Preview of Cassidy Summary:

C assidy is a novel with global as well as personal dimensions. The title character is an influential Australian politician who has become rich and politically powerful by establishing contacts with various underworld figures in his own country and abroad.

Upon his death, he leaves the settlement of his estate to his son-in-law Martin Gregory, the real protagonist of the novel. Gregory was once Cassidy's protege but became estranged from his father-in-law. As Gregory tries to unravel the complicated skein of associations through which Cassidy amassed his considerable fortune, the reader is shown the pervasive influence of criminal elements on contemporary politics and international business. The novel suggests that honest men have little hope of ridding society of this corruption.

Concurrent with this global concern is a more individual one: Gregory's personal quest for knowledge. Once Cassidy's apparent business heir, and partially responsible for...