The Aftermath

Cynical cop Mark Mason is in big trouble with his superiors - he’s been a bit quick on the trigger. Now he finds himself investigating the murders of two policewomen, killed over a lewd videotape that could bring down the State’s secretary for essential services. The unpopular police commissioner wants the tape - it will ensure he stays in the job. A rebel police group also wants it - to get rid of the commissioner. Mark finds the tape in the possession of journalist Sandra Pastor, who flees to the high country after a bungled burglary by one of the commissioner’s lackeys. Mark tracks her down, and they wrestle with the morality of what to do with the tape. After a chase through the high country, Mark and Sandra become trapped, and Mark is obliged to bargain for Sandra’s life. The price is his own.

About the author: Maxwell (Max) Stuart Sims was born in Mount Gambier, South Australia. He went to the Helen Street Infant School, the Wehl Street Primary School, the Penola Area School and Mount Gambier High. He studied electronics at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and worked in that field for more than a decade before switching to journalism, both newspaper and freelance. Then he joined Crawford Productions as a staff writer on the Homicide, Division 4 and Matlock Police series. Three years later saw him as PR/publications manager with the Victorian Health Commission and later a projects officer with the Victoria Police. He played baseball for Caulfield and Malvern, was an A-grade pistol shooter, flirted with skydiving (retired scared) and was a captain in the Army Reserve. He lives in Melbourne with his wife Vanessa and their children Todd and Stuart.