Perfect reading for a West Australian heatwave - I'm about half a generation younger than Drewe and arrived in Perth about a decade after him but there is a familiarity about his description of the sand people with their peeling skin and cracked lips, the barefoot children and the scorn for the shod, the limestone foundationed houses, and the "big fish in small pond" social life of my home city. Beautifully written, funny and poignant, showing the angst of a suburban adolescence (long before Dave Warner from the Suburbs sang "Suburban Boy") and set against the real backdrop of the murder spree that is still remembered as the time Perth "lost its innocence", this book would speak to anyone, not just locals like myself. Highly recommended. ( )

The retelling of a childhood in Western Australia. A young boy growing up in the most remote capital city in the world. He ran free with his mates, riding bikes, swimming in the surf and playing sport. In the background was a serial killer, stalking the women in the community.

The writing is joyous and creates evocative images of the 50s in a developing city in Australia. The brightness and beauty of the natural landscape is such an incongruous setting for murder. As a cadet journalist the author reports on the trial of the killer. ( )

Memoir of growing up in Perth. Lovely writing! One to keep & enjoy again.
Read July 2004 ( )

I originally read this book 7+ years ago when I emigrated to Perth. It was interesting but did not have any significant affect on me at the time. Now reading it all these years later when I have so many more points of reference it has been totally different. Well written and keeping my attention all the way through with a touch of humour. SJK ( )

In recent years I had become familiar with Robert Drewe's gentle, homely and amusing short pieces at the back of the "Life and Style" section of "The Age". Finding "The Shark Net" in the library I thought I would be in friendly territory. Not wrong.
This is a coming-of-age story, mixed with, or perhaps, balanced by a murder mystery. The true story of a boy growing up in 1950s Perth, West Australia, and a series of murders in its sleepy, innocent suburbs. Drewe gets the balance exactly right. His evocation of the city of 50 years ago is wonderful. The portraits of his parents benefit from the insight of distance and yet we see them through the mind of the boy. Hard to get right, but Drewe gets it. The book is smile-on-your-face amusing. I did get one out-loud belly laugh with the story of that first attempted kiss.
Highly recommend. ( )