Jade, on the run from her past, arrives on the Gold Coast to forge a new identity and make her fortune. She recruits The Dealer , a croupier with a shady past, to be her grifting partner and they embark on a series of scams targeting fellow swindlers - Anthony, a self - important businessman, and PJ, an international conman. Jade creates new selves and lodges herself deeper and deeper into the underbelly of Surfers Paradise. The Dealer soon realises he has more than met his match and wonders what exactly this mysterious, all - consuming femme fatale s motivations are. Set in the dark shadows of the Gold Coast s glittering high - rise strip, ATOMIC CITY is a wild rollercoaster ride of a story - a neo - noir tale of identity theft, subterfuge and new beginnings.