David Harley

Sidetracked David Harley

Westminster fixer Matt Barker quits his job and changes sides. He sets up a popular movement to bring down the English nationalist government. Against all expectations, Matt's idealism and radical proposals begin to draw enthusiastic crowds, and his popular alliance is soon challenging the nationalists in the polls. Prime minister James Crouch uses every means possible to crush the uprising and destroy Matt's sanity and hopes of victory. Matt fights back and narrowly defeats Crouch in the general election. The army, the City and the Palace refuse to accept the result. As tanks and armoured vehicles enter Parliament Square to confront Matt's supporters, the scene is set for a bloody confrontation to determine the country's future. As he prepares to address the crowd, Matt sees the glint of the sun on the long barrel of a sniper's gun. Is England still the country where the establishment always wins, or is change at last within the people's grasp?"David Harley is a wonderful writer' - Jane Harris, The Observations