Bad Debts
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4.3 • 7 Ratings
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- £2.99
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
THE AWARD-WINNING DEBUT NOVEL, AND FIRST JACK IRISH THRILLER, FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE BROKEN SHORE ANDTRUTH.
'Put simply, Temple is a master' John Harvey
'Great locations, hard-nosed dialogue and a twisting plot . . . super entertainment' Evening Standard
Jack Irish doesn't spook too easy. He's had guns pointed at him too many times - more often since he started hiring himself out as a debt collector - and he saves his nerves for the racetrack. So when he receives a phone message from an ex-client begging for help, he's inclined to ignore it. It's not an acquaintance he's looking to renew. Some-time lawyer, part-time private eye, he has some old memories - and old friends - he'd do better to forget.
But then the caller turns up dead. And Jack has no choice but to take a trip down memory lane - into dangerous territories. There are some old debts that need chasing . . .
Loved Bad Debts? Then read the second novel in the Jack Irish series, Black Tide.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Australian Jack Irish ex-lawyer and sometime debt collector, cabinetmaker and barfly gets a double introduction as MacAdam/Cage releases his first two adventures (number two is Black Tide) this month. Jack's a gumshoe in classic hard-boiled style: there's his clipped, black-humor dialogue, his hard-drinking past and his sad backstory (his wife was murdered by one of his clients). When Jack gets a desperate message from Danny McKillop, whom he defended years before on a hit-and-run charge "at the beginning of the forgotten zone, the year or so I spent drunk," he takes a while to call him back. When he does, Danny, who was fresh out of prison, is dead. Jack's guilt fuels his ensuing search for the truth about Danny's murder. The main plot, which has to do with a crooked land development deal, is overly complicated, but solid subplots one concerning a romance, another about a horseracing scheme keep the pages flipping. The engaging Jack and his friends are absolutely original and unfailingly amusing, and figuring out their speech patterns is great fun, even in its difficulty ("We'll have to get on the Drizas, motor out to the bush next week. Suit, Jack?"). Readers will take to this series like a thirsty man to strong drink and bang the bar for another round.
