Smoky Joe's Cafe - Tapa dura

Thommo returns from Vietnam to an Australia that regards him as a mercenary guilty of war crimes. He begins to develop all kinds of physical and mental problems, and thinks it must only be him until he finds he is not alone. Ten mates, all who remain of his platoon who fought and died in the Battle of Long Tan, are affected the same way. Now Thommo and his mates are eleven angry men out for revenge. They rope in an ex-Viet Cong with 'special skills and his own secret agenda. They're the 'Dirty Dozen', just like the movie. Only it's real life, and they're so screwed up they probably couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag. That is, until a woman of character steps in. Wendy's infant daughter is dying and needs a bone-marrow transplant. Hell hath no fury...as she sets out to mould this bunch of ex-jungle fighters into a unit that will fight for justice, by fair means or foul.

Bryce Courtenay is the bestselling author of The Power of One, Tandia, April Fool's Day, A Recipe for Dreaming, The Family Frying Pan, The Night Country and Jessica. And in The Australian Trilogy: The Potato Factory, Tommo & Hawk and Solomon's Song. He was born in South Africa, is an Australian and has lived in Sydney for the major part of his life.