Kickback by Garry Disher

Publisher's Synopsis

Wyatt robs banks, and lifts payrolls. Most men like him are dead or in gaol.
But Wyatt stamps a cold, pitiless style on his heists - and makes sure that he never gets caught.

Now his funds are now and his luck is running out - until the day Anna Reid explains about the kickback in her partner's safe.

Other players are involved: Bauer - who learnt his trade shooting blacks in South Africa; Ivan Younger - smalltime boss; and Sugarfoot Younger - sullen urban cowboy.

In a world of Kickback there is no yielding, no redemption. When Wyatt is crossed, the outcome is inevitable...

My Review 

Until coming across Garry Disher’s Wyatt books, the only hardboiled caper stories I had read were books such as W.R. Burnett’s The Asphalt Jungle and Richard Stark’s Parker series. Like those books, Kickback is a no-nonsense, tough crime novel filled with gangsters and a major pay-off as the goal, but unlike those books, Kickback is set in Australia – Melbourne to be precise.

Wyatt is an absolute professional, cool and calm when under pressure, thorough in his planning and careful with whom he works with. He has to be if he wants to stay in business, you see, Wyatt is a professional criminal. Kickback is the hardboiled introduction to the complicated outlaw named Wyatt by Garry Disher and presents a taut crime story that is ruthless in it’s intensity.

We are told that Wyatt only works 3 or 4 jobs a year and from them he manages to live comfortably, dividing his time between his homes in Victoria and overseas. Just lately though good jobs have been rare, particularly good jobs that resulted in a big score. When he is presented with a job that has a haul of $300,000 as the payoff he is hesitant at first, after all while that's good money, it’s not the huge payday he's after. But his need is great enough that he decides to take the job.

So briefly, the details of the job involves a solicitor who is in the habit of accepting building planning kickbacks. He is going to have $300,000 sitting in his office safe in the next week just asking to be stolen. Thanks to an inside tip the job shouldn’t pose too many problems, but Wyatt’s not one to take unnecessary risks.

Speaking of risks, there’s one major risk to the success of this particular heist and his name is Sugarfoot Younger. Sugar has already fouled up a job for Wyatt and has been severely reprimanded and humiliated for it, but rather than knock some sense into the foolhardy young man’s head it has just made him hell-bent on revenge. With this kind of loose cannon wandering around it’s not hard to work out that not everything about the operation is going to run smoothly.

In order to bankroll the main caper Wyatt and his team of 2 must plan and carry out a couple of smaller jobs. These jobs will give them enough cash to buy guns and other equipment necessary for the job. They also provide a bit of an appetite-whetter for the main game further down the track.

These small jobs give us a promise of a fast-paced caper and that’s exactly what you get. The planning, execution and aftermath of the main robbery take place in rapid succession, concentrating on providing as much action as possible in as short a time as possible. But that doesn't mean little happens, in fact there are some subtle undercurrents taking place while the larger operation is going on, making this an even more rewarding story.

The brooding feel to the story reflects on the personality of Wyatt who dominates it. He’s a man who hates small talk and prefers to intimidate people by his menacing silence. Apart from him, very little time is devoted to the other characters that either take part in the heist or are gunning for Wyatt apart from the base emotions that drive them such as greed, revenge and lust. We know what motivates them, all else is irrelevant to the story, so Disher leaves it out and this simply adds to the pace of the book.

Hardboiled and noir crime readers, particularly fans of Richard Stark or Andrew Vachss’ Burke novels would enjoy Kickback for the similar characteristics that Wyatt brings to the story. His beliefs, his professionalism and his attention to detail marks him as a solid anti-hero figure who, while morally bankrupt, still must be admired.

Other Reviews

AustCrimeFiction -

"Tough, violent, precise and absolutely authentic, Disher write a fantastic professional criminal in Wyatt." - Read full review 

Goodreads Review -

"The readers of "Kickback" will learn about the problems and consequences of wanting revenge on another person. Also, the readers of "Kickback" will learn about corruption in the legal profession and the consequences for everyone involved." - Read all reviews