Cannes — Iain Johnston

This first novel by a well known film critic is a wickedly accurate and witty insider's view of the movie world as well as a compelling, commercial and ingenious story. It is May 1997, the eve of Hong Kong's return to communist China, and the film world is converging for its most dazzling celebration - the fiftieth Cannes Film Festival. Against a backdrop of celebrity premieres, power breakfasts and serious self-indulgence, a megastar is kidnapped and the festival held to ransom by the Triad terrorists, while two lovers find each other, only to have their relationship and their lives imperilled by a vengeful twist of fate that threatens not only the festival but the real world beyond. Ranging from a special effects blockbuster at Pinewood to the combatant factions of the Australian film world in Sydney, and machinations behind the scenes in Paris and Hollywood, the novel reaches a gloriously cinematic climax in Cannes itself.