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The Betrayal

3.61 of 5 stars 3.61 · rating details · 23 ratings · 5 reviews

Tasmania is in the grip of one of the longest, bleakest winters on record and it's particularly icy at the Hobart Police Station. Of the many golden rules in policing, one is especially sacred: what happens at work stays at work.

So when a naive young constable, Lucy Howard, makes an allegation of sexual assault against a respected colleague, the rule is well and truly brok...more

Paperback, 432 pages

Published May 1st 2012 by Random House Australia

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Jun 06, 2012 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Rape is widely acknowledged as one of the hardest crimes to prosecute, especially the so called date rape. Y.A. Erskine takes this scenario abit futher with the complaintant being a young police constable Lucy Howard, while the accused is experienced Special Operations Group member Nick Greaves who uses his popularity and the fact he is male to try and get away with it.

Discracefully the Tasmanian police bar a few turn on the young constable Howard and go to great lengths to ensure Nicks crime go...more

3 likes · like · see review

Sep 11, 2012 Elizabeth Lhuede rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: australian-women-writers, crime

This novel is well told, but populated by a cast of highly unlikeable, often misogynistic characters that, by the end, made me feel angry and unsettled. The scenario is interesting; its insight into police, media and political cultures in Hobart scathing. Whereas in Erskine's debut novel, The Brotherhood, I felt I had someone to cheer for, in this I didn't, not even Lucy, the cadet who instigates the investigation that forms the basis of the novel's plot. Her behaviour, for a police officer, see...more

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May 23, 2012 Angela Savage rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime-fiction

I can imagine YA Erskine's second novel The Betrayal becoming one for the water cooler.

It has the potential to polarise readers, some seeing the betrayal of the title as one cop's betrayal of her colleagues by bringing rape charges against one of their own, others seeing the system betraying the young female complainant who dares take this course of action.

If the success of a novel is measured in terms of it's capacity to generate debate and discussion, then The Betrayal is set to be a winner.

Th...more

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May 21, 2012 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: aussie-author, provided-by-publisher

Linked to The Brotherhood, the stunning debut by Australian crime author, and ex-police officer, Yvette Erskine, The Betrayal is as equally compelling.

"Not drunk. Had sex. No hangover. No memory."

It's been two weeks since Constable Lucy Howard shared a celebratory drink with a trusted colleague, Special Operation Group officer Nick Greaves and woke up naked in his bed with no idea what happened in between. Blaming one too many drinks Lucy fled, disgusted with herself for betraying her boyfrien...more Linked to The Brotherhood, the stunning debut by Australian crime author, and ex-police officer, Yvette Erskine, The Betrayal is as equally compelling.

"Not drunk. Had sex. No hangover. No memory."

It's been two weeks since Constable Lucy Howard shared a celebratory drink with a trusted colleague, Special Operation Group officer Nick Greaves and woke up naked in his bed with no idea what happened in between. Blaming one too many drinks Lucy fled, disgusted with herself for betraying her boyfriend and decided to forget it ever happened. It's not until she is taking the statement of a victim of sexual assault that she realises that Nick had drugged and raped her and takes the extraordinarily brave step of making an official complaint against the popular constable. In a case of he said/she said, Lucy's allegation rocks the Tasmanian police force to it's core, exposing an ugly vein of misogyny, corruption and betrayal.
The Betrayal is linked to The Brotherhood primarily by its cast, Lucy Howard, for example, was the rookie constable who was partnering Sergeant John White when he was killed in the line of duty. Erskine also picks up threads of the story left unfinished in The Brotherhood, giving us some insight in to the longer term fall out for those involved in the case, including the perpetrator. The same format is used to tell the story, a third person narrative divided amongst thirteen characters, many of them familiar such as Detective Will Torino, the journalist, Tim Roberts, and Constable Cameron Walsh. As the story unfolds, the shifts in view provide a different perspective of not only the case involving Lucy and Nick but also a wider view of the force as Erskine continues to explore corruption in the police force.
The Betrayal is as confronting as The Brotherhood, perhaps more so because of the nature of the incident and Erskine's brutal honesty about the legal outcomes for victims of sexual assault. Lucy is well aware that prosecution is unlikely but decides that as a police officer, and for her own peace of mind, she must report Nick no matter the consequences. As an elite member of SOG, Nick has an enviable status amongst the force, on top of which he is handsome and charming. Much like in any sexual assault case, stereotypical attitudes come in to play and are exacerbated by the status of the defendant. Lucy is accused of false reporting, targeted in a smear campaign, harassed and physically threatened. Nick's mates rally to protect not only his reputation but also their own secrets and I honestly felt sick at a scene where a few of Lucy's female colleagues trash her gleefully. When I learnt that the initial events of The Betrayal are a thinly veiled admission of an incident in Erskine's own eleven year police career I was stunned. Erskine confesses she decided not to press charges against her assailant, certain her case wouldn't have stood a chance and unwilling to be further victimised by the media, the system and her colleagues. Lucy's story then is a case of 'what if?' and unfortunately, as disturbing as it is, I think it's entirely possible it would have been much worse than what Erskine has imagined.

The Betrayal is a confronting but utterly compelling novel, Erskine exposes the underbelly of policing that society prefers to remain ignorant of. Dark, gritty and raw I was fascinated and repulsed in almost equal measure. This is a stunning piece of crime fiction and I recommend The Betrayal, and The Brotherhood, without reservation.

*Just an FYI: It is estimated that in Australia only 1 in 10 cases of sexual assault that go before the courts result in any conviction and in 60% of those cases the defendant pleads guilty to a lesser charge.(Australian Institute of Criminology 2009)(less)

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Jul 10, 2012 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: australian, crime, review-books

Date rape isn't a subject that I've come across a lot in my crime fiction reading, so combine that with an Australian setting, a very dark outlook and a number of quite damaged, imperfect characters who crash towards an unusual ending in the second book by local author Y.A. (Yvette) Erskine and it seemed like it could be a winning package.

As with the first book, THE BROTHERHOOD, the story is again told with a shifting viewpoint per chapter, unfortunately this time the outcome is a rather drawn o...more Date rape isn't a subject that I've come across a lot in my crime fiction reading, so combine that with an Australian setting, a very dark outlook and a number of quite damaged, imperfect characters who crash towards an unusual ending in the second book by local author Y.A. (Yvette) Erskine and it seemed like it could be a winning package.

As with the first book, THE BROTHERHOOD, the story is again told with a shifting viewpoint per chapter, unfortunately this time the outcome is a rather drawn out, disconnected feel. I'm not convinced it served the main victim, Police Constable Lucy Howard, particularly well. Whilst her viewpoint is scattered throughout the narrative, there's an arc of character development that suffers from a lack of continuity. As Howard goes from timid, apologetic victim of what is undoubtedly a dreadful experience - through to a self-assured, determined strong young woman who can accept an outcome that is questionable there were gaps in her progression that left me unable to shake a feeling of convenience at best, a suspicion of reader emotional manipulation at worst. Somehow, somewhere I suddenly realised that whilst I was feeling sympathy for what Howard experienced, she was increasingly distant and off-putting.

To be fair though, there are things that really do work well in the book. Even with all the negativity there are some fascinating portrayals - interestingly mostly of the men doing wrong; be it the perpetrator of the rape and his casual disregard for his victim; Howard's only vocal supporter who has his own questionable sexual behaviour supposedly, in support of his wife; through to the Police Commissioner with his preoccupation with his own corrupt behaviour. It is in the very nastiest of the characters that there is a distinct sense of realism and identification. Skin-crawlingly realistic to be frank, but whilst I'm normally a huge fan of the dark, there were points in the narrative where even these characters became overly cynical, tedious, often bordering on annoying. Something it took me quite a while to recognise was the two different possible motivations for betrayal - be it unintentional or active treachery. As those distinct differences became clearer in my mind, then the voices of some of the more annoying characters started to make some sense, albeit they remained very unpleasant people.

For this reader, reading crime fiction isn't always just about entertainment, nor is it about retribution, vengeance, or justice always getting it right. It's often about exposing the darker side of human behaviour, it's often about the way that things don't always end happily for everybody. In that THE BETRAYAL casts a powerful, bright, no-holds barred light on a crime that's under-discussed, under-exposed in crime fiction, the book is worthwhile. In the way that it casts light on the very worst of human behaviour it is interesting. It's just not a book that you're going to put down and walk away from without a sneaking suspicion that there's an awful lot wrong with parts of this world.

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