Lengthening Shadows

The master of creeping unease and unrelenting consequences is back. The vain and the cruel, the indifferent and the excessive, across ten tales of cut corners and grubby compromise, Bob Franklin turns his fairground mirror on contemporary Australia, with a cast of characters navigating modern life and trying to get by, get on and get away with whatever they can, whatever the cost. A gaggle of comedians exchange escalating jokes about a needy fan. A small business owner delights in making top dollar off uncomprehending customers. A widower finds solace in a new dog that gives focus and purpose to his rage and grief. In 60s London a rock band rise and rise, aided by occult forces from another place. After dinner stories in an elite gentleman's club turn to impossible murder and skullduggery in an Australian mining company. Gleefully macabre, drily menacing, chillingly acute, Franklin spares nobody.