Set in Australia, Mia’s Magic Wand takes us on a fugitive journey from Sydney Harbour to the Kimberley. A mother, a father and a monk all want to fix what’s f****d with the world. Each loves to gamble. The mother gambles with politicians, the father gambles with weapons and the monk gambles with God. 

The plot revolves around an archive of blackmailing videos—The Magic Wand—owned by billionaire philanthropist, Tate Wolsey. Tate can have anything he wants, except for Mia, so he assaults her. But he underestimates his wife, Claudia. Outraged, she steals the Magic Wand and gives it to Mia. All hell breaks loose and Mia ends up with the last surviving copy of the Wand.

A federal election looms, news of the theft of the Wand leaks out and prominent politicians begin to worry. One of them, the Federal Police Minister, makes a deal with a jailed murderer, Dog, who holds a grudge against Mia. In quick succession, Dog is released from jail, Tate’s wife is murdered and Mia’s daughter is kidnapped.

Late one night, Mia arranges to hand over the Wand in exchange for her daughter but the deal goes sideways and a gun battle erupts. In the chaos, Mia and Red rescue their daughter and flee to the mountains—still in possession of the Wand.

Trekking to a highway, they hitch a ride with a truck driver and travel to the Kimberley. But Dog is still at large and a bloody struggle plays out. 


This is a multiple point of view story: each of the three characters taking their chapter by turn.

Mia's Magic Wand

It’s Friday lunchtime. Dressed in a grey business suit, Paddy steps from a taxi into a mist of rain: breviary in one hand, umbrella in the other and water droplets gathering on his glasses. A crowd of pedestrians stream past. Paddy opens the umbrella, wipes his spectacles on his coat and tries to push the breviary into a coat pocket. It’s going to be a tight fit. 


 A boy on a skateboard clatters past, bumping Paddy’s elbow. The book falls from his hand into the gutter and lands just in front of the rear tyre of the taxi. Paddy tries to signal the driver but the vehicle’s already on its way, the wheel passing over the book and leaving a grimy tyre print. 


 Picking the book up will be a challenge. If only he’d brought his walking stick. Normally—with his hip the way it is—he would kneel. But he will need a strong handhold to pull himself back up, this is his best suit and that bitumen is muddy and oily. 


Chapter 12 — Paddy