Loved Tom Watson as a politician, loved his non-fiction books and really enjoyed this one. A great fiction book that probably has some truth to it...

Owen Mckenna and Phil Bickford were once great friends, that was a long time ago though, and now, as MP's on opposite sides, they despise each other.
But someone in the shadows is dredging up the past, and both of them could be damaged by whatever secrets come to light. Will the truth come out? and who will it destroy?

The story starts on the floor of the House of Commons, about a year and a half from now, with MP's debating the aftermath of the Covid crisis and Brexit. It is a fairly dry beginning, more like and episode of the Today Programme, rather than a novel. The book soon begins to find its feet though, as the political machinery starts grind. The inner workings of parliament take centre stage here, MP's, assistants, lobbyists and journalists all jostle for position. This is a cracking story. The characters are believable, some of them are even likeable. The story is dark and detailed, this is written by someone who understands how parliament works. It is a complex twisted tale and the Authors do well to keep us engaged. If I had any criticism it would be that so many stories are running together. There are at least 3 main plot lines, full of blackmail, bullying, cover up and intrigue, that converge on the main characters. It is very well written though, and never gets confusing. I really got sucked in to this world, I enjoyed every minute of it.

I listened to to Audio version of this book read by Rory Kinnear. His tone is more 'from our own correspondent' than 'book at bedtime'. It suits the subject matter very well. I did have a bit of difficulty differentiating between some of the main characters voices.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this, I have already recommended it to a few people and I will look out for more books from these authors.