'Vernon and Penelope never want to see their son Caleb again. Not after he bashed his wife and ended up in gaol. A lifetime of careful parental love wiped out in a moment.
'But when Vernon, a retired teacher, hears that Caleb is being regularly visited and savagely beaten by a local criminal as the police stand by, he knows he has to act. What has his life as a father been if he turns his back on his son in his hour of desperate need? He realises with shame that he has grievously failed Caleb. No longer.
'To stop the beatings, Vernon plans to approach Ernie Cahill, father of the man bashing Caleb, and head of the local drug-dealing operation. The Cahills run the town and the cops, but Vernon is determined to fix things in a civilised way, father to father. If he shows respect, he reasons, it will be reciprocated. But how wrong he is.
'And what hell will he bring down on his family?
'Reading like a morality tale Western but in a starkly beautiful Australian setting, Snake Island is a propulsive literary thriller written with great clarity and power. It will take you to the edge and keep you there long after the final page is turned. '
Source: Publisher's blurb.
'Hobson’s dense and entertaining literary thriller wrestles with what it means to be good.'
'When Elisabeth and Johannes catch a glimpse of each other through a window at the start of Lenny Bartulin’s Fortune, it’s as if they already know one another. As the novel progresses we follow the separate journeys of these two characters, along with a cast of others, wondering if their paths will cross again.' (Introduction)
'Snake Island’s tone is established in the opening pages when a pelican gasping on the mudf lats is decapitated out of mercy. This uncompromising stance is sustained throughout as Ben Hobson delivers a novel drenched in blood. Darkly lit as though it were a chiaroscuro study of crime and punishment, Hobson’s second book explores generational abuse and retributive action. Violence indeed begets violence, spilling across the path of every unfortunate character.' (Introduction)
'Snake Island’s tone is established in the opening pages when a pelican gasping on the mudf lats is decapitated out of mercy. This uncompromising stance is sustained throughout as Ben Hobson delivers a novel drenched in blood. Darkly lit as though it were a chiaroscuro study of crime and punishment, Hobson’s second book explores generational abuse and retributive action. Violence indeed begets violence, spilling across the path of every unfortunate character.' (Introduction)
'When Elisabeth and Johannes catch a glimpse of each other through a window at the start of Lenny Bartulin’s Fortune, it’s as if they already know one another. As the novel progresses we follow the separate journeys of these two characters, along with a cast of others, wondering if their paths will cross again.' (Introduction)
'Hobson’s dense and entertaining literary thriller wrestles with what it means to be good.'
