Whispers of Betrayal

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Whisper's of Betrayal is a 2000 novel by Michael Dobbs thats tells the third story in the Tom Goodfellowe series. It details a group of military officers who try to topple the Prime Minister.

[edit] Plot summary

(taken from the back of the novel) Colonel Peter Amadeus is an old soldier with a grieviance. He wants an apology from the Prime Minister. But this Prime Minister does not believe in apologising for anything.

For Amadeus it becomes a matter of honour - and retribution. Soon London is under siege, its lifelines cut. The his ultimatum: the Prime Minister must resign - or London will be destroyed.

Only one man stands between the capital and disaster - Tom Goodfellowe, a backbench MP who can't even sort out his own life, let alone save the lives of others. He is man torn between ambition, honour and love - with the fate of London slipping swiftly through his fingers.

[edit] Character list

  • Tom Goodfellowe MP - Backbench MP, protagonist
  • Colonel Peter Amadeus - Army Officer who wants to bring down the Prime Minister.
  • Jonathan Bendall MP - UK Prime Minister, resigns at the end of the book, served for 3 and a half years. Based on Tony Blair
  • George Vertue MP - Chancellor of the Exchequer, becomes Prime Minister after Bendall's resignation, based on Gordon Brown
  • Noel O. Hope MP - Was the Home Secretary, forced to resign by Bendall, intitials were N.O Hope, (not good for a politician), based on Jack Straw
  • Mr Earwick MP - Succeeds Hope as Home Secretary, served for around a month before being forced to resign over an affair leaked by the plotters. Based on David Blunkett
  • Colonel Abel Gittings OBE - Former Signals Officer, senior Ministry of Defence official. Was Mary's commanding officer
  • Mary - A soldier in the Signals regiment who joins Amadeus in his plot.
  • Scully - A soldier who is divorced who joins Amadeus as well, dies destroying Battersea power station
  • McKenzie - Another plotter
  • Payne - Another plotter
  • Lord "Frankie" - Lord Chancellor, personal friend of Bendall, based on Charles Falconer.
  • Eddie Rankin MP - Chief Whip, knows Goodfellowe personally
  • Dame Patricia - senior civil servant, Cabinet Secretary