The Unknown Terrorist

Ten years ago, Flanagan wrote one of the “it” books of the year – The Sound of One Hand Clapping, which was later made into a film starring Kerry Fox. I never read The Sound of One Hand Clapping, but while I was a bookstore chick, I certainly saw a lot of people buy it.

So, perhaps that reputation is part of the reason why I gravitated towards The Unknown Terrorist. I had not long finished Andrew McGahan’s Underground when I purchased it, a book which I feel has strong connection to Flanagan’s. Both books seem to be in response to the comments of the Miles Franklin Award Panel the previous year – which called for books to depicted the possible future of Howard’s Australia.

The Unknown Terrorist does just that – it presents a frighteningly real story set on the frenzied aftermath of 9/11 – and the world’s preoccupation with terrorism. Gina Davies (referred to as ‘The Doll’ throughout the novel – a strangely de-humanising move by Flanagan, who manages to write a hero with which readers cannot sympathise until the exact moment – three quarters of the way through the book – that he chooses) is an exotic dancer. She makes the fatal mistake of going to bed with the wrong man, and wakes up a terror suspect. The depressingly isolated and self-involved life that Davies had lead up until this point only makes her guilt seem more plausible. She has few friends, no bank account, and has cut off ties from her painful past completely.

Richard Cody represents the worst of the media – a fallen star so desperate for a hot story that he embellishes Gina’s story. The truth falls a distant second to sensationalism, as Cody uses The Doll to resurrect his own dwindling career. Hard evidence is sacrificed for a series of circumstantial events and hearsay, supported by the supposed evidence of crooked cops, and chequebook psychologists.

It is an interesting and scarily plausible storyline, although it failed to really capture me until close to the end. Flanagan does not hold back in his bleak portrayal of the underbelly of Sydney, and the darker side of the Australian psyche. Both are portrayed disturbingly, but with real insight. The ending is oddly moving, and there are enough surprises in the last quarter of the book to keep a reader interested. Worth a look.