The plot is an amalgam of recent events in Western Australian politics, focused around the building of a new dam and water pipeline from the Kimberley to Perth. Protagonist Dylan Ward is a strong-and-silent type who works as a community consultant and as a fixer between the Indigenous communities of the Kimberley and the big mining companies and government departments that require seek their acquiescence for the mega-project. Ward meets political staffer Kate Kennedy when she is sent on a fact-finding mission to secretly prepare the way for the dam. There are some interesting twists and developments in the political aspects of a plot that is efficient, if not compelling. Few readers will be surprised when Dylan and Kate find love under the big skies of the north-west.

Scourfield’s pedigree as a writer is considerable; he has constructed a sturdy and at times diverting novel. As a work of realistic fiction, however, As the River Runs has some serious deficiencies, especially in characterisation. I found the protagonists two-dimensional and their motivations quite predictable. This leads to hoary clichés such as Kate’s ‘nasty biological clock that she can mostly force herself to ignore’. In general there is little complexity to the human pageant presented here.

As a prose stylist Scourfield is uneven. He can be leaden and stilted, particularly in interior monologues. However, when writing about the geography of the Kimberley, his descriptions blossom into something grander. The end result is a book with gorgeous sets but stilted characters. As The River Runs is a fine travelogue but a disappointing story.