The Guts

After being violently warned off a story, investigative journalist Adam Osprey has pretty much resigned himself to the ease of lifestyle journalism, eating and drinking for a living. But his old instincts are triggered when a mysterious message on his computer interrupts his research for an article on Sydney's best restaurant toilets.

Justine has returned to Sydney after a stint working in Africa as an aid worker. Many of her friends are beginning to get married and have babies. She is getting itchy feet when a chance meeting with an old lover in a pub leads to a dangerous, somewhat repulsive mission.

Roger Houston, Minister for Development in the Sporty Party, is one of the old school, whose career in politics has followed a buffet logic of hedonism and self-enrichment. But just when it looks as if he has succeeded in becoming the master puppeteer, the disappearance of Alexander Parker MP sets in train aa surprising series of events.

The Guts is a sharp, funny and affecting literary thriller about Sydney's power, politics and lifestyle obsessions as the internet began to change everything.