A saga of friendship, family, betrayal and lies from a UK publishing legend

A penniless publisher teetering on the brink
Hugh Emerson runs a small, prestigious publishing house. But literature doesn't pay the bills, and now his bestselling author is the subject of a salacious story in the gutter press.

A newspaper dynasty struggling to survive
Ned Macaulay, heir to a newspaper fortune and Hugh's best friend, steps in to help. But Ned has problems of his own. The family firm faces bankruptcy, and to save it he must outsmart the self-serving sycophants at Waring's bank.

Ruthless bankers closing in for the kill
Hugh and Ned are about to be dragged into a cut-throat world of devious investors and muck-raking journalists. It's darker and dirtier than they ever imagined - and if they want to succeed, they'll have to play dirty too...

"Tighter than Archer... [Waterstone's] psychological insight into the emotional lives of his characters is superior to much of this market" - Guardian

"The financial acrobatics are breathtaking... the drama comes from the dynamics between characters... Waterstone is painfully good at describing emotional shock and its aftermath... as a portrait of a world driven by narcissism, the novel is, dare one say it, first among equals" - New Statesman

"An episode of Dallas set in the UK and rewritten by Jeffrey Archer... good fun" - The Times

"An exciting Boardroom Struggle tale .... very good and very gripping, a page turner in the Archer mould ... there are wonderful scenes of the clash of wills, the jostling for position, the desperate machinations and dirty deals" - The Lady