Kompromat

" A rollicking work of fiction that sets conniving caricatures of real-life figures amid a diorama of recent world events.... Mr. Johnson... clearly knows all the drills. The author of 25 earlier works of fiction and nonfiction, he has a lifetime’s expertise that adds comic credibility to a caper combining the antic action of Mad magazine’s old 'Spy vs. Spy' cartoons with the gonzo humor of Carl Hiaasen."-- The Wall Street Journal
Stanley Johnson's new satirical thriller KOMPROMAT purports to tell what really happened in the run-up to those two recent political earthquakes, the Brexit Referendum in the UK in June 2016 and the US Presidential Election in November of that year.

What was the real reason, for example, Britain's Prime Minister, Jeremy Hartley, included a commitment to hold an In or Out Referendum on Europe in the Conservative 2015 Election Manifesto? What was the true story behind Ronald C. Craig's unexpected triumph in the US election?

Stanley Johnson's sweeping satire follows the intertwined fortunes of the leader of Britain's Leave campaign, former Cabinet member Edward Barnard and brash showman Presidential candidate Ronald Craig.

KOMPROMAT reveals how the devilishly cunning machinations of Russian President Igor Popov succeed in crucially influencing the electoral outcome on both sides of the Atlantic. Plot, counterplot and subplot are deftly woven into an "alternative" account of events which ends as Britain's new Prime Minister, Mrs Mabel Killick, seeks her own mandate to deal with Brexit-related turbulence.

KOMPROMAT combines a rich vein of satirical humor with a spirit of adventure that leaves the reader wondering whether this "fake" narrative might not, just possibly, be true.

A former MEP, Stanley Johnson has written widely in both fiction and non-fiction. Previous thrillers are The Doomsday Project, The Marburg Virus, Tunnel and The Commissioner, which was made into a film starring John Hurt. He lives in London, and is the father of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.

‘There are some novelists who, by instincts or study, understand perfectly the independent components of a thriller. Stanley Johnson is one of them.’ Daily Telegraph

‘It’s brilliant and, who knows, maybe it’s true.’ Ken Livingstone