Callum Thomas has a gift for investigating and a constant longing for the alcohol that nurtured him after the death of his daughter, Stacey, and the separation from his wife. Now the former Victoria Police detective scrapes together a meagre existence as a private investigator while battling his cravings and his guilt.
When Graham and Mary Gallagher show him a picture of their missing daughter; a girl that is the spitting image of Stacey, Callum enters into a nightmarish world of confusion and torment in a race against time and a battle against a maniac hell-bent on revenge. Callum must turn to his extensive network for assistance, including the indomitable Detective Sergeant "Simmo" Simkovic, the huge Jack “Bernie” Bernardino and Roz, his ex-wife’s bitter best friend.
Can Callum find the girl and gain some redemption, or will his gift be no match for his demons?

Callum Thomas was once a homicide detective. Now he’s a grieving father, alcoholic and embattled private detective.
In this third instalment of crime thrillers, Retribution Mine, Callum is called by crime journalist, Hannah Stanford, to attend the Alfred Hospital, where a male, Darren Braun, fights for his life following a brutal assault. But Braun has the identical tattoo of the hit-run driver that killed Callum’s beloved 9-year-old daughter, Stacey. And when he informs Callum that the hit-run was no accident, Callum and his almost supernatural gift for investigating are propelled on a path towards retribution.
Now immigrants are dying in a twisted numerical pattern, and Callum must rely on this Gift more than ever. As the killings escalate, so does the chaos. Callum learns this is the work of a maniacal neo-Nazi serial killer, known as “Kestrel”, whose immense data mining operation uncovers potential murder victims right across Western Victoria.
Beset by fractured relationships and haunted by loss, Callum teams up with the adoring journalist Hannah, razor-sharp Millennial IT guru Jenny, and his old pals, Bernie and Pres, to uncover the identity of this lunatic mastermind, Kestrel. And put a stop to the killing.
Bombs. Bullets. Betrayal. Left for dead in the Australian outback, Callum must survive life-threatening injuries and total memory loss. But with his makeshift militia at his side, he’ll raid an underground data-mining facility, ride the collapsing veins of the basalt mines, and deploy a full-frontal assault on a mansion in the west of Melbourne, all while confronting the ghosts of his past and winning over the heart of his wife.
In a final shootout, the crazed neo-Nazi family, descendants of an escaped SS Colonel, and their motorcycle gang henchmen will face Callum in a final reckoning - a retribution years in the making?

When a Nazi patrol closes in on the aristocratic Von Strahl family’s Silesian estate in 1938, they flee through hidden tunnels beneath their land but Count Aleksander dies saving a neighbour. His ambitious brother Rainer seizes the Count’s satchel of shares and bonds, claiming the rights of the household for himself. With forged papers and the help of a compassionate Polish native working in Australian immigration, the shattered family arrives in Victoria under new identities: the Weiss family.
Katarina Weiss, the Count’s widowed wife, her sisters Margit and Isolde, and their children, settle in an abandoned convent in Kyneton, alongside Rainer and his two sons. They restore the mansion to life, win the affection of the town with a tantalising blend of Polish food and European class, and begin to rebuild a sense of home. But beneath the surface, Rainer rules with cruelty, hungry for power and determined to expand it through illegal means.
Everything changes the day Katarina’s daughter, Eliza, steps into the path of a moving car and is saved by Trent, a young shoe‑shiner with fast feet and a keen eye. Their connection is instant and profound. After Trent’s mother dies, Katarina brings him into the family, and he and Eliza grow up together, discovering hidden passages in the convent walls and deep feelings in their hearts. After overhearing Rainer’s criminal dealings, they form The Watchers of the Hollow, documenting everything they witness.
As the years pass, Trent and Eliza’s bond strengthens into a once‑in‑a‑lifetime love. On Trent’s sixteenth birthday, they finally confess their feelings with a kiss that feels like destiny.
But fate turns. When the war ends, the family plans a return to Poland. Trent stays behind to help Katarina’s new love, the gentle Scotsman Graham McLeish, develop adjoining farms. A storm kills Graham, leaving the family grief‑stricken and Trent alone with the responsibility of the farm.
On the eve of the family’s departure, Trent and Eliza overhear Rainer plotting to murder Trent and imprison the family. A violent storm erupts as Rainer’s plan is shared with everyone. Trent narrowly escapes execution at Rainer’s hands when lightning shatters a pine tree. He manages to free the family, only to be captured again as they flee into the mist. Believing Trent dead, Eliza is inconsolable.
In Poland, Eliza’s world has lost all colour. She pours her grief into art school, becoming a celebrated painter. Unbeknownst to her, the gun misfired and Trent survived. He reports Rainer, who is arrested and sentenced to life in prison. But Trent cannot find Eliza - he searches only for “Eliza Weiss,” unaware of her true name.
Sixteen years later, haunted by memories and unable to silence the whisper of Trent’s name in the trees, Eliza returns to Australia. She finds the farm sold and Trent gone. On Easter weekend, Trent travels to Bendigo for the procession - just as Eliza arrives in town. She parks fifty feet from his car. After sixteen years of longing, their eyes meet again, fifty feet from forever.