Trust

With special guest:

• Chris Hammer
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

Sometimes the world of fiction overlaps our day to day life. In speaking with our guest today Chris Hammer we find out that Chris is interested himself in how the characters in his new book Trust will deal with the real life problem of the Covid 19 crisis. As well as Covid there is reference in the book to the 2019/2020 bushfires that swept the nation in unprecedented fury.

One of the greatest charms in reading Chris Hammer’s best-selling books is that there is authenticity. For Australians that means familiarity with the settings on the coast and in rural areas for previous books. In Trust the setting is Sydney but not the postcard Sydney in the shadow of the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This is the real Sydney populated by real people. Overseas readers are also drawn to this picture of the real Australia and Chris is delighted that his work has been translated into other languages so people in other countries can learn about us.

In Trust there is the return of the voice of the main character Martin. Readers can make their own assessment or even diagnosis but clearly Martin can be described as damaged.

Chris can draw on a wealth of contacts after so many years reporting for television and print on the experiences of people in Australia and around the world. In Trust he has for the first time given voice to a female named Mandy. We ask Chris what he was hoping to achieve by introducing that other voice and whether it is hard for him as a male to write as a female.

Any potential reader of Trust will find from the first chapter that the pace is supercharged, more so even than the first two novels by Chris. And as a seasoned presenter on our television screens it is great fun to be able to hear Chris talk about his book and his characters. Expect a few surprises from this widely recognised mystery writer.

Chris Hammer

Chris Hammer was a journalist for more than thirty years, dividing his career between covering Australian federal politics and international affairs. For many years he was a roving foreign correspondent for SBS TV’s flagship current affairs program Dateline. He has reported from more than thirty countries on six continents. In Canberra, roles included chief political correspondent for The Bulletin, current affairs correspondent for SBS TV and a senior political journalist for The Age.

His first book, The River, published in 2010 to critical acclaim, was the recipient of the ACT Book of the Year Award and was shortlisted for the Walkley Book Award and the Manning Clark House National Cultural Award. Scrublands, his first novel, was published in 2018 and was shortlisted for Best Debut Fiction at the Indie Book Awards, shortlisted for Best General Fiction at the Australian Book Industry Awards, shortlisted for the UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing at the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and won the UK Crime Writers’ Association John Creasey Debut Dagger Award. His second novel, Silver, was published in 2019 and was shortlisted for Best General Fiction at the Australian Book Industry Awards, shortlisted for the 2020 ABA Booksellers’ Choice Book of the Year Award, and longlisted for the UK Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger Award.

Chris has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Charles Sturt University and a master’s degree in international relations from the Australian National University.

Song selection by our guest: Paperback Writer by The Beatles

Podcast (mp3)