Sex, lies and photo evidence

The up and comer By Howard Roughan 4th Estate, 10 Neil Rose Philip Randall has it all: a burgeoning career at a top New York law firm, a trophy wife indulged by rich parents, and a mistress who also happens to be his best friend's wife.

A hugely confident man who believes he can turn any situation to his advantage, Philip is contacted by an old acquaintance who, it turns out, has photographic evidence of the affair.

His price is $100,000, which quickly rises to $125,000 when Philip tries to brazen out the blackmail threat.

But as Philip refuses to accept defeat, the situation begins to spiral out of his control.

What makes The Up and Comer such a good read is that although Philip is an unpleasant character, he has sufficient charisma to keep the pages flipping.

You want to see if he will get what he deserves or if he can actually get away with it.

The book is written with an emphasis on dialogue and the characters' reactions, clearly making the best use of Howard Roughan's talents.

It is also the better for being in the first person, allowing full range to Philip's often amusing internal dialogue.

As deceitful as he is, Philip is utterly honest with himself.It is not a nice world Philip inhabits - none of the characters is especially appealing, whether their faults be vanity, lechery, alcoholism or just sheer arrogance.There is precious little narrative point to his being a hot-shot lawyer; indeed, the only legal work he is seen undertaking is a drunk-driving case for his senior partner's wife, while he seems far too busy with other things, especially lunchtime liaisons with his mistress, to get much else done.Presumably though, such is the reputation of the legal profession in the US that the legal milieu helps establish the decadent atmosphere in which the story thrives.

This is something John Grisham has mined so successfully for years, the only difference being that Philip Randall is not the all-American hero so beloved of Grisham's novels.

Quite the opposite in fact, which is what makes The Up and Comer so entertaining.