Set in the boardrooms, yachts and waterfront mansions of Australia's most decadent city, The Butcherbird is a boisterous thriller about corruption and excess in the corporate world.Jack Beaumont, a successful small-time property developer, is as surprised as the next person when he is approached by insurance tycoon Mac Biddulph to become the new CEO of HOA, the second largest home-insurer in Australia. Seduced at first by the lure of power, status and wealth, Jack soon finds that beneath the shiny facade of Sydney's business elite lies a convoluted network of corruption and dirty deals. Out of depth and pursued by piranhas in a fish tank full of money, Jack must unravel the elusive threads or himself become ensnared.Geoffrey Cousins has called upon his own inside knowledge and experience in the Australian business world to conjure up a dark story of intrigue and perfidy set among a seemingly recognisable cast of A-league sharks.