Cirrus@Austlit

'That Sergeant Peppers album cover roll call of heroes seems a rather quaint exercise now. We’ve still got lists of heroes and anti-heroes but indie culture watchers and streetcorner critics have long since worked their way past the big figures like Elvis, Marilyn, Marlon and so on to people and places further out and further down.' (Introduction)

'When it comes to sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll, Billy Glasheen’s always been in the vanguard, but as the swinging 60s turn into the 70s, he’s living a quiet life. He has kids now, and he’s in debt to the mob, so he keeps his head down, driving a cab, running some low-level rackets. He may as well have gone straight, it’s so boring. Then one day everything changes. He finds a trashy paperback in his cab whose plot seems weirdly familiar. Billy himself seems to be a major character in it. He can’t think who could’ve written it other than Max, his old partner in crime who double-crossed him and left him in the mess he’s in. Only Max is dead. He went up in flames, along with lots of cash, after a bank heist. But if Max is alive, Billy has a score to settle. And if he didn't get fried to a crisp, maybe the money didn't either. Billy has to find out, by following clues planted in that strange little book. He soon discovers he’s not the only one on Max’s trail, and has to deal with enemies old and new in his strangest adventure yet.' (Publication summary)

'CROOKED COPS – CORRUPT POLITICIANS – SECRET ARMIES – DOUBLE-DEALING RORTS – GEORGEOUS GIRLS – AND BILLY GLASHEEN August 15, 1945. The Japanese have just surrendered, the war's finally over and Australia has come out to party – big time. Eighteen-year-old Billy Glasheen, apprentice lurk merchant, would very much like to join the revelers, but he's found himself otherwise engaged. His boss, Mick Toohey, a well known black marketeer, has disappeared and left Billy carrying the can for what could be the biggest rort in Australia's history. It seems like everyone in Sydney knows the score except Billy but he's learning – real fast. Caught in a web of government agents, twisted cops and seriously heavy thugs, Billy finds himself out of his depth with nowhere to turn. He has no choice but to play the game. But can he play it well enough to escape with his life, the girl and a decent supply of ready cash? Or will he have to take The Devil's Jump – whatever that might be…' (Publication summary)

'As 1959 dawns, Billy Glasheen is in deeper trouble than ever. The past has caught up with him in the form of Fred Slaney, Sydney's meanest, most corrupt cop, who's got Billy framed up for the murder of his crooked partner. Not that Slaney wants to arrest him - what he wants is ten grand. He gives Billy a choice - pay up within six months, or take early retirement, forever. Billy can't think of a legal way to come up with the money that fast, and anyway, earning an honest living has never been his strength. 

'So what's the answer? Up the ante on Uncle Dick's mailorder scams? Rig a horse race or two? Rob a bank? Maybe all of the above? Surely something will work...and it does, though not in the way you might expect - and not before Billy's situation gets a whole lot worse.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (2019 ed.).

'Meet Billy Glasheen, a fresh voice in crime fiction. It’s Sydney, the 1950s, and Billy’s trying to make a living, any way he can. Luckily, he’s a likeable guy, with a gift for masterminding elaborate scenarios – whether it’s a gambling scam, transporting a fortune in stolen jewels, or keeping the wheels greased during a hair-raising tour by Little Richard and his rock ‘n’ roll entourage.

But trouble follows close behind—because Billy’s schemes always seem to interfere with the plans of Sydney’s big players, an unholy trinity of crooks, bent cops, and politicians on the make. Suddenly he’s in the frame for murder, and on the run from the police, who’ll happily send him down for it. Billy’s no sleuth, but there’s nowhere to turn for help. To prove it wasn’t him, he’ll have to find the real killer.' (Publication summary)