Carnage (Mark Dapin, S&S)

Having just completed a book on criminals, author Mark Dapin wasn’t looking to write another. When he received a phone call from Jack Karlson, a man he’d never heard of, wanting to be included in the book, Dapin was inclined to ignore him. Until a message from a ‘one-time maximum-security inmate’ suggested Karlson was ‘the most interesting crim he would ever meet’. Tentatively curious, Dapin meets with Karlson, who found recent popularity online via a meme and a music clip based on the rediscovered ‘Democracy Manifest’ video of his theatrical and entertaining 1990 arrest at a Chinese restaurant in Fortitude Valley. From Karlson’s early tales of co-authoring with infamous prison playwright Jim McNeil and collaborating with artist Charles Billich, ensuing conversations with Karlson and associates find Dapin searching for a story and his investigative nose digging beneath the often-embellished truths of unreliable narrators. Dapin uncovers more than he bargained for—Karlson’s story reveals a much darker and more complex web of crime, violence and murder spanning decades and involving a who’s who of Australia’s hardened criminals—while also piecing together an unsolved murder. Carnage is, at times, difficult yet engrossing reading that spares no brutal detail. It will be a welcome addition to Australian true crime shelves, featuring some of the leading players already familiar to aficionados.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Deborah Crabtree is a Melbourne-based writer and bookseller. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Category: Reviews