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Mort, Terry Pratchett22/12/2018 - 4:27pmBack to full versions, narrated by Nigel Planer, this was 7 hours and 27 minutes of listening joy :)Read Review |
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Sourcery, Terry Pratchett22/12/2018 - 1:56pmAnother full version, narrated by Nigel Planer, this was 7 hours and 63 minutes of listening to how books and stuff aren't the point, it's all about real wizarding.Read Review |
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Wetland, Colin King22/12/2018 - 1:26pmBased around an event that followers of the Underbelly wars in Melbourne will likely recognise, this tale is the second outing for Detective Sergeant Rory James, based in part in the Bendigo region. The first book in the series A VINTAGE DEATH was set firmly in winemaking region of Heathcote, with the action interwoven into the history of the place. WETLAND takes a slightly different tack in that James is still involved in the Bendigo region, and there are aspects of the action that take place in the area, but the feel is more Melbourne-centric this time. ... Read Review |
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Know Me Now, C.J. Carver14/12/2018 - 2:49pmThird in the Dan Forrester series, we're into classic thriller mode now with this series. Heaps of action, a fast moving, multi threaded plot, this one creates a partnership quickly between Forrester and ongoing series character Lucy Davies that works well. Again we have a couple of main threads, a supposed suicide and a seemingly natural death that turn out to be murder, with a very personal connection to Forrester. In a nutshell KNOW ME NOW is a better outing than the second, but not quite to the heights of the first novel in the series. To be fair, a lot of the ... Read Review |
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Spare Me The Truth, C.J. Carver14/12/2018 - 2:17pmAustralian readers will probably remember C.J. Carver as Caroline Carver - writer of a series of Australian set books <cough> years ago. Recently, she's returned to notice writing under the name C.J. Carver - with a series of thrillers built around Dan Forrester, recently bereaved father, spy, sufferer of amnesia. There are now three novels out in the series - all of which have been recent entries in the Ngaio Marsh Awards. The opening novel, SPARE ME THE TRUTH, introduces Forrester, and the background to the death of his young son; Grace Reavey, accosted at her ... Read Review |
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Tell Me A Lie, C.J. Carver14/12/2018 - 12:22pmDan Forrester and Lucy Davies return in the second novel in this series: TELL ME A LIE. It's hard to say that these novels must or must not be read in sequence, or if there's enough leeway for readers to start anywhere. There is a bit of back story in this second outing that should help fill in the gaps for new readers, but those returning to the series may notice the obviously similar structure deployed in both novels. Again we have seemingly disparate story-lines converging, pulling the two main characters into a collaborative relationship, although in TELL ME A LIE that happens ... Read Review |
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The Secrets She Keeps, Michael Robotham11/12/2018 - 3:46pmThe thing with a Michael Robotham thriller is that even when he's working in territory that's been extensively explored, there's always something extra about his interpretations. So it is with THE SECRET SHE KEEPS, where again there's complexity and nuance in the portrayal of both "good" and "bad". The narrative in THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS switches between two main female characters. Both are eight weeks pregnant, both have secrets they are keeping to themselves, yet they are very different people. Agatha is struggling on her own, poor and clearly underprivileged she's ... Read Review |
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The Last Witness, Denzil Meyrick11/12/2018 - 1:45pmThere's something about the accents of some narrators that just make things so easy to listen to and David Monteath is doing a terrific job with the DCI Jim Daley series. There's enough wry, dry humour here, alongside some reasonably gritty plot lines to keep the reader engaged, although the series does have a hefty dose of the personal as well if you're a fan of that sort of thing. Daley has a complicated sort of a lovelife with a wife he doesn't exactly trust, a new position in a small Scottish town (introduced in book 1 in the series: Whisky From Small Glasses) and a ... Read Review |
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The Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett10/12/2018 - 5:09pm2nd in the Discworld series - listened to during the year, this time narrated by Nigel Planer - another perfect 6 hours and 54 minutes of listening pleasure :)Read Review |
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The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett10/12/2018 - 4:37pmAnybody paying attention might have noticed I've been revisiting a lot of favourite series in audible format recently. Lots of time in the car = lots of listening time and local radio is now so dire it's been the perfect kick in the pants to go back and re-listen to many favourite series. A lot of the enjoyment depends on the narrator and Nigel Planer and Stephen Briggs doing the full-form novels, and Tony Robinson doing some of the abridged versions are firm favourites. If you've never listened to the Discworld series (or even read them) then in audible format they are perfect ... Read Review |
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Equal Rites, Terry Pratchett10/12/2018 - 1:34pmThe third book in the Discworld series, this time it was an abridged version (2 hours, 54 minutes) narrated by Tony Robinson - which made the listening great, but it would have been nice if it had have been the entire book as Robinson does such a great job.Read Review |
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The Lost Man, Jane Harper07/12/2018 - 5:43pmI'm going to start this review in an odd way, by declaring that I didn't like Jane Harper's second book FORCE OF NATURE as much as I had been expecting to. Initially I thought this was because it read like an idea that Aaron Falk had been hammered into it later on, weakening the plot, motivations and sense of place to the point where they seemed to sort of float along to an inevitable ending. Having now finished Harper's third (non-Falk book) THE LOST MAN, the reasons are clearer. Harper is at her best when she's writing about people at the absolute and utter edge and THE ... Read Review |
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My Name is Revenge, Ashley Kalagian Blunt07/12/2018 - 1:49pmA real act of terrorism in Sydney in the 1980s inspired Ashley Kalagian Blunt to write My Name is Revenge (a finalist in the 2018 Carmel Bird Digital Literary Award*). This work is in two parts – a novella, and an essay reflecting on the motivations and background of the fiction. The scene is set in the opening paragraphs of the novella On 17 December 1980, at 9:47 am, two men shot the Turkish consul-general to Sydney and his bodyguard near the consul’s home in Vaucluse. The assassins aimed, ... Read Review |
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Kill Shot, Garry Disher06/12/2018 - 5:34pm
Good bit of general life advice this, although at the time Wyatt is standing, motionless, waiting for any signs his entry into the house he's about to rob has been noticed. Perhaps not a recommended scenario for the rest of us. Mind you, Wyatt doesn't get noticed that often, and even when people think they know who he is, pinning him down will always prove more difficult than they could possibly imagine. Even going home is an exercise in watching for Wyatt: ... Read Review |
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The Lewis Man, Peter May04/12/2018 - 1:26pmAfter listening to the first two books in the Lewis Trilogy pretty much one after the other, I've done it at all the wrong time of the year. I'm a bit partial to listening to, or reading, books from cold, wet climes in the heights of our summer, and all predictions are indicating we're in for a stinking summer. Hot, dry as a chip and dangerous. So I'll be looking for some seriously cold, wet reading material - including the third book in the trilogy to come. Aside from the climactic conditions, this is a wonderfully atmospheric series, with some seriously beautifully ... Read Review |
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Redemption Point, Candice Fox30/11/2018 - 2:50pmThis second book in the Ted Conkaffey series clearly demonstrates why Candice Fox has won two Ned Kelly Awards for crime writing. Following on from Crimson Lake, Redemption Point is dark, dry, funny, cleverly plotted and populated by wonderfully real, often eccentric characters. If you haven’t caught up with this series yet, Ted Conkaffey is an ex-cop accused of the violent abduction and assault of a young girl, yet never charged, never tried. His life and his marriage have fallen apart, and he’s run to the far north of Queensland to ... Read Review |
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Murder at Myall Creek, Mark Tedeschi QC29/11/2018 - 3:23pmFollowing on from Terry Smythe's Denny Day Mark Tedeschi QC picks up the story of the aftermath of the Myall Creek Massacre, concentrating on events and the participants around the trial of the perpetrators of the massacre of 28 Aboriginal men, women and children in 1838 in northern New South Wales. The cover of the book refers to it as the "trial that defined a nation" and it's hard not to agree 100% with that statement. Whilst it could be said that the book concentrates considerably more on the outcomes and surrounding civil changes that occurred at the time of the trial ... Read Review |
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Kolymsky Heights, Lionel Davidson29/11/2018 - 2:54pmWelcome to the second in my series of favourite books which I’ll be reviewing over the summer. Lionel Davidson’s Kolymsky Heightsis one those books which I, although I hestitate to say it, would put in the ‘best you’ve never heard of’ category. I know that’s a cliché but it’s how it was described to me when I was first given it to read in 2008, the person who gave it me probably had the same conversation with the person who gave it to them and so forth. After reading Kolymsky Heights the first time I didn’t disagree The novel begins with a Prologue which appears ... Read Review |
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The Ottoman Conspiracy, Thomas Ryan27/11/2018 - 5:02pmIf you're a fan of fast paced, fun thrillers and haven't clued into the Jeff Bradley Thrillers from New Zealand based author Thomas Ryan yet then you are in for a treat. Action packed, set in interesting places with excellent plots and a great central character in Former Special Forces soldier Jeff Bradley - this third book in the series sees the place become primarily Turkey, the plot about the hunt for nemesis and master criminal, sidelined when an old mate calls for help. He's trapped on an explosives stuffed tourist bus, hijacked by terrorists and it's heading fast ... Read Review |
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Man at the Window, Robert Jeffreys27/11/2018 - 1:45pmThere's something very satisfying about the emergence of a new crime series set in Australia - this time 1960's Perth. This one includes a hat tip to a number of the older stylised detectives of popular TV series in that Detective Cardilini's is portrayed as, not to put too fine a point on it, a bit of a grumpy old sod. He's got a reputation for being lazy and a drunk; and a recently deceased wife and a young adult son that he doesn't get on with (and who doesn't have much time for his father). This makes for a life that feels more stalled than lived, mostly via self-inflicted causes ... Read Review |