The Cutting

- Blurb -

A darkly humorous novel about modern Australia and what it means to be a good person. It' s 2016. Lance Alcocke, sole heir to an iron ore fortune, forty-ish bachelor, has just lost control of his life' s work. His newly opened mine, Madeleine' s Monster, named after his pioneering, iron-fisted grandmother, was supposed to be a workers' paradise in the Pilbara. But the Monster can' t cover its costs and Lance' s Korean financiers are trying to steal his company out from under him. They' ve appointed administrators to APC Minerals, and Lance' s 1200 workers have lost their jobs. Among those newly unemployed when the Monster goes under is young engineer Will Fulbright. Will' s downhill slide has been gathering pace for some time. His formerly loved-up girlfriend, Justine Jamison, director of the refugee advocacy group Free All Refugee Children! (FARC!) and lefty girl about town, doesn' t seem to like him much anymore. Will has no income, not many prospects, a slightly out of control drug problem, and finds himself back on his mother' s couch in Fairfield. Meanwhile, Will' s old employer, Lance Alcocke, and Will' s girlfriend Justine are on a personal collision course of their own. This is a novel of our times. It is about money, class, race, privilege, families, friends, lovers, duplicity and corruption . . . and whether it' s possible for anyone to get what they deserve any more.