AustLit

'When a young runaway is found dead in St Kilda one morning, a syringe hanging out of his arm, no one is terribly shocked. A known junkie, the kid's criminal record was as long as the Scenic Railway. Even local detective Rubens McCauley is quick to conclude Dallas Boyd died of an accidental overdose.

'But anomalies in the boy's death - and the haunting memory of a childhood friend - continue to nag at McCauley. Unable to shake his unease, he fights to revive the investigation. Case re-opened, he soon finds himself enmeshed in a secret network of paedophiles, child abusers and underage prostitutes.

'Forced to look evil in the eye, McCauley must conquer his own demons as he battles to find justice for a young boy he never met but has come to know intimately in death ...' (Publisher's blurb)

'An acquitted cop-killer is executed in a St Kilda backstreet. Suspicion soon falls on Rubens McCauley, a maverick detective with a lot of motive and plenty of enemies. With a team of internal investigators hot on his heels, McCauley needs answers … fast.

'His hunt for the killer draws him deep into an underworld of new age bikie gangsters, old school hitmen and drug syndicates … and a past he’ll do anything to forget.' (Publication summary)