‘True West’ by David Whish-Wilson

Fiction – paperback; Fremantle Press; 264 pages; 2019.

We all know that teenage life can be angst-ridden and problematic, but for the 17-year-old protagonist in True West, by David Whish-Wilson, it is positively deadly.

In this gritty crime thriller, Lee Southern is on the run from the Geraldton-based bikie gang he betrayed. His father was the first president of that gang, but now he is missing and rumour has it he has been murdered. As payback, Lee torched the gang’s marijuana crop and now there’s hell to pay.

The story is set in Perth in 1988 against a backdrop of abhorrent hate crimes associated with the neo-Nazi Australian Nationalist Movement (rebranded here as the Australian Patriotic Movement, APM). This lends True West a visceral, political edge and a ring of authenticity.

Perth underworld

Lee, unfortunately, gets caught up in the APM’s extremist agenda. As he flees hundreds of kilometres south in his uncle’s old Ford F350 truck, he finds himself in Perth, an unfamiliar city, where he tries to make a living as a rogue tow truck driver. But when he unwittingly competes with an existing monopoly, he’s severely beaten up.

From there, it’s all downhill as he is coerced into the “employ” of people who don’t have his best interests at heart. Instead, they want to use him to progress their own hate-filled white supremacist agenda, roping him into all manner of violent crimes, including armed robbery, firebombing Asian-owned businesses and murdering a high-profile political figure.

Living on his nerves and doped up with illicit substances, Lee uses the survivalist skills — instilled in him by his father, a Vietnam vet with a “prepper” mindset — to navigate his way through Perth’s violent underworld. It’s touch and go whether he will come out the other side in one piece.

Compelling story

If it sounds like a page-turning dramatic story, it is! But it also incorporates a tender love affair between Lee and his teenage sweetheart, Emma, which showcases his humanity and softer side.

There’s no doubt that True West is a tense, suspenseful read, full of not-very-nice people doing not-very-nice things, but it’s the teenage protagonist that lends the novel a certain charm.

As a likeable rogue, Lee is resourceful, practical, a roll-up-your-sleeves type of kid. He might do dubious things on the wrong side of the law, but he’s got a good heart and knows racism is a repellent justification for horrific acts of violence.

This is a terrific read — and I am now looking forward to the follow-up, I Am Already Dead, which was published earlier this year.

David Whish-Wilson is a local writer, who lives in Fremantle and teaches creative writing at Curtin University. I read this novel as part of my #FocusOnWesternAustralianWriters. You can find out more about this reading project here and see what books I’ve reviewed from this part of the world on my Focus on Western Australian Writers page.