The Social Magus

John Mordred, Book 2

By: James Ward

Narrated by: Colin Watts

Everyone knows UK general elections aren’t what they were. British politics, Westminster in particular, is mired in an integrity crisis. Expenses scandals, cash for questions, a tainted honours system, and other wrong-turns have deeply disillusioned the electorate.

Enter Real Alternative, a bold new party with a youthful, charismatic leader, and a radical manifesto. True, it stands to win very few seats, but what matters more is that it has galvanised the young and apathetic. And apparently, it has the establishment running scared. Yet it may be more vulnerable than appears. Who’s funding it? No one quite knows. If its backers are foreign, that would constitute a clear breach of electoral commission rules. Which would please a lot of people in Whitehall.

Agent John Mordred is assigned to investigate. What looks at first like a routine probe becomes much more when he discovers not only that his own sister is an integral part of Real Alternative’s setup, but that she’s having a relationship with the party leader. And that someone wants both of them dead.

The Social Magus is the first of the Tales of MI7 series to be set mostly in London. Written in the run-up to the 2015 general election, it examines some of the trends and concerns that later materialised in “Corbynism” and the Momentum movement.

©2015 James Ward (P)2019 James Ward

Uniquely British

The Social Magus,
I'm a fan of the John Mordred character, he is a unique character, a man who doesn't quite fit into the world of British security services.
It is quite a long book - it needs the length to deal with a complex plot and it does so in a very satisfactory manner.
When you finish this book you'll be looking for more.
Narration is clear and concise.

I received a free copy of this audio book at my own request, and voluntarily leave this honest review.

Excellent plot and characters!

bookshelves: espionage, london, thriller, suspense, twisty

If it was shorter that would be a disservice to the plot and the characters, so just prepare yourself for a book that takes several days while trying to entice you into reading far into the night. Lots of entanglements, plot twists, and red herrings along with some characters who are just too realistic. I think it's awful that this is book five and now I want to hunt up the earlier ones and binge read them!
It also comes as audio, but I really didn't like the narration.