Reviewed by Craig Sisterson
Caleb Zelic can't hear you. But he can see everything. Caleb's addict brother, Anton, has been missing for months, still angry about Caleb's part in his downfall. After almost giving up hope of finding him, Caleb receives an anonymous message alerting him to Ant's whereabouts and warning him that Ant is in danger. A man has been shot and Ant might be next.
Caleb reluctantly leaves his pregnant wife's side and tracks his brother to an isolated island where Ant has been seeking treatment. There, he finds a secretive community under threat from a sniper, and a cult-like doctor with a troubling background.
Caleb must hunt for the sniper to save Ant, but any misstep may ruin their faltering reconciliation, and end in death. When body parts begin to wash up on shore, it looks like the sniper is growing more desperate...
A few years ago I had the privilege of being a judge of the debut category of the Ned Kelly Awards for the best Australian crime writing. It was terrific to get to read and consider a host of first-time Aussie crime writers whose tales ranged from 'needs work' to very enjoyable to absolutely sublime.
One of the latter ended up winning the Ned Kelly that year: Emma Viskic for RESURRECTION BAY, the first in her series starring deaf private eye Caleb Zelic. And while Jane Harper’s Outback noir TTHE DRY may have nabbed global attention first, it was Viskic’s outstanding debut – which swept several major awards in Australia the year before THE DRY was released – that may have first heralded a new, female-led Australian crime wave. Alongside the likes of Harper, Candice Fox, and Sulari Gentill, Viskic is undoubtedly one of the modern queens of Down Under crime.
So the fourth novel in her superb series starring deaf private eye Caleb Zelic may leave readers with mixed feelings. Not due to any dip in quality – if anything, THOSE WHO PERISH may be the high point of an astonishingly good quartet – but due to the news this tale brings the series to a close - at least for now. Viskic has spoken publicly about how she's moving on to different projects, and that she'd always intended her Caleb Zelic books to be a shorter series given the arc of the character.
The end (for now?) begins with a text, a frantic 3-hour drive, and a gunshot by a toilet block near the Resurrection Bay foreshore. With his hearing aids in his pocket, Caleb couldn’t hear the crack of the rifle. But he saw his drug addict brother Ant’s hands signing “Get out of here, run!” And he saw the passenger window disintegrate. Inches from death.
Later, a body is found, and the trail leads to an isolated island where Ant is rehabbing at an unusual facility. Caleb – who’s grown over the series but is still a stubborn and snarky work-in-progress – once again puts himself in danger and risks his most precious relationships as he tries to ferret out the truth. Even as he’s back with his wife Kat, an Aboriginal artist, and is an expectant father.
So much to lose, yet he can’t help himself.
Viskic delivers a taut tale that also delivers on character and place. Twisty storytelling pulsing with humanity; THOSE WHO PERISH is a novel carried on prose that sings.
A must-read for fans of high quality crime fiction.
Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned features writer from New Zealand, now living in London. He’s interviewed hundreds of crime writers and talked about the genre on national radio, top podcasts, and onstage at festivals on three continents. He's been a judge of Australian, Scottish, and NZ crime writing awards, and is co-founder of Rotorua Noir. He's the author of the HRF Keating award-shortlisted non-fiction book SOUTHERN CROSS CRIME, and the series editor of acclaimed anthology DARK DEEDS DOWN UNDER. You can heckle him on Twitter.
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