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'Paul Verhoeven's father, John, is a cop. Well, an ex-cop. Long since retired, John spent years embroiled in some of the seediest, scariest intrigue and escapades imaginable. Paul, however, is something of an artsy, sensitive soul who can’t understand why he doesn’t have the same heroism and courage as his dad. One day, John offers Paul the chance of a lifetime: he'll spill his guts, on tape, for the first time ever, and try to get to the bottom of this difference between them.
'What unfolds is a goldmine of true-crime stories, showing John’s dramatic (and sometimes dodgy) experience of policing in Sydney in the 1980s. The crims, the car chases, the frequent brushes with death and violence, and the grey zone between what’s ethical and what’s effective: finally Paul gets real insight into what’s formed his father’s character.
'Thrilling, fascinating and often laugh-out-loud funny, Loose Units is a high-octane adventure in policing, integrity and learning what your father is really all about.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also sound recording.
Related Works
-
y
Electric Blue
Melbourne
:
Viking
,
2020
19672041
2020
single work
autobiography
'Paul Verhoeven’s ex-cop dad, John, spent years embroiled in some of the seediest, scariest intrigue and escapades imaginable. One day John offered Paul the chance of a lifetime: he’d spill his guts on tape. What unfolded in Loose Units was a goldmine of true-crime stories, showcasing John’s dramatic experience of policing in Sydney in the 1980s and brilliantly twisted sense of humour. But what happened next in John’s career was twice as weird.
'Electric Blue spans the final years of John’s stint in the New South Wales Police Force, when he took up an offer to move into the grimy, analytical world of forensics. Paul unpicks his father’s most terrible cases. There was the case of a rapist hiding in the walls of a shower block, a body that was quite literally cooked, and the bizarre copycat suicides.
'But what’s it actually like to have a heroic ex-cop as a dad? Paul and John delve into their unique father–son relationship and how they ended up so different to each other. They figure out how to deal with the choices they’ve made . . . or wish they’d made. And Paul’s mum, Christine, reveals what it was like to be a pioneering female cop in the eighties, when misogyny was rife in the force.
'Thrilling, fascinating and unexpectedly laugh-out-loud funny, Electric Blue is another high-octane adventure in policing, integrity and learning what family is really all about.' (Publication summary)
Works about this Work
-
y
A Conversation with Paul F. Verhoeven
Fiona Hardy
(interviewer),
Deborah Crabtree
(interviewer),
Melbourne
:
Readings
,
2018
23468422
2018
single work
podcast
interview
'Booksellers Fiona Hardy and Deborah Crabtree chat to Paul F. Verhoeven about his new book, Loose Units, which is part father–son story and part true-crime race through the underbelly of 1980s policing in Sydney.' (Production summary)
-
y
A Conversation with Paul F. Verhoeven
Fiona Hardy
(interviewer),
Deborah Crabtree
(interviewer),
Melbourne
:
Readings
,
2018
23468422
2018
single work
podcast
interview
'Booksellers Fiona Hardy and Deborah Crabtree chat to Paul F. Verhoeven about his new book, Loose Units, which is part father–son story and part true-crime race through the underbelly of 1980s policing in Sydney.' (Production summary)
