John Jessop pens thriller inspired by America's political turmoil

Its hero is Nigel Harper, a political correspondent with a London broadsheet, who has “a nose for a scoop, an eye for the ladies and a dedication to alcohol in the fabled Fleet Street tradition”'. When his editor sends him to cover the White House and “liven up the file”, he discovers a burgeoning scandal but one with considerably more depth and complexity than he could have imagined.

He soon finds himself drawn into a plot that could bring down the administration, change the face of U.S. politics, and possibly endanger his life.

Hidden Sources is Jessop's first novel but not his first book. In 2008 he wrote Tales from the South Pier, a memoir of his time at Reuters and other market information companies. The book won favourable reviews in several quarters, including one on The Baron (written by the late Allan Barker).

Jessop, 82, says, "I'm a bit bewhiskered to be writing a first novel, but I was fired up in part by what I see as the present fraught political situation in the United States". He added,  "It's said that all first novels are partly autobiographical. I'm not sure about that, but I do know that I have at times recalled my experiences as a financial journalist with Reuters in London and New York. I've even mentioned Reuters in the narrative and did so as a form of tribute to my fond memories of a great company".

Hidden Sources is available in hardcover and paperback on Amazon and in bookstores. An e-book is in the works.    ■