All the Reviews

There are books stacked up in the corners of this house that I look at fondly and think I must read that.. I've got to read that... and next thing you know it's a few years down the track and I'm still mumbling must to myself.  DRY DOCK is one of those books that wants me to take myself outside and beat myself around the head and shoulders for taking so long to get to it.

It's really a story about the pressures that come to bear when the old, industrial and worker inner-suburbs of big cities start to get squeezed.  On one side you've got the original residents, the ... Read review

ABSOLUTION is the first book from this Scottish author, with the second - Tambourine to be released 2008.  There's obviously something in the water in Scotland - or maybe it's all that time stuck indoors in the long cold winters, but the number of assured, confident books coming out of that place is getting to the startling stage.  ABSOLUTION is definitely assured, with a story-telling style that is absolutely enthralling.

The main component of the book is the hunt for the serial killer - the 'Crucifixion Killer'.  To be honest it's a pretty standard serial killer plot, ... Read review

Depressed doesn't do justice to the dripping, sad, obsessed melancholy of the magnificently complex Maurice Laice (More is less just being one of his nicknames).  Maurice is just one character that stands out from the page, his boss - she of the totally obsessed with her sex life; Aline Lefevre is gay, out, proud and coarsely (but hilariously and in a strange way touchingly) vocal.  Her sex banter drives Maurice crazy - partly from jealousy, partly from embarrassment, mostly because he's feeling his damn age and she's not!  

At the core of the GOAT SONG though is a ... Read review

Ever read a book and thought, well I shouldn't really be liking this.  Worse than that, have you ever read a book and found yourself ticking the things that the author is doing that annoy you.  And yet you find yourself liking the book!  DARK FLIGHT did that for me.  Well liking is a difficult word to use when the subject matter is as dire as it is in DARK FLIGHT, but that's just one of the things that ticked that list for me.

DARK FLIGHT starts out with the repulsively, shockingly over the top violent death of two women and little boy Stephen is a witness to at least ... Read review

For someone from a climate as mild as Australia, the cold of a Canadian winter seems somewhat exotic.  Salting the roads, ice storms, bears coming out of hibernation when there’s a warm snap, are all vividly depicted.  Giles Blunt imparts a strong feeling of  being connected to the community by the clever use of minor characters: there is WUDKY, the world's dumbest criminal; the veteran police officer returning from vacation and remembering a detail from an old case which helps create a lead in a current one and Cardinal's tetchy and fiercely independent father are just a few.  ... Read review

Reading NATURAL HISTORY I was struck by a number of things.  Firstly, this is not your normal family.  It's mostly Jane's idea to take over Monkeyland and build it into a good animal sanctuary - saving it from undoubted bankruptcy.  Patrick just sort of goes along with this.  It's Jane's idea to do the television series about Monkeyland.  Patrick sort of goes along with this.  Jane's the one that heads off to Africa and more TV stardom.  Patrick goes along with this.  Patrick's the one that ends up running Monkeyland - half-heartedly you'd have to say.  Patrick's the one that tries to ... Read review

You have to wonder what I'm doing out here, on the edge of the comfort zone again, up to my elbows in reading about things that normally don't work for me.... and enjoying it immensely.

The only thing I can clearly articulate is that THE DARKNESS WITHIN is unbelievably accessible.  Part of it's the writing style I guess - there's something laid back, almost laconic about the style of the book.  There are sly cracks, humour, a healthy dose of irony, even sarcasm in the interactions of the characters that frankly, you just don't expect in supernatural Gothic horror!  But ... Read review

James Bond would have nothing on our Alby these days (and can we all just spare a moments thought for a character name like Alby Murdoch and wonder idly whatever happened to..... remember those Alby Mangel specials?), but I digress.  Mind you, Alby's not opposed to the odd digression as well.  Sure assorted bad guys have shot his colleague dead.  So he's suddenly face to face with Grace - that gorgeous creature from the tram who returned his dropped gun and now she's armed, dangerous and driving the getaway car.  But a good lunch is hard to find and there's absolutely nothing wrong ... Read review

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT appeals - not so much because it's a tight and involving mystery, or that there is a sense of an investigation and a resolution - but because of the characters, and in particular Igi, and in an odd way a dead young woman and a dead father.  In the aftermath of her father's accidental death, Igi searches - possibly for a connection to him, but ultimately for why there is a connection between the seeming suicide of this young woman - and the death of her father.

To be honest, I'm not even sure why it is that Igi as a character appeals so much.  Maybe it ... Read review