Lead me

'Lead Me' is a novel: a comedy about leadership, deception, terrorism and romance. (And underwear.)Around us a new religion, new apostles and a new language are coming together. The religion - leadership. The apostles - business heroes, management experts and self-help gurus. The language - the truly global language of the twenty-first century - bullshit.Hampton Management College is sleepy, English and second-rate, an unlike madrassa for the new religion. But a new dean, William C Gyro, arrives from America and from the world of business. Three years on, the college is on the map. Money is pouring in. In ten days a spectacular glass tower will open, dominating Hampton's secluded lakeside. The VIP guest list is to die for.Ben is a 29 year old Hampton MBA. His career is rocketing skywards until one glowing June evening. He gives a speech back at his college which gets rave reviews, but within hours he is fired. Stunned, perplexed and then outraged, he is determined to find out the truth. But he is sucked into the preparations for the tower opening - a storm of egos and events which may make him a laughing-stock from Asia to America.In the Downing Street diary it says Africa, but Dianne, the dean's English psychologist wife, still has ten nights to sleep with whoever can get the Prime Minister to come to the tower opening instead. Greg, the dean's driver, uncovers a terrorist plot. No-one believes him, but it is too late; he is going to become a hero anyway. Connie, at Hampton for NHS management training, finds her sights settling on Ben, who is ten years younger. And all the while someone is preparing to make a stand against lies, half-truths, make-believe and bullshit which none of them will ever forget.The big day comes and so does the Prime Minister. Something utterly unexpected explodes inside the tower. In its aftermath Ben and Connie find each other - but much more importantly, they find themselves.