Chris Hammer: From the bush to the city for Trust

Posted on 6 October, 2020

He’s the creative mind behind international best-sellers Scrublands and Silver.

Crime novel fanatics will be well-versed with Chris Hammer’s insidious way of turning a quaint rural town into a heart-thumping hotpot of violence, lust and crime.

But for his third novel, Trust, Chris isn’t taking us to another sleepy town, but straight into the gilded underbelly of Sydney’s upper echelons.

Ahead of the launch of Trust at Harry Hartog ANU on Friday 16 October, we spoke to Chris about Martin and Mandalay, the challenges of writing a third novel, and giving the Chris Hammer treatment to the big smoke.

For your third novel, we leave rural and coastal Australia behind for the grittiness of the city—what was the motivation behind the change of scene?

The setting plays an important role in my books. On one level, Trust is all about high-level corruption, the abuse of power and privilege, of organised crime and money laundering, of conspiracies and old-boy networks.

Far too much for a country town. So what better place to set all that than in Sydney?

Could we perhaps see Canberra as a setting for a future novel?

Absolutely. Just as Sydney is the perfect setting for organised crime, crook corporations and dodgy banks, Canberra is ripe for political intrigue, espionage, and international conspiracies. I’ve lived most of my life in Canberra, so I think it’s inevitable I’ll set a book here sooner or later.

Martin and Mandalay have managed to squeeze an awful lot of adventure into their time together—will we see a continuation of their arc, or are you tempted to explore new territory?

I’m thinking I might give them a bit of a breather. I’m sure I’ll write more books with them as central characters, but I’m already thinking of elevating some of the minor characters from Trust and the earlier books to more central roles, perhaps with Martin and Mandy giving a cameo.

How different is writing a third novel to writing a first?

It’s simultaneously different and the same. With Scrublands, I was definitely learning on the job. I feel I’m getting better at some of the craft skills and more efficient in my process. So that’s different.

But what remains the same is the search for a good story. That lies at the very heart of any book, and formulating a good story remains a challenge. But the joy is also the same: the deep satisfaction that comes with a story coming together.

All your novels are quite weighty times with a lot of twists and turns—tell us about your writing process. Do you do a lot of planning or see where the story takes you?

I’m not a writer who plots everything out before I start writing, although sometimes I wish I did! I tend to start with a few ideas, an opening, maybe the ending of one or two of the storylines, and then I start writing.

The story emerges as I write and evolves over time as more and better ideas occur to me.

How has your background as a journalist influenced your writing?

Being a journalist demystifies the writing process. For example, no journalist can afford to wait for inspiration. You just need to get stuck in and do the best you can in the time available.

It also gives you respect for the power of words and a well-shaped phrase. And I think all those years transcribing interviews may have gifted me a bit of an ear for dialogue.

What’s on your TBR pile?

Snow. It’s that high. Seriously though, there are just so many great Australian books coming out right now: Craig Silvey, Trent Dalton, Sofie Laguna, Richard Flanagan just for starters.

On the crime pile are Jane Harper’s new one The Survivors, Either Side of Midnight by former Canberran Benjamin Stevenson. Also one by current Canberra resident Michael Brissenden: and his new book out early next year Dead Letters.