The Deep is a novel written by Australian author Kyle Perry. Set in a small town on the storm-swept coast of Tasmania it tells the story of the Dempsey family who has run a drug ring for many generations. When a family member thought long dead reappears, the entire clan is thrown into chaos and a desperate struggle for power.
My Thoughts:
I’m not usually a fan of crime family stories, but this book is a little bit different. Kyle Perry’s writing is direct and honest with few embellishments. The book concentrates on plot and character development in a compelling way and doesn’t get bogged down with poetic descriptions or endless similes.
The world he creates and the personalities who inhabit that world is instantly believable and relatable. Very quickly the reader forms alliances in their head with one person or another. There are some surprising, even shocking, twists and turns in the story, but they are never overdone.
At the centre of the story is a shocking murder, and the novel plays out as a whodunnit both on the page and in one’s head. As this unfolds, suspicion rests on just about every character, until it is almost impossible to tell who is the mastermind behind the mystery. While there is violence, it is not gratuitous, in fact, most of the nastiness comes from verbal altercations between characters that certainly whipped up my emotions as I read it.
The Deep is a cleverly constructed tale of a family at war with itself and the carnage that greed and a lust for power creates. I read this book in a single day – it is that thrilling.
