Ned Kelly is sure that his luck has just turned from bad to good. He is in love with a lovely woman, Tess, and she loves him too. Plus Ned's friends have come to him for his help in pulling off a sweetheart of a heist that will net them each a million dollars. What could go wrong? Everything.
The million dollar deal turns out to be a setup and the only thing Ned's friends get is dead. Ned escapes their fate but learns that someone has murdered Tess. Now Ned finds himself the chief suspect in the failed heist, and the murders of his friends and of Tess. The cops are sure they are on the right track and that Ned Kelly is their man. However FBI agent Ellie Shurtleff thinks the heist was an inside job and that Ned and his gang were just patsies. Together Ellie and Ned work to figure out who was the brains behind the heist and why his friends were killed and if or how the murder of Tess figures into it all. And who is Dr. Gachet?
I read the condensed version of this novel and I think it must have left some important details out because I found the story confusing and hard to follow at times, especially towards the end as Kelly's search for the truth zeros in on the elusive Dr. Gachet. Other than that, it was an interesting story. Ned Kelly isn't really a criminal, but when his friends come to him with a million dollar sure thing, it is easy to see how he couldn't resist.
Review from Publishers Weekly.
