Luke would like to leave his dark past in the past, but it keeps coming to find him. The police are hanging around, but even more insistent is crime boss Gus, who wants his protege back in his fold.
I have mixed feelings about this book and it is a hard one to review. The plot isn't like a typical mystery/thriller - there's not a clear crime to solve, but it is more like a character driven story told amidst the crime underground. But, I didn't really connect with the main character. I found him both too earnest and too rough. I think many people will read him as a complex character with depth, but I read him as more confusing and inconsistent.
Overall, I found this book alright, but it didn't ever really grab me. I think this might have been a me problem, not anything wrong with the book.

At one point in Tanya Scott’s Stillwater a character observes of the protagonist: ‘He’s the sort of guy who doesn’t make it to thirty’. Luke Harris (Jack Quinlan) is desperate to break away from being that sort of guy. He’s changed his name, is studying commerce at university and is working casual shifts in disability support. His past has been challenging. He lost his beloved mother to an overdose and has been ‘raised’ by his father whose criminal activities and associations have bought added trauma to Luke’s life. Unfortunately Luke is recognised by gangster Gus Alberici and drawn back into the world he has so wanted to escape.

Stillwater is a compelling read. The narrative shifts between the present and Luke’s childhood and we come to really care for him, both the boy he has been and the man he is trying to be. It’s not a novel with cardboard villains but rather Scott explores the complexity of criminal behaviour and its links to trauma, class and poverty. In this way it reminded me a little of the work of Scottish writer Denise Mina in particular her book The Less Dead. The setting is expertly rendered and there’s a certain pleasure to be had in living just down the road from ‘Stillwater’.

(4.5 stars)
Stillwater is a cracking debut. I find the comparison to Jack Reacher annoying in the book's marketing materials, as the only connection is that the lead protagonist, Luke Harris (Jack Quinlan), uses violence but is generally a good human. Stillwater is actually much more about the impacts of trauma, poverty and poor parenting, which are discussed with nuance and understanding by debut author, Tanya Scott. I didn't find that in Jack Reacher.

I particularly like how Scott describes the bodily impact of intrusive traumatic memories: "Memories popped up like spot fires, random and unannounced, with an intensity that seared his vision and loosened his guts." She really captures the mental health landscape very well: "He could feel himself unravelling, like a knitted jumper coming undone. Memories intruded without warning." Scott also covers the way organised crime targets disenfranchised youth with a carrot and stick approach that is remarkably effective, playing upon their need for father figures: "Out of the blue, a pineapple [colloquial for an Australian fifty dollar note] or two would be handed to him at the gym–a random reward system, designed to keep him hooked."

The descriptive writing is lean but evocative, summoning the Australian landscape, including our pubs: "The patterned carpet stuck to his feet as he crossed the floor, and the smell of fried food and stale beer curdled the air." This was a great debut. I will look out for another one by this author.