This slow burning thriller from the author of the Half Moon Lake is the literary equivalent of an icy cold beer on a hot day; deeply satisfying.
Two essentially decent siblings make one horrendous decision – to leave a dead, pregnant woman at the scene of a car accident caused by their negligence – and the consequences of that decision reverberate through every aspect of their lives.
It is 1974. Queensland is teetering on the precipice of massive social change but under the premiership of Joh Bjelke-Peterson, it’s still a comfortable place for corrupt cops to thrive. Siblings Abby and Charlie are attempting to find a way to live with what they’ve done while at the same time dealing with the complexities of family life, everyday life and their own uncertain futures, plus corrupt cops who suspect their involvement in the car accident and aren’t above using it as leverage. As it turns out – SPOILER ALERT – the pregnant woman killed in the car accident was the fiancé of Charlie and Abby’s dad’s and her ex-partner is a drug dealer aligned with corrupt cops being investigated by Abby’s husband, an investigative journalist. Sound complicated? Well, life is complicated. And this novel reflects that. It’s so intelligently multi-layered; it’s a deep dive while most thrillers are just a splash about on the surface.
I don’t know how Kirsten Alexander keeps producing such high quality literature but I sure hope she keeps it up. Riptides is well worth devoting a day to. 4 stars.
