AustLit

'Heath Lander’s debut book is an exciting and gritty exploration of his descent into the dangerous underbelly of Melbourne night life as a young university graduate. His prose captures the physicality of his journey from the first tentative steps into martial arts as a defence against low self-esteem to the camaraderie underpinning the bristling, barely contained violence of nightclub security.

'An unlikely candidate for the crowd control industry, Heath takes up Kung Fu as a university student, a decision that gives him entry into the dark and brutal world of nightclub security. His introduction is by way of his instructor, a part-time bouncer at a pub in Brunswick Street, Melbourne. Graduating from university, his ambition to teach and paint takes second place to his obsession with ‘making it’ in this new world. Without realising it, Heath slides into a dark place with no real friends and plenty of potential enemies. The more proficient Heath becomes at his job, the more he gains the respect of his bosses and clients. Then one night, after five years as a bouncer, the almost fatal punch he delivers to a belligerant drunk causes a crisis of conscience. He realises that his life has lost purpose and he quits his job, determined to ‘make it’ once again, this time in the world of daylight.' (Publisher's blurb)