"Head of State" by Andrew Marr

Above: "Head of State" Andrew Marr - 367 pages.

If you are inclined to be interested in UK politics or Marr as a pundit you might like it.

I completed reading this book today.

Author Marr is a Scottish political commentator and television personality. He has hosted the Andrew Marr Show on BBC One, Sunday mornings since 2005.

Marr weaves a plot set at 10 Downing Street in the days before the UK vote for Brexit.

Polls show that the public will vote to stay in the EU... and this potential result is bolstered by a very popular, conservative, but "center" right, PM who recommends - like David Cameron did (coincidentally?) that the UK's future was better off staying within the EU.

But, the polls also show the contest to be tightening.

Spoiler alert.

Popular PM dies six days before the vote. PM's ruthless supporters pull out all the stops, including murder, to cover up PM's death in order to ensure the vote goes their way. The plotters' sinister ruse is detected by some brave souls who relay the scam to The pro Brexit camp. So, the cat is let out of the bag before the Brexit vote, and Brexit prevails.

Most interesting are the book's caricatures of British political players (gee, maybe they're not caricatures!). For example, one of the "good guys" is a famous female author whose daughter works for the leader of the pro-Brexit faction. Apart from literary success, the author is best noted for her countless trysts and indifference towards her children, one of whom she sold off at birth to the "highest bidder."

That sold off son, interestingly, pops up as one of the key characters of the novel as Britain's top political fixer.

The author shuns her pro Brexit daughter because she's boring and never gets into trouble. She embraces her daughter towards the end of the narrative when she (the daughter) shoots a nefarious Polish bag man (we learn in the novel that Brits hire Poles do do all the work that normal Brits won't do).

This book didn't win any prizes. It was a nice trick to pull at Brexit time, I guess. The book was published in 2014. A reader looking for an escape break probably can find better options, though, admittedly, I kept turning the pages. Its not terrible. If you are inclined to be interested in UK politics or Marr as a pundit you might like it.