Wyatt by Garry Disher

Publisher's Synopsis

WYATT’S BEEN AWAY. NOW HE’S BACK.

The job’s a classic jewel heist: quick, clean and simple. Except for one thing. Wyatt prefers to work alone, but this job belongs to Eddie Oberin and his very smart ex-wife Lydia. She has the inside information; Wyatt has the planning genius and meticulous preparation. What could possibly go wrong?

Plenty. But when you cross Wyatt, you don’t walk away.

Taut plots, brilliant writing and relentless pace; plus an unforgettable cast, including the ever-elusive Wyatt himself: these are the hallmarks of Garry Disher’s Wyatt series.

My Review 

Modern society and the diminishing use of cash in preference for electronic banking has affected the life of the modern thief and there are now fewer opportunities for people like Wyatt to make money. The answer, more and more frequently, is to rob crooks. This is the situation that Wyatt faces here.

Wyatt is brought in on a plan to rob a jeweler who is known to shift stolen goods to other jewelry stores. The hidden valuables are stored in a secret panel of the car and moved around Victoria along with legitimate precious stones to keep it all looking above board. The idea is that Wyatt and his two accomplices would hit the jewelers at their most susceptible after it has been loaded with the valuables and before it leaves the store.

It all goes to plan until Wyatt is double crossed. Wyatt is shot, the bags with the stolen loot are removed and the car is torched. But rather than containing precious gems and fine jewelry the bags hold millions of dollars worth of stolen European bearer bonds and they won’t be quite as easy to move.

Most hardboiled readers who have been around for any length of time will immediately recognise the close comparison that can be made between the Parker series written by Donald E. Westlake’s under the pseudonym Richard Stark. The professional criminal attitude of the Wyatt persona follows very closely with the way Parker operates. Until now it has simply been remarked upon by reviewers and fans. In Wyatt, Disher has made the hat tips to Richard Stark’s Parker series have become far more open. In fact, there are three major indicators that Disher is honouring the series and the author.

1. One of Wyatt’s accomplices has been given the surname of Stark, in this case her name is Lydia Stark

2. To get himself out of trouble when thrown in the drunk tank, Wyatt borrows the identity of the man next to him. The identity that he uses is Parker.

3. Wyatt’s home is a pair of apartments that are house in a highrise complex called the Westlake Towers.

About Wyatt

Wyatt is the consummate professional whose line of business revolves around burglary and robbery. He is dispassionate about just about all else and is focused purely on the task at hand without the distracting intrusion of emotional attachment or attacks of conscience. 

He is a man of action while remaining comfortable standing still and observing for long periods of time. He is also a man who thinks nothing of taking revenge on someone who has betrayed him or who endangers his anonymity. He is dangerous, deadly dangerous, but he is also an easy character to follow and, in many ways, admire.

“He waited. Waiting was a condition of Wyatt’s life. He didn’t fidget or get impatient but stayed composed and alert. He knew that nothing might come of the waiting. He continued to watch the harbourmaster, ready for a sound or a smell or a shift in the quality of the air that meant he’d better run or fight. In particular, he was watching for certain signs in the people nearby: the way a man carried himself if he was armed, listening to an earpiece or staking out the car park; the clothing that didn’t look right for the conditions or the season but was intended to conceal.”

The no-nonsense nature of Wyatt is matched by the tight prose that is used to describe him. With every short, sharp sentence the story is allowed to unfold quickly ensuring the pace is maintained.

Wyatt is the 7th book in the series and it also won the 2010 Ned Kelly Award for Best FIction.