After making public accusations that high level government bureaucrats and politicians were involved in criminality through organised theft of International Aid money, ex businessman and newly elected Independent Member of the UK Parliament, James (Jim) Smith, rapidly becomes a political outsider. Hounded and ridiculed by other politicians and sections of the press for naivety, for making accusations without proof, for his lack of political finesse, untidy appearance and blunt, no-nonsense style, he then endures a deliberate campaign of harassment clearly intended to silence him. Sure the campaign to stop him is being orchestrated and funded from somewhere, he flees abroad to escape the stress and publicity and ponder on what to do. For three years, he lives alone in a remote part of Thailand struggling to come to terms with his bitter incursion into politics while devoting himself to painting and Buddhism. But he is also determined to renew his campaign and, with help from an English businessman, Jonathan Walton, a Dutch 'mole', Jan Kerkman and an ex Irish newspaper reporter, Tom Hanrahan they uncover evidence of massive fraud netting millions of Dollars and Euros from charities and international aid funds at the heart of the political establishment. The mastermind is a strange and elusive Italian calling himself Guido who uses threats, blackmail and computer hacking technology to run the vast, fraudulent network. With the danger to Kerkman and Walton increasing, Smith secretly returns home but knowing they will face the same problem as before. As he explains at a secret meeting in Amsterdam, "We are asking a complicated political and bureaucratic system designed to protect itself from self investigation to do just that - to investigate itself, prove the existence of massive internal fraud and then act." But it is the US Government's intervention and determination to deal with fraud associated with its own US Aid programme that provides the manpower and resources that Smith and his colleagues need. With a US Senator, Colin Stafford, driving the political agenda and the FBI providing resources, more evidence is gathered and the international law enforcement agencies and Interpol are finally involved. "All I ever wanted was to say something about the distribution of wealth and the worship of money as the answer to human happiness," Jim Smith explains to Senator Stafford. "Money has never meant much to me other than as a measure of my contribution to society. But it is wrong that people in positions of power and trust abuse their positions and steal vast sums from the public purse. But make no mistake, they are powerful. They already have money and resources but they are out to make even more. Security is what keeps them out of sight. Politics and bribery is what shuts mouths. Threats and fear of repercussion is what keeps people in their place. Finding those at the top might not be difficult but they are protected by a reputation of dignity and status that has been deliberately constructed to make any accusations from outside look absurd and inconceivable. I tried the accusations route and I was the one made to look absurd. That's why I went away but I always planned to return to renew my campaign. We will probably show the whole system is at fault and whether we can do anything about it in our own small way I don't know, but I'm damned sure the millions of honest, hard-working tax payers out there would support us in anything we do. That is where our strength lies." Arrests begin, but as Kerkman and Hanrahan close in on Guido at a villa on Lake Como the Italian provides yet one more surprise. This realistic thriller covering events in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia is also a sensitive study of a stubborn and talented man who steadfastly refuses to fit into the stereotype of a successful businessman and a modern politician.