On a winter morning jog in Ottawa, an off-duty nurse discovers a young political staffer floating face down in the icy waters of the Rideau Canal.Over breakfast in the private dining room at 24 Sussex Drive, Prime Minister Bruce Stevens tells his wife he has decided that today is the day he will announce his retirement from politics.In a disorderly Sandy Hill apartment, reporter Jack Macdonald wakes up with a terrible hangover and an extra BlackBerry in the pocket of his rumpled, wine-stained suit.Macdonald, a third rate reporter for a regional newspaper, doesn't know it, but he has a secret that would destroy one of the most powerful men in the country. It would be a great story, if he knew what it was, and if he doesn't get him killed before he can publish it.The most important office in the country is up for grabs, and ruthless men and women will do anything to win the prize.Secrets. Lies. Oil. Group sex. Undercover Mounties. Deadline pulls back the curtain on the backroom struggles that decide who wields power and who serves those at the top.