The book has a curious plot twist which doesn't fit at all well. The establishment know about the narcotics dimension because the informer has told them about it. We have to remember, this story was set at a time when minor conviction for the possession of even a small amount of a relatively harmless narcotic would end a person's career prospects for the rest of their lives. It's not that he needs the money, because he is a very rich young man, he just does it for the thrill of breaking the law. There is a second weakness to the core - one of the group is a recreational drug user, who dabbles with selling as a side line. The establishment won't allow things to happen without response and measures are taken to prevent the fact ever emerging. As it happens, 'the establishment' is aware of the plot because one of the core is a police informer. The core have primed some national journalists, but the timing needs to be that which will cause the maximum embarrassment to the government. The thing about leaking an inconvenient fact is the timing. The problem facing 'the core', as they are collectively known, is how and when to let the fact out. There is no question that if the fact were to be made public, the minister would have to resign.
As I say, it belongs to a different time. The minister has a financial interest in some seedy housing in which immigrant families live in slum conditions. The story is a tale of a group of young people, who are loosely friends, who find an inconvenient fact about a cabinet minister. As a tale of today, the story simply doesn't work because politicians today shrug off scandal and need to be fired before they will resign. Where that scandal inevitably leads to the resignation of the politician concerned, especially if they are a cabinet minister. An age where a political scandal can be caused by an inconvenient fact.
The story is a tale of a group of young people, who are loosely friends, who find an inconvenient fact about a cab This is a book that belongs to a different age.
This is a book that belongs to a different age.