'Tell me about your father.' Five short, razor-edged words that rip the world of Harry Jones to pieces. He barely knew his father Johnnie and hated what little he did know, yet no man is able to escape the shadows of the past. Harry has already lost almost everything - his seat in parliament, his reputation, his fortune. There is little left apart from his love for the headstrong Jemma, and now he must risk losing her and even his own life to uncover the truth about his dead father. What starts as a gentle enquiry uncovers a trail of murder and guilt-ridden love that dates back to Johnnie's student days. Harry's search leads from a burning house in Bermuda to a graveyard in Greece, from the croquet lawns of his father's Oxford college to the altar of one of Wren's finest London churches. At every turn Harry discovers that the childhood world he thought he knew, was false, along with almost everyone in it. Only when he confronts his own death does he realize that all along he's been used as a pawn in a far larger game.
Michael Dobbs’ first novel, House of Cards, launched the career of the villainous Francis Urquhart, one of the most memorable fictional characters of recent years, who was immortalized by Ian Richardson in three award-winning BBC TV series. His books have foretold the downfall of Prime Ministers and the growing turmoil within the Royal Family. His recent novels, featuring Tom Goodfellowe, are Goodfellowe MP, The Buddha of Brewer Street, and Whispers of Betrayal, which with eerie prescience ahead of September 11th told of how a small group of trained and motivated people could hold an entire city to ransom.
For more than two decades Michael Dobbs has been at the right hand of political controversy. He was at Mrs Thatcher’s side as she took her first step into Downing Street as Prime Minister, and was a key aide to John Major when he was voted out. His experiences have led him to be described as ‘Westminster’s baby-faced hit man’ and ‘a man who, in Latin America, would have been shot’.
His highly acclaimed recent book, Winston’s War, was a novel about the extraordinary relationship between Winston Churchill, Neville Chamberlain and the young Soviet spy, Guy Burgess. It was shortlisted for the Channel 4 Political Book of the Year Award and is to be made into a feature film.
He was both Chief of Staff and Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party and has a doctorate in defence studies. He has also been Deputy Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi and a regular presenter of BBC TV’s ‘Despatch Box’.
