After reading 34 pages of this book, I still didn’t have an inkling of where the story was going. I chose to carry on with The Pit out of sheer curiosity. So I’m glad I did.

Bob, now 65 and ill, is taking Luke, a foul mouthed, wheelchair bound, motorbike accident victim out of the nursing home they are both confined to. He’s going to give him a road trip to remember. But Bob has secret motives.

Sparrow, a young policeman, desperately needs to prove he is up to the job. Bob holds a carrot out for Sparrow. If he follows them on the road trip he could possibly solve a Pilbara cold case and arrest the killer. With Sparrow posing as their nurse-carer, these three misfits set off from Perth bound for Hedland.

The story tells of Bob’s life, from his tough childhood to the grueling, callous world of Pilbara mining life in the ’80s. Fleeing back to Sydney, finding a partner, losing him to the violence against gay men. His secret so heavy …

Within these pages is dynamite wrapped in a story laced with much sadness. My end-of-read reflection was an illuminating observation that sorrow was, in fact, the tapestry of this story. I found that surprising considering the story is mainly set around the rough and rugged world of the Pilbara and the long empty highways of the region.

Exceptionally crafted and an insightful story to remember.

Reviewed by Alison Logie

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Peter Papathanasiou was born in northern Greece and adopted as a baby to an Australian family. His writing has been published internationally by The New York Times, Guardian, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Canberra Times, Daily Telegraph, The ABC, SBS, Huffington Post.

He also holds an MA in Creative Writing from City University, London, and a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the Australian National University. His first book, a memoir Son of Mine was published in 2019 by Salt.