Never a True Word

by Michael McGuire

Politics - it's a place for shiny people with ugly souls. As a journalist Jack thought he'd met every shade of nutter, narcissist and bully to be found. But then he took a job in politics and discovered he'd only scratched the surface. Even better, it's Jack's job to maintain the pretence that all is normal, that our political masters have everyone's best interests at heart, that politics is not just a collection of attention-seeking egomaniacs looking for somewhere to park their character defects. Yes, Jack is a political spin doctor. His new boss, Ray Sloan, is terrifying - and that's on his good days - and his former friends in the media regard him as a turncoat and a traitor. Elections, budgets and blackmail - it's all part of the bizarre world Jack now finds himself in. If you are looking for a tale to reaffirm your faith in democracy, this probably isn't the one.

240 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 24, 2017

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book brought memories of five years as a senior public servant back to me in great detail. Michael McGuire knows politics very well. He went from a journalist to a ministerial staffer and back again, so his observations are far from fictional.
I thought this book was terrific, partly because so much of it resonated with my experience, but also because it was an intelligently funny story, with entertaining characters for whom "only the names were changed to protect the innocent".
The principal character is Jack, a spin doctor working for Minister Ray Sloan, a difficult and cunning politician with a bad relationship with the media. I had the names of real people against every character, including Mr Sloan, as will anyone with any insight to South Australian politics.
If this is the measure of what McGuire can produce, I hope he has a few more books in him. There has been no shortage of material over the past 15 years!

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

It reads well, and taught me some words I'd never heard before, but a few plot points felt unnecessary and meander into nothing, and it can't seem to make up its mind whether it's trying to be slice of life or have a plot. Still interesting though.