In need of some quick cash when he returns to Brisbane after years in London, Josh whores himself to his brother's PR firm and inadvertently becomes part of ‘the fix’.
Josh Lang went to London with investigative journalism on his mind, but he carved out a reputation as a fixer instead and mastered the art of spinning any client out of a crisis.
Now he's home in Brisbane, and this time the job is supposed to be good news. The client is a law firm, the talent is Ben Harkin, and the story is the Star of Courage Ben is about to be awarded for his bravery in a siege.
But it was Josh's messy past with Ben that was a big part of his move to London in the first place, and the closer he gets to Ben's story the more the cracks start to show.
Throw in a law student who's an exotic dancer by night, and a mini-golf tour of the Gold Coast, and Josh's pursuit of the truth becomes way more complicated than he'd ever expected.
Written with warmth, humour and a touch of the detective, The Fix will leave you guessing until the very last page.
Reading Group Book Questions
- Nick Earls has been renowned for his ‘everyman novels’. Does he pull off the genre change to detective fiction (or touch of the detective’ as we have been calling it)?
- Josh writes a blog where he stretches the truth; he has a job where his responsibility is to enhance the truth. Jett is Hayley, but Hayley isn’t Jett. Has the world become a place of spin? What do you think Nick Earls is saying about the modern world?
- Josh is a bit hopeless, isn’t he? Will Hayley sort him out, or does he need something more radical to get him on a different path?
- How important is the location of The Fix? Earls includes vivid details about Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Is this particular setting imperative or could the story be picked up and relocated anywhere?
- Though perhaps not immediately obvious, The Fix and The Great Gatsby have much in common. What do you think about this idea?
About the Author
Nick Earls is the author of fourteen books, including bestselling novels Zigzag Street, Bachelor Kisses and Perfect Skin. His work has been published internationally in English and in translation. Zigzag Street won a Betty Trask Award in the UK in 1998, and Perfect Skin was the only novel nominated for an Australian Comedy Award in 2003. 48 Shades of Brown was awarded Book of the Year (older readers) by the Children's Book Council of Australia in 2000, and in the US it was a Kirkus Reviews selection in its books of the year for 2004. 48 Shades of Brown and Perfect Skin have been adapted into feature films, with Solo un Padre, the film adapted from the Italian edition of Perfect Skin, a top-ten box office hit in Italy in 2008. After January, 48 Shades of Brown, Zigzag Street and Perfect Skin have all been successfully adapted for theatre, and the Zigzag Street play toured nationally in 2005. The True Story of Butterfish was also performed as a play..
