Lustrum

It was Rome, 63 BC. In a city on the brink of acquiring a vast empire, seven men are struggling for power - Cicero is consul; Caesar, his ruthless young rival; Pompey, the republic's greatest general; Crassus, its richest man; Cato, a political fanatic; Catilina, a psychopath; and, Clodius, an ambitious playboy. ***OUT NOW, PRECIPICE, THE THRILLING NEW NOVEL FROM ROBERT HARRIS***''A pure thriller . . wry, clever, thoughtful, with a terrific sense of timing and eye for character'' Observer''No one delivers thrilling yet timeless games of power, sex, fame and Rome like Robert Harris'' Sunday TelegraphRome, 63 BC. Seven men are struggling for power: Cicero the consul, Caesar his ruthless rival, Pompey the republic''s greatest general, Crassus its richest man, Cato a political fanatic, Catilina a psychopath and Clodius an ambitious playboy. These real historical figures - their alliances and betrayals, their cruelties and seductions - are all interleaved in Lustrum, through its narrator Tiro, a confidential secretary to Cicero. He knows all his master''s secrets - a dangerous position to be in. ''Thoroughly engaging . . The allure of power and the perils that attend it have seldom been so brilliantly anatomised in a thriller'' Sunday Times