I've just finished reading The Rip by Australian author Mark Brandi, who also wrote Into The River, which I reviewed last year. (Click through to read that review.) It's a short book, coming in at just over two hundred pages, but it dragged me in and I couldn't stop reading until I'd finished.
The story begins with a short preface detailing a police interview, requesting information from a very reticent man, about a missing girl and some strange chemicals found in his room. The novel then moves back in time and we meet Danielle, a homeless girl, living happily enough in a local park, accompanied by her friend Anton and her dog Sunny. They may not have much, neither in terms of material possessions nor future prospects, but they're happy enough, especially with drugs on hand to help see them through.
"He pulls out a large baggie, which has some smaller baggies inside. I can see the powder and I know he's got me sorted. And suddenly, our stuff in the park doesn't matter so much.
It's funny how it makes everything else just fall away like that - that's one of the great things about it. It gives you focus, you know? It's like all those other thoughts and worries just disappear so quickly, and all you can think about is how you're gonna feel.
Tomorrow doesn't matter so much. Or the next day. Or even the day after that."
A chance encounter with Steve, a figure from Anton's past, gives them a new opportunity as he welcomes them into his home. It's not much, but it's a step up from the park. He seems to have some kind of a hold over Anton and pushes Dani into begging, taking Anton out with him on local burglaries. Dani starts to have doubts about their future with him, but Steve gives her enough drugs to keep her on side. Until one day, Anton doesn't come home. And people start looking for Mary, the girl who used to live in Steve's flat.
Dani and Anton seem surprisingly upbeat, especially in the early part of the book, given the grim setting and the harsh life that they have. They never seem to be hungry, despite apparently eating nothing but toast and a few meals from the Salvos. Dani looks through Mary's wardrobe and wishes she could change her dirty clothes, but they never seem to want or need anything, despite having very little. There are various allusions to stories of abuse in the past but they seem to live perfectly safely and happily enough in the park. You can't help but wonder how much of this vision is down to the drugs though.
The title left me wondering about hidden meanings. A quick google search revealed that it is the name of a stretch of dangerous water providing access to Melbourne and I could imagine the characters bobbing about in a rough sea with their eyes on the horizon, never knowing if they'd actually make it that far in one piece.
star rating : 5/5
- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Legend Press (17 Feb. 2020)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1789551110
- ISBN-13: 978-1789551112
- Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 19.8 cm
Disclosure : I received a review copy of the book.
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