This tense political thriller gets my vote

A Time to Lie by Simon berthon

I have to admit, political knowledge is not exactly my strong point.

I can get by when it comes to voting, I know whose policies I agree with and those I most certainly don’t.

But can I follow everything that goes on in the House of Commons? Not so much.

Then again, if the likes of the storylines in Simon Berthon’s A Time to Lie were to come to light in the real world, it would make politics very much more exciting.

We open the first page on the morning of the Tory Party conference, but there’s a lot more going on outside the room than there is inside.

The bones of a young woman’s hand are discovered at a London building site.

Prime Minister Robin Sandford, a young, charismatic choice for the job, has just spoken to his audience, but as he finishes his speech and gets ready to do the rounds with members of the party, Jed Fowkes, Special Adviser at the Treasury, confronts him with a terrible accusation.

He claims the hand belongs to someone they once knew well – a young woman whom Sandford murdered years ago.

Suddenly, Sandford’s career’s on the brink of ruin, his life is flashing before his eyes, so he feels his only hope is to enlist the unofficial help of MI5.

This drastic decision leads him into a new world of espionage, illegal trafficking and murder. Talk about a hefty turn of events. The deeper Sandford enters into this alien world, the more treacherous the game becomes. Because now it’s not just his life on the line, the future of the state is also in the balance too.

A Time to Lie brings together all things political and showcases how power can corrupt the very heart of the government, and I have to say, I did find it quite a pleasantly thrilling read.

It’s written in a way that allows the reader to understand exactly what’s going on, even in a world that you wouldn’t normally understand, like a political underworld that’s completely out of our reach.

The first few chapters lead you in, letting you trust the Prime Minister. The writing is clear and concise, but builds gradually so as your turn the pages, you find it tricky to suss out who you can really trust in the Tory Party.

Author Simon Berthon is a former investigative journalist and Bafta-winning filmmaker so he’s got the goods to back up his writing, and the scene setting and tension building is masterful inmy eyes.

I was completely absorbed as I read on chapter after chapter. He’s a pro at covering current affairs and is a whizz at delving into the secrets of the state, so is it any wonder A Time to Lie plays out so well on the page?

It’s authentic enough to be believable but obscure enough to allow you to escape the real Tory government.

That gets my vote.