The town of Buckleboo Creek in tropical North Queensland was known as a tropical paradise. But engineer Sam Gawler learned from the moment he hit the towns main street that the place had a seedy underbelly. Gawler was nominally a‘Trouble Shooter for the giant mining corporation which dominated the town. But the unorthodox methods he used to sort out the company’s problems were described by some who knew him as those of a ‘Hitman’. He was the man the corporation called upon when sticky situations required an unorthodox solution. He was not an employee. He was a ‘gun for hire’. The agreement Gawler had with the company guaranteed him that they would always provide all the support and resources he needed. And they expected him to do the job his way. The company wanted results from Gawler, but they didn’t always want to know the details of how he got them. They understood that he cut corners and pushed boundaries. He was paid handsomely to get the job done. But Gawler always had no doubt that if he stepped over the line the company would deny all knowledge of him. He was comforted with the unwritten understanding he had with the company that they would always back him to the hilt behind the scenes. He preferred the anonymity the role offered him. Now the company needed him at their goldmine in Buckleboo Creek. Gawler had been their first and only choice. He had spent several years travelling to sort out difficult issues at the company’s trouble spots in many parts of the world. He had always come up trumps.