The Deep

Black Wind at morning, 

Sailors take warning 

Black Wind at night,

Death is in sight.

The Deep by Kyle Perry is another atmospheric crime novel set in Tasmania. The plot in his first novel, The Bluffs, was located in the mountains in the north of the island however this novel is set in Shacktown, a small settlement on the coast surrounded by steep cliffs on the Tasman Penninsula south east of Hobart. Whether the fishing boats can go to sea is dependent on weather conditions, especially the Black Wind which can suddenly appear making the waters in the bay treacherous. 

The Dempsey family runs the local abolone plant, the main industry in the area, and is therefore well known in the town. Life changes for family members when a teenage boy emerges from the sea, claiming to be Forest Dempsey who disappreared with his parents seven years earlier. Shortly afterwards the boy's uncle disappears, believed to be drowned. The Demsey family business is also a front for The Business, the local drug industry and it is feared that another drug lord plans to move into the area.

The plot  is revealed via the actions of three characters, Forest, Ahab Dempsey - a family member who has severed his allegience to the family, and Mackerel (MacKenzie or Mack) who is on bail expecting to return to gaol on drug related charges and who has no wish to be further associated with drugs.

As secrets from the past are gradually revealed the dangers to the survival of the family business and members of this dysfunctional family increase, especially as it is obvious that many people are not telling the truth or only revealing a slither of information. There are many twists and turns in the plot as the story heads to the dramatic climax. Nature plays a dramatic role in the novel, particularly when the story is reaching its conclusion.