Ben doesn’t like being a nude model in a small country town. Then again, the local footballers don’t like their girlfriends ogling Ben.
Broke and lonely, Ben falls for Marty, the ambitious and violent young woman rapidly taking over her brother’s drug and gun-running trade.
Once Ben gets pulled into their dark world of bikies and crime, he discovers a new level of violence that makes the footballers seem harmless – especially when his only friend is then murdered.
The above is the blurb for my second novel, Humidity. It’s an odd cross between a literary suspense thriller and a twisted coming-of-age tale: think Brighton Rock meets Wake in Fright. And then, maybe, think again.
The problem is it’s not easy to categorise. I started writing it 20 years ago – that’s right, 20 frickin years ago – and intended for it to be a literary novel. But then it grew and changed almost of its own accord: after a while, and at the risk of sounding unstable, the characters became fully fledged beings and twisted the book into something darker. The above blurb makes it sound like a suspense novel, but … to me, despite the suspense, it isn’t. It’s about people struggling to find a home for themselves, a place where they can be themselves, and to figure out who they want to be, as opposed to what they’re good at or what others think they should be.
Then again, maybe it is a suspense thriller.
“It’s been a long time since I read the first few pages of a novel and thought, I need to read this book. I adored the characters, the subtle humour and insights into rural Australian communities.” – author J.P. Pomare
It’s been with different agents and publishers over the years, but ultimately none of them could agree on what to do with it or how to sell it. It’s an oddity, but one that means the world to me – and hopefully it might mean something to you.
It’s now available as a paperback and ebook on Amazon. Just search for Humidity by Dan Kaufman on Amazon and you’ll find it.
Oh yes: the great cover design is by Michael McGurk.