Snake Island kicks off with Vernon, a retired teacher, sitting looking out to the muddy flats from his home as he waits for his wife, Penelope, to come home from bowls. There is a pelican stuck lying in the mud, one wing raised, flapping around like a flag. He is yet to discover it but the bird is choking on plastic. When he realises that there is no hope, he knows he can’t let the bird suffer. He solemnly walks to the shed to get his axe.

Penelope and Vernon are quietly settled in their retirement. Sadly they are estranged from their son, Caleb, since Caleb took to his wife with his fists. He is now in jail for that crime and, since he was sentenced, they both had silently decided that that’s where he should pay his penance. They couldn’t bear to see him. It was like he had died.

But when Vernon gets wind that one of the Cahill boys is regularly visiting Caleb and bashing him up, Vernon knows he now has to come to his son’s defence.

The Cahill’s are a criminal family. They are rough and tough. But Vernon believes the father will understand if he personally visits him to ask him to stop his son beating up on Caleb. Vernon hatches a plan to visit the Cahills on their property. He takes his gun.

This is a cracker of a debut. There were times when this book made me feel uncomfortable as some scenes are violent and confronting. At one point I thought I might have to put it down. But the writing is good. It’s really gritty, visual and quite compulsive. It’s the sort of writing that gets under your skin and you can’t look away. And that makes it a book I will not easily forget.

I’m very much looking forward to Ben Hobson’s next book.

Reviewed by Jane Stephens