Jacks and Jokers

Three Crooked Kings #2

by Matthew Condon

The much-anticipated sequel to the bestselling Three Crooked Kings.

In Three Crooked Kings we read about the shocking true story of Queensland and how a society was shaped by almost half a century of corruption. In Jacks and Jokers, the story continues as Terry Lewis becomes police commissioner and the era of corruption at the highest levels of the police and government continues. As the Queensland police become more connected with their corrupt colleagues in Sydney, the era of heavy drugs and crime also begins. Tony Murphy and Glen Hallahan, two of the original ‘crooked kings’, become more enmeshed with ‘The Joke’ which is run by bagman Jack Herbert.

Jacks and Jokers introduces new characters, more extraordinary behaviour outside the law by the law, and along the way it charts the meteoric rise of police commissioner Terry Lewis, documenting events up until the Fitzgerald Inquiry in the late 1980s.

Once again, award-winning journalist and novelist Matthew Condon has drawn from unprecedented access to Terry Lewis, as well as hundreds of interviews with key players and conspirators to craft the definitive account of the rise – and spectacular fall – of one man, an entire state and over a generation of corruption.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, History, Crime, Australia, Politics, Audiobook

388 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Matthew Steven Condon is a prize-winning Australian author and journalist.

Reviews

[Lev · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unreadable. Just a jumble of dates, guesses, reconstructed conversations, and names. No or little effort made to explain or interpret events.

[Olivia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Neither an academic review nor a journalisic romp this author takes first-class modern historical source material and renders it incomprehensible, lifeless tedium.
ModernAustralian police force and political corruption. From the days of Murphy, through Fitzgerald and Lewis this should have been gripping stuff. Murder and prostitution racket mayhem from the 60's through the 80's, from post-war Brisbane new developments, outback politics and links with the huge corruption scandals rocking senior legal eagles and commissioners this should have been a wonderful tale alongside truthful exposures.
Instead we have a mammoth catalogue of names we kind of know but to which we can give little flesh.
No narrative structures or features of continuing interest are developed.
Tnere isn't even a cast of characters or a map to help those not locally immured or those too young to personally identify the key personnel.
It is 100% boredom. Dragging the reader through list after list of notorious or notable names and events culminating in absolutely nothing.
There isn't even a fully functional or useful bibliography to assist students of politics or policy administration.
What a waste of opportunity and my time. Pity the material wasn't given to Peter Corris.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so looking forward to reading the second instalment of corruption in the 60s, '70s, 80s but was so disappointed with this book. I couldn't even finish it which is something I rarely do with a book no matter what.

[Miss M · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book on an important subject (long-standing, systemic police & government corruption in 20th cent. Queensland) and I hope to read the final part of the trilogy when it's published, but the author's diffuse approach really does the subject a disservice and tends to lessen its impact.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first. The first half of the book is so heavy with intimate detail of Brisbane (possibly irrelevant/uninteresting to outsiders) and so many names.
It was pretty fun to search the addresses of the brothels and casinos on Google Streetview though.
It includes some stories that are such an important part of Brisbane folklore and identity, like the Bellinos, the Deen Brothers midnight demolition of the Bellevue Hotel and police brutality during the ban on protest marches.
It got more interesting in the second half, describing the important role the media (even the Courier Mail! The good old days) played in the vigilant scrutiny of politicans and the police.
However, Condon's very generous interpretation of Terry Lewis's motivations and actions really annoyed me.

[Andrew McMillen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again I’m in awe of the workload that Condon has taken on with this trilogy of books chronicling the deep-rooted police corruption that Queensland knew only a few decades ago, yet before my time. Overall I enjoyed this longer book more than 'Three Crooked Kings'; I suppose because 'Jacks and Jokers' covers the more recent history of the 1970s and beginnings of the 1980s, there were more people alive for Condon to interview, allowing him to establish more complete pictures of situations and scenarios in 'Jacks and Jokers'. Certainly the final quarter of the book progresses at a cracking pace, as the screws begin to turn on Police Commissioner Terry Lewis and the state begins to wake from its extended torpor after decades of conservative rule.

With these books, I'm struck by the fact that Condon – already a fantastic and highly-regarded writer, and a former editor of mine at Qweekend – is really extending himself. More than anything else, this trilogy feels like the accumulation of a lifetime’s writing and reporting. I eagerly await volume three, due next year.

[Matt John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another well-researched volume to add to Condon's (now trilogy) about the political and politics history of Queensland in the 20th century. Much of the criminal activity went unpunished for a plethora of reasons and there are a number of key-players still alive and residing in the state today.

So much shredding and destroying of documentation!!!

[Peter Metcalfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A scary trip through the corrupt belly of Brisbane. One wonders if it has all been weeded out

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firstly let me say that this whole tale is fascinating. I live in Queensland but was fairly young during the Fitzgerald Inquiry. I only had a vague understanding of the depth and breadth of corruption until I read this series. This would make a really good TV show.

One thing I did struggle with was connecting all the dots. There were a lot of smaller stories (which were interesting) but I think they needed more of a connection to make sense to me. I possibly needed a timeline to make sense of it all. I guess the complicated nature of “The Joke” kept it hidden for as long as it did. I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the first book but i am definitely motivated to read the final book.

[Phoenix1000 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook. Wow, so much in there that I could somehow relate to. It goes into more depth than the first one. Being an audiobook it's easy to miss bits as it's packed with intricacies. Every Queenslander should read this. Looking forward to the final book.

[Tracy Smyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a teenager during the 1970’s growing up in Sir Joe’s electorate. Finding the books a great read & remembering details that I thought long forgotten. Look forward to reading the next book in the series

[UQP Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘… praise is being lauded on Brisbane journalist and author Matthew Condon who is backing up his bestselling chronicle of Queensland's underbelly, Three Crooked Kings, with a sequel, due for release in April. In Jacks and Jokers, Condon charts the meteoric rise of former police commissioner Terry Lewis and the build-up to the Fitzgerald Inquiry of the 1980s.’ - Fran Metcalf, The Courier-Mail

[Rowan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disjointed narrative interspersed with seemingly irrelevant anecdotes. Clearly the subject provides fertile ground for the author to harvest from, but instead of focusing on a few main characters to represent the whole, he has tried to gather all of them. This results in the reader knowing all of the characters poorly and none of them well.

[Bill Porter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was going to have a break before starting #3 of the trilogy. But after reading #2 and feeling totally enraged that so many good honest men and women had their lives ruined by these corrupt police and politicians, I had to launch into #3 immediately to see these low-lifes get their comeuppance. But I am braced for disappointment.

[Natalie Prior · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who grew up in Queensland in the 60s, 70s or 80s should read these books.

[Arthur · Rating 4 out of 5]

And the saga continues. This is the second book in the trilogy around police corruption in Queensland and we continue with the lives and crimes of many of the protagonists of the first instalment Three Crooked Kings, notably Glen Hallahan, Tony Murphy, and Terry Lewis (ultimately the central figure), the so-called Rat Pack. The brazenness of the corruption is staggering and it is amazing to see how long they got away with their misdeeds. One of the reasons is the collusion with the government led by the National Party and with Joh Bjelke-Petersen as premier. The book covers the period till the end of 1982 (when Murphy resigns from the force) and we are still around 5 years away from when it all fell apart. The book is engaging and well-written. It consists of a series of (very) short chapters that focus on specific events and/or characters and this helps with the flow. I look forward to the conclusion of the trilogy.

[Fiona Purdon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars for incredible research and writing concerning the corrupt regime in the Qld police device under former commissioner Terry Lewis but the information was grouped in a random order hopping from one small chapter to the next unrelated chapter.- it got very confusing, longer chapters grouping information under the same topic, might have made for a smoother read, at the moment, the information is like for a reader with ADHD.

[Trina Hibberd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read. Am now a Matthew Condon fan. Well written, historically correct and alarmingly accurate. Highly recommend but not as a 'light' read

[Don Dealga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Police corruption & political cronyism in the "Deep North". Its extent as detailed in this well written book (& its 2 companion volumes) was worse than I ever imagined.

[Kim Lavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This took me a while to read as it is quite disjointed. I can see the story building and I am looking forward to it all coming together in “They All Fall Down”

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume 2 of a trilogy. Refer my comments on volume 1 "Three Crooked Kings".

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The next novel from three crooked kings based on true life corruption in the highest-ranking echelons of the police force.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the book to be interesting especially learning about what was happening between the police and the Qld government. I did not expect the book to be the second of a trilogy as I had thought it would be two in the series, but I can wait for the third book to see what the Fitzgerald Inquiry is all about. I will follow up with the sources Matthew has placed at the end of the book as I want to know what happens.
I was surprised that the police are a scary bunch and reading the book makes you think you could not trust the law today especially if the antics are still occurring today. Such abuse of power by Premier Joh and the police commissioner, Lewis is something to behold especially when it seems the federal government never touched them and you wonder just how rotten the government actually was back then. Queensland has been shown in a very different light especially being portrayed as the Smart State or the Sunshine State. It is always good to see another view of the past and the going ons even if most of it was bad as some researcher will poke and prod to find the skeletons in the closet. These skeletons were ignored for a very long time and were in plain sight.

[Dani Ringrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was too young to have much reference to events that happened in the first book, but found the second far more fascinating, especially once they reached the 1980s. I remember my mum driving me through Fortitude Valley at night in the 80s and being very aware that it was full of dens of prostitution and gambling. State Premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen's level of meddling and corruption features far more in this book, which I was a lot more interested in. In a book about police corruption, it is hard to make my eyes pop, but Police Minister Russ Hinze's blatant lying to journalists about his knowledge of illegal gambling dens (after being caught in one by a journo) was pretty brazen.
I did appreciate the style the book was written in - small 3-4 page vignettes. I found myself skim-reading some sections to get to the stories I was more interested in (Tilly and Hapeta's dominance of the Valley vice scene, for instance). I understand that Matthew Condon has done some amazing in-depth research for his series, but it felt a bit overwhelming at times - could've done with a more ruthless editor to skim a bit off the top.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant, gripping and incredibly important book. It shines a light on an extremely ugly chapter of modern Australian history and does an absolutely fantastic job out of documenting and explaining the huge web of police, political and judicial corruption and organised crime that went on under (but went far beyond) Joh Bjelke-Petersen and Terry Lewis.

Condon's ability to get people with actual knowledge to speak on the record and the depth of his research is amazing. I've found in some of his other books that Condon can be a bit of a plodding writer, but his avoidance of sensationalism is brilliant here as he just lets the huge amount of genuinely damning material he's gathered carry its own weight.

This was a hugely eye-opening read - even if you already know a bit about this stuff, and very much worth reading.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Three Crooked Kings, the first book of this Fitzgerald Inquiry trilogy, so was looking forward to this book. I wasn't disappointed - it was just as well written and engrossing as its predecessor. As a born and bred Queenslander I found this book fascinating - all that history that was happening in my own backyard that I had no idea of - only what I heard on the news or read in the paper, which is only ever the surface.

Matthew Condon skilfully weaves the events into a flowing narrative, with colourful and larger than life characters, all the more entertaining because they're real. Hurry up and finish the next one!

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only bit of Brisbane history that's genuinely interesting. I love how the corrupt as hell Commissioner Lewis was the central interviewee and provided all his documents as well, which only served to provide more evidence of the horrible police state. He manages to be a good paper-rustler too, covering up all the corruption to the point where he was seeing off an investigation into the police force nearly every year. Then as icing on the cake he directly implicates his closest collaborator, Tony Murphy, and then in the same breath removes himself from being a key player in three decades of graft and fostering a serious criminal underworld in Brisbane for police's financial gain.

[Andrea InCoorparoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating read if you are a Queenslander. I was a child at New Farm State School in the late-70's and early-80's and I had no idea I was sharing the streets with a violent criminal underworld. This book can be very difficult to follow as it is written in many short segments in chronological order - so subplots and minor characters reappear after long breaks and can be hard to piece together. The last quarter of the book is completely engrossing as the crime and corruption intensify and involve well-known political characters.

[Sarah Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Jacks and Jokers” is the second instalment in Condon’s trilogy covering corruption in the Queensland police force from the 1940s to the 1999s. This book covers the 70s and early 80s. I enjoyed this book more than the first and I suspect that this was because I clearly remember almost all of the events described (I was a tween/teen /young adult during this time). Despite the choppy style, the almost unbelievable twists and turns keeps the reader going. I am looking forward to the third instalment due for release in September 2015.

[Debbie Terranova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read 'Three Crooked Kings', the first in this series of three about systemic corruption in the Queensland Police Service, I was looking forward to book two, 'Jacks and Jokers'. While the research is undoubtedly as comprehensive and methodical as in the first instalment, I found the sheer volume of names, events and places so relentless that the story became confusing and difficult to follow. Half-way through I gave up. In a year or two, I may have another try, as this period of our recent history is truly astounding. But for now I'll settle for something lighter.