The Detainee

The Detainee by Peter Liney

The Island is hopelessness. The Island is death. And it is to this place that all the elderly and infirm are shipped, the scapegoats for the collapse of society. There’s no escape, not from the punishment satellites that deliver instant judgement for any crime—including trying to get off the Island—and not from the demons that come on foggy nights, when the satellites are all but blind.

But when one of the Island’s inhabitants, aging "Big Guy" Clancy, finds a network of tunnels beneath the waste, there is suddenly hope, for love, for escape . . . and for the chance to fight back.

The Detainee is Peter Liney’s debut novel, published by Jo Fletcher. Peter Liney has written several sitcoms for ABC and Channel 4 and drama for the BBC and South African radio. I was approached with an appraisal for The Detainee that it is a book with a bit of an edge, scary and fantastically written. Well I just couldn’t pass that one after reading the blurb! It proved to be all of it to say the least.

The Detainee features a solid concept. I recently have been reading several dystopian themed books but not one quite like The Detainee. Don’t expect a journey through a nuclear wasteland. Peter Liney creates a unique storyline that is centered on elderly people that are being shipped off to an Island. But it not the carefree living you might expect, instead it is hard and brutal where only the toughest and cleverest will manage to survive. I found this concept quite intriguing. Peter Liney has also chosen the right narration for this case, a first person narration that only makes the underlying theme resonate that much stronger throughout the whole book.

Like I said, the elderly aren’t being shipped to a sub-tropical, palm beach island. But the island consists of garbage. A dump. They have to scavenge the debris for food, shelter and other useful items. Now one might think that they are dumped there and all is well. You’re wrong, the inhabitants of the Island are being closely monitored and not by people or camera’s but by specially modified satellites. These satellites have been upgraded with special equipment that allows them to “think” for themselves and play a judge when the inhabitants commit a crime, there are several different punishment dependent on the severity of the crime. From a stun till death by lasers. This strong a control on everything keeps the peace among the inhabitants, as the satellites are predominantly present. Yes, predominantly, because sometimes when the fog rolls in from the sea, the satellites cannot monitor that well and that is when things start to happen… The first time I read about the fog rolling in Peter Liney managed to captured that moment in a perfect manner describing it with the shadows, the urge of seeking shelter and getting out of the fog alive to see another day, after that first encounter just the mentioning of the fog gave me the chills. Because you know things will go horribly wrong when rules can be broken in just a short window…

There is also a strong division of age in the book since both the elderly people and children, whose parents couldn’t afford them, are being dumped on the Island. The children all go work for the Wastelords and De Grew who rules the Island with an iron fist kind off policy. The elderly all live together in the Village, a bunch of put together shelters for their last remaining days. Setting up the society in this way gave again that chilling feeling. Because it’s all survival of the fittest on the Island and when your 60 plus, going up against young children with machete’s and much more vigor… you know…

This whole concept of the Island where the elderly and the cast off children are being dumped and the different societies created therein was great to read about but the characters that you read about make this story truly complete. There are several inhabitants that you get to know along the way but one, “Big Guy” Clancy is the main protagonist of The Detainee. He is in his early sixties and has been dumped on the island. Early on in the book you learn more about Clancy’s past. He has been through a lot and isn’t a saint himself. It felt like Clancy wanted to redeem himself, he is despite everything a kindhearted, seeing the good in everyone kind of guy. And it is mainly by these personalities that the gets a totally different side as well. Especially once Clancy gets beaten down and meets up with Lena, a blind girl, who nurses Clancy back to health. There casual relationship in the beginning might seem like a life to live for but soon this all turns towards a much more darker side as the Wastelords and De Grew receive word of their existence.

As for the storyline, it all centers around Clancy and his friends that have ventured underground in the tunnels and live a “happy” life, as much as that is allowed on the Island. They have it all until one day. I was actually caught off guard by the twist that Peter Liney introduced halfway, it really shifted the focus once more. With Clancy and Lena living underground it felt that everything would be ok till the end. But by a sudden introduction of a few strays, Clancy’s character just had enough of everything and his much determined and disciplined youth appears. Ready to settle this once and for all. The Detainee isn’t just a dystopian themed story, it’s part haunting, part a journey of rediscovery, it shows both the happy times and the sad times. And did my heart skip a beat at the last sentence of chapter 19? Yes it did.

Both taken singular, the world and the characters work, but in combination they truly pay off. I am impressed with the high impact story that Peter Liney has managed to create in The Detainee, it’s unique concept and excellent writing will leave this story in the back of my mind for a long time. Peter Liney’s debut is beautifully written; it has a strong protagonist and great secondary characters. The themes and social elements resonate strong throughout the book giving a chilling an haunting effect. The Detainee has captivated me, and will do the same to you.