Cirrus@Austlit

'Disgraced former pilot Ted Roberts works for a top-secret government organisation set up to investigate terror-related incidents. Sent to Jakarta to find out as much as he can about the pilot of a vanished Garuda flight, he discovers a flight simulator in the pilot's apartment. When the investigation turns sour, Ted escapes to New York as further disaster strikes. Another plane disappears from the sky. Then another. Three planes and hundreds of passengers and crew, vanished, without a trace. Panic is widespread and the world is teetering on the brink. Still no one has come forward to claim responsibility.

'At an eerily deserted JFK airport trying to get a flight back home, Ted witnesses a suspicious exchange between an airport cleaner and a nonchalant airline pilot. He follows the pilot to his destination: a Ukraine International Airlines flight, due to leave in an hour. All his instincts tell him that this is the next plane to go down. But what does he do? Take the flight and face almost certain death, or fly back home and watch for the news headlines? He does the unthinkable and gets on the plane.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Politics - it's a place for shiny people with ugly souls. As a journalist Jack thought he'd met every shade of nutter, narcissist and bully to be found. But then he took a job in politics and discovered he'd only scratched the surface. Even better, it's Jack's job to maintain the pretence that all is normal, that our political masters have everyone's best interests at heart, that politics is not just a collection of attention-seeking egomaniacs looking for somewhere to park their character defects.

'Yes, Jack is a political spin doctor. His new boss, Ray Sloan, is terrifying - and that's on his good days - and his former friends in the media regard him as a turncoat and a traitor. Elections, budgets and blackmail - it's all part of the bizarre world Jack now finds himself in.

'If you are looking for a tale to reaffirm your faith in democracy, this probably isn't the one.' (Publication summary)