https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/the-painted-ocean-review-gabriel-packards-raw-debut-novel-grips-your-attention-20160303-gn9be0.html . Packard teaches writing at New York's Hunter College and has worked as a researcher for E.L. Doctorow, Peter Carey and Jonathan Franzen. This novel feels like his aha moment of "I can do it too". And he can, This debut novel is a bit raw but it grabs you by the throat and holds on tight.
