In Plain Sight: The Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile

Dan Davies has spent more than a decade on a quest to find the real Jimmy Savile, and interviewed him extensively over a period of seven years before his death. In the course of his quest, he spent days and nights at a time quizzing Savile at his homes in Leeds and Scarborough, lunched with him at venues ranging from humble transport cafes to the Athenaeum club in London and, most memorably, joined him for a short cruise aboard the QE2. Dan thought his quest had come to an end in October 2011 when Savile's golden coffin was lowered into a grave dug at a 45-degree angle in a Scarborough cemetery. He was wrong. In the last two and a half years, Dan has been interviewing scores of people, many of them unobtainable while Jimmy was alive. What he has discovered was that his instincts were right all along and behind the mask lay a hideous truth. Jimmy Savile was not only complex, damaged and controlling, but cynical, calculating and predatory. He revelled in his status as a Pied Piper of youth and used his power to abuse the vulnerable and underage, all the while covering his tracks by moving into the innermost circles of the establishment.

Table of Contents:
PART ONE: Apocalypse now then. Frisk him. Not again child. The first brick. The world was completely black. Specialist subject: 'Jimmy Savile'. They felt they were in control. The power of oddness. Old and infirm. 'Power' is the wrong word. I didn't ask. Look up, you bastard. PART TWO: Oscar 'The Duke'. Smokescreen. Didn't die, very good. All front and no back. Scumbags and slags. Sonderkommandos. Someone the kids could look up to. Little slaves. A lot worse if it was true. Project DJ. PART THREE: Nostalgic memories. The only punter you can recognise from the back. Let 'em think. A cross between a Beatle and an Aldwych farce curate. A dead straight pull time. Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings. An old man even then. TCP tonight. Good enough to eat. They know I'm honest. Eins, zwei, drei in the sky. More insidious than filth. PART FOUR: Young crumpet that would knock your eyes out. A bloody saint. It's obscene. The best five days of my life. Pied Piper. The only thing you can expect from pigs. We always line our artists up. A particularly religious moment. The 1976 temptation. Your porter hurt me. Am I saved? PART FIVE: Rewriting history. Sir James. All sorts of trouble. I wouldn't let the side down. Like a Stradivarius. SOS - Same Old Shit. I am the boss - it's as simple as that. 50 million, give or take a few quid. Runners are junkies. Off the hook. And a bit of leg-over and chips. Ultimate freedom. A void. PART SIX: The wrong idea forever. Operation Ornament. The policy. Piss and shite. Mistakes were made. Two 16-year-old girls from the Ukraine. The last great gimmick. In the palm of his hand. No local connection. All that remains. Endnotes. Select Bibliography. Acknowledgements. Index.

About the Author :
Dan Davies is a journalist, author and editor with more than twenty years' experience as a senior staffer and freelance contributor on a wide variety of national magazines, newspapers and websites. Currently the Editor of Esquire Weekly, having been Features Editor on Live magazine at the Mail on Sunday, and contributing features to both Esquire and MrPorter.com. Formerly Deputy Editor and Acting Editor of Esquire, Deputy Editor of Jack and a regular contributor to the Guardian Guide among many others.

Review :
To my mind, the best and hottest non-fiction property of the decade is Dan Davies's book on Jimmy Savile. He had amazing access for years and stuck with the story before anybody knew how interesting it was. His book will be a must-read and will hit British culture like a clusterbomb. I can't wait An astonishing account . . . It is an incredible read An extraordinary book, by turns deeply sinister and darkly comic Absolutely jaw-dropping