He was closing in on me. I could hear his running foot-steps over the sound of my heart, of the blood in my ears, of my panting. The Children's playground ahead, beyond that the road gleaming wetly in the streetlight, the school, a light on in the school, a cleaner at work...if I could reach the road. Just reach the road.

Jack Irish--lawyer, gambler and people-finder--is hunting down the villains who hijacked the winnings from his latest betting coup when he is hired by a mystery client to find missing barman Robbie Colbourne. But Robbie turns up dead of a drug overdose....

"Peter Temple's latest thriller grows on the listener. With its array of characters and subplots, the book is an excellent vehicle for narrator Michael Carman, whose effective use of tone permits listeners to keep track of all the characters without losing sight of the story. Carman's light and warm voice is a good fit, and he paces the material well. It's as if he can imagine listeners poised over their scorecards." --AudioFile Magazine (Aug 08)