- ASIN: B0GX2QKQBY
- Publisher: Ashwood Publishing
- Publication date: May 8, 2026
- Language: English
- Print length: 287 pages
- ISBN-13: 978-1764553810
- Genre: Political Fiction
The BookViral Review:
Most political novels concern themselves with ideology. Numbers Are the Devil’s Work is more interested in arithmetic. In Paul Frisby’s hands, the delicate mathematics of Tasmania’s Hare-Clark electoral system becomes the engine for a story that is equal parts political intrigue, social observation and character study. What begins with the sudden death of the Premier quickly evolves into a novel about unforeseen consequences, where power shifts not through grand gestures but through the quiet logic of numbers and the people forced to live with them.
Rather than rushing headlong into parliamentary manoeuvring, Frisby takes time to establish the personalities who will shape the story. Beverley Petersen emerges as an unlikely political protagonist, carrying into public life a lifetime of hard-won experience rather than polished political ambition. Independent, quietly perceptive and never entirely comfortable with the compromises demanded by politics, she feels refreshingly authentic. Opposing her is Bernard Wynyard, an experienced political operator whose instinct is always to secure the numbers before debating the principles. Their encounters provide one of the novel’s most engaging narrative threads because neither character is reduced to stereotype. Both possess convictions, both carry flaws, and both understand that politics rarely rewards certainty for long.
Frisby writes dialogue with an ear for natural conversation rather than theatrical confrontation. Humour appears almost by stealth, surfacing through dry observation, understated exchanges and the peculiar absurdities that accompany public life. Even when the discussion turns to constitutional process, parliamentary procedure or electoral mechanics, the conversations reveal character before they explain politics. Readers unfamiliar with Tasmanian politics are never left behind because every political development is filtered through characters whose motivations remain immediately recognisable.
The narrative never hurries to impress. Instead, it trusts the gradual accumulation of political tension and personal consequence. Frisby clearly possesses an intimate understanding of the machinery of government, yet he never allows that knowledge to overwhelm the story. Parliamentary procedure, electoral arithmetic and constitutional process are woven into the narrative with remarkable restraint, creating genuine suspense rather than slowing the pace. The political landscape becomes part of the novel’s tension instead of its exposition.
Tasmania itself becomes an integral part of the novel. Its communities, geography and political culture shape both the decisions being made and the people making them. This is not a story that could easily be transplanted elsewhere. The setting gives the narrative a distinctive identity while reinforcing the sense that local politics can carry consequences every bit as compelling as those found on a national stage.
Running beneath the political manoeuvring is a quieter exploration of responsibility. Beverley is repeatedly confronted by the difference between holding strong opinions and holding genuine influence, while Bernard understands that leadership often requires decisions that satisfy nobody completely. Their contrasting perspectives allow Frisby to explore integrity, compromise and public service without ever reducing the novel to a debate or a lecture.
By the final chapters, Numbers Are the Devil’s Work has become something more substantial than political satire. It is an intelligent examination of how chance, personality and circumstance can converge to reshape lives and governments alike. Readers looking for fast-paced conspiracy fiction may find themselves pleasantly surprised by a novel that derives its momentum from people, process and personality rather than spectacle. For those who appreciate political fiction grounded in believable characters and an authentic understanding of how power is exercised, Paul Frisby has produced a thoughtful, engaging and quietly distinctive novel.
It is highly recommended.
