AustLit

'Star Cleary wasn’t the only one who failed to foresee the shadow that, for years, had been stealthily darkening every footstep she took, or to even suspect that now, the time was right to reveal itself and turn her life upside-down. Like an octopus lurking in deep, dark waters, its tentacles reach out and indelibly touch and irreversibly alter the lives of those, not only closest to her, but also of everyone around her. The two East End warring crime bosses, Krait Beaney and Johnnie “the Boot” Swann, are no exceptions. Not even the Nine-to-Five Shelter escapes from the ever-widening shadow that is cast, like a thick blanket, over all of their lives.'

'Initially, Johnnie sees the shadow in a quite different light, believing it to be an opportunity he might never get again to take out his hated rivals, the Beaney brothers. Krait Beaney sees what is coming from Johnnie, but is waiting for him, unfazed by the threat that overhangs his business empire and also threatens his reputation as a feared crime lord.

'Krait’s brother, Knuckles, sees things quite differently…

'‘You ain’t gonna call Johnnie’s bluff forever, Krait. There’s gonna come that one time when he comes out on top and crushes us.’

'And Krait’s reply…

'‘This isn’t it. And I’m surprised you can’t see it. We know too much.’

'But do they?

'Do any of them realise or even sense the impact the shadow that hangs over all of them is going to have on their lives?

'Those who don’t heed its threat and tread carefully around it pay the ultimate price. With their lives…'

Source : publisher's blurb