In the Swiss Alps a teenage girl is thrown from a helicopter and her boyfriend is brutally abducted to Trieste, a city filled with undercurrents of past hatreds. Ruari, son of Irish media owner J J Breslin, is in desperate danger, at the mercy of ruthless kidnappers making impossible demands. His terrified mother contacts the only person she knows can help her son: Harry Jones, her former lover, who she walked out on many years ago. Now memories of their passionate affair, the guilt, hurt, anger and humiliation, come flooding back. Time is running out for Ruari and Harry, torn between his loyalties, is quickly drawn into a political game played for high stakes. Far higher than he realizes...

迈克尔·道布斯，1948年出生于英国赫特福德郡，毕业于牛津大学。道布斯纵横英国政坛三十余年，初涉政坛便很快崭露头角，被称为“威斯敏斯特的娃娃脸杀手”；后任政府特别顾问和撒切尔政府幕僚长，最终于保守党副主席的职位上退休，2010年被英王室册封为男爵。

作为畅销书作家的道布斯共著有十余部畅销作品。1989年，他讲述英国官场故事的处女作小说《纸牌屋》大获好评，次年被BBC改成电视剧，风靡全球。

继《纸牌屋》中老谋深算的弗朗西斯·厄克特之后，道布斯又于2012年创作了哈里·琼斯这一孤胆政客角色，“哈里·琼斯政治冒险系列小说”也迅速成为他文学创作上的又一座里程碑。这一系列包含了《老牌政敌》《叛国者》等五本政治冒险佳作，一上市就引发热议，并获得众多英国主流媒体的广泛赞誉，频获“五星级好书”荣誉。