Intricately plotted, tightly structured, intelligent and sexy Blindside is Melbourne crime writer JR Carroll's first book for Allen & Unwin.

Shaun McCreadie was a young detective with a bright future until he crossed the line and suddenly found himself behind prison bars for his role in a brutal home invasion that left two people dead.

Eleven years later he's out of jail. The first thing he does is retrieve the $2.8 million from the heist, in the process locking horns with the man sent to kill him and confiscate the cash. It seems certain people know he's out, and want him dead. Chief among these is Fat Man, a notoriously crooked cop from the old guard who still carries plenty of weight and Stan Petrakos, a wild card who is determined to avenge the murder of his parents . . .

But Shaun is equally determined to find out what really went down on that terrible day. His investigations wind back over the years to reveal the nefarious activities of bent cops, to set-ups, murders, drug deals and betrayals. He is going to need all of his considerable detective's know-how, as well as the survival skills learned inside, to get to the truth. And on top of everything, he has also become involved with Joanna Steer, the sexually charged and embittered wife of a famous barrister with major problems that threaten to spill over into Shaun's world.

J.R. Carroll skilfully interweaves all the strands in this gripping thriller, building Blindside to an edge-of-the-seat, explosive finale.