Scandal, vengeance, redemption in the third book in the series that inspired Foxtel's Secret City, which has earned the reputation as Australia's House of Cards

Beloved yet dishevelled newshound Harry Dunkley has fallen about as low as it's possible to get, disgraced and dispirited at having failed to reveal the existence of the Alliance, a cabal of mandarins pulling the strings of power in Canberra.

But new purpose is in the air.

As the Coalition government teeters disastrously, Dunkley receives aid from an unlikely group of adversaries. Revived and emboldened, he looks afresh at his abiding enemies: resurrected Labor powerhouse Catriona Bailey and the hitherto untouchable Defence Secretary, Sir Jack Webster. Webster, a respected statesman and member of the sinister Alliance, has so far played Dunkley at every turn. Yet there is a chink in Webster - an innate arrogance - that just might bring him down. If Dunkley can line up luck, hubris and intuition, there could be a way to personal redemption and revenge for the death of analyst Kimberley Gordon, whose murder in The Marmalade Files cast a long shadow over friends and enemies alike.