A contemporary novel centred on routine, quiet rebellion, and the unseen costs of modern working life. The Commuter follows an ordinary individual navigating the slow erosion of agency within systems that reward compliance and punish deviation.
The novel explores how small decisions accumulate, and how anonymity can both protect and suffocate.
Synopsis
Step off the train and step into life.
Australia is a vast continent of rugged beauty and sweeping desert plains, but Craig Preston didn’t give a shit about any of that because he lived in Melbourne, where he had a far better chance of getting a root than some drongo stuck in the middle of the outback with a couple of wallabies.
A darkly funny, sharply observed ride through suburban Melbourne, The Commuter follows Craig Preston as one split-second decision on the morning train changes everything. Packed with nostalgia, office politics, and the strange intimacies of peak hour, it’s a story about guilt, friendship, and the lives we live between stations.