Review: The Tower

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Michael Duffy is a journalist who has been writing about Sydney for many years. The Tower is his first novel. Michael is a columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald, where he also writes for the Urban Jungle blog. He has written for The Daily Telegraph and is currently co-presenter of the Counterpoint radio program, Radio National's larrikin challenge to orthodox ideas.

Michael has lived in Sydney all his life and worked at a variety of occupations, including four years in a rock band, seven years in the public service (ending in the Premier's Department) and eight years running a small publishing company with his wife Alex Snellgrove. As part of his abiding interest in how Sydney functions, he has written biographies of John Macarthur, Tony Abbott and Mark Latham.

POSTED: 05 SEPTEMBER 2009

Michael Duffy, The Tower

(HarperCollins; 528pp paperback; $32.99)

I’d just finished The Tower by Michael Duffy, when I heard on the morning news that a Sydney property developer had been shot dead in his driveway outside his mansion in the affluent North Shore suburb of Cremorne.

Picking up the Saturday Sydney Morning Herald, I read that the dead man is Michael McGurk, devoted father of four and shady character extraordinaire, “well known to police”, someone who (it is alleged by several former business associates) made it his business to find out “interesting things” about people which he later used against them in his property and loan dealings.

What was this? Life imitating fiction or did Duffy know more? As the blurb on the book’s cover says, “He has always seen Sydney as a city of sharks, a place where predators lurk beneath the glittering surface.”

And that is The Tower exactly. It is the story of a controversial massive city property development — the tallest tower in the southern hemisphere — that has been at the centre of Government corruption scandals and community protest. It has almost gone bust, but has been given a second life by Henry Wu, an uber wealthy, mysterious and decidedly sinister citizen from Shanghai.

The Tower becomes the crime scene of a murdered woman, who turns out to be the daughter of the original owner. Illegal immigrants employed by dodgy contractors are discovered, unions are implicated, security guards are on the take, and there’s some exploitative pornography going on.

Into this scene comes Nicholas Troy, a young detective, married and with one child, who finds himself leading an investigation (by default) which is really way beyond his experience.

Troy is basically a good guy, one of a very few encountered in the 450-odd pages. He has several personal as well as professional challenges to face as the investigation lurches on, and probably also true to life, he flounders and is tempted, leaving himself open to the predators and sharks of Sydney’s underbelly.

This is a compelling read and delivers more to contemplate than the usual airport thriller.

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