Dead detective Caleb Zelic was a refreshingly original character in Emma Viskic's first novel, but he is now starting to grate. In this latest entry, Caleb spends almost the entire novel being 100% wrong about everything, including the crime that he is investigating, the silly footy club sub-plot, and his fraught personal life. This level of incompetence is only interesting when played for laughs by somebody like Peter Sellers; here, it is just annoying. I wasn't more than about a third of the way through the novel when I started wishing that it would just be over.

Like a lot of Australian crime novels, this series is starting to suffer from what I call the Midsomer Effect: the ever-decreasing plausibility of a continued series of major crimes in a tiny place like Resurrection Bay. Arthur Upfield solved this problem almost a hundred years ago by sending his detective, Bony, to different locations to solve crimes. Modern outback noir writers need to find a way to do the same. ( )

I'm not good with the end of things that I've really loved but when it came to the Caleb Zelic series by Emma Viskic, it turns out there was only so long I could hold out.

The earlier books in the series, RESURRECTION BAY, AND FIRE CAME DOWN, and DARKNESS FOR LIGHT, introduced readers to the messy world that Caleb Zelic inhabits, although there are glimpses in THOSE WHO PERISH of a man determined, and very nearly managing, to get his act together.

For readers new to this series, (where have you been!) Zelic has a complicated backstory, growing up in a small seaside town, with a tricky father, and a brother who's done (in Paul Kelly's words), "all the dumb things". By way of background, Caleb's deaf, Ant is a drug addict and Caleb's wife Kat is pregnant. Ant's been missing for months, when he suddenly reappears on an isolated island in a rehab centre. Kat is living back in the same small town as well, with her mother, wanting to be on country for the birth of their child. Caleb's sort of house-hunting in Melbourne, but he's called back to the town in a hurry, when cryptic messages warn him Ant's in trouble.

Discovering Ant hunkered down dodging sniper bullets, leads to Caleb finding out where he's been, and some weird connections between the rehab centre, the island it's located on, a man's body pulled out of the bay, the sniper and a growing body count, a tattooed arm, a white van, Neo-Nazi's and a cheesemaker with a dodgy taste in cardigans.

Frenetic needless to say, leading to a complicated plot that has Ant reluctantly helping out, Caleb reluctantly investigating everything on all fronts, Kat reluctantly putting up with all of this and her family reluctantly accepting Caleb is back and causing chaos again. There's a lot going on here and readers might find themselves utterly bamboozled at points - certainly there were times I thought I'm not sure Caleb's got the slightest idea and I'm right there with him. It's also particularly poignant to realise that the more things get out of control, the more Caleb turns inwards. He's always struggled with insecurities, raised as the boys were by a bit of a taskmaster of a father, somebody who refused point blank to acknowledge Caleb's deafness, fighting against any show of vulnerability on behalf of either son - part of what has made Ant's life disappear off the rails as well.

Viskic has a powerful form of delivery in this series - succinct, pared down and rapid paced, there's still plenty of character definition and development. Everyone in Caleb's life is understandable, sympathetic and realistic. There's something more though in the portrayal of Caleb - the rhythm of the novels seems to match the rhythm of his life - the sparse, rapid-fire descriptions of place and interactions with location and people reflect somebody whose view of the world is limited by what they can see - rather than hear. His observations of people and their interactions with him are particularly telling - his ability to lip read a major communication tool, the hearing aids that complicate things, and the way that he and Ant automatically slip into rapid sign language to communicate around people that they don't want in on the conversation is seamlessly built into the narrative. It's very realistic - and enlightening into the bargain.

As with any series like this, starting from the beginning is going to give readers a much better feel for Caleb, the people around him, and that sense he has of life in ricochet. You could pick this novel up as a standalone though, there's enough here to give you a feel for the backstory without bogging you down in screeds of past reflections. Having said that, there is a bit of necessary current reflection. About Ant and Caleb's father, their family home, the town in which they grew up, the people that are still there. Caleb's marriage, Kat and her family, the footy club, the island community and the nature of small towns and family tensions are part of that, as is the sneaking suspicion that even when Caleb's trying to get his act together, he's going to stuff it up. There's a couple of twists in the tail there, with enough possibilities for readers to make up their own minds how Caleb's life is going to pan out.

It's sad to see the ending of what's been a great, and multi-award winning series. Here's hoping Viskic goes onto other things - she's too good a writer for Australian Crime Fiction to let go.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/those-who-perish-emma-viskic ( )

4.25 Stars. I have loved everything about this gutsy crime series… It’s achingly fallible (aka human) leading man Caleb, his strong leading lady, and its raw and strikingly authentic representation of society’s diversity (the good, bad and the ugly). But having now finished reading Those Who Perish #4, which is apparently this series’ final chapter, what stands above all the story elements is Emma Viskic’s writing style.

On her previous novel, I wrote:
“I read Book 3 in a single day. I did not think it possible, but the narrative in Darkness for Light is even more taut and compelling than the novels that precede it.“

Well, I’m here to say Viskic has somehow refined ‘taut and compelling’ even further. Out of context, her gritty and at times brutally short, clipped sentences would seem highly peculiar, but the way she packages them all together to convey her lead’s viewpoint… it’s evocative, it’s compelling, it’s tension-filled. Continue reading: https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/2022/04/those-who-perish-emma-viskic-review... ( )

“He’d done the worst he could, the best he could, just had to find a way of living with it.”

Those Who Perish is the final Instalment in the outstanding crime series by Emma Viskic featuring deaf security consultant Caleb Zelic.

Following the tumultuous events of Resurrection Bay, And Fire Came Down, and Darkness for Light, Caleb seems to be in a better place. Business is steady, he’s reconciled with his wife, Kat, and with the birth of their first child imminent he is making plans for the future, but it all begins to come undone when Caleb receives a text warning him that his estranged brother, Anton, is in trouble. After rescuing an ungrateful Anton from the attentions of a sniper, Caleb vows to untangle his brother from whatever he’s gotten himself into, and is drawn into the strange goings on in the insular community of Muttonbird Island, a short ferry ride across Resurrection Bay.

Viskic develops a complex plot that has Caleb struggling to make sense of the links between a new rehabilitation facility on the island, a sniper with a growing body count, shipping invoices, blackmail, Neo-Nazi’s, and a cheese maker. Even with Anton’s grudging cooperation, Caleb doesn’t feel as if he is making much progress, but he must be stepping on someone’s toes because his family’s house is blown up, and very nearly Caleb too, more than once. There are plenty of red herrings, and personally I was as stumped as Caleb, not sure what was really going on or who was involved, until almost the same moment it all came together for him.

While there has been plenty of action over the course of the series, Viskic has never neglected Caleb’s character development, and I was cheered by his emotional growth in Darkness for Light, so it’s almost painful to witness Caleb backsliding in Those Who Perish. His concerns about impending fatherhood, Anton’s presence, and being back in Resurrection Bay reopens old wounds and insecurities, and overwhelmed, Caleb shuts down. By the time he is able to acknowledge that mistake his relationship with his brother, and Kat, may be past saving.

I’ve always appreciated the sharpness of Viskic’s succinct prose, reflecting in part, I think, Caleb’s own experience of understanding speech, and suited to the fast pace of the plot. Though descriptions are brief, they are enough to conjure images of the characters and landscape. Those Who Perish could be read as a stand alone but I recommend investing in the prior books for an enhanced experience.

I’m grateful for the epilogue that provides a semblance of closure, yet that still leaves the possibility of revival open. Those Who Perish is an exciting, tense and compelling finale to a stellar series. ( )