METAL VIPER
Coming in 2026
Kae Zhang has dedicated her life to ending torture as an investigative tool— worldwide. She, and the organization she founded, Article 5 (A5), have done so more than a dozen times in some of the most dangerous places on earth. It’s what she does. But the midnight call from Myanmar to Kae’s offices in Geneva, Switzerland, brings the fight crashing back home.
“The crime of seditious poetry.”
Before the deadly coup, Myanmar had been one of A5’s successes. Now, a new nightmare rules. A poet-baker and his 12 year old son, Vika, have been arrested by Myanmar’s brutal Tatmadaw regime for their crime of “seditious poetry”—writing poetry for peace. Now, it is up to Kae and her team to save the young poet, Vika.
His father, “disappeared,” is already a casualty of the ruthless, authoritarianism of this land, formerly known as Burma. A daunting task even for the expertise of Kae Zhang, but now even more so since Kae has never encountered the venom of the man in charge of this mayhem, known to all who live in fear of him, as the Metal Viper. Kae is used to putting her own life at risk—but this time she’s also risking her team on the ground in Myanmar, her people in Geneva, and her husband and two young sons. Because the Metal Viper is a man whose wrath knows no borders.
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The early morning raid was swift and unexpected. There was no gentle knock on the door, rather a brutal forced entry into the homes of Myanmar’s duly elected party leaders. Within a matter of minutes, they were “taken” into custody.
In those first chaotic moments, all attempts at outreach failed. The frantic dialing of cell phones was for naught. Services had been cut. No tweets, no emails, no calls for help. Cell service throughout the country had been cut. “Kill switch” tactics, employed in previous conflict zones, were mirrored now throughout the country. All financial services were suspended. A placard on the state-run TV network, not prone to irony, said only – “We are unable to broadcast due to technical issues.”
Coups are meant to be violent eruptions in the lifecycle of countries. They are lawless, disruptive events designed to overthrow a government that, in the eyes of the coup plotters, has crumbled, lost its guardrails, or is simply ripe for takeover. They are extraordinary acts, perpetrated by a small group of powerful players, against a system that has not operated in their interests. When the military decides to take control, it’s called a coup d’etat. Myanmar was subjected to just such a coup d’etat, perpetrated by the Tatmadaw, its military forces.
Ultimately, coups are about control. They are a revolt against civil authority. They are illegal attempts to wrest power through force.
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
“The Metal Viper is a gripping testament to the triumph of the human spirit, resistance to tyranny and the global solidarity of the human family. It shines a rare – and much needed – light on the dark realities of one of the most brutal military dictatorships in the world, and the courageous individuals who refuse to submit to torture and injustice.”
-Richard Reoch, former global media chief of Amnesty International