The Shark Net

Drewe, an Australian novelist, playwright, and journalist, comes close to nailing it in this work of nonfictionDa coming-of-age, true-crime story. Growing up the eldest son of an upwardly mobile businessman, he lived what in many respects was an idyllic life amid Perth's bountiful sun and sand. However, there lurked a Peeping Tom, an unplanned pregnancy, and the death of a parent (precipitated, perhaps, by the actions of the son). And half a decade of murders: one victim a friend of the author, one murder committed with another friend's hatchet, and all eight done by a man known by the author. In his recounting of these events of his formative years, Drewe succeeds in reminding us that the dark side is always near.