Ray Mooney

In Book 2 of A GREEN LIGHT: THE KINGDOM OF MEN crime writer, playwright and screenwriter, Ray Mooney, takes us into the world of Pentridge Prison, including the notorious punishment section, known as H for Hell Division.

Johnny Morgan is doing 12 years for manslaughter and rape. His sporting prowess and fighting ability earn him respect within a world devoid of sentimentally or kindness. Eager to earn maximum remission by keeping out of trouble he involves himself in debating and drama but also finds himself drawn to standing up for the underdog. When he acts as spokesperson for striking prisoners he is sent to the infamous punishment section, H Division, where he is brutally broken by sadistic screws. Unable to cope with the realisation they broke him, he mentally and physically conditions himself to return to H Division and confront his demons. In so doing he discovers inner capabilities, both survivalist and destructive, that indelibly imprint his personality; the beast has emerged.

The story is based on the author’s personal experiences, and those of his close friend, Chris Flannery, aka Mr Rent-A-Kill, Australia’s infamous hitman, missing, believed murdered. Both spent considerable time in H Division.

The Kingdom of Men is approximately 98,000 words

The series has been developed from Mooney’s highly successful book, A Green Light, published by Penguin Australia in 1988, which became Penguin’s second biggest fiction seller for that year and established an industry of crime fiction within Australia.

Praise for Ray Mooney’s crime thriller A GREEN LIGHT.

Ray Mooney’s A Green Light, the most powerful crime fiction book I’ve ever read. – Alex Miller, dual Miles Franklin winner - Booktopiablog 2013

‘This is the most important and powerful book on crime ever written in Australia, if not anywhere.’ -- Barry Webster, Pulp Fiction, 3RRR.

‘Mooney’s handling of underworld dialogue is masterful...What we have in Johnny Morgan is an absorbing character study of one of the most unpleasant sides of modern-day society.’ -- Ian Freckleton, the Age.

‘A novel with the ferocious veracity of A GREEN LIGHT should make us all stop and think, and think again, about the patterns of power in our society’ -- Professor Stephen Knight, Sydney Morning Herald.

‘If the book stimulates one to think about crime, as it did for me, then it goes some of the way to meeting a higher goal. In the context of crime and prison literature I think A GREEN LIGHT is a valuable contribution.’ -- Michael Bersten, Lawyer, Legal Service Bulletin.

Dr Jocelynne Scutt wrote, ‘...for those of us who care about changing the mindless world of men, A Green Light is compulsory reading.’

About the author

Ray Mooney is an expert in crime, regarded by many as Australia’s best fiction crime writer.

He’s written more than 20 plays specialising in crime, numerous films scripts, including the cult film, Everynight Everynight, co-authored with director Alkinos Tsilimidos and nominated for an AFI writing award. The film received numerous awards throughout the world.

His non-fiction book, A Pack of Bloody Animals, about the Walsh Street murders, set the cat among the pigeons, with its sensational revelations within police and criminal cultures.

He taught creative writing at tertiary institutions for twenty years.