Lubji Hoch breaks the bonds of his humble beginnings as the son of an illiterate Jewish peasant, escapes the Nazis, changes his name to Richard Armstrong, becomes a decorated officer in the British army and ultimately finds himself in Berlin, where his sharp mind and killer instincts win him the opportunity to head up a floundering newspaper. As rival papers in the city fail in the wake of his ruthlessness, he is poised to move on to even greater things.

On the other side of the world, in Australia, Keith Townsend, son of a millionaire newspaper owner, is being groomed to follow in his father's footsteps. Private schools, an Oxford degree and a position at a London newspaper lead him up to the time of his father's death, when he takes over the family business. His energy and brilliant strategic thinking quickly make him the leading newspaper publisher in Australia. Yet he, too, longs to move on to the world stage.

Armstrong's and Townsend's ambitions collide on a global scale. Each controls a mass-circulation British tabloid and a New York daily newspaper that is losing money. Each suddenly finds himself threatened by financial disaster brought on by enormous debts. Both become desperate to save their crumbling empires. One ends up flying his private jet to his yacht in Nice and ordering the captain to sail out to sea. The other prepares a press release to announce that he is about to go bankrupt.

RELEASE NOTES:

Moving from my Mt TBR to the Canberra Meeting as I now have a paperback copy. Much better for train travel.

RELEASE NOTES:

To be released on the seat opposite reception at the main BoZo entrance.


And apologies to Woosang, I never registered the catch in the first place... *sorry*
As usual Archer writes fast edible prose and a neat clean entertaining story. Thoroughly enjoyable, if not life changine, and an Australian flavour is a nice change.
8 stars.