John Cole, he of the strong Northern Ireland accent, is one of the most loved of all British TV personalities as the bestselling sales in hb and pb of his autobiography proved. It has long been his ambition to write fiction - this is the result. It is the story of a journalist whose life - and marriage - is wrecked by the sectarian conflict that flared anew in the northern Ireland of the 1970s. Flattered into becoming an adviser to the British government in northern Ireland he lets the role go to his head. Absorbed by his new job, he neglects his wife, and puts his sons at risk as he courts the inner most circles of the IRA. In the assured resolution of his story John Cole reveals sides of Northern Ireland knowledge that gives A Clouded Peace that extra edge. With its plot twists and strong characterisation A Clouded Peace marks an impressive fiction debut by our most celebrated of political commentators. JOHN COLE WRITES: You could say this book has been about 60 years in the making. I was in my early teens when I decided to write novels, but the need to earn a living seduced me down the labyrinthine and enjoyable paths of journalism and then broadcasting. So I was almost 70 before I started seriously to convert myself from a lifetime's devotion to factual writing to an art where the imagination is supreme. A first novel written in your seventies is not much different from that of a 23-year-old: you are both trying to look into the human heart. It is for readers to decide whether fifty extra years enhances insight.