Barrenjoey Road

by Neil Mercer

A gripping expose of a notorious cold case
1978. An idyllic beachside community. A series of abductions and rapes. So what happened to Trudie Adams?

Back in the 1970s, Sydney's Northern Beaches felt like a slice of paradise to those lucky enough to live there. Bordered on one side by the glistening blue of the Pacific, and on the other by stunning rugged bushland, it was the kind of place where everyone knew everyone. No wonder the area was known as 'the Insular Peninsula'. So, when a popular local girl, 18-year-old Trudie Adams, disappeared one night while hitchhiking home from the surf club dance, her family, friends and community were devastated. It just seemed wrong that something so terrible could happen in a place so perfectly picturesque.

But as police began to investigate, the dark underbelly of the peninsula was exposed. It was a place where surfers ran drugs home from Bali, teenagers hitchhiked everywhere due to a lack of public transport, predatory men prowled the streets, and countless young women were abducted and raped, crimes rarely reported or, if they were, rarely investigated.

Inspired by the Walkley Award-shortlisted #1 podcast and acclaimed ABC TV series, and containing information never previously revealed, Barrenjoey Road is a compelling expose of why the disappearance of Trudie Adams was never solved. It takes us all the way to the top, from a criminal perpetrator with a lifelong record and links to organised crime who was never formally accused, to police corruption at the highest level.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Audiobook

320 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 1, 2021

Reviews

[Michelle Therese · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really excited to read this, but the book was far too bogged down with the intricacies of police corruption. Whilst I understand that needed to be touched on to add value to the book it was too much. I also found the writing style a bit repetitive, as in phrases were used over and over again and the book repeated paragraphs already used in previous chapters/parts.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barrenjoey Road is a non-fiction book based on the acclaimed ABC podcast and TV series created by Australian journalists, Ruby Jones and Neil Mercer.

In the early hours of Sunday, June 25th, 1978, Trudie Adams left a dance at Newport Surf Club, began hitchhiking along Barrenjoey Road, and was seen getting into a car. She never arrived home. Her disappearance, and public appeals for information brought forth a flood of reports by young women who claimed to have been picked up, taken elsewhere and raped under similar circumstances.

Most had not been brought to police attention, either through fear that threats of their attackers would be carried out, or lack of confidence that the police could/would do anything. Those that were reported earlier were barely acted upon. All these reports provided location, description and material evidence, and yet there was practically no action.

Trudie’s mother was convinced her daughter had been murdered by people wanting her to act as a drug courier from Bali, but this was never proven. The main suspect in the attacks was not interviewed until thirty years later.

Part One of the book illustrates how, at that time, the NSW Police Force were, at best, woefully inadequate and jaw-droppingly incompetent. It exposes a culture of male entitlement and police who were often sceptical and engaged in victim-blaming. “Women attacked, brazenly, without fear of repercussions. And police doing little to help.”

Part Two details the life and crimes of the principal suspect for the rapes and murder, a career criminal, a very slippery character whose legal counsel was clever, who made use of corrupt police and took advantage of their ineptitude.

From there the book detours to the Roselands Lads, possible suspects who attracted the police attention for some time, on the heresay account of a certain witness. Jones and Mercer recount how part of the failure to progress with the case seemed to stem from the fact that those conscientious police working on the case were often moved on.

Part Three details new investigations that uncovered even more sexual assault cases that fit the pattern. The Inquest, held thirty-three years after Trudie’s disappearance was, for her family and friends, difficult and frustrating and brought no closure. The case took a heavy toll on those members of the police force who were genuinely doing their best with limited resources.

This is a book that will appeal to fans of true crime who may enjoy the pages dense with facts that others may find repetitive. Sixteen pages of colour photographs and a map of the area enhance the text.
This unbiased review is from an unsolicited copy provided by ABC Books

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

About 3/4's of the way into BARRENJOEY ROAD, in the week starting 15th March 2021, I did wonder if it was possible to physically explode from rage whilst simultaneously feeling so desperately desperately sad that so many young women have been raped, and sometimes murdered in this country, and it constantly looks like nobody in authority gives a shit. (And honestly, if you're going to get all po-faced over a bit of language in a review of an account of an appalling travesty of justice in this country (in a long list of appalling travesties of justice against women, people with disability and people of colour), then my timeline is not the place for you.)

Because, frankly, the true story behind BARRENJOEY ROAD is rage inducing, it's infuriating to the point of making you swear loudly and insistently, rant, seethe and frankly question everything and everybody.

It's not just the desperately tragic story of young Trudie Adams, who disappeared one night, never to be seen or heard of again. A young woman simply enjoying a night out, doing the sorts of things that all young women in that day and age did (as did I). It's the story of countless young women who were abducted and raped, yet the prosecution for sexual assault that the police bought to court was one where the victim was a young man. It's the story of two potential offenders identified and then just seemingly filed in the who gives a shit basket, until years later some cops did their jobs and were given the resources to do so. But by then it was too late. The evidence that was initially dismissed, discarded (left lying around in a clearly described crime scene in the bush for god's sake), or just flat out ignored... The multiple identifications of perpetrators that were just ignored... The obviousness of timelines of offender presence and absence in the area, versus abductions and rapes... It would be gobsmacking if we all didn't know exactly what was going on here.

Divided into three sections, BARRENJOEY ROAD starts out with Part One - covering the disappearance of Trudie Adams and the story into the investigation of that. Part Two gets into the background of the prime suspect, and Part Three covers a plethora of cases that fit patterns around Adams disappearance and the inquest into that. There is some attempt to explain the issues with resourcing and certainly individual police had made attempts to look into the suspected murder of Trudie Adams, but really, the blasé manner in which a truly staggering number of abductions and rapes were regarded is utterly unforgivable. It does, however, provide a perfect example of why so many women don't even bother reporting sexual assault. The victim blaming that went on is staggering, the disregard palpable, the entitlement breathtaking. Then there's the police corruption - and whilst it could be argued this is also the story of a single cop who managed to cover up a lot of (mostly non-related) crimes by one man, it's also the story of a police force that didn't police its own.

Inspired by the Walkley Award-shortlisted #1 podcast and acclaimed ABC TV series, this is one of those true crime books that's really hard reading because of the subject matter. It's also particularly illuminating that there's an entire section devoted to the main suspect, with a record that goes back to his childhood, and so much known about him. Yet on the victim's, and the impact of the crimes ... so little. So depressingly, tellingly little. It's distressing, rage inducing and it's books like this that remind you it bloody well has to stop.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...

[Lizpixie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a brilliant book about such a horrific subject. I vaguely remember the news reports about the disappearance of Trudie Adams from the Northern Beaches of Sydney in 1978(I would’ve been 7yrs old)so feel a bit of a connection to the story. To read about not just her case but of all the other rapes, abductions & assaults in that area during the 70s that the police completely failed to investigate made my blood boil & my head almost explode. This story isn’t just about the 40yr old unsolved case, it’s also a massive indictment of a police force that refused to prioritise assaults on women.

[Addie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tough listen, but seems to be researched in great detail. Not sure whether the named suspect is the actual perpetrator, but there's some eye-opening stuff here about corruption in the police force and the general incompetence surrounding this case that led to the lack of justice and closure for the victims of potentially linked crimes.

[Carol - Reading Writing and Riesling · Rating 4 out of 5]

My View:
Poignant and equally baffling, this is a true crime narrative that is once again too close to home for comfort. You cannot ignore the depiction of innocence tainted with the intrusion of men’s unwanted desires/impulses on the lives of so many young women. And in this read it is not just the perpetrators who are misogynistic and vile, many of the public officers are the same. I do hope life has changed, that standards have been raised, that women’s’ concerns are now listened to and treated with respect. I am hoping for too much? I still hope. I do feel angry.

A powerful read made even more so with the inclusion of the carefree photos of the main focus of this story – Trudie Adams. Moving and sad. I wish there were answers. Hopefully the podcast, TV series and the publication of this book will tempt someone to come forward, will niggle at someone’s almost forgotten memories. Rest in peace Trudie.
#metoo

[Tara Hyatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I watched the documentary of the disappearance of Trudie Adams in 1978 from Barrenjoey Rd early last year and was keen to read this book about it. Trudie disappeared, no trace ever found. Whilst the book is about Trudie, it also gives into a lot of detail into the deplorable way sexual assault victims were treated at the time by Police and it looks into the corruption and collusion entered into by some key members of the investigation, with one of the key suspects not being interviewed for over 30 years despite being identified by several sexual assault victims. Her family still don’t know what happened to Trudie even after all this time, and that is the heartbreaking sadness behind this story.

[Nell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on an excellent podcast, this is a sad recount of the way the justice system failed a great deal of women (and some men) in the 70's along a coastal area of eastern Australia.
This left me incredibly sorrowful and angry at the same time.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling and Infuriating

The author (Jones) tweeted “I have a lot of complicated feelings about crime reporting, journalism, and trauma. But my goal with Barrenjoey Road was to write a sensitive, nuanced account of a series of crimes against women and the reasons they weren't fully investigated, and I sincerely hope we’ve done that”

... and that they have.

[Diane Porter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a truly shocking eye-opener about Australia in the 70’s and 80’s, particularly the Northern Beaches area of Sydney. On paper, this place sounded idyllic - sun, beaches, bush land, kids running free to surf, hang out and explore this beautiful environment. But the truth of it was so much darker….myriad criminals, rapists, murderers, drug dealers all lurking in plain sight with little consequences or confines, and, perhaps darkest of all, the complete apathy and disregard by the police of the many sexual assault/crime victims and their complaints. To hear that prime suspects were not interviewed or crime scenes processed until sometimes 30 years later was completely disgusting. And taking that rage to an even higher level, it then becomes clear that many of those highest up in NSW policing were actual co-conspirators or knowingly lied and protected some of the criminals involved. Some reviewers have aimed criticism at the section of the book dealing with drug dealing and police corruption, instead of focusing just on the disappearance of Trudi Adams, but I feel in order to fully understand this case and it’s failures, it is essential to examine all elements of it….and those elements are like tree roots running far and deep….scarily so!

[Bert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. The 1st and 3rd parts of the book are great, the middle section really let it down for me though. It is obviously meticulously researched and excellently written and all the rest of it but there was far too much time dedicated to the suspects and their drug dealing and not enough on the victims if you ask me. I’ve seen the show, listened to the podcast and I found that reading the book was so easy because I was familiar with a lot of the information being presented. I think this is a very timely book, even though this happened in the 70s it eerily mirrors the recent case of Sarah Everard in the UK.

3.5 stars. Major props to the authors for consistently keeping Trudie Adams name out there and keeping her case alive.

[kimm_ii · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was optimistic about reading this book. But found that it concentrated too heavily on police corruption. Whilst this was a major issue at the time of Trudie's disappearance & it may have played a part in the fact that this abduction has never been solved, it was focused on far too much & took away from the crime that was supposed to be the topic at hand. I also found some phrases & paragraphs were often repeated. I was unable to finish this book & gave in about half way. Not engaging enough for me on the primary subject - being the abduction of Trudie Adams. Truly sad for Trudie's close friends & family that have been subject to the unknown now for some 43 years

[Annie Booker · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent investigative look at the disappearance and probable murder of a young woman in NSW. I' was still flabbergasted on reaching the end of the book, that despite the almost certainty of who killed her (and raped 14 other young women) they were unable to pin the murder on the evil man who was undoubtedly behind it.

[Maxie Mancuso · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book but it gets really bogged down with information about the person of interest, corrupt police and other info that I feel could have been minimised to really focus on the victim/s of this case. A bit disappointing.

[Sharon Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, Goodreads prompts me to write a review with the words "What did you think?" The first word that comes to mind is "incredibly" - incredibly angry, incredibly frustrated, incredibly saddened.
1978 in Australia, I was 15, and very fortunate to actually live in a small country area of NSW, unlike the young women (and at least one young man) who lived in the Barrenjoey Headland area near Sydney. They may have lived in a beautiful area, but it seems that they were also prey for serial rapists and sexual predators. Most didn't report their attacks to the local police, and when they did, they may as well not have bothered anyway - especially if they had been attacked after hitchhiking. After all, they were female and hitching - obviously they were asking for it 🤬
Barrenjoey Road examines both the disappearance of local teenager Trudie Adams - her body has never been found nor has anyone ever been charged with her death/disappearance - and the most likely suspect, career criminal Neville Tween, despite everything pointing at him and a mate, who was never questioned by Police (until unbelievably 30 years later).

Obviously in the 1970's, technology was pretty much non existent to the everyday person, but the complete ineptness and sheer uselessness of the authorities was just staggering. The most glaringly obvious piece of evidence in the middle of the Ku-ring-gai State Forest was a mattress which had obviously been used for the rapes AND was shown to the detectives on the case, but was left where it was and was still rotting in the SAME SPOT some 30 years later. Add rampant police corruption to the story and the result is a huge, decades-long, tragic, nasty, and disgusting timeline, which continues on for the families and victims of those affected by it all.

[Angus Mcfarlane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sydney's northern beaches in the 1970s (or the 80s, in my memory) was a quiet place with great beaches, especially on weekdays during study breaks.... But like many places, it's secrets were hidden, and Barrenjoey Road places some of these in the spotlight. Initially the story follows the early investigation of a missing teenager and a spate of potentially related sexual assaults. As the decade drew to a close without resolution on this case, the story picks up the tale of a key suspect, eventually linking to a tangled web of police corruption and the international drug trade. This ends up a being a bit of a tangent which the third section brings back together.

This is a narrative of a real police procedural and suffers the challenge of being constrained to the frailties of reality, incomplete and inadequate as they might be. It is occasionally repetitive and is careful not to give the verdict they seem to believe strongly is warranted. So it isn't the most compelling read, but I'm not sure if this is the best that it could have done or if the style just lacked some pizazz. In the end it certainly makes some good points and highlights the ongoing need for our justice system to be held accountable and continually improved, particularly in the difficult situation of sexual assault.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neil Mercer and Ruby Jones's book 'Barrenjoey Road' recounts the disappearance of Trudy Adams from the Northern Beaches of Sydney in the 1970s. Trudy, a precocious young woman who was entering adulthood was seen leaving a bar in the Northern Beaches, entering a vehicle, and disappearing forever. Abductions and rapes of young women in the Northern Beaches were gut-wrenchingly common.

'Barrenjoey Road' speaks to two major theories that were investigated by NSW Police. Both theories were sparingly investigated around the time of the disappearance, and it was only after many years that the case was looked into with more detail. And that speaks to the other theme that Mercer and Jones bring attention to in 'Barrenjoey Road' - the wanton carelessness of NSW Police and the corruption that was endemic in certain pockets.

'Barrenjoey Road' was an interesting read for someone who grew up in Sydney. My image of the Northern Beaches is one of money and safety. It isn't a region of Sydney that I had believed was so dangerous for women. There was historical value in reading this book but equally it served as a reminder that investigations into crimes against women have often been mishandled and there is a duty for investigators to do their jobs properly as the case of Trudy Adams is a great case study of what not to do.

[Maddie Fogarty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so excited to read this book given how much I enjoyed the podcast series but was unfortunately left a little disappointed. I found the book to be quite repetitive and I also feel as though it lost focus on Trudie Adams and the other sexual assaults in the area and it became bogged down in police corruption and the life of Neville Tween. While I understand it is necessary to touch on these things in regards to the Trudie Adams case and likely linked sexual assaults, I think the book deviated from the frightening happenings on Barrenjoey Road a little too much. In saying all this, however, the book was well written and enjoyable to read. I really like true crime books so I could never not rate this one fairly well. Definitely still worth a read as it highlights a case that would have otherwise been forgotten and has provided an outlet for women of that era to share and give voice to their experiences.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cold case murder mysteries have always been a fascination of mine, particularly when set in Australia. Barrenjoey Road details the disappearance of Trudie Adams from Sydney’s Northern Beaches in 1978. This book is based off a podcast of the same name and it reads much like a podcast in that it holds your interest throughout; is fast paced, chapters are quite short and it doesn’t get bogged down in too much detail, police technical language or reenactments of the crimes.

The crimes themselves are mentioned without being too explicit of which I am thankful for. A timeline of the crimes here would have been helpful.

This is another book in my very niche favorite author genre at the moment- Australian journalists who have written a novel. A very intriguing read- I could not put this one down.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1978 Trudie Adams vanished after leaving a local club and has never been seen again. As the police begin their investigation it becomes apparent that Barrenjoey Road has been a stalking ground for serial rapists going back to the early 70s. In this expose, that includes a TV documentary and podcast, Ruby Jones and Neil Mercer explore how the police investigations had a prime suspect, had evidence presented to them and how they failed to make any arrests at all. They try to determine if it was straight out incompetence, corruption or a meeting of the two.
This is a good straight forward retelling of what happened in the aftermath of Trudie Adams disappearance and how good police work was thwarted by corruption and neglect. The authors clearly demonstrate how many victims were let down, never received justice despite doing the right thing.

[Catsalive · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating, horrifying, frustrating & infuriating. I really, really hope things have changed for the better. I imagine the mountain of paperwork that later investigators had to wade through & the sifting of painstaking (those coppers that took pains) details. The book got too weighed down by a lot of detail itself so I found it a bit of a hard slog at times. How difficult it all is to try to solve a case thirty years on when the human memory is unreliable after just a day. I hope all the police over the years that didn't take women's complaints of assault seriously are thoroughly ashamed of themselves, but I don't suppose they are.

True crime is not an interest of mine but I did find this book & Trudie Adams tale interesting.

[Ally Marov]

💩DNF’d at 32%💩

This has been on my TBR for a while now. I picked it up because I’ve got connections to the Northern Beaches, specifically around the Mona Vale/Newport/Avalon areas and thought it would be an interesting read.

While reading and listening to the descriptions of these places, I couldn’t help but imagine myself at them which had made the experience that bit more vivid.

Unfortunately, I got to a point where I couldn’t really see myself completing it.
It’s been an unsolved missing person’s case for almost 47 years and based on what I’ve read, it all mainly talks about the endless rape investigations, police corruption, drug smuggling and to be honest… it’s not really my kind of thing 🫤

[Jennifer Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

There but for the grace of God go I.
In 1978 I was in year 12 at Barrenjoey High School, a year younger than Trudie Adams. Hitch-hiking was common as public transport wasn't very good around the Northern Beaches at that time. Suffice to say that I didn't hitch-hike after Trudie disappeared.
I found this book a compelling read, but am now so disgusted with the police and their failure to even bring people of interest in for questioning after the information that so many young women gave them. To go through the motions of looking for Trudie and yet not follow compelling leads just defies belief.

[Biggus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting read. Nothing surprising really to anyone who lived in these times. Horrendous narration detracted though. Do audiobook producers even THINK about matching the narrator to the topic? They can't, that's pretty obvious. To make it even worse, the narrator has picked up the now very common aussie speech defect, of adding syllables to words that aren't there.

Clear, becomes klee are, beer, becomes bee are. It drives me insane.

Anyway, great book, if you can tolerate being read to like you are a kindy kid.

[Malcolm Frawley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A true crime story, sadly unresolved, that took place in my neck of the woods (Sydney's Northern Beaches) in the 1970s. The authors have done their best to find some answers, unlike many police at the time, & their portrait of their major suspect - a career criminal who, in spite of several stretches inside, lived something of a charmed life - is morbidly fascinating. The perpetrator(s) never paid for this crime but the victim(s) has not been forgotten.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whilst very similar to the ABC podcast of the same name (https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs... ) , the book allows you to stop and look back across the chapters and see the photos. Both disturbing and fascinating, given I now live on the Northern Beaches, the social practices of the 1970s and the police corruption (still going on to this day I expect) are jaw dropping. A window to a different era where beach life was not all sunshine and surfing.

[Lynx · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating it 3 stars as there were times in the book where it felt like the author had forgotten they had already told you facts and was now repeating them as if it was the first time they had mentioned them.
What happened on the Northern Beaches in the 1970s was shocking and sad, and the way it was handled by the authorities was disgraceful. Let’s hope lessons have been learned.

[Jane (Avid reader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written, compelling true crime. Uncovers the dirty underbelly of Sydney’s northern beaches in the 1970s and 1980s focusing on the disappearance and probable murder of Trudie Adams and the lacklustre performance of the NSW police. Shocking and sad.

[Frances Nielsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written account of the investigation of the disappearance of Trudie Adams.
The 'story' moves away a little, into the activities of Mark Standen. I found this quite interesting, even though he is not implicated at all in Trudie's disappearance.

[Mackenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not my usual style but it got recommended to me and I thought why not.
It was an eye opener and definitely worth reading, I was horrified by some of the things in the book but I think I really needed to read it!