The Dempsey family have ruled over the small community of Shacktown on the Tasmanian Peninsula, running their illegal drugs syndicate under the cover of their successful abalone empire. Since the disappearance of eldest son, Jesse, seven years earlier, next-in-line Davey has run the ‘business’, while the disgraced Mackenzie aka ‘Mackerel’ is out on bail, addicted to pain meds and estranged from matriarch, Ivy, and the rest of the family.

When Jesse’s son, 13-year-old Forest, stumbles out of the ocean on the eve of a storm, dazed and bruised and bearing a homemade tattoo warning on his shoulder, tensions rise to boiling point in the family as they try to unravel the mystery of his appearance. The conflicts ripple outwards, impacting the whole community.

Perry’s ‘debut, break-through’ novel, The Bluffs, was the 11th book he’d submitted for publication and his work does read like that of a more established writer. And here he uses the ‘landscape as character’ device superbly, as he did so successfully in The Bluffs. The howling winds and wild seas of this fishing town are an integral part of the story as they set the scene for corruption, deceit and death.

The main players are well developed but are not very easy to like. It is a testament to the skill of the author that, despite this, I was compelled to read on and, as the pace picked up, suddenly it was into the wee hours.

Perry’s day job as a drug and alcohol counsellor informs his stories and there is an underlying ring of truth in the narrative which adds to the intrigue of the tale. He has been quoted as saying that he has to tone down some of the stories as the real tales of crime and corruption are unbelievable to readers, but with The Deep he has drawn together the elements for a terrific read.

Reviewed by Maryanne Vagg