The Pit - Peter Papathanasiou

 I’ve read all of Peter Papathanasiou’s George Manolis books and I love the fact that  the characters are constant yet the location and stories are so diverse. There’s never any sense of the formulaic about his work. In his latest story, The Pit, DS George Manolis doesn’t make an appearance. When I realised he wasn’t around, I felt a surge of disappointment initially, but once I got into the story and reacquainted myself with Andrew Sparrow, well, I’m sorry to say, I forgot all about George!

The Pit sees a return to the Australian outback palpably described in all its unforgiving, desert ways. It becomes almost another character that is being battled against. The human characters in this story might surprise you. Bob is in the 60s and in a nursing home in Western Australia, but his past story unfolds throughout the course of the novel. He’s joined by Luke who is in his 30s and is wheelchair-bound because of a motorcycle accident. Bob admits to a murder he committed 30 years ago and he offers to tell Sparrow where the body is but Sparrow has to travel north with Bob and pretend to be a carer.

What follows is more than a crime story,  it’s a wonderful road trip story and it wouldn’t be Papathanasiou if there wasn’t some kind of political or social comment. The brutality of life in the mining industry, the gay community in Australia, racism and the treatment of the country’s indigenous people are all issues contained within the story.

It’s a tight plot with Bob’s backstory interspersed within the narrative. We learn a great deal about him more than we do about the other characters. Luke is permanently foulmouthed and angry and causes problems from time to time and his lack of perception and compassion brings about the ultimate twist at the end of the book. And there were times when I found both Bob and Luke irritating. But that kinda made them all the more real because people can be irritating, can’t they?! Andrew is challenged in his role as a police officer and his desire to prove himself in that role that causes him, perhaps, to take actions that may or may not be altogether legal. Situations and characters that we meet along the way are vibrant, and there is an element of humour at times, although overall the story is no laughing matter.

It’s a compelling story that you can’t necessarily second-guess, or I couldn’t anyway. I never had any sense of the predictable which made it such an enjoyable read. And I will continue to read the work of this exciting Australian writer.

My thanks to Corinna Zifko at MacLehose Press for a gifted copy of the book.