The Storykiller by Humfrey Hunter

Three years ago, Jack Winter was an up and coming reporter for The Legend, a notable London daily. He was hot on a story about a schoolgirl who was killed on her way home from school by a hit and run driver. In his digging, he turned up a valuable source in one of the teachers at the girl's school. For weeks, Jack peeled back the onion that was the school. When he thought he'd mined that source for all he could get, he dropped the guy. A week later, the teacher went into the police and confessed. Jack went into a funk because he failed at getting justice for the little girl. When the connection was made public, the girl's mother tracked down Jack and stabbed him repeatedly putting him in the hospital for weeks.

Despite earlier successes, Jack left journalism and became a bit of a public relations guy specializing in getting stories due to hit the press effectively killed, saving his clients considerable embarrassment.  Jack gets a call from an Edward Valentine. One of those stiff upper lip Brits with a ton of 'old' money in his pocket. He hires Jack to get a story killed. Seems a protege of Valentine, Adam Pryor is an MP, a  minister within the current PM's cabinet. One of those politicians to watch. Came up from nothing to become the #2 in an office that controls British international development. Well liked by both sides of the aisle, the public, and the press. Fast track to become Prime Minister one day. Pryor accepted an invitation to speak at Oxford.  After his speech, he retires to a local pub where 2 students throw themselves at him. Prior beds one and forgets to tell he that he is married until the next morning. She ain't happy and threatens to go to the papers. That's were Jack comes in. Convince the girl that's not a good idea.

Hunter's 1st novel opens the curtains that hide the underbelly of politics by pulling them back so we see the extremes that people will go to gain power and the extremes that those who pull the strings of politicians will go to influence policy and line their pockets. While this is a British tale, it's not much of a jump to see Valentine as the George Soros for the Democrats or as the Koch brothers for the Republicans. Or it that's too realistic, just think about House or Cards. If even 1/10th of what's presented here actually occurs in our political system, then we are is some serious trouble.

If your cup of tea is dogged journalists or political intrigue, The Storykiller needs to be on your must-read list.

available September 29, 2016

East Coast Don