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Head of Zeus
The Madness of July
The Madness of July by James Naughtie

From Radio 4's James Naughtie, a sophisticated thriller about loyalty, survival and family rivalry deep in the Cold War, drawing on decades of experience as a political insider in Westminster and Washington.

'A hugely satisfying thriller that grips from the first page to the last.' Kate Mosse.

It is a sweltering July in the mid-1970s, and for Will Flemyng, foreign office minister, the temperature is rising with each passing hour. A mysterious death has exposed secret passions in government, bringing on a political crisis that will draw him back into a familiar world of danger and deceit.

For Flemyng has a past. He was trained as a spy for a life behind enemy lines and now he's compelled to go back. In the course of one long weekend he must question all his loyalties: to his friends, his enemies, and to his own two brothers.

Head of Zeus * Thrillers
27 Feb 2014 * 400pp * £4.99 * 9781781855997
REVIEWS
'A sophisticated and hugely satisfying thriller that grips from the first page to the last. A tour de force'
Kate Mosse
'Good writing, vivid scene-setting and knowledgable descriptions from an insider at ease in the corridors of power'
Literary Review
'The book itself is tight lipped; the reader has to piece together a drip-feed of clues – and the process becomes addictive'
The Independent
Fast-paced... full of intriguing insights, from a man with 30 years' experience of the corridors of power'
Daily Mail
Complex and psychologically detailed, I have seldom come across a novel so redolent of le Carré's milieu and technique... an evocative and eloquent novel'
Charles Cumming
'A clever, intelligent story by someone who knows the territory intimately'
Spectator
'A slow-burning, cerebral and gripping thriller which fuses the entwined professions of politics and espionage'
The Herald
A complex spy novel which comes with all the convincing insider knowledge you'd expect... He has a gift for colourful images and smoke screen writing which sustains the tension'
Independent on Sunday
A lot of fun... Let's hope we hear more of Will Flemying'
Evening Standard
Author
James Naughtie
James Naughtie
James Naughtie, who presented Today on BBC Radio 4 for twenty-one years, is a special correspondent for BBC News. He has written books on politics and music and published his first novel, The Madness of July, in 2014. He lives in Edinburgh and London.
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