Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.

For this week’s Waiting on Wednesday, I am going to look at an upcoming piece of Australian fiction that I think is going to be a thrilling, realistic and deeply intriguing read, Duplicity by Richard Evans.

Duplicity is the second book in Evans’s Democracy trilogy and follows on from his 2018 release, Deceit, which presented the reader with a tale of corruption and political intrigue inside the halls of Australia’s Parliament House. Evans himself is former Australian politician whose detailed knowledge of parliamentary procedure and the day-to-day aspects of Australian politics turned this book into an exceedingly realistic read (depressingly so, in some cases). It was so accurate and clever it earned a five-star review from me last year and received an honourable mention in my Top Ten Reads of 2018 list. As a result, I am quite keen to check out Duplicity, especially as it is set to focus on a very topical part of Australia’s political system: the election.

Simon & Schuster Synopsis:

When ruthless political operative Jonathan Wolff is assigned the task of overthrowing corrupt Australian Prime Minister Andrew Gerrard in the federal election campaign, no one is safe from the line of fire.

Devlin is determined to be the whistle-blower, but does she have what it takes to expose Wolff and the Mercantiles? Or will political power overcome truth in this gripping Australian political thriller?

This sounds like it could be quite the interesting story, and it is definitely a change from the plot of the first book in the series. In Deceit, the story focused on the corrupt Prime Minister attempting to manipulate the parliament and the people to commit an illegal act. In this one, it’s two corrupt politicians attempting to manipulate the system for their own ends, and I expect the machinations and power plays to double in volume as a result.

The timing of this book is quite impeccable. Australia has only just finished up a federal election period that was filled with controversy, surprises and, at times, blatant stupidity. With that fresh in our minds, this book is going to take on a lot of extra potency and meaning, although I imagine quite a few people will be frustrated by any similarities it will share with real life events.

Duplicity is set to be released in September, and I am quite looking forward to seeing how Evans spins this election in his book. I am expecting another fantastic and thrilling read and I am very curious to see what additional aspects of Australian politics the author brings to life this time.