CRIME WITH A POLITICAL EDGE Clive Lench has been told he has two years to live. He can think of better ways of spending them than ghosting the biography of ex-Tory Prime Minister George Hyde who, as a back-bencher, has become a focus for extreme right-wing politics. Hyde"s reluctance to co-operate makes Lench curious. So does the murderous determination with which intelligence services set about disrupting his life and work. Set in Britain in the 1990s, The Dark Red Star predicts a grim future that may only be outdone by reality. "Ivan Ruff has written a witty, cynical, fast-moving story. The political touch is sure, and the dialogue stabs home every time. It"s a thriller that shakes up your view of the world - a rare thing." Jeremy Seabrook PLUTO CRIME FICTION