Tags
WYATT is the first novel featuring Garry Disher’s thief since 1997. It appeared in 2010 and has just now been released in this country. He works in Australia mostly, though will go other places. I reported on the other six novels last year, THE WYATT NOVELS, and compared the character to Parker. Probably not fair, though apt. Wyatt is his own man and one could see Parker and he working a job together. Wouldn’t ever happen though. Two sides of the world, the chances of ever meeting almost impossible. Coming, either one of them, to the other’s territory, would put them outside their comfort zone.
Wyatt is back after an absence of years. He’s old school and things have changed a lot over the years, making his line of work harder than ever. Tough new security measures, the fact that most businesses didn’t deal in cash anymore(he didn’t have the skills for stealing wire transfers. He has to take what he can find, a comedown for a man of his specialized skills.
He’s on the run from a botched job, not his fault, where he was to hijack a crooked harbormaster that would occasionally “quarantine” a ship, but might find them clean suddenly for a $75,000 fee. Eddie Oberin had lined the job up and as he took the pay-off after the harbormaster got it, the police suddenly popped up. He’d interrupted a sting to take down the man and barely escapes with the take.
Only to be disappointed.
The bundles had a hundred note top and bottom, but paper in between. His net haul for the job, $1800.
Eddie has another job he’s been cultivating, that’s what he does, and Wyatt isn’t sure he wants to get involved. He dislikes working with amateurs, mostly working alone these days. But Eddie insists. The one who’d brought the job is his ex-wife and they want in on the deal, an even split. Wyatt recognizes in the ex-wife the same sort of professional as himself and that sets off alarm bells.
A couple of low grade hoodlums, jewelers as their cover, deal in stolen merchandise brought in from other countries mixed with legitimate jewelry. the plan is to take it from the courier, Alan Le Page, and fence it. Probably be a good haul. Wyatt reluctantly signs on and starts the planning.
But there’s more going on than even they know. Le Page is sitting on millions in bearer bonds and the theft sets off all sorts of things.
Disher’s novel is filled with the sort of action I like and he keeps things moving along briskly(he has a fine style). I finished this one in a bit over a day.
Worth a look.
One curious thing. One I think must be a publisher’s doing. Wyatt has only one name as do most in this type of novel. But suddenly on the cover and the plot synopsis on the inside of the dust jacket he’s referred to as Wyatt Wareen, Nowhere in the text is he anything but Wyatt and it seems to be generally assumed Wyatt is a surname. The same thing was done to Max Allan Collins’ Nolan with Frank being added to the cover by one publisher.
Who knows?
One final note: Disher has always given a nod to the Parker novels. In one there was a character named Charles Willis(Parker’s “civilian” name) and the Outfit was an opponent in a couple of others. He follows suit here with a character named Parker, his full name never mentioned.
Have never read one of these. I think of myself as an eclectic and fairly widely read person but you put me to shame with your wide ranging experience and knowledge of all kinds of books. I bow to you!
Kidding I hope, Charles. I have my interests, as does everyone else, but there’s so much I don’t know. I realize that every time I get a posting from Goodreads.
Hi, this is Garry Disher, the author of the Wyatt novels, to say many thanks for your remarks, and to say that I have no idea where the Wareen name came from or what prompted my US publisher to use it. He’s always been Wyatt, no first name…
Garry, thanks for stopping by. I’ve been a fan for years. Yes, I knew it had to be an add-on, that name. Publishers seem to think, I suppose, that we readers are dumb and can’t keep things straight without a full name.