Headland by John Byrnes

Publisher's Synopsis

The small beachside town of Gloster is on the edge of disaster. After constant rain, floodwaters are rising fast.

Detective Constable Craig Watson, exiled to Gloster from Sydney, is a young man with a damaged past and an uncertain future.

Constables Ellie Cameron and Larissa Brookes are young women struggling to show their worth as police officers under a misogynistic sergeant.

The drowning town holds a secret that someone is prepared to murder for, and as the floodwaters cut Gloster off from the world the three young police officers begin to understand that it's not just them left stranded. Somewhere out there in the floodwaters is a killer. And he needs them dead.

My Review of Headland by John Byrnes

There are some pretty confronting themes to deal with if you’re going to get through John Byrnes’ debut novel, Headland. Rampant drug use, wanton violence and graphic sex scenes are all commonplace throughout the story.

Other recent Australian crime thrillers set in rural settings have (incorrectly, in my opinion) been labeled as Aussie noir. Headland differs from those others because this is a dark crime thriller that fits the nomenclature of Aussie noir to a tee. It won’t be to every person’s taste (it’s dark, gritty, filled with confronting themes) but then, not everyone loves Double Indemnity and its ilk, either. (And please don’t misunderstand, I’m definitely not comparing Headland with Double Indemnity!)

The protagonist is Craig Watson and he’s a deeply flawed character who also happens to be a police detective. The reasons why he’s so psychologically damaged become clear courtesy of a series of flashbacks that are interspersed between the action taking place in the present day.

Watson arrives to take up his posting in the small town of Gloster where everyone’s on flood watch. It’s been raining for days and doesn’t look like easing up. His first job is to investigate the disappearance of a local teenage girl who, it turns out, is also responsible for a string of minor thefts in recent times. While working his way through the case he also learns there’s been a car accident that may be more than a simple accident plus some dodgy dealings in council relating to the zoning of land in the area.

What quickly becomes obvious, though, is that Watson’s a barely functioning addict who depends on regular hits from whatever he can get his hands on. Meth, cocaine, Oxycontin and Xanax appear to be his preferred go to drugs. Watching him walk the tightrope between his job and addiction creates the impression of when, not if, something horrible is going to happen.

When Watson and two of his fellow police officer colleagues, Constables Ellie Cameron and Larissa Brookes, find themselves left behind after the town has been evacuated the day to day police work is shelved and some serious action takes place. It appears they’re not the only ones left behind. They’re alone in the deserted town with a killer and set about uncovering their identity and bringing them down, breaking just about every rule in the book in the process.

I like noir thrillers and can appreciate the psychological damage that can result in the most appalling behaviour. However, Byrnes pushes the boundaries of how far to take things and puts his characters through the gamut of some of the most traumatic actions imaginable. Sexual depravity, misogyny, extreme violence, self harm and more plays a frequent and graphic part of the story. Taken in context as part of Watson’s story and it’s (barely) justifiable and provides us with a complete picture of just how messed up the man is.

Headland is, in part, a murder mystery and although it gets solved, it takes somewhat of a backseat and is clearly not the most important part to the story. This won’t be to everyone’s tastes, it’s nasty, aggressively confrontational and harrowing. It’s modern noir.