This was Paul Torday's first novel, published when he was 59. He was in business at the time but an avid fly fisherman with a personal interest in the middle east. It was written at the height of Tony Blair's time in office, when spin management was at the fore. The novel is a political satire, an easy to read story, with a serious underlying moral message about corruption, lies, deception, cover-ups and greed at the heart of government, expedited through bungling, petty bureaucrats and ambitious, self-serving politicians. 

We all enjoyed reading this, as parts of it are utterly hilarious and even though the use of reports, letters, diaries and interviews were somewhat irritating, for some of the group, we were soon swept up in the originality and crazy optimism of the narrative. 

The interview by Boris Johnson, at that time a mere journalist on the Telegraph, will most certainly read differently now we have experienced his 'Leadership' in all its glory! 

The idea of creating a salmon fishing river in the Yemen, as desired by a charismatic, mega-rich Yemeni sheikh, grounded in his belief that it would work, could work, God willing - 'Inshallah' - evolved from a risible fantasy to a literal 'roaring' success, as Sheikh, PM and Colin the ghillie, were swept away down the Wadi as the rains and terrorists struck.  

A thoroughly entertaining and engaging read. The film is not bad either, but ends less dramatically. Sadly, Paul Torday died of cancer age 67 and was too unwell to attend the premier of the film in 2011.