Duplicity / Richard Evans

Richard Evans' compelling political thriller triology continues with this second installment where the machinations of election-geared Australian politics reveal who really runs our country. The Mercantiles, a long-established, clandestine group of high-taxpaying business owners have grown frustrated by Prime Minister Andrew Gerrard's failure to meet promises, and decide the nation needs a change of government at the upcoming election. Supporting the opposition, they call upon experienced and ruthless political operative Jonathan Hawk to organise their election campaign, and successfully defeat the Prime Minister. Although Hawk suspects the opposition has little chance of winning, he initiates a grassroots community campaign. Whilst he guides and sometimes forcefully intimidates the opposition to act as directed, he cannot control the blunders of their mistake-prone leader, Peter Stanley. Hawk must find a new way to win the election, and initiates a campaign that brings a storm of violent demonstrations and intense manipulation that trigger increased racist attacks. But can his campaign withstand the work of investigative journalist Anita Devlin who endeavours to expose his corruption?