The Fallout

Wyatt #6

by Garry Disher

Australian jewel thief Wyatt has a bounty of stolen jewels and a yacht, but nothing can stop him from returning to his life of crime. He drugs his lover, police officer Liz Redding, and escapes into the night only to discover the gems he lifted are fakes. With his luck and his resources rapidly running out, Wyatt begrudgingly joins forces with Raymond, his estranged nephew and an established criminal himself, to lift some expensive artwork.

It should be an easy job—the gallery is under construction and Wyatt has performed similar heists before. But it isn’t long before things go south, leaving Wyatt with some tough choices. Will the young and eager Raymond prove to be a worthy pupil or is he nothing but deadweight? For Wyatt, putting faith in other people has never been as tempting... or as dangerous.

Genres: Crime, Australia, Mystery, Thriller, Fiction

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 1997

About the author

Garry Disher was born in 1949 and grew up on his parents' farm in South Australia.

He gained post graduate degrees from Adelaide and Melbourne Universities. In 1978 he was awarded a creative writing fellowship to Stanford University, where he wrote his first short story collection. He travelled widely overseas, before returning to Australia, where he taught creative writing, finally becoming a full time writer in 1988. He has written more than 40 titles, including general and crime fiction, children's books, textbooks, and books about the craft of writing.

Reviews

[Phrynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

In which the author introduces us to Wyatt's nephew, Raymond Wyatt, who lives his life as the Bush Bandit, making his living by threatening bank tellers with a shotgun. He has had a sorry sort of life but now feels he is walking in his uncle's footsteps, owns a shiny red jaguar and lives the good life. Wyatt meanwhile is keeping a low profile after a messed up jewel heist. Coincidence brings Raymond and Wyatt together and Wyatt allows himself to end up helping Raymond in a job. This could go either way!

I enjoyed every minute of this great story, so beautifully told. Disher loves to map out all the procedures of a grand theft to the last detail and does it so well even I am fascinated. As regards Wyatt himself there is no way to guess where he will end up next. The book ends on one of the biggest cliff hangers I have ever read. Why does he leave us so up in the air? Of course it is so that I have to start the next book in the series asap! Excellent reading. Highly recommended but read the earlier books first of course.

[Alex Cantone · Rating 4 out of 5]

It occurred to Wyatt that he hadn’t had a holiday in his life, just long stretches of idle, recuperative time between heists, periods spent resting his body but not his head. There was always the next job to plan, for when the money ran out.

What a remarkable talent Garry Disher is, moving with ease from crime investigation (The Peninsula Crimes series and Paul Hirschhausen’s former detective turned country copper) to his Wyatt series showcasing the aging and elusive Australian art/jewel thief.

Fallout follows on from Port Vila Blues – Wyatt on a yacht, with Victoria Police sergeant Liz Redding and stolen jewels – heading for Westernport Bay, where Wyatt heads off alone to hand the jewels over to a fence, a shady lawyer.

But the story opens with a young thief, known as the Bush Bandit, making a name for himself staging daylight bank robberies across rural Victoria, and then on adrenaline high – losing most of it at the casino. His greed and attitude, driving a Jag across Melbourne, makes him a ready ‘mark’ for a couple of con artists – inviting him in a stake into on a sunken treasure haul – if he can put up 50 grand. His fence offers up two jobs – a collection of Australian art held at a polytechnic, and to spring a prisoner from a remand centre. The Bush Bandit is Wyatt’s nephew, Raymond, and the prisoner is Steer, a violent criminal who Wyatt knew from Vietnam.

This one had a different circumspective feel from the other Wyatt books I have read – we have Wyatt contemplating his life as a loner, drawing close to Liz Redding, but is he ready to share his life? Redding at a crossroads, knowing she can rise no further in the male-dominated Victoria Police, and Raymond, son of a violent father, idolising his uncle, is convinced that Wyatt must have some money stashed away. As the ‘easy’ job of driver springing the prisoner turns sour, uncle and nephew set out together on lifting the art haul but can Raymond take direction and curb his patience?

‘There’s a big difference between getting away and staying away. There’s burning our clothes so we can’t be tied to the scene, all those carpet fibres collecting on your back, for example. There’s wiping down and dumping the van. There’s the changeover with Chaffey. A long way to go.’

This is character-driven drama at its best: even the minor characters are well-drawn, and the abrupt ending will leave the reader guessing. But I really like how the author can sum up a scene in so few words:

On and on, the black road renewed itself in the light of the moon and the headlights.

[Eric_W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story, if a bit unusual. Raymond, Wyatt's nephew plays a significant role, and we are left hanging as to Wyatt's relationship with Liz Redding, who was involved with the jewelry heist. Raymond has been making a living (and losing most of it at the casino) by pulling off a series of bank heists. He's been reasonably clever at it, but he's also fallen under the spell of a couple of treasure hunters looking for investors to fund collecting gold from a sunken ship near a reef. Raymond falls for their line, tries to enlist his uncle, and things go downhill for him rapidly.

This is a good series and I have read them somewhat haphazardly, suffering no deleterious effects, so you probably don't have to worry too much about staying in order.

[Tasula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never read the first book about the master thief Wyatt, but I still had no problem with this book that focused on a much later period in his "career". I thought it was cleverly plotted and enjoyable.

[Tj · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overly complicated and messy- too much time spent with secondary characters that had minimal impact on the overall plot.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 6th Wyatt novel, published in 1997 and the last one before a 13 year hiatus. Despite some reviews, I have to say right off that I really enjoyed this book. In fact, I read it in a single sitting. To read a crime fiction novel through the eyes of the 'perp' is a refreshing angle for me. Wyatt is crusty tough, but has some endearing qualities and old school loyalties that make him a likeable rogue. As a reader, you feel good when Wyatt gets away with a crime. You are on-side with the 'baddie' and it feels good!


Wyatt by chance runs into his deceased brother's son, who is an established bank robber in his own right. This book highlights the generation gap between Wyatt's young, cocksure nephew and the older, wiser, more experienced Wyatt. Wyatt would make a great poker player, and is never going to indulge in pillow talk. Despite the ending being somewhat inevitable, with experience always going to prevail over youthful exuberance, I thoroughly enjoyed the contrasting methods of nephew and uncle.


I also enjoyed the locations that Disher chose. In this book Wyatt visits the Peninsula region of Victoria, through to Melbourne. Battery Point (Hobart), traverses Tasmania and sets up base again in a quiet region of north-west of Tasmania. All places that I am familiar with and could easily associate with. I love being privy to Wyatt's inner feelings as he travels around.


As is the way with the Wyatt novels, the ending is left open. However, throughout this book there were hints dropped that Wyatt was ready to settle down on his boat or in a quiet corner of Tassie and head down the 'straight and narrow'. His age and weariness were constantly highlighted by the contrast with his much younger nephew. Perhaps Disher was preparing the reader for the retirement of Wyatt. This being the case, I'm glad he had a re-think.


A thoroughly enjoyable Australian crime fiction novel, and I am relieved/overjoyed to know there is another recently written installment (Wyatt, 2010) which I cannot wait to read.

[Ron Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I often like to set aside a few days to read a Garry Disher crime fiction story, especially after completing a demanding tome of a book. That’s not to say that Disher isn’t a talented writer, he is in his chosen field of crime fiction, up there with the very best.

This is my third read in the Wyatt series. There are nine in the series and this one is number seven. I’ve read numbers three and six.

For the reader Fallout starts with a barrage of story lines firing out of the pages, a bank robbing bandit, a jewelry heist, a boat travelling from Vanuatu with the baddie and a cop, the attempted springing of a crim in remand, a crooked solicitor, three cops bungling the capture of Wyatt. So it is a crowded story line. Very typically Disher.

I will leave it to others to give a more detailed outline of the story.

There are a number of deadly disposals of unloved and unwanted characters throughout the story. Wyatt’s relationship with a female police officer had me baffled. There is another relationship between a nasty crim and a gaol psychologist which is believable as I have read of similar situations.

A large part of the book is taken up with the escapades of Wyatt’s nephew, young Raymond. He has none of the intellect or rat cunning of Wyatt.

The ending is often more difficult to write than the beginning and I thought the end had a few too many loose threads. I have read the follow up Wyatt book, so they don’t carry over to it. I don’t expect book conclusions to be nicely presented like a wedding gift but as I closed the book I did have a few questions twirling around my cranium.

Thank you Mr Disher, another enjoyable read.

[David Kilner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a continuation of Port Vila Blues. Wyatt has returned to Australia with Liz Redding but drugs her so he can escape her clutches. I can only repeat the comments I made about the earlier book. With Wyatt, Disher has turned tables on us, trying to explore the world through the eyes of a master criminal who is a sort of anti-Challis but just as capable, ruthless, determined and self-sufficient. As the Wyatt series goes on, there is less and less moral ambiguity and only a growing sense that Wyatt is a deeply inadequate and increasingly obnoxious character. In Fallout, the only character with any redeeming features at all is Liz Redding, the undercover cop, and even she begins to drift over to the dark side. So I am not really sure what Disher is on about in this series. As one would expect, it is well written and highly paced – if that’s all you care about, go for it. Just don’t expect anything uplifting and don’t expect the good guys to win.

[Moz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this whole series and even though I haven't managed to read* them in order, it's not hard to fit them together A bit like a jigsaw puzzle, it just takes a bit of remembering.

*Actually I listen to the audio version which is ably read by Dorje Swallow. He has the perfect voice for this character. I just wish he'd learn to pronounce the names of some Melbourne suburbs correctly.

This time Wyatt gets involved with his nephew on an art theft caper which is a bit unusual for Wyatt, a loner who trusts very few others, but it appears to be an easy job. There's also a side plot regarding the nephew getting scammed over some buried treasure. I figured it out for a scam straight away, pity Raymond didn't.

If I hadn't read the books which followed this one, I'd be getting a bit worried about Wyatt as he gets somewhat introspective in this one. A reader might start thinking he is giving up the caper lark for good. But thankfully not, as another 3 books follow.

[David C Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, better than the preceding one anyway which was all over the place - 3.5 stars. Focus shifts between Wyatt, who’s back in Aus, trying to recover from the previous fiasco and dealing with the policewoman who’s fallen for him, and his nephew who’s a strong arm bank robber looking to move up. Action includes a jail break, an art heist, and a con game. As always, Wyatt is let down by his associates.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Have to say the low rating represents my disappointment of this series compared to the Hirsch one or other standalones already read. In my opinion very much shallower, being more, and higher-speed action and less in-depth characters. At least I don't need to go in search of the other eight in the series!

[Jennifer Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book in the Wyatt series, Garry Disher is a great Australian writer and the descriptions of the local regions are very accurate and atmospheric.
This series would be a good introduction to Australian crime writing for people looking for a different scene with tight plots and an idiosyncratic anti hero. So easy to read these books!

[Matthias · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great crime novel in the typical Wyatt style.

[Matthias · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best crime series I've read so far.

[ELIZABETH TIERNEY · Rating 5 out of 5]

no holds barred. no loose ends

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

any thoughts on what happens to liz redding? i like her.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wyatt seems as though he is getting a bit tired, and I'm getting a bit tired of him. Still enjoy the details of crime prep, but not much else.

[Juliana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audio version spoiled by alot of mispronounced words.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tough guy Wyatt arrives back in Melbourne with cop Liz Redding. There's an art heist with his nephew, Ray and also a tangle of a Bass straight undersea salvage operation.

[Joel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jumping into an established series can be daunting for even the most experienced reader. Characters that have had several novels, plot twists, defining moments long before you read the first page are, at once—wholly unfamiliar and completely comfortable. It is the mark of a great writer of serialized fiction where you can pick up the sixth book featuring a particular character and it can feel as vibrant as an introductory story. Yet when the writing style and narrative choices of the author do not jibe with the reader—the reading experience can be disconcerting.

On a whole I enjoyed The Fallout by Garry Disher. It is an absurdly quick read clocking in a deft 256 pages. There are times when crime stories and thrillers tend to feel overcooked and weighted down with too many literary appetizers—this is not one of those times. The book almost feels too short, too honed. The time spent with the two protagonists of the novel is pared down so close to the narrative bone that as a reader, you just want more grit rubbed meat.

There are many things Disher handles very well throughout the course of the novel. The sand and grime of Australia is teeming on every page. The book has an episodic, implied non-linear feel that you’d think is a novelization of a Soderbergh or Carnahan crime flick. The novel has a tone that is palatably brooding and works its emotional wrenches almost past their tension can bear.

It’s just too short. The feeling that chapters or plotlines were lost to an editor’s pen or writer’s white out becomes repetitively jarring. The novel felt like it could have been an extended epilogue to the novel that came before. Also given how the story ended—as abrupt as the entire novel—the next novel in the series arrived 13 years later, putting into perspective anyone waiting for certain Fantasy novelists to finish their next books. I enjoy the book, but I was left with wanting more—something that a novelist should always want from their reader, but just not so much more.

Thanks to the GoodReads FirstReads program for the ARC that I won.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now I have another author all of whose books I'll have to read. This one is not "unique" but unusual in that it tells the story of the criminal instead of the PI.

Wyatt is well-known in his field, but has fallen on hard times. He has retrieved jewels to return to the insurance company for a specified amount, but the insurance agent tells him they are fake and he can't pay him much. To bring the jewels back, he's teamed up with a police officer who is bringing back a crooked cop. They fall in love and thereby hangs a dilemma.

Wyatt happens to stumble across his nephew (brother's son) who has become a criminal also and who has gained a reputation robbing small banks completely successfully. It turns out that Raymond, the nephew, needs a partner for a job he wants to do and turns to Wyatt.

Wyatt is totally unsure whether he can trust Raymond or not. He begins to find evidence that he may not be able to trust him, but he agrees to do the job, provided they follow his rule - if it starts to get too chancy, walk away.

Of course, Raymond has messed up on another job of extreme importance (which he doesn't seem to realize)and when Wyatt decides that they need to walk away from their joint job, he becomes angry and refuses to give up. Fate will catch up with him - Fallout.

In the meantime, he has been thinking a lot about Liz, the police officer whom he abandoned when they reached Australia again after retrieving the jewels and the crooked cop. She has also been obsessing on him. After some trouble with her department, she decides to find Wyatt and join him.

Eventually, of course, they get together. But Wyatt has always been extremely careful and noncommunicative in his life. He is not sure he can trust Liz (he has serious trust issues).

The writing is fast paced and easy to read. The characters are well-rounded and interesting. And the story was great.

You can bet I'll be reading a lot more of Garry Disher!

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wyatt is to Australian readers as Parker is to American crime fans.

This is the sixth and latest to date(a new one comes out sometime early this year) and was published in 1997.

The Fallout has several plot threads that tie up neatly at the end.

Wyatt runs into his nephew Raymond, who he hasn't seen in fifteen years since the death of his brother and learns he's been forging his own career as a bank robber known as the Bush Bandit for the rural banks he's knocked over.

He sees a young Wyatt in Raymond in a robbery of an art collection from a museum. As they get into ti though, he sees his nephew is too careless, keeping trophies of his various jobs, is a braggart, and dismisses things too easily when it all starts to go wrong.

The police are after him, as well as an old enemy that Raymond had broke out of jail just before they met. And then there's the brother of a partner, killed on their last job, that wants his head. Not to mention the policewoman that is after him, a woman with whom he'd started a relationship and wanted him to surrender and serve his time. He'd drugged her coffee and taken off, putting her under the susct list as an aide to him.

Life as a criminal is not easy.

[Ted Lehmann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Garry Disher's Fallout (Soho Crime, 2013, 256 pages, $25.00) is a reprint of the sixth volume of the Wyatt series of crime from the inside fiction which turns into more of a character study than a thriller. Uncle Wyatt and nephew Ray each follow criminal paths as the trail finds them crossing and teaming up for the big score each of them needs. The relationship between the aging and deeply experienced Wyatt and his novice, duplicitous nephew eager to enter the “big time” he assumes his uncle inhabits is the kicker in this crime drama which is relatively slow moving. Raymond has developed a minor media role as the “bush bandit,” having successfully pulled off a series of relatively successful bank heists in small Australian towns. He's looking for the big score when he meets a couple seeking backing for an expedition to illegally harvest shipwreck gold and coins off the Australian coast. They romance Ray with their story and a little sex on the side as he becomes enamored of the idea of pulling off the job. You can read the rest of this review on my blog. If you decide to purchase it, please consider using the Amazon portal you find there.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first Wyatt novel I ever read and it made me want to go back and read the previous novels. I won this book on a Good Reads Give Away and I'm very pleased with how much I enjoyed it.

***This next section may contain spoilers***

The only reason I believe I did not give this book 5 stars was because I am unfamiliar with the previous novels, so I was confused at certain parts. I'm sure that Steer was obviously betrayed in a previous novel by Wyatt but I still would have liked a little more character development on Steer. He seemed like he could have been a really interesting bad guy.

As for the end, I really enjoyed the man hunt and Disher's suspensful writing. However, I felt the ultimate finale was a little anti-climatic. I really did enjoy this book and the only negative things I felt about are simply because I am not familiar with the previous novels.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Fallout is one of the Wyatt Series of Disher's novels. Wyatt is a career criminal involved in everything from art theft, bank robberies, fraud and whatever is going really.

The Fallout is Wyatt's sixth job, taking off where Port Vila Blues finished. On a boat with policewoman Liz Redding, and a fortune in stolen gems, Wyatt finds himself joining forces with his nephew to pull off an art heist in Melbourne, not really aware of exactly what his nephew has been up to.

Another shoot 'em up, charge around thriller which can be read without the preceding books, although Port Villa Blues first would have saved a bit of confusion in the early book about what was actually going on.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

**I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway.**

Overall, a fast-paced, action-packed read that one can easily finish in one sitting, ideal for a summer beach book. Although I had not previously read the other books in the series, I was able to jump in without feeling like I was missing a step. It would be easy to nitpick on the things in the novel that stretch believability (the transformation of the character of Raymond throughout the book springs to mind) and it may not be a very memorable read, but take Garry Disher's The Fallout for what it is: pure escapist shoot 'em up fun.

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fallout (book six) picks up right after book five ended. High excitement and fast action as in the previous book. The characters did not ring as true in this book as they did in the previous installment. How many times can a character be hit in the head and not have severe physical/medical repercussions? Highly readable adventure in Australia's south west.

[Dina Coutu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free through Goodreads first reads. This is the 6th book in the series I believe, but it is the 1st one I have read. It is a really good book and it is the type of book where even though you haven't read the other books in the series you won't be confused or lost. I'll be on the look out for the rest of this series to read!

[Mackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sehr spannend. Ein perfektes Buch, um es in 2 Tagen wegzuschmökern. Ich freue mich aus mehr der Wyatt-Reihe, auch wenn ich mich damit in seiner Entwicklung rückwärts bewege (dieses ist der letzte Teil).

[Jayw]

Wyatt is on the lam with the goods after jewel theft. His nephew is starting a life of crime with moderate success. When their paths cross after years apart life gets complicated for everyone involved.