, which are quietly collecting pieces of you, and which need a grown-up straight away?
Pop-ups keep appearing. Some are really from the game, some are tricks, and some need a grown-up. Click the wrong one and the computer freezes.
In the Cyberworld, passwords drift past as padlocks. Build one strong enough to close yours — and see how fast a computer guesses the weak ones.
All three are free, take a couple of minutes, work on a phone or a school laptop, and store nothing.
For parents
Talking to a seven-year-old about grooming is hard. Handing them a book about a boy in a video game is not.
This is an adventure story first — spider bots, a digital city, a little sister who saves the day by pulling out a plug. The safety lesson is carried by the plot, not bolted on to the end of it. Children finish it because they want to know what happens.
The author, Tahir Alvi, has spent twenty years working in cyber security. The book was written for his own children first.
For schools
The teacher's guide is a free 8-page pack: a timed 45-minute plan, four discussion scenarios, a signable pledge that goes home in the book bag, and safeguarding guidance for the disclosure you hope you won't get.
If you'd rather just print and go, take the pupil worksheet on its own — one double-sided sheet, thirty photocopies, done.
Ordering copies? Everything your finance office needs — ISBN, publisher, trade terms — is in ordering details. We also supply outside the UK.
The book publishes 30 September. School ordering details — ISBN, publisher, trade terms — go up that day, and we supply outside the UK. Leave your email and we'll send them to you.
There are also three free short games — Spot the stranger, on what someone is really asking for; Spot the scam, on pop-ups and fake offers; and Shut the padlock, on building a password worth having. All three work on a phone or a school laptop, and none of them store anything.
Your download is starting.
Need a class set? Email schools@cybertak.co.uk — we discount school orders and include a printed pack with every one.
Get the book
Book One of the Cyber Squad series. Available now.
Book One of the Cyber Squad series. Published 30 September 2026.
The book publishes on 30 September in paperback and ebook. Leave your email and we'll tell you the day it's available, with school ordering details. One email. Nothing else.
We'll use your address for that one email and nothing else —
see our privacy notice.
Teachers: the lesson pack is
ready to download now —
you don't need the book to run the lesson.
Thank you — we'll email you on 30 September.
The one to give. Ten chapters, illustrated throughout, with Cyber Squad Tips and a glossary at the back.
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Read it tonight. Same story, same back matter — on Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, or any tablet.
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Bulk orders direct from us, or order through your usual supplier using the ISBN below. Class sets ship with printed teacher's guides.
Email us for a quoteUsually answered same day
Stocked in the Ingram catalogue, so any bookshop, wholesaler or library supplier can order it on standard trade terms. Everything your finance office needs is here.
978-X-XXXXXX-XX-X978-X-XXXXXX-XX-XNeed a pro-forma invoice, a sample copy for evaluation, or a purchase order raised against your finance system? Email schools@cybertak.co.uk — we handle school paperwork all the time.