AustLit

'Natural Progression is reminiscent of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment as it describes one man's descent into ever escalating crime and violence.

'Gordon Bellmore is a happy go lucky man celebrating his 21st birthday with his friends. Despite having had a few drinks he decides to drive home. It's dark, it's raining and he doesn't see his elderly confused neighbour, Mrs Wainwright, wander out onto the road. It is an accident sure enough but he panics and decides to move the body and it is this decision that changes his life.

'When he helps to move his friend Bluey, the elderly woman from across the road comes over and questions Gordon. He seems familiar to her. Once again he panics, because it was in front of her house that he'd dumped Mrs Wainwright. He realizes that she must have seen him and therefore has to silenced before she reports him to the police. Now he takes his first step into deliberate crime, progressing from accidental death to murder, only to realize that he is still not safe, as his friend Bluey starts to question why his car was parked in front of his new flat when he had supposedly left. Another loose end: Another murder. Haunted by ghosts, lies, and his need to keep his secret at all costs he devolves into a coldblooded, emotionless, conscienceless killer. He thinks he hasn't changed, but those closest to him know there is something seriously wrong. He begins to think of himself as invincible, little realizing that the police are closing in and unraveling the threads he's cunningly tied.

'This book will draw you in as you follow his natural progression from sanity to insanity. How many will he kill before he's stopped? How far will he go? Is anyone, even his parents or his girlfriend safe?' (Publication summary)