Conflict Of Interest - Hardcover

Michie, David

3.82

79 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316850691 ISBN 13: 9780316850698

Publisher: Little, Brown, 2000

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Mike Cullen has created the most effective PR agency in London. His client list comprises a veritable who's who from the FTSE 100, and the cream of the crop is Starwear, the world's leading sports wear manufacturer. Nathan Strauss, Chairman of Starwear, is respected throughout the business world for his straightforward ethics, and the business community is rocked when he commits suicide. So too is Chris Treiger, an analyst who has just been head-hunted by Cullen to head up a major piece of research for Starwear. Nathan's brother Jacob immediately steps in to Nathan's shoes, and it seems that the company will continue as before. However Chris realises that all is not right with either the company or the agency and his unease rapidly turns to fear when his erstwhile lover, an investigative journalist, turns up some highly damaging facts. But can he trust her? Or has the world of PR hype and its trick mirrors affected his judgement, perhaps his sanity?

A remarkable debut thriller of chilling authenticity.

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Product Description:

Physical description; 334 p. ; 25 cm. Subjects; Public relations firms - England - London - Fiction. Adventure / thriller.

Review:

Thrillers have been set in many different milieux, but by setting Conflict of Interest in the cut-throat world of corporate PR, David Michie has created a unique setting for his highly accomplished narrative.

Chris Teiger thinks that he's landed the job of a lifetime: �120,000 a year, a top-of-the-range company BMW and the opportunity to work alongside billionaire Nathan Strauss, top dog of the sportswear business. But as Chris prepares for his new job, catastrophe ensues when Strauss kills himself by jumping off the balcony of his ninth floor hotel suite. Forced to continue in the job with Lombard, the UK's most powerful PR firm, Chris is obliged to report to Nathan's brother Jacob. There Chris encounters Nathan's sinister spin doctor, who appears to be obsessively loyal to his employer.

There's enough compulsive plotting to keep the reader thoroughly entranced but the introduction of a new plot line, involving Chris's former lover, journalist Judith Laing, adds another powerful hold. Judith is investigating the unusual death of a leading financial analyst and she finds that he was on the verge of giving highly damaging evidence about Chris Teiger's firm. Chris is at first reluctant to believe this--until another death occurs.

In a novel that always possesses a clear-eyed, cynical view of modern corporate PR, Michie never allows the labyrinthine twists of his tale to overshadow the assiduously detailed characterisation of his principals. As Chris begins to suspect that he has become part of a multinational cover-up, and both his own life and Judith's are on the line, the uncertainity of their survival is just as engrossing as the energetic unfolding of the central mystery. Marshalling his smoothly written prose with maximum efficiency, Michie demonstrates that John Grisham has a rival in the realm of corporate thrillers:

After a few minutes out on the balcony, leaning on the rail and soaking up the tranquility of the view, he stepped back inside the cottage. And froze. Two hooded strangers were in the sitting room. The one closer to him was holding a hunting knife with a seven inch blade directly to his face.

--Barry Forshaw

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