An authentic piece of LGBTIQ crime fiction, set in the homophobic heart of regional Australia.
Feature image credit: MidnightSun Publishing
James Brandt returns home to the regional town of Kippon, after 20 years away, following the allegedly accidental (potentially by suicide) death of his cousin, Tony. Tony’s body lay undiscovered for months, at the bottom of a bridge that shadows a notorious local gay beat — and James doesn’t believe that the locations are purely coincidental.
As James reengages with his family, including his recently retired rural police officer father, his journalistic instincts are peaked as he is hamstrung, both personally and professionally, in his desire to investigate and prove this was no accident or personal decision to end a life — at least, not the decision of the deceased.
For James, this is more than a homecoming; it is a confronting return to the life and past traumas that he never expected to reconnect with, including the loss of a sibling, the discovery of his sexual identity, and the lack of acceptance for who someone truly is.
Tank Water moves back and forth over a 20-year period from 1985 to 2005, revealing the teenage years of James’s life and the emerging adulthood of Tony’s. Two young men, living in a heteronormative environment, where the activities of closeted homosexuals on Kippon’s hidden beat often result in violent acts that are overlooked and ignored by the local constabulary. With each of the historic chapters, more of James’s past is revealed and the motivation for proving the inconsistency between his cousin’s life and death becomes clearer. The ‘present day’ chapters demonstrate that time moves slowly in places like Kippon and secrets are more easily buried.
Michael Burge spent a decade bringing his novel to fruition — a novel which reflects his personal experience and understanding of being a gay man in the harshness of regional Australia — and recently released its follow-up, Dirt Trap, set a further 20 years on from Tank Water.
Burge’s novels are a welcome and varied addition to the outback noir genre, delving into the darkness of regional attitudes to sexual identity and the even darker impact of hatred.
Reviewed by Glen Christie
The views expressed in this review belong to the author and not Glam Adelaide, its affiliates, or employees.
Distributed by: NewSouth Books
Released: October 2021
RRP: $29.99
