The Colour of Shadows - Paperback

by Gawain Barker (Author)

It looks like paradise, but the northern tropics of Australia in 1980 is a wild place. It's not just the extreme weather, rugged as hell country and dangerous animals. It's the people too.

Seth Kelly is the nicest bad guy around. Dope grower, bouncer, and party animal, he's returned to his home town Cairns to find that new players - Sydney gangs, the Mafia and the most corrupt police force in the country - are changing the rules. When a teenage runaway, a marijuana king-pin, and a wealthy guru enter his life, Seth realises that everything he thought he knew - is now out of date.

Seth's a tough bastard, but the automatic weapons, vulnerable young women, kung-fu kicks, and freaky spirituality are starting to get to him. All he wants is that one big score, a chance to restart the best relationship of his life and to keep the darkest memory in his past right out of his head. Trouble is, what's really got Seth running . . . is himself.

Tough, authentic and drenched in sunshine noir style, The Colour of Shadows is a white-knuckled thrill-ride through an untold time and place. Based on decades of personal experience, extensive research and many interviews, this is the first book of a trilogy that takes place in a world of epic natural beauty, extreme conditions, absolute personal freedoms and some very dangerous people.