Electing young politicians for their resemblance to handsome film stars alone is not entirely unknown, but undoubtedly very unwise, as Richard Condon, master of political satire reveals in this hilarious new novel.

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Owney Hazman is a successful frankfurter salesman; his wife is beautiful; his father-in-law, rich. He does however, have one problem: his mother left him when he was nine and he is still looking for her.

 

One problem, that is, until he meets Oona Noon, who is bankrolling her dimwitted husband’s bid for the presidency with profits from her multibillion-dollar cocaine-importing business. And until Oona decides that Owney, with his perfect smile, will be the ideal go between to help her sell her fleet of seventy-nine super-tankers. However, the transfer of such an asset would cause chaos in the international oil trade. Before long, the Chinese, the Syrians, the Prizzis, and half the world’s intelligence agencies are involved.

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And Owney? With agents from nine national fisheries and wildlife services watching his every move and still no sign of his mother, Owney is hardly ready for Oona’s next suggestion– that his smile is so devastating he really must go into politics, too…

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The Final Addiction is a riotous, anarchic black comedy in which Richard Condon mercilessly lampoons his many targets – and confirms everything you ever suspected about politicians.