| Book | Review |
|---|---|
|
|
Clear to the Horizon, Dave Warner14/12/2017 - 2:22pmBack in the late 1970's Dave Warner released music that became part of the soundtrack of my life. When I discovered CITY OF LIGHT, MURDER IN THE FRAME, EXXXPRESSO and other books by him in the late 1990's / early 2000's I was more than a bit chuffed to think a musical hero was also a lover of crime fiction. And I bloody loved all of those books. CITY OF LIGHT was Dave Warner's first book (from memory), it won the 1996 West Australian Premier's Award for best fiction, and it introduced a young police constable, and aspiring footballer Snowy Lane. In this book Lane is ... Read Review |
 |
The Lone Child, Anna George13/12/2017 - 2:33pmThe Lone Child focusses on character development, imbued with sadness, longing, regret and loss. Following on from her stunning debut novel, What Came Before, Anna George has created another claustrophobic and compelling character study of somebody struggling with the complications of day-to-day life. New mother Neve Ayres was an independent career woman, well-to-do and seemingly cautious, careful and considered. Finding herself struggling to adjust to life as a single mother in the comfortable surrounds of ... Read Review |
 |
Sold, Blair Denholm11/12/2017 - 12:21pmYou have to admire any author who doesn't just create a profoundly unlikeable protagonist but then grants them full permission to be as ordinary a human being as they can possibly be. In SOLD, Blair Denholm's creation, Gary Braswell is the sort of bloke that you'd be forgiven for belting over the head with a shovel, after watching him dig his own grave any day. Comic in styling, SOLD is set on the Gold Coast in the sweltering heat of summer, where Braswell takes the not-so-big step from used car salesman to real estate, at about the same time that his gambling debts are ... Read Review |
 |
From the Shadows, Neil White08/12/2017 - 12:49pmNeil White is a new to me author, and one that is now on the to be read list. FROM THE SHADOWS is the first in the Dan Grant / defence lawyer series. It appears that there is also a 5 or so book series based around DC Laura McGanity, 3 books in the Joe & Sam Parker series and at least one standalone. Which begs the question why did it take so long for me to notice? Now I'm really kicking myself as if FROM THE SHADOWS, lawyer Dan Grant and his investigator Jayne Brett are anything to go by, I've got quite a few books to slot into the impossibly large reading queue in these parts ... Read Review |
 |
Ragdoll, Daniel Cole05/12/2017 - 3:57pmFrequent readers of crime fiction tend to be over some plot element or standard form or another. It's hard to avoid getting a little jaded when a particular structure shows up time and time again - and in my case it's been serial killers for sometime now. Which does at least mean that it's a discomfortingly nice surprise when you come across an interesting twist on the tired old form. Which, of course means, that you've taken a punt on something with a blurb that's guaranteed to be off-putting. For this reader there was something about the author's bio and the blurb of ... Read Review |
 |
Nothing Bad Happens Here, Nikki Crutchley04/12/2017 - 4:14pmI forgot NOTHING BAD HAPPENS HERE was a debut novel as you'd never know it from reading it. Set in the sort of small town in New Zealand that caters mostly to the summer tourist trade, journalist Miller Hatcher is sent there when the body of a tourist who went missing a while ago is discovered. Her and just about every other journalist in the country creating a frenetic, odd atmosphere in a town which should be quiet, safe, nondescript at that time of the year. It was an odd disappearance really - Bethany was last seen in a local hotel, before quietly vanishing. Nobody ... Read Review |
 |
Dear Fatty, Dawn French01/12/2017 - 1:39pmRead for f2f bookclub which meets soon, and it will be very interesting to see what the entire group makes of this. Interesting format that means that whilst it might be a memoir, there's a lot that can be left unsaid, a lot that's glossed over or hinted at, and a lot that assumes the reader has some knowledge of Dawn French's life already. Fair enough I thought - it must be a very uncomfortable thing to sit down and write about your life, especially some very personal and private moments. Particularly poignant to read the comments about now ex-husband Lenny ... Read Review |
 |
Don't Let Go, Michel Bussi29/11/2017 - 3:33pmIt's probably not going to come as any surprise to find that DON'T LET GO jumped up the reading queue as quickly as possible, because every novel from Michel Bussi I've read now has been clever, different and intriguing. DON'T LET GO didn't disappoint, it's all of those things and more. In it we have a family on holidays on the island of La Réunion. Liane leaves her husband Martial and their daughter poolside to head back to their hotel room for a short break and vanishes. There's blood everywhere in the hotel room, but no body. Right from the outset the statements of her ... Read Review |
 |
The Revelations of Carey Ravine, Debra Daley27/11/2017 - 2:36pmWith a strong sense of place, THE REVELATIONS OF CAREY RAVINE is an interesting combination of romance, history and crime fiction. There's a lot being attempted in one novel here, and that combination of genres, and hence stylings are both the strongest and weakest points, depending upon your preferences. It's not a novel designed for readers of historical fiction alone, nor perhaps for those that read romance, or crime fiction only for that matter. There was a good sense of time and place in the narrative, with plenty of information about society pressures, and the ... Read Review |
 |
Did You See Melody?, Sophie Hannah25/11/2017 - 1:28pmThere’s both highs and dips with this novel. Some of the dialogue is quite fun and the main character Cara is comically harried with all that is going on in her life. We’ve all been there. Mother and teen daughter relationships based on sarcasm are very relatable, as is the faux cheeriness you often encounter from hotel staff when all you want to do is be left alone to enjoy your holiday. Author Sophie Hannah contrives to balance all of the mayhem of hotel goers joining forces for a holiday adventure with the darker depiction of a child’s murder. As the abduction/ ... Read Review |
 |
All Our Secrets, Jennifer Lane21/11/2017 - 2:24pmIf there is one thing you'll come away from ALL OUR SECRETS with, it's the voice of Gracie Barrett ringing in your ears. It's an impressive portrayal. There's something very worrying going on in the fictional town of Coongahoola, New South Wales. It's not just The Believers (or Bleeders as they are quickly nicknamed) - a cult led by the oddly charismatic Saint Bede. Long before they arrived there was the infamous River Picnic, on the night Malcolm Fraser became Prime Minister. Stu Bailey's wife drowned in the Bagooli River and there's a group of kids around town, all born ... Read Review |
 |
To Hell and Back, Carolyn Pethick21/11/2017 - 1:24pmA policewoman's story of discrimination, bullying and harassment. Incredibly difficult subject matter, relating a very personal experience. Equally one can imagine that it would have been a difficult, although hopefully cathartic experience, relating the events Carolyn Pethick outlines in TO HELL AND BACK. I've had many goes at writing something about this book until it finally dawned on me - I can't review a story like this / I'm not comfortable rating something this personal. Whether or not it was an enjoyable, informative or difficult experience reading it, is nothing ... Read Review |
 |
An Isolated Incident, Emily Maguire20/11/2017 - 2:11pmAN ISOLATED INCIDENT is one of those books I've been trying to read for a ridiculously long time now, so being able to finally get to it in the context of our f2f bookclub gathering was an added bonus. This is such a fascinating book, one that worked particularly well for our group. Normally we find the discussion is at its most vibrant when the book isn't particularly liked, or when there is a mix of opinions, but in this case there wasn't a contradictory opinion in the room. There's been an increase in "consequences' crime fiction recently. Books that ... Read Review |
 |
The Road to Ruin, Niki Savva19/11/2017 - 3:04pmSometimes it's hard to work out what happened to the Australian Political system, and then along comes a book like this to explain quite a bit of it. Whilst there is a page or two of salacious commentary and speculation (as often quoted in the media at the time of release) that's a minor distraction from the bulk that outlines an office, and people who operate in absolute, total and utter dysfunction. Stupidity, arrogance play their own part as well. Alas it's the sort of book that the anti-Abbott camp is more likely to read, but really should be something ... Read Review |
 |
The Student, Iain Ryan17/11/2017 - 12:41pmThe Student is fast-paced, dry as dust, gritty Australian regional noir. Full Review at Newtown Review of Books.Read Review |
 |
The Lost Mother, Anne Summers14/11/2017 - 4:56pmf2f bookclub read which underwhelmed. |
 |
Hard Labour, Bill Bateman13/11/2017 - 2:54pmIt's not a particularly easy undertaking - a book positing the idea that the Medical Board and Dr Vince Hanrahan thinking shunting someone to rural Victoria (Warrnambool in this instance) to work as a GP is "punishment", but then Hanrahan eventually does twig that the loss of your speciality is one thing, but living in a small rural city isn't the end of the world. The author of HARD LABOUR, Bill Bateman, certainly hasn't had the problem with the Medical Board, and appears to have done the opposite to his central character, moving from the Victorian south-coast to Melbourne, so the ... Read Review |
 |
Days Are Like Grass, Sue Younger13/11/2017 - 1:17pmA family drama / saga styled novel, with crime overtones, DAYS ARE LIKE GRASS is beautifully written. Moving, descriptive, populated by fully realised characters there is much in this novel that is thought-provoking, and profoundly affecting. Avoiding any sense of voyeurism or manipulation, Sue Younger has constructed a multi-layered story about consequences, and past and present actions. Paediatric surgeon, mother, lover, Claire is a woman with a past. She's driven to want the best for her patients - often times victims of abuse and disadvantage - her controlled nature ... Read Review |
 |
The Squad, Yoni Bashan10/11/2017 - 2:36pmSydney Daily Telegraph crime reporter Yoni Bashan has obviously used some insider knowledge of his own, alongside that of members of the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad (MEOCS) to craft a true crime book that's very readable, informative and surprisingly moving in places. The subject matter is unpleasant obviously - with an intermingling of families and organised crime activities that covers drugs, murders and some brutal turf wars. The Squad is a highly specialised police unit tasked with an incredibly difficult job - investigating the crimes, identifying the ... Read Review |
 |
The Last Time We Spoke, Fiona Sussman31/10/2017 - 4:15pmNew Zealand author Fiona Sussman has created something absolutely remarkable in her blended crime and contemporary fiction novel THE LAST TIME WE SPOKE. Winner of the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Award(link is external) for Best Crime Novel this is a novel that contrasts the brutality and thoughtlessness of a crime, against the heartbreaking loss resulting, and the way that a woman recovers, and rebuilds her life in the aftermath. It's ... Read Review |