Jake With a Snarly Smile On His Chops

'Jake' is a 2008 reprint of Australian writer Matthew Ward's popular 2004 novella. Middle-aged Jake is always on a winning streak. He's untouchable. 'How do you pick up birds?' asks young Larry, sipping beer in a suburban Sydney RSL. 'It's easier than you think', says Jake. 'Booze brings you confidence & things just take care of themselves. 'What if something goes wrong?' asks Larry. 'Oh, nothing can go wrong,' says Jake. 'I have a system, you see.' 'Jake' - set in Newcastle & Sydney, Australia - is a fast-paced tale of love, lust, infidelity & hard-drinking Australians. It's a breezy beatnik bongo session immersed in a vat of steamy city lights. There's interfering do-gooders, knockabout larrikins, angels with hearts of gold, spicy young women, divine old women & a God who may or may not have gone to sleep at the switch. "Jake is a pretty unlikely hero. Written in modern Kerouac styled prose ... ‘Jake’ is a fun, racy, and light hearted read." (Maggie Ball, CompulsiveReader.com)