TERRAPIN Group Publishing LLC

Intermezzo Passant

A philandering politician pillow-talks his way into a movie star’s bed. But when he must end the affair, she decides to tell all in an explosive press conference. She is found dead the next day, but her missing red diary survives through subsequent decades, wielding the kind of power that gives rise to sexual blackmail as a normal part of the political process.

The diary makes its way into the hands of a Wall Street genius who uses the contents to build his own empire of sextortion and to form uneasy alliances between government intelligence agencies and an obscure criminal mastermind. Privacy is no longer guaranteed to anyone. But did we give it away ourselves?