The Low Road

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2006 VICTORIAN PREMIER’S AWARD FOR AN UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT

Lee, a petty criminal, wakes in a seedy motel with a bullet in his side and a suitcase of stolen money, his memory hazy as to how he got there. Soon he meets Wild, a doctor who is escaping his own disastrous life, and the two men set out for the safety of the countryside.

As they flee the city, they develop an uneasy intimacy, inevitably revisiting their pasts even as they seek to evade them. Lee is haunted by a brief stint in jail; Wild is on the run from the legacy of medical malpractice. But Lee and Wild are not alone: they are pursued through the increasingly gothic landscape by the ageing gangster Josef, who must retrieve the stolen money and deal with Lee to ensure his own survival. Ultimately, all three men are forced to confront the parts of themselves they sought to outrun.

Part noir thriller, part modern tale of alienation and despair, The Low Road seduces the reader into a story that unfolds and deepens hypnotically. A brilliant debut novel.

PRAISE FOR CHRIS WOMERSLEY

‘Utterly gripping.’ The Age

‘The Low Road … is a satisfying journey. It comes as a welcome change from the undistinguished pseudo-autobiography lately emerging from some debut novels.’ Australian Book Review