The affair begins in Mediapart. Serge Ruggieri, a minister under François Hollande, is alleged to be hiding millions in Luxembourg. The image of an exemplary state is tarnished, and as a communication war ensues, the president, ministers, and deputies strategically position themselves to avoid sinking if Ruggieri falls. Nicolas Sarkozy, on the other hand, hopes to capitalize on the situation. In the murky margins of the Republic, a construction industry giant doesn’t intend to wait for the investigation results to find out if they’ll be implicated. They embark on orchestrating a scandal that would divert media attention in case the Ruggieri affair explodes. Djamila Garrand-Boushaki, a deputy close to Ruggieri, becomes the target of this plot: a terrorism case would create a scandal so resounding. A plan that would be simple if a commander from the Police Service of Lyon didn’t get involved in the affair.
François Médéline, a well-versed connoisseur of the political world, plunges us into the depths of the Republic. Following a determined young woman, cops in search of the truth, and an implacable henchman, he takes us into a world of violence and chaos where the intoxication of power justifies everything.
