Originally published: Australia : Pan Macmillan Australia, 2002 under title The messenger.
Contents:
Part one: The first message: The holdup -- Sex should be like math: an introduction to my life -- The ace of diamonds -- The judge and the mirror -- Watching, waiting, raping -- Pieces -- Harrison avenue -- Being Jimmy -- The barefoot girl -- The shoebox -- Another stupid human -- Edgar street revisited -- Murder at the cathedral -- Part two: The stones of home: aftermath -- The visit -- The envelope -- Just Ed -- Cabs, the hooker, and Alice -- The stones -- The priest -- Juveniles -- The cops show up -- The easy one and ice cream -- The color of her lips -- Blood and roses -- The face of clubs -- Part three: Trying times for Ed Kennedy: The game -- Twenty dollars for the dog and the card -- Dig -- The benefits of lying -- The power and the glory -- A moment of beauty -- A moment of truth -- Clown Street. Chips. The Doorman. and me -- The woman -- Front-porch cyclone -- A phone call -- The Bell Street theater -- The last reel. Part four: The music of hearts: The music of hearts -- The kiss, the grave, the fire -- The casual suit -- To feel the fear -- Ritchie's sin -- God bless the man with the beard, the missing teeth, and the poverty -- The secret Marv -- Each to each -- The swings -- Audrey, part one: three nights to wait -- Marv's after thought -- Audrey, part two: three minutes to take -- The end -- Part five: The Joker: The laughter -- The weeks -- The end is not the end -- The folder -- The message.
Summary:
Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He's pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. That's when the first ace arrives in the mail. That's when Ed becomes the messenger. Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who's behind Ed's mission?
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