An intriguing and well written political thriller by a promising new writer, I enjoyed his first novel but this was far more compelling and thought provoking.
Well worth a read.

Lawrence used to be a journalist covering war zones but after his cameraman was shot in the Congo he suffered, divorced, and has virtually retired to France. Martin used to be Lawrence's boss and now runs a successful business which is about to receive a huge investment from the City. Lawrence is asked to work with an NGO and returns to the Congo but has to escape quickly, his daughter drops out of University and his life appears to be going nowhere. Meanwhile Martin is invested in the House of Lords but his relationship with a disgraced French businessman and his affair mean that personally and professionally his life is falling apart.

This is a very gentle tale about some big politics and the role of the media. I found it quite hard-going but that was mainly because there is little action to speak of and I found the characters very hard to like. There are lot of knowledgable insights from journalist Stiastny and the whole thing reeks of authenticity but it was just so slow.

I thought Conflicts of Interest was very good. I enjoyed Terry Stiastny's first novel, Acts of Omission; this is even better.

Conflicts of Interest is a sort of political thriller. I say sort of, because it is unlike conventional political thrillers. There are no car chases, deeply sinister threats or Conspiracies Which Go Right To the Top (thank heavens!); it's a thoroughly believable novel which is largely about character and about how politics, international charity, high-level PR and journalism interact. Here is a world of networking, social gatherings with the Right People, words in the right ears and a sense of entitlement and everything being within one's grasp – until apparently small, unimportant blind eyes turned in the past begin to resurface.

Written in the third person we get narratives from two points of view: Lawrence Leith, a British TV journalist with what sounds like PTSD who is now retired in Provence after a near breakdown and divorce, and Martin Elliott, once Lawrence's producer and now head of a very successful high-end PR and reputation management consultancy, who also owns a house near Lawrence's in France and who moves in very exalted political circles. The plot moves slowly but grippingly as Lawrence begins to rebuild and events begin to close in on Martin. It's hard to say more without giving away too much, but all the main characters seemed extremely real to me and Stastny paints a vivid, wholly plausible picture of the way in which corruption's stain can spread to those around it and how loyalties can evaporate instantly when self-interest intervenes.

I found this readable, gripping and thought-provoking. It has important things to say about the world of politics and those associated with it and also about loyalty and friendship. I was expecting to enjoy the book but I was still surprised by how good I found it. I can recommend it very warmly.