Mr Ripley's Book Preview: Lord R. Benson - iPlot


                                     

When an older married couple inadvertently claim the iPad of a stranger at airport security, its shadowy contents thrusts them into a dizzying world of political corruption, suicide and the attempted assassination of the Australian Prime Minister.

For Londoners Derek and Beth Rosengold, an escape to the beauty of Australia to visit their extended family was to be a well- deserved break. But while passing through security at London Heathrow Airport, their iPad is confused with that of a stranger, altering the course of their trip in an unimaginable way. When they realise they have the wrong iPad, Derek spends the flight trying to access it, discovering that the cryptic device reveals a sinister plot to kill the Australian Prime Minister. Upon arriving in Sydney, their son, with his tech-savvy knowledge, tracks their lost iPad to the political capital of Canberra. After sending a slew of unanswered messages to the other iPad, in a bid to trace its owner, Derek and Beth change their travel plans and embark on a dangerous and intriguing journey that takes them to Canberra.

Meanwhile, Coco Martinez also discovers the device she has is not hers and fears that the compromising information on it could fall into the wrong hands. To her surprise however, she is reunited with her iPad when Derek and Beth arrive. Shortly after the exchange the Rosengold’s discover that the Aussie PM has mysteriously been taken ill, and begin to fear that their efforts have come too late. Unable to trust anyone, they soon find themselves trapped in a landscape of lethal political corruption far removed from their everyday lives.
iPlot is the debut novel by the author Lord R. Benson, an electrifying depiction of two average people thrown headlong into a murder plot exacted on Australia’s first female leader, set largely around the nation’s foremost city of Canberra.

iPlot begins with the pair’s guarded intrigue and quickly displaces them into a well realised and tension-wrought world of murderous political backstabbing, all punctuated by Benson’s creative use of technology and science. Its political backdrop reflects current real-world tensions and disillusionment toward the maligned current Prime Minister, demonstrating an eerily plausible near future. These poignancies run deeper still, as iPlot raises the question of modern society’s dependence on social networking and our complacency with information flow, ultimately leaving us vulnerable.


About the author: Lord R. Benson was a war baby born to parents from Vienna and Warsaw, and since 1981 has been the MD of Eureka Entertainment, a movie distributing company that releases classic films. His most notable achievement with Eureka came in 2004 with ‘The Masters of Cinema Series’, a curated DVD collection of movie greats including Shoah (Lanzmann, 1985), Onibaba (Shindo, 1964), Sunrise (Murnau, 1927), plus many more. This is his first novel.

iPlot by Lord R. Benson (published by Matador 2012) is available in Hardback (RRP £12.99) paperback (RRP £8.99) and ebook (RRP £3.99) online at retailers including Amazon.com and can be ordered from all good bookstores.

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