The Whistleblower: The explosive thriller from Britain's top political journalist

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Because of such mixed messages, he says, the adolescent Peston “devoured” books by Isaac Bashevis Singer or “almost every Jewish author on the planet”. So Jewish identity, for Peston, “is a big part of who I am, but working out exactly what that is has always intrigued me”.

WTF: What have we done? Why did it happen? How do we ta…

I'm a big fan of Robert Peston and really enjoyed his first novel, The Whistleblower, so I was really pleased to be offered the chance to read the follow up, The Crash. His former colleague at the Financial Chronicle, Jess Neeskens, is still a close friend and features strongly in this story which starts with Gil discovering problems at Banque de Maghreb, who have to freeze a fund heavily invested in ‘sub prime’ mortgages from US banks (does this ring a bell?). Soon Marilyn Krol, a director of the Bank of England, and on/off lover of Gil, is found hanged and Gill cannot accept the view of Assistant Met Commissioner, Kim Jansen, that it is suicide.

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This was a book that I had seen and it was the author who sparked my interest. Peston is someone I am used to seeing on the news and this book intrigued me. What I found was a book that initially was slower starting, the first section took some time before the actual main story as such started to emerge. In this time, however, it gave me a chance to learn a bit about Gil and also his character. Unlike many authors Peston also suggests solutions to put UK 2017 on a better footing and reduce the damaging inequality to be found in our country then and now. He makes a compelling case for why the Government should and must borrow to fund infrastructure improvements that would improve life for those people in regions where living standards have stagnated and even deteriorated over the last 15 years. Regional investment banks, the boosting of the education system, a wealth levy and a regulatory body to protect employees and individuals from exploitation by employers. All good gritty and detailed proposals.

Robert Peston Jewish News meets: Crash, bang, wallop, it’s Robert Peston

When it came to someone he could work with, Steph McGovern’s name came up as the consumer and business journalist had also been Peston’s producer on the BBC when he was first reporting on the 2008 financial crash. “We’ve stayed close friends. She was very excited”. For those who follow politics there are some familiar characters to be found along the way. We also have the politics of the BBC and their hierarchy to contend with! All very familiar stuff , again if you are politically aware. Oh and Gil... what an interesting character he is... maybe this is the start of a series...? Hope so. A reasonable analysis of the Brexit vote and the key driving factors that led to the result. It is a lot more balanced than most other accounts, avoiding rhetoric and resisting condescension, as Peston attempts to uncover the underlying causes of why people chose to vote leave, and the fundamental class divides that exist in today's society. However I don't think it really got to the heart of some of the key issues around identity and immigration. This is a rollercoaster of a story. Early in the book, there is an explanation of the Subprime mortgage market which was complex but essential for the storyline. Describing it as “the emperor’s new clothes” was excellent.Again, this was really enjoyable for me. Whilst I can be a bit wary of celebs using their profile to step over other novelists, Peston can clearly write, has a brilliant storytelling mind and has the necessary knowledge and experience to make it all feel very real. He readily admits that his characters are fictional , but also largely based on people he has met throughout his career. So we go on with the rich getting richer, greedier and unwilling to share their benefits, unable to understand that their wealth is based on the exploitation of the many and that when this decadent society will collapse, they too will be dragged down. Obviously, it’s been a pain to do so much remote talking. When you can’t look into people’s eyes and you can’t see their body language, you miss things. It’s been a relentless year, trying to make sense of everything.