Tristan Bancks, Cop and Robber, Penguin Random House Australia, July 2022, 246 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781761045943
Nash Hall is stuck between a rock and a hard place in a way: his mum is a cop, and his dad is a robber.
And his Dad doesn’t have any issues about making Nash an unintentional accomplice if he commits a crime with Nash in the car.
That itself should give readers an indication of the push and pull of Nash’s life. His dad is a former boxer fallen on hard times, and stealing money is all he thinks he has left. His Mum is a cop in the same town, trying to build a career and a new relationship, much to Nash’s irritation. But she’s his rock, while he in turn tries to be something similar for his dad – in a way he tries to be the reason his dad can turn to and away from a life of crime.
Nash is a sensitive boy, and during a time when he should only be focused on school, he’s instead worried about what his dad is going to do next. His Mum was never able to change his father, and he hopes that he will be enough to do what she never could – when Lyle finally gets a job, Nate hopes he might have gotten through to him, but Lyle’s motives are selfish, so as to present a respectable picture to court after he is arrested for a comical robbery.
The media attention this ill-fated robbery brings to light that Lyle is hiding out in a small town so he can escape the notice of a crime lord from whom he borrowed $250,000. It’s time to pay it back, and Lyle doesn’t have the money.
But the fair at Nash’s school just might bring in enough to give Lyle some breathing space.
My heart broke for Nash. He wants so desperately for his dad to be safe, and takes on the crime lord’s minions for his father at one point. He is brave, determined and conflicted and readers will feel his disbelief when he realises he unintentionally aids his father by getting him information about the fair and when he is so torn about telling his mother what is going on.
There are no happy endings in this book for Nash. He has some harsh lessons to learn about the adults he loves most in this world, but Bancks tells his story with sensitivity and aching tenderness for a young boy who is just trying to do what’s right.
Reviewed by Verushka Byrow
