Which British journalist and political commentator writes novels under the pseudonym Sam Bourne,” was a question on the BBC Radio 4 quiz show, Brain of Britain, recently. None of the four contestants could summon up the answer.
Shame on them. As JC readers will know, Sam Bourne is the paper’s very own columnist Jonathan Freedland. This latest offering is the third in his “To Kill” series featuring Washington trouble-shooter Maggie Costello and, like the previous books, it is a pacy, intelligent thriller set in the treacherous world of Trump-era politics.
Costello is called in by lawyer Natasha Winthrop, who faces a murder charge after bashing in the skull of the rapist who attacked her in her home.
Young and charismatic, Winthrop has a realistic chance of securing her party’s nomination for the upcoming presidential election. Costello is tasked with saving the career of the woman who could become the country’s first female occupant of the White House. But as she delves into Winthrop’s past, all might not be as it seems.
Freedland/Bourne knows American politics — he is a former Washington correspondent — so we are in safe hands. The characters are recognisably real figures. The current president is never named but there is little doubt who is meant.
But the main target here is the sexual abuse of women and Freedland tackles it on several fronts. Winthrop’s killing of the rapist sparks a #MeToo-style wave of supporters who applaud her for fighting back in the most definitive of ways. Costello is interviewed by a senator who wants to recruit her to his campaign team. She is deterred when he comes on a little too touchy-feely.
Throughout the book, there are seemingly stand-alone chapters describing instances of sexual abuse of women by powerful men in places as diverse as India and Sweden. The problem is global, and it is only a short leap from Freedland’s fictional examples to similar, real-life cases. One of the men is a TV mogul who might not be a million miles away from, say, Harvey Weinstein.
The key question is how sex abuse victims respond when the justice system fails them.
Should they simply take justice into their own hands when — according to a figure quoted in To Kill a Man — a mere 1.5 per cent of rape cases in the US result in a suspect being charged.
Freedland expertly weaves this dilemma into what is a fine thriller. You know you’re on to a winner when you simultaneously can’t wait to find out what happens, but don’t want the story to end.
Recommended, especially to Brains of Britain.
Alan Montague is a freelance writer