Denizen by James McKenzie Watson

Publisher's Synopsis

A thriller exploring rural Australia’s simultaneous celebration of harsh country and stoic people – a tension that forces its inhabitants to dangerous breaking points.

On a remote property in western NSW, nine-year-old Parker fears that something is wrong with his brain. His desperate attempts to control this internal chaos spark a series of events that gallop from his control in deadly and devastating ways.

Years later, Parker, now a father himself, returns to the bushland he grew up in for a camping trip with old friends. When this reunion descends into chaos amid revelations of unresolved fear, guilt and violence, Parker must finally address the consequences of his childhood actions.

My Review of Denizen by James McKenzie Watson

Okay, I’m still trying to come to grips with what I’ve just read. Denizen is a fully immersive dive into the frightening confusion and terror of psychosis manifesting itself by hearing voices, smelling smells and being compelled by unseen forces.

You know you’re in for a harrowing psychological drama when the publisher’s page starts with a trigger warning that the book depicts mental ill health and self-harm and then details of how you can contact Lifeline.

This is the debut novel by James McKenzie Watson and is a heart-breakingly tragic story dealing with mental health and the troubles facing people living in rural communities. 

The story centres on Parker Davis and his lifelong struggle with his mind. That, and the battle with his mother who was virtually crippled with depression and a back injury sustained in a car accident. 

At times, the line between truth and the frenetic beliefs garnered during a psychotic episode become blurred. We are thrust into the confused ramblings of a mind that struggles to ascertain what is real and what is imagined.

Even at the age of 9 Parker was aware that something in his mind wasn’t right. He even termed the realisation his awakening,  but becoming aware of something and getting help to treat it are two very different things. 

“We’d done something abhorrent and the justification that a day earlier had seemed so flawless was now a confused and nonsensical misconception. It had come from me. Some dark corner of my mind had disguised a crazy belief to look like a perfectly reasonable thought.”

The early years of the story are dominated by the ferociousness of the relationship between Parker and his mother. The screaming matches are filled with venom and the fiery comments from both sides are designed to deeply wound. It’s during this period of his life that Parker understands that his brain is broken and he could, perhaps, overcome it himself.

“Even if I couldn’t control my thoughts, I could control my behaviour, then my broken brain wasn’t a problem to anyone but me.

This was the solution. It would be hard at first, but I’d learn. I just had to be good.”

The latter part of the book deals with Parker as an adult. He has a newborn son and lives with his partner in Sydney. He is called back to his home town to meet up with a couple of high school friends for a camping trip. From here the full force of the fragile mind comes into play and we are forced to simply hang on for dear life and try to get a grip on what the real reality actually is.

The way in which Watson gets into Parker’s mind and relates to us the frantic broken thoughts, the unfinished sentences and the paranoid delusions is quite masterful. We are taken to a dark and confused place in a way that almost forces you to understand how and why a person might listen to and obey the voices in their head. It’s confronting, for sure.

This is a brilliant example of an Australian Gothic thriller with skin crawling moments, disturbing confrontations that are all too common in today’s society and, ultimately, heartbreak.