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Christopher Bardsley
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Jack Was Here Kindle Edition

by Christopher Bardsley (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 24 ratings
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Hugh Fitzgerald is losing control. In the aftermath of a traumatic end to his military career, his life has disintegrated. Hugh is approaching the end of his tether when a desperate plea for help arrives from a most unexpected quarter.

Nineteen-year-old Jack Kerr, halfway through a coming-of-age trip to Thailand, has disappeared. He has left few traces, little information, and absolutely no answers. As the days turn into weeks, his parents grow increasingly frantic.

They approach Hugh with a simple request; do whatever it takes to find their son, and do whatever it takes to bring him home. It sounds easy enough. The money is right. More importantly, it’s something to do – something useful.

But as soon as Hugh touches down in Thailand, the illusion of control begins to slip through his fingers. Jack’s warm trail is easy to find, but it leads somewhere unimaginable. Finally, as he closes in, Hugh is forced to resort to increasingly desperate measures.

Jack Was Here is an intoxicating glimpse into Thailand’s underworld. A startling debut from Christopher Bardsley.
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  1. Print length
    278 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    February 6, 2018
  5. File size
    457 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B079NPY91S
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thistle Publishing (February 6, 2018)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 6, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 457 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 278 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 24 ratings

About the author

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Christopher Bardsley

Christopher Bardsley

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Born in 1987, Christopher Bardsley was raised in Melbourne, Australia. He undertook his studies at the University of Melbourne, where he received a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Education. In 2012, Christopher was the recipient of Melbourne University’s Above Water prize for his short story Little Rock. He also received an honourable mention in the 2011 competition for his story Cripple Creek. Christopher has also published poetry and cultural criticism through Farrago magazine.

Christopher spent the beginning of his career teaching history at independent schools in Melbourne. While he is primarily an author of novels, his interests also include modern and ancient history, with a particular focus on interpreting political extremism.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
24 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A ripping yarn
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2018
Verified Purchase
If you've experienced the seedy side of Asia and like action, you won't put this down. The hero, Hugh is a likeable larrikin who bumbles through Asia on his mission. Christopher's evocative writing immerses the reader in the heat and bustle of Asia. A very enjoyable read.
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Nancy Adair
4.0 out of 5 stars Page turner
Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2018
Thistle Publishing reached out to me with widgets for Jack Was Here by Christopher Bardsley. I downloaded the book and forgot about it for a week. Until a thunderstorm caused a power outage in the middle of the night.

I reported the outage to the power company and, knowing I would not get back to sleep for a while, opened Kindle and saw Jack Was Here on my downloaded books. Why not give it a look, I thought.

Bad idea. My attention was caught right off by the main character, Hugh, an Australian Marine whose time in Afghanistan has left him wounded body and soul. He has just about hit rock bottom, with alcohol as his favorite coping device. I did get back to sleep but finished the book before noon the next day.

Hugh's brother forces him out of his catastrophe of an apartment with a challenge: family friends want to hire him to find their son Jack, missing in Thailand. Hugh has been to Thailand and they hope he can aid the hired detective in finding their son. The Thai police have been useless; besides, there are sixty-eight other missing Australians.

Jack was a smart, underachieving kid who was using drugs. His folks thought a trip abroad would be good for him. He took off for Bangkok. It's been six weeks since they heard from him.

Jack's parents offer Huh ten thousand dollars to find Jack, with five hundred a week expenses, and fifteen thousand if he brings Jack home.

"Thailand had been playing on my thoughts over the last few months. It was a mecca for losers like me, a warm climate to piss away your troubles. (...)I didn't expect that finding Jack would be all that difficult." Jack was Here

Hugh accepts the offer. It was, he thought, the "best possible thing that could have happened to me at that point. It was a bit of direction in my life."

As Hugh follows the paper trail of phone and banking records, readers get a deep look into the seamy side of Thailand, the prostitution and party life that attracts kids and middle-aged office workers looking for unbridled freedom from the drudge of their lives. And into the criminal organizations that run drugs from Cambodia through Thailand, and the police corruption that benefits with colluding with the criminals.

Getting Jack involves some pretty ugly things, including murder. But Hugh is determined to save one young man, an expiation for surviving what his fellow soldiers did not.

I liked how Bardsley allowed Hugh to be the damaged person he is. I can't say readers will 'like' him and all his choices but we understand his struggle and pain.
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The reader
3.0 out of 5 stars An ex-soldier takes on the job of finding a boy who has gone missing in Thailand.
Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2018
This is a missing person search conducted by an unusual hero. His name is Hugh Fitzgerald . He is an ex-soldier suffering severely from stress and depression after one tour too many in Afghanistan. He spends his days drinking, drug -taking and generally ruining his life. Then, out of the blue, he is asked by close family friends if he would go out to Thailand and find their son who is out there on holiday. Uncharacteristically he has not made contact for weeks and had been scheduled to return 3 weeks previously. Maybe it is the amount of money offered or perhaps it is that Hugh is just looking for a way out of his depressing existence but , for whatever reason, he decides to go. Does he find the boy? Does he find himself? These twin searches form the heart of the novel but, one thing is for sure, it's a grim and gritty search undertaken in a beautiful yet very dangerous part of the world.
Bardsley paints a vivid picture of Thailand and Cambodia but the romance and beauty of these countries is continuously counter-balanced by his ruthless description of how depression dominates, and indeed takes over, Hugh's life. Not a book to be taken lightly as we now know, all too well, the long term affects war has on soldiers. In many cases, although they return home alive, in reality they have lost their lives.
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Dora
5.0 out of 5 stars he is pretty much a jerk
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2018
I was hooked the moment I read"It used to make me really angry when I got that question."
I was curious about two things: what the question was and who it was that it angered. At the beginning, the author introduces us to Hugh, he's back home from a mission, he's now an Ex-Military officer and he's surviving on pension from the government and is difficult to be around because he's never sober and he doesn't open much to his therapists and family. So, he is pretty much a jerk, up until his brother Nick, a teacher, gets him to meet the parents of nineteen year old Jack who went backpacking in Thailand and so far is missing. They ask him to go in search of Jack and offer to pay him more than he's getting or making-and the next thing he knows, he's on a plane to Thailand to bring Jack home.
The plot thickens and you cannot help but be on the edge of your seat as Hugh finds that he's immersed in a dangerous world and finding Jack might lead to either death or never making it out of where they are. He's also got his own issues to deal with and drowning in alcohol or getting high doesn't seem to get him there.
What I loved about this book is that Hugh is not your dashing knight in armor. He's a pain, pessimistic, rude, self-absorbed but he's also afraid, hurting, guilty and when this other side of him is revealed, you cannot help but empathize with him.
There's a man in one of the bars in Bangkok who asked him "Yes. You will find him. But will you save him?" This was the one question that ran through my mind until I finished the book.
The story has a great flow, the action of each character adds to the thrill and perhaps, the one man, whom Hugh was so afraid of, is the one who helped him reach a turning point and that there is what made this story intense.
I've got to give a huge shout-out to Thistle Publishing for sending me an eARC to read and review. It sure did provide an insight to both the day and nightlife of Thailand and was such a great read. Fans of Mysteries, Thrillers and Crime are going to devour this.
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Top reviews from other countries

Shaun Baines
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't miss this
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 24, 2018
Verified Purchase
Say hello to Hugh, a belligerent, drunkard tasked with finding the missing son of a family friend. He's a complicated man, but not without merit. Hugh is the kind of character who doesn't need to be liked and draws in the reader because of it. I found him original, charismatic and utterly believable. I was with him from the opening page to the last, willing him on despite his flaws. Hugh reminded me of Lee Child's Reacher, but with bigger baggage

The author has a gift for painting the seedier side of life, which blossoms in his descriptions of Thailand and the journey Hugh takes. They come to life with full colour until the reader is immersed.

I recommend this book to fans of grit, dark humour and original prose.
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regularreader
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommend!
Reviewed in Australia on March 7, 2018
Verified Purchase
This novel is a great read and really engaging. The main character, Hugh, has a lot of charisma and an interesting past that keeps you guessing. The story rockets along at a snappy pace and is a real page turner that I couldn't put down. Lots of twists and turns in the mystery and an awesome ending. Highly recommend!
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Will
5.0 out of 5 stars Tense and compelling
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 26, 2018
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Hell, someone once wrote, is murky. And so, if Christopher Bardsley is to be believed, is Thailand’s criminal underground, which, as this tense and compelling debut novel progresses, we are dragged further and further into. Accompanying us on this infernal journey is Hugh Fitzgerald, Bardsley’s Bad Lieutenant, a messed up private investigator with nothing to lose and not much to gain either. He’s beyond redemption and all the more entertaining for that.
The novel is fast-paced, and utterly convincing. The descriptions of violence are scarily vivid; the characters lifelike and believable. A gripping novel that more or less reads itself. Excellent!
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Pensioner Power.
3.0 out of 5 stars The backpackers Heart of Darkness.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 11, 2019
Verified Purchase
Good read. A journey into backpackers hell and a look into the damage caused by hedonism running wild.
I look forward to the next outing of High Fitzgerald.
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S.Scholefield
5.0 out of 5 stars A Dark Tale
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 22, 2018
Verified Purchase
What a gripping yarn!
This isn't my usual type of book but I was gripped from the start and desperately wanted to know whether Hugh would find Jack.
I loved how I was taken to the grubby underworld with believable prose and unfussy language.
The protagonist Hugh, is a difficult character to like and yet I couldn't help hoping that not only would he find Jack but that he'd find some solace for himself too.
Highly recommended!
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