In the long, hot summer of 1989, Ben and Fab were best friends. Growing up in a small town, they spent their days playing cricket, yabbying in local dams, wanting a pair of Nike Air Maxes and not talking about how Fab's dad hit him or how much the sudden death of Ben's neighbour unsettled him. Almost teenagers, they already knew some things were better left unsaid.
 
Then a newcomer arrived in the Wimmera. Fab reckoned the man was a secret agent, and he and Ben staked him out. Up close, his shoulders were wide and the veins in his arms stuck out, blue and green.
 
His hands were enormous, red and knotty. He looked strong. Maybe even stronger than Fab's dad. neither realised the shadow this man would cast over both their lives.
 
Twenty years later, Fab is stuck in the same town, going nowhere but hoping for somewhere better. Then a body is found in the river, and Fab can't ignore the past anymore.