Thrift Shop Book Covers: Allen & Unwin's Wyatt Novels

In the 1990s the Australian publisher Allen & Unwin published Garry Disher’s first six Wyatt novels in a seven year period: Kickback (1991), The Fallout (1997). The covers are elegantly simple, especially the first four with the solid white background offset by a darker color, the title split between the two, and a nicely detailed illustration above the title. The final two books—Port Vila Blues and The Fallout—have a similar layout, but without the white background and a photograph instead of an illustration. Less effective, but still nice.

The artist for the first four titles: Russell Jeffery. The photographer for the final two titles: Michael Killalea.

Kickback was originally published as a trade paperback by Allen & Unwin in 1991, but the edition that caught my eye is Allen & Unwin’s mass market edition published in 1993.

The first paragraph:

Wyatt tensed. A silver BMW had emerged from the driveway of the Frome place. The headlights plunged, then levelled, as the car entered Lansell Road. Wyatt counted heads: Frome driving, wife next to him, kids in the back. He checked the time—8 pm—and watched the BMW disappear in the direction of Toorak Road.

Paydirt was originally published as a trade paperback by Allen & Unwin in 1992, but the edition that caught my eye is Allen & Unwin’s mass market edition published in 1993.

The first paragraph:

The work was dirty, the little town a joke, but Wyatt was interested only in the advantages—they didn’t know who he was, there were no cops, and no one was expecting a payroll snatch.

Deathdeal was originally published as a mass market paperback by Allen & Unwin in 1993, which is the very edition that caught my eye.

The first lines:

There were two of them and they came in hard and fast. They knew where the bed was and flanked it as Wyatt rolled onto his shoulder and grabbed at the backpack on the dusty carpet. He had his mind on the .38 in the side pocket and was swinging it up, finger tightening, when the cosh smacked across the back of his wrist.

Crosskill was originally published as a mass market paperback by Allen & Unwin in 1994, which is the very edition that caught my eye.

The first lines:

The stranger appeared just after lunch on day one of Wyatt’s operation against the Mesics. He was driving a red Capri, soft top down, and Wyatt watched him park it against the kerb, unfold from the car, stride to the compound gates and bend his face to the intercom grille in the brick pillar.

Port Vila Blues was originally published as a mass market paperback by Allen & Unwin in 1995, which is the very edition that caught my eye.

The first lines:

Carlyle Street, Double Bay, 7 a.m. on a Tuesday morning, the air clean and cool. Behind closed doors in the big houses set back far from the street, people were beginning to stir, brewing coffee or standing dazed under showers.

The Fallout was originally published as a mass market paperback by Allen & Unwin in 1997, which is the very edition that caught my eye.

The first paragraph:

By the fifth hold-up the papers are calling him the bush bandit. An inspector of police, flat, inexpressive, resistant to the pull of cameras, is less colourful: “We are looking for a male person who is armed and should be considered dangerous. His method of operation is essentially the same in every case. 

The Allen & Unwin mass market paperbacks had brief distribution in the United States. The first four titles were available in my local Barnes & Noble for about three months in the mid-1990s. I purchased the first, Kickback, read it in a single evening and rushed back to the bookstore and purchased the other three. Since then, I’ve been an enthusiastic Garry Disher reader. His work has gotten easier to find in the United States over the years, but those original four Wyatt novels are harder to find than ever, at least in print. They are available as ebooks on all the major platforms.

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