The Double Bind by Loraine Peck

Publisher's Synopsis

You can run, but you can never escape your family.

Amy and Johnny Novak have fled to a seaside town in northern New South Wales. They want a fresh start with their eleven-year-old son Sasha, and Amy is determined to shake off the legacy of Johnny’s criminal family.

But it’s hard to outrun the Novaks.

Are Amy and Johnny still keeping secrets from each other? And how did they get involved in a high-stakes game with Arturo Raoul De Leon, aka The Snake? Can Amy rise to the occasion to keep her family safe or will she be forced to become Johnny’s partner in crime?

My Review of The Double Bind by Loraine Peck 

So, what's the best way to follow up a Ned Kelly Award winning first novel? Produce another cracker that provides more of the same, of course.

Another tough, hard-edged Australian thriller, The Double Bind follows directly on from the explosive events in Loraine Peck’s debut thriller The Second Son. As with the first book, this is a crime story told from the perspective of the criminals. 

Amy and Johnny Novak have left Sydney to rebuild their lives and recover from the trauma of a kidnapping and murder that threatened to rip their lives apart. But life in a crime family never really relaxes its grip on you and Johnny, despite his desire to go straight, is dragged straight back into an impossibly dangerous situation.

A plan to smuggle drugs into Australia and then ship them from the northern NSW town of Ballina down to Sydney has been placed in Johnny’s lap. His bid to go straight running his own security agency is the perfect cover for the Sinaloan mafia and, by threatening to kill Amy and his son Sasha if he doesn’t comply, he is forced to throw in with the crooks.

Forced between a rock and a hard place, there is only one choice but this becomes even more complicated when a team of police detectives land at Johnny’s door. They’ve gotten wind of the drug deal and have enough on Amy’s involvement in a recent murder to force Johnny to feed them inside information on the operation. Against every instinct he has been brought up to obey he sees no other choice than to agree to the cops’ demands.

From Ballina to Sydney, this is a swiftly moving thriller that crackles with tension from start to finish.

The story is told in alternating chapters from the first person perspectives of Johnny and Amy. Through them you get a strong sense of their complex personalities. All other character development and description also comes from their reaction to friends, acquaintances and enemies.  

Just as with the first Johnny Novak book, The Double Bind marries an incredibly strong family values ethic that plays off against the careful plotting of a heist. We witness the stark contrast between criminal groups that are thrown together with all the accompanying chest thumping and one-upmanship and the caring group of women attempting to save their friend from an abusive relationship.

Close attention should be paid to the way in which the double crosses are carried out - after all, the whole plot hinges on them. I like to think I’m pretty attentive when it comes to devious plans but I found myself struggling to work out who was where, who had the drugs and what about the money, etc. The old shell game is slickly performed so you’d better prepare yourself.

All in all, The Double Bind is a strong follow up to The Second Son and cements Loraine Peck as a leader in the Australian hard-boiled realm.

Oh, and by the way, there's a nice touch with a little mini-review of Tim Ayliffe’s The Enemy Within incorporated into the book. Amy Novak gives it the thumbs up and, I’ve gotta say, I agree with her!