In the inner sanctums of Sydney's underworld it was reckoned that Big Frank Crain had buried more victims than all his rivals combined. In between thieving and robbery, which was his livelihood, and pimping on prostitutes, which was his sport, Crain spent much of his time plotting murder, which was his hobby. He killed for fun. That he was a Detective Inspector on the New South Wales Police merely enhanced the immunity generated by the fear he spread like a plague throughout the city. No one dared face him down and his influence at Police HQ gave him carte blanche in his extra-curricular activities. So when The Establishment plotted the murder of a campaigning newspaper editor he was the killer of their choice. He was enjoying a boom year when a couple of investigative reporters, outraged by the murder of their colleague, threw down the gauntlet and took him on...
Book Review/s to share: 5.0 out of 5 stars A ripper read, 23 Mar 2009 By Treeves "Tony Reeves" (Brisbane, Australia) - See all my reviews
The Nelson Conspiracy
For most readers this will be an exciting yarn of a couple of journalists digging in to a story nobody -- from the powerful politicians and crooked cops, down to the lazy people in the media who turned a blind eye to all the graft -- wanted to be publicly aired.
For me it brings back stark memories of the three-plus years the author Barry Ward and myself spent investigating the 1975 murder of Sydney heiress and newspaper publisher Juanita Nielsen.
When Barry and I failed to get a local publisher to put our story into print (they fearing defamation and worse) it was re-moulded into fiction. The publisher who took that version on was visited by a few nasty people who somehow dissuaded him from going ahead with it.
Barry Ward has persisted with this "story that has to be told" for more than thirty years, and in this polished rendition, it has lost none of the dynamic forces which shaped our experiences way back then.
If you are after a good thrilling story of police and political corruption and a massive conspiracy at the highest levels, this is a must read for you.
If you have any recollection of those disturbing events in Sydney back in 1975, you will learn much from this fictionalised version of a truly remarkable story of a conspiracy to silence a person who could cause the entirely corrupt house of cards that is New South Wales to come crashing down.
I commend it to anyone interested in the seriously bent side of Sydney - and to anyone else who likes a ripper yarn.
-- Tony Reeves.
Email to share: barryeward@yahoo.co.uk
This site owned by Anastasia Cassella-Young. All copyright laws applicable. Site conception March 12, 2009.
