The characters in Jennifer Down's Pulse Points live in small dusty towns, glittering exotic cities and slow droll suburbs; they are mourners, survivors and perpetrators.

In the award-winning 'Aokigahara', a young woman travels to the sea of trees in Japan to say goodbye. In 'Coarsegold', a woman conducts an illicit affair while her recovering girlfriend works the overnight motel shift in the middle of nowhere. In 'Dogs', Foggo runs an unruly gang of bored, cruel boys with a scent for fresh meat. In 'Pressure Okay' a middle-aged man goes to the theatre, gets a massage, remembers his departed wife, navigates the long game of grief with his adult daughter.

Jennifer Down, whose first novel, Our Magic Hour, was commended in the 2017 Victorian Premier's Literary Award, is a masterly stylist whose sharp eye has been compared to that of Helen Garner. Pulse Points is a gutting collection that showcases her singular voice, and reminds us once more that this is a writer of great talent.