eXXXpresso

Australia's version of Elmore Leonard, Dave Warner with his tale of double-cross, triple-cross, triple-shot espresso in the Australian outback. Nice guy, accidental ex-con Rick is out of jail with a plan to change his life and maybe win back his estranged wife, Marietta. His plan is coffee. Waiting for a term deposit to mature, Rick borrows cash from drug dealer Guthrie to set up a jail-themed cafe, only to discover on the day of repayment that his ex, Marietta, has cleaned him out. Fortune seems to smile on Rick when he picks up a stranger's phone by mistake and gets a call asking if he is on his way "with the package.". Soon Rick is heading to the desert and the gold mining town of Kalgoorlie. Rick's plan is not exactly watertight. He's going to pretend a packet of icing sugar is drugs and swap that for cash with the stranger. Unfortunately for Rick, the package referred to turns out to be Zeen, a dangerous, sexy woman - exactly the kind of woman Rick falls for. Guthrie has just shot a pizza delivery boy and he is on Rick's tail after his unpaid debt. So is the guy whose phone Rick grabbed. And so is Marietta's new guy, a Thai kick-boxing champion insanely jealous of Rick.
In the richest square mile of dirt in the world, a state of the art espresso machine will determine the fate of a bunch of triple-crossing desperados. If you like your crime with a dash of Hiassen or Leonard humor you will enjoy this offering from the winner of the Ned Kelly, Australia's most prestigious crime fiction award.