The Rice Thieves

In The Rice Thieves, two Hong Kong nationals scheme to steal the seeds of a remarkable experimental strain of rice from a U. S. Department of Agriculture facility in Hawaii. Experienced in pirating western technology, the thieves successfully smuggle the stolen seeds to Hong Kong. The rice, developed by a U.S. agriculture technology company, grows faster and produces more rice than standard seeds. The thieves know these "super" seeds will result in amazing fortunes for them in China. Using their government connections, they gain rapid access to the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture, which is under severe pressure to ensure that domestic rice production quotas are satisfied.
When the seed theft is discovered in Hawaii, a team consisting of two U.S. government agents and two U.S. civilians, is assembled to identify who has stolen the super rice seeds and to determine the extent of its cultivation in China. The team travels from Hawaii to Hong Kong to track down the thieves and follow the trail of the smuggled rice. What the team comes to learn is that this simple theft is anything but simple and that this agricultural espionage may have serious global consequences.
The Rice Thieves will appeal to readers who enjoy a fast paced storyline and geopolitical suspense. Several of the main characters in The Rice Thieves will be familiar to readers from William Claypool's earlier novel, The Cocaspore Project.