Driftwood awakes to the new day suffering: "His stomach felt as it had finished its soak and was about to start its spin cycle." This is the least of his worries. Due to the untimely demise of the entire cabinet, Driftwood has been promoted from Minister for Sport (about which he knew nothing) to Minister of Transport (about which he knows less). However, all is not lost. His media mogul step- mother Vanessa intends to ensure that Hugh survives, and will do it by any means necessary. His major rival is the ambitious Alistair Sloach who aims to be Prime Minister. Married for convenience, everything Sloach does is pitched at furthering his political career. How strange that a Simian named Zoe should be his demise.

Cohen has created a hilarious adventure which is difficult to put down. Fusing the best of political satire with the worst of human nature, we have a fantasy that is non too distant from reality. --Jon Smith

The main characters are entirely believable, from the megalomaniac Home Secretary to the adventurous Ros Flato (a person I so dearly wish was real life) and the hero of the story - a wimpy and inept MP who, thanks to his family ties (his step mother being the head of a massive news organisation) finds himself thrust ever upwards on the political ladder, much to the annoyance of others. The supporting cast are also superb - an arrogant journalist, a joint smoking friend and a monkey that causes all sorts of pain (in a Lorena Bobbit kind of way) to one of the main characters.

It also gives a good idea of what it is really like in the heart of government. If half of the incident in this book are true, we hold politicians in much too high a regard.

Read this book and weep..............with laughter!


A hilarious new satire on British life   November 24, 1998
'It is rare to find talented new comic fiction writers and Mark Cohen's blend of satire and schoolboy humour particularly appealed to me.'

Sue Fletcher, Publisher of Brass Monkeys