AustLit

'When media mogul Wardell Costello’s son Julian disappears, it could be Julian’s just cheating on his beautiful model wife. Except the Premier is on the phone to Wardell, and she knows more than Wardell likes about his family’s secrets. Too dangerous in the dog-eat-dog political world of Sydney, where the Costellos are used to getting their way. Wardell Costello and the Premier are no longer the best of friends … the Premier’s Office is looking to rub the Costello name in mud.

'So Wardell calls in his old enemy, journalist Jack Rutherford, for help. “Find my son”, he demands. Jack doesn’t like the demand, but he’ll take the money to help release his partner’s parents from the clutches of the Public Guardian. His partner, Detective-Sergeant Terry Bradley, is already on the case. So far, there’s a dead body in Julian’s luxurious inner-city playpad, and another body washed up in Iron Cove. It seems a violent killer is disposing of young men who’ve shared the delights of the playpad with Julian.

'The killer is a sensitive boy, raised lovingly by a single mother, turned crazy by a restrictive school and Julian’s sadistic bullying.

'A novel about a Sydney that could almost be …' (Publication summary)

'Suburban Sydney has many secrets. This book looks at those of one family. This is a story about heroes, but not heroics. It is a story of men living their lives quietly and peacefully. But life has moments when it is neither, when things happen, life changes and men are forced to change themselves.' (Publisher blurb, 2009 edition.)