Sophisticated computer hacking told the syndicate everything about Wally. Everything but why it would be a big mistake to kidnap him.Retired farmer Wally Flannagan is on a pilgrimage to Indonesia to witness the once-in-a-lifetime blooming of a rare flower. His holiday soon goes awry when he finds himself the target of kidnapping with the goal of extortion. Yet these plans, as alarming as they are for Wally, are little more than a diverting pastime for this criminal syndicate. They are organised, powerful, and ruthless. Yet there's one thing they don't know about Wally. He's a Pig. What's a Pig? Read on ...The Operators is a thrilling yarn of wit, man bags, and old-fashioned ingenuity in the face of a changing world from master storyteller Barry Heard.

Here is the captivating prequel to Well Done, Those Men, Barry Heard's much-loved, deeply moving account of life as a Vietnam veteran. This memoir takes us back into the heart of Heard's experiences as a boy and a young man in Australia during the 1950s and 1960s.Colourful, poignant, and often very funny, The View from Connor's Hill reveals a young man who, among the devastation of loss and constant upheaval, celebrates the joy of living in the bush, and delights in the love of his faithful dog Rover and his headstrong horse Swanee.Capturing the detail of a lost world of country and suburban life in Australia — a world of matinees, country dances, and manual dunnies — Barry Heard delivers his memories with an unwavering honesty and candour.

In this intensely personal account, Barry Heard draws on his own experiences as a young conscript, along with those of his comrades, to look back at life before, during, and after the Vietnam War. The result is a sympathetic vision of a group of young men who were sent off to war completely unprepared for the emotional and psychological impact it would have on them. It is also a vivid and searingly honest portrayal of the author's post-war, slow-motion breakdown, and how he dealt with it.Well Done, Those Men attempts to make sense of what Vietnam did to the soldiers who fought there. It deals with the comic absurdity of their military training and the horror of the war they fought, and is unforgettably moving in recounting what happened to Barry and his comrades when they returned home to Australia. As we now know, most Vietnam vets had to deal with a community that shunned them, and with their own depression, trauma, and guilt. Barry Heard's sensitive account of his...