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"A breathlessly written book, ripped from today's headlines. This is a cracking read that blurs the line between fact and fiction. More please."

Michael Robotham, author of WHEN YOU ARE MINE

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Investigative journalist John Bailey is doing his best to turn his life around after losing the woman he loved. He has a new job. He’s given up the drink. He even has a dog.

 

But then Federal Police raid his home with a warrant granting them unprecedented powers to take anything they want, including all his electronic devices and passwords. When Bailey protests, they threaten to put him in a prison cell.

Someone wants to stop Bailey doing what he does best – exposing the truth. He has been investigating the rise of a global white supremacist group and suspects that a notorious neo-Nazi in the United States has been directing deadly racist attacks on Sydney’s streets.

When a body of one of his key sources washes up on a nearby beach, it’s clear Bailey and anyone helping him have become targets. Bailey reaches out to a ruthless old friend – CIA veteran, Ronnie Johnson – to lure the enemy from the shadows.

An enemy who thought they were untouchable. Until now …

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"Ayliffe has delivered one of the best thrillers of the year and set himself up to be amongst Australia's go-to thriller writers." 
Better Reading

Battered war correspondent John Bailey has a history of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Finally he’s living something that resembles a normal life. But all that changes when a terrorist murders a woman in front of Bailey in London.

 

The mastermind behind the attack is Mustafa al-Baghdadi – the terrorist leader who kidnapped and tortured Bailey in Fallujah a decade ago.

 

Mustafa is plotting more attacks and back in Sydney, the people who matter most to Bailey have become targets.

 

Bailey turns to the only man who can help – ruthless CIA veteran Ronnie Johnson – to bring down the world’s most wanted terrorist.

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"A brilliantly written character starring in a cracking crime thriller"

Herald Sun

When a prostitute is found murdered in a luxury Sydney apartment, John Bailey is ordered to cover the story by The Journal’s editor, who can’t trust anyone else.

 

The former war correspondent has barely worked in years. He’s been drinking himself to sleep to fight his nightmares of being kidnapped and tortured in Iraq.

 

One of the dead prostitute’s clients, an advisor to Australia’s Defence Minister, is chief suspect in her murder and he’s on the run. He contacts Bailey claiming that he has been set up to silence him over a conspiracy linked to China that could bring down the government.

 

To complicate matters, the investigating police detective is the woman Bailey walked out on a decade ago. When a ruthless CIA fixer turns up, followed by a murderous Chinese agent hot on his trail, Bailey realises he has stumbled onto the story of a lifetime – one that he might not life to tell.

What people are saying 

A cracking yarn told at breakneck speed. I couldn't put it down.
Chris Hammer / Bestselling author of Treasure and Dirt

Sharp, gritty, sophisticated. Ayliffe's criminal world is terrifyingly real.
Candice Fox / Bestselling author of The Chase

Sharp, incisive and scarily prescient, I was hooked from the first chapter to the final page.

Sara Foster | Bestselling author of The Hidden Hours

Bailey is charismatic, sarcastic and broken all rolled into one... a brilliantly written character starring in a cracking crime thriller.
Herald Sun

Utterly compelling and terrifyingly timely. I could not put it down.
Pip Drysdale | Bestselling author of The Sunday Girl

As a correspondent, I lived this world. Tim Ayliffe has written it. 
Stan Grant | Writer and broadcaster

Action packed scenes... as tight as any novel from the likes of David Baldacci or Lee Child.
Glam Adelaide

Ayliffe delivers a taut, nail-biting page-turner, stamping his mark on the modern day Australian thriller.
Better Reading

If Rake were a journalist, with a talent that equals his capacity for surviving being beaten up, Bailey would be him.
Julia Baird | Writer and Broadcaster

Tim Ayliffe delivers a ripping yarn that wraps the struggle between world powers in the clothes of a crime thriller.
Chris Uhlmann | Channel Nine Political Editor

Tim Ayliffe weaves his deep knowledge of journalism and politics into a spellbinding thriller. You won’t be able to put it down.
Michael Rowland | ABC News Breakfast

Who needs Jason Bourne when you can have John Bailey? You won't be able to put it down.
Chris Bath | TV & Radio Host

Where you can meet Tim

Due to the pandemic, my events have been moving around. Events below all confirmed.

Goulburn Mulwaree Library
Sat July 30 5pm

"A Night of Crime" w Warren Brown, Chris Hammer, Sulari Gentill & Rae Cairns

Book here

AND Chris Hammer and I are running a crime-writing workshop - book here

Canberra Writers Festival

Aug 10-14
I've got two events at the festival on the weekend Aug 13-14
Program here

BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival

Sept 8-10 2022

Festival line-up launching soon

Details here

Northern Beaches Readers Festival - Avalon

Sept 23-25 2022

Program will be announced here

More events to come...

Contact

  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Agent 

Jeanne Ryckmans

PO Box 848, Surry Hills NSW 2010 Australia

Tel: +61 2 9319 7199

Mob: +61 412 286 059

jeanne.ryckmans@cameronsmanagement.com.au

Publisher

Simon & Schuster Australia

Tel: +61 2 9983 6617

Suite 19A, Level 1, Building C, 450 Miller St Cammeray NSW 2062 Australia

www.simonandschuster.com.au

You can also email Tim directly below

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