Product Description

It’s the year 2011. The Party in power, the New Project Party is on a moral revival campaign and Selwyn Knox, the recently appointed minister for the Department for Society, is at its helm. Sonya Mair, his political adviser, is helping him call the shots – as well as helping him with some more personal matters . . . Together they’ve selected the team. Very carefully. In fact, they’ve got dossiers on every last member . . .

Sir Robert Nottridge, Permanent Secretary: Eton, Cambridge, married, no children – or so his wife thinks. Christopher Brody, director of policy: a helpless gambler with debts up to his eyeballs and two mortgages. Nigel Tonbridge, director of strategy and communications: ex-journo and keeper of some dark family secrets – as well as some disturbing political ones that might just taint Saint Selwyn . . . But for now, the team better do as they’re told, and get down to administering morality.

Meanwhile, back at Downing Street, PM Andy Sheen is suffering a few smears of his own, and his right hand man, Charlie McDonald, must quickly dispatch an official to Cambridge to “rescue data” and hunt down the man behind the allegations . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #320658 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

About the Author

From 1980-1997, Martin Sixsmith worked for the BBC, where he was the Corporation’s correspondent in Moscow, Washington, Brussels and Warsaw. From 1997-2002, he worked for the Government as Director of Communications and Press Secretary first to Harriet Harman, then to Alistair Darling and finally to Stephen Byers. He is now a writer, presenter and journalist.

Customer Reviews

"Blair" as Antichrist
There's no doubt which party the fictitious New Project represents. This excellent journalist has written a funny, biting satire, filled with vitriol and nasty business. For the True Believers in the party, it's all in the name of making the world a better (gentler, kinder) place, and there's nothing they won't cover up. And it's a page-turner to boot.

Shooting into an open goal
For all the incisive comments on the fickle nature of public perception and the distortion of truth, to more or less positive effect, so much of this book is thinly veiled reportage that it is actually quite difficult to make a dispassionate judgement on it as a piece of creative writing.

There is too much reliance on factual events (slightly distorted) and too many characters clearly based on real-life people to allow the reader to take a step back and make a cool assessment of the novel. Entertaining and easy to read, but the targets are obvious and the result is something of a missed opportunity, I fear.