Hidden Sources - John Jessop

Nigel Harper, chief political reporter for the London Post, has a nose for a scoop, an eye for the ladies and a dedication to alcohol in the fabled Fleet Street tradition. But he's now in danger of going stale. He needs a new challenge. It arrives sooner than he expected when the paper sends him to Washington to be its White House correspondent. Desperate to make a name for himself in a city that thrives on political intrigue, he decides to look into a story in a sleazy tabloid that the President of the United States, Martin Jameson, a Republican in thrall to the evangelical movement, may be having an affair. The Washington press corps, all too familiar with the President's serial philandering, ignores the story. But Nigel dismisses their jeers and presses on. He soon discovers that there's a much, much bigger scandal brewing, one that's not about sex, and which involves not just the President but also the First Lady, the enigmatic, brittle and decidedly liberal Samantha. Soon after meeting her, Nigel finds himself drawn into a secret plot that could bring down the administration and profoundly change the American political landscape forever. It could also, he realises, endanger his life. This is a work of fiction, but it's a story of our times, one that could have been culled from today's headlines.