The Gemelli Retribution

Nicholas Davidson’s first novel, “The Gemelli Retribution” is a racy, and at times violent, political thriller, telling the story of the inexorable rise to power in the last quarter of the 20th Century of a fictional British politician, Christopher Anderton MP, who goes to extraordinary lengths to conceal the fact that he is gay. There are many political twists and turns as Anderton climbs the greasy pole to Ministerial office. The plot revolves around an imprudent letter which Anderton, then in his 20’s, wrote to a 12-year old boy from Belfast, Bobby Magee, after he had sexually exploited the boy. The letter keeps returning to haunt him, even when he becomes a successful British Foreign Secretary. Magee’s own determination to exert revenge on Anderton is intensified by a personal family tragedy which he and his twin sister suffer. Little could Anderton foresee that an unlikely alliance, forged during their student days in Edinburgh between the vengeful Magee and Joseph Abubacarr, an activist in the conflict in Sierra Leone, could become a potential impediment to his ultimate political success. Will Magee achieve his retribution? Will Anderton reach the pinnacle of politics? It seems improbable that both can achieve their respective ambitions. In the end, it is the covert activities of the British Security Service, MI5, in Northern Ireland, which unleash a series of events whose consequences resolve the conflict between Anderton and Magee in the most unexpected fashion.