Cirrus@Austlit

'Set in the South Australian outback, this novel continues the adventures of master thief Wyatt, first introduced in the author's earlier novel, "Kickback". In this novel, the Sydney mob has hired a bitter ex-policeman to kill Wyatt.' (Publication summary)

'Wyatt is meticulous, demanding and implacable, and this may be the toughest, coolest and most uncompromising series in Australian literature.

'Wyatt made some powerful enemies in his first three outings, and the time has come to confront them. But we know by now that Wyatt’s revenge won’t be showy, impetuous and futile; it will be pragmatic, elaborate—and still possibly futile. He holes up in Sydney, preparing to return home to Melbourne to play his enemies against each other in a dangerous double-cross that will tear down the notions of loyalty and obligation.'

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

'Wyatt, the cool, ever-evasive thief, snatches the cash easily enough. He bypasses the alarm system, eludes the cops, makes it safely back to his hideout in Hobart. It's the diamond-studded Tiffany brooch—and perhaps the girl—that undoes him. Now some very hard people want to put Wyatt and that brooch out of circulation. But this is Wyatt's game and Wyatt sets the rules—even if it means a reckoning somewhere far from home. In a murky world where the cops are robbers, old-style criminal Wyatt positively shines.' (Publication summary)

'The job's a jewel heist. The kind Wyatt likes. Nothing extravagant, nothing greedy. Stake out the international courier, one Alain Le Page, hold up the goods in transit and get away fast.

'Wyatt prefers to work alone, but this is Eddie Oberin's job. Eddie's very smart ex-wife Lydia has the inside information. Add Wyatt's planning genius and meticulous preparation, and what could possibly go wrong?

'Plenty. And when you wrong Wyatt, you don't get to just walk away.' (From the publisher's website.)

'WYATT needs a job. A bank job would be nice, or a security van hold-up. As long as he doesn’t have to work with cocky idiots and strung-out meth-heads like the Pepper brothers. That’s the sort of miscalculation that buys you the wrong kind of time. So he contacts a man who in the past put him on to the right kind of heist. And finds himself in Noosa, stealing a painting for Hannah Sten. He knows how it’s done: case the premises, set up escape routes and failsafes, get in and get out with the goods unrecognised. Make a good plan; back it up with another. And be very, very careful. But who is his client? Who else wants that painting? Sometimes, being very careful is not enough.' (Publication summary)

'Wyatt regarded Robb with cold interest. It was often like this, the layers of self-regard and caution peeling away from a holdup victim, the true man or woman peeking out. He slipped back into the slumbering streets, which began to stir as the guy’s alarm reached their ears. He’d barely thought about Robb while he’d been robbing him. Now his detachment was complete.

'SOME people just work better alone. Wyatt’s one of them. He’s been getting by on nice quiet little burglaries— one-man jobs—when he gets wind of something bigger.

'A corporate crook, notorious Ponzi schemer, set to face court and certain jail time. He’s about to skip bail the old-fashioned way, on a luxury yacht with a million dollars in cash.

'To Wyatt it sounds like something he should get into.

'He’s not alone.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.