A.A. Abbott's thriller Up in Smoke lifts the stone on the tobacco business. It is a fast and sexy read that drew me in and held me with its clever blend of of moral outrage versus hedonism.

I don't read a lot of thrillers, but this one certainly bossed my eyes from start to finish because of its subject matter.

The story is believable. Big tobacco is still out there. There is still money to be made aplenty. Its markets may have shrunk in the West, but it is a clever and cunning business. And there are fat profits to be made, especially in Asia.

Yes, there is something for everyone in A.A. Abbott's story.

Some 5 million people die each year because of smoking. My father was one of them some years ago. Kids still smoke. It's cool to too many. Sickening, literally.

Up in Smoke ticks this box in a big way by setting up a group of activist against Albion, a tobacco giant.

A part of me was definitely rooting for the activists. I wanted Albion to go down. I wanted its business to fold and I wanted all those working for it to lose their jobs.

But, but, but .. And this is where, A.A. Abbott's book is very clever, I got to like some of the players at Albion. They were very human, doing very human things in their personal lives. The sorts of things people do everywhere. They were no different from the rest of us in many ways.

I almost forgot what they were responsible for actually producing.

This trip was enhanced by the excitement and skullduggery of a takeover battle and a lot of lavish expense-account living in the fast lane, where skirts are high and necklines low and Charlie is not the name of your doddery old uncle. Nod nod.

Oh yes, Up in Smoke is definitely all about seduction. One flash of Joe, the marketing director's baby blues, provides an excellent couple of twists to the story. There is more than just smoke in the air. Lives are at stake.

I actually grew to like Tony, Albion's alpha male boss. Yes, he is a first class rascal however you view him. But.. Was it the way he lived life without a care?

"..Tony put a cigar to his lips. Lighting it at last, he drew comfort and courage from its perfumed smoke."

By contrast, the activists pitted against him seem mean-spirited and violent. The lengths they are prepared to go to taint them. But, of course, they can wrap the flag of greater moral good around themselves. They know that their aims are right. They know they are right in the long run and that they have to do what others cannot or don't have the courage to do. Big Tobacco must be stopped at all costs. And I agree with them.

Tony and those like him in the walking around world are directly, directly, responsible for the deaths of 5 million people a year.

Now how great a biz is that to be in guys?

But..

There is also great wit in Up in Smoke, some of it arch. The evil candyman marketing director who will not sell to African children - far too poor to buy ciggies. And the drugs dealer whose body is a temple. And "Not my orchids," shouts one villain during a ruck. And "You can redecorate when I'm dead," quips one of the tobacco industry's victims.

Yes, I can recommend Up in Smoke. It's been carefully rolled to curl from the page and up into your eyes in the most pleasing of ways imaginable. And it is all eminently believable.