This is a beautifully written story that really shows the human beings behind addiction. As someone who lives in Melbourne being able to picture the characters as they travel along with Sunny through the streets of Melbourne was an added bonus, the places all so familiar. So many human moments and the eloquent simplicity of a character who just loves her two friends (Anton and Sunny), I really enjoyed this book. Getting a signed copy that I didn't realise I had ordered was a nice surprise.

much better that his first book

Lovers of last year’s literary crime hit Wimmera should be well pleased to hear that Mark Brandi is back with The Rip, another book as astonishing and captivating as his first. The Rip is remarkably well-named. Like Wimmera, it’s a slow-burn story with a punch that you don’t see coming, set in the criminal underworld of Melbourne. In this world lives a young woman, struggling with the weight of poverty and addiction, who is clinging to the last shreds of a stable life while trying to ignore the signs that danger might be circling closer than she thought.

This is a bleak but remarkable story of survival, made exceptional by Brandi’s incredible writing. With sparse and striking prose, Brandi weaves an undercurrent of dread throughout the novel that makes us all too aware of how we are only ever a few degrees removed from a world we would rather not see. This is an unflinching look at a complicated life which shows addiction and destruction to have no prejudice. It’ll stay with you for a long time afterwards.