All the Reviews

Shatter the Bones, Stuart MacBride

Here's the thing. You hoard a book because it's a favourite series, and there's no sign of the next one yet. But then there are noises about the next one, but that's not out for ages, but you can't wait any longer so you read the one you've had tucked away. Then you've not got that little thing of joy hidden away in the bookcases anymore. So now you're stuck in that horrible no man's land, because the next book's not out for ages, and you've given into temptation. It's a nightmare.

Mind you, that's about the only complaint I can come up with about SHATTER THE BONES. But ... Read Review

The Hypnotist, Lars Kepler

On the face of it, THE HYPNOTIST should be a book that's right up my alley, and yet, somehow it's taken quite a few attempts to get to the end of, and the feeling left has been one of vague confusion and a little disappointment.

Dr Erick Maria Bark was once a renowned hypnotherapist, doing ground breaking work with people with deep psychological issues. Until something went wrong, and Bark vowed never to use hypnosis again. A vow he keeps until many years later, when he's asked to use his technique on a young, teenage boy, horribly injured in a two part attack that has ... Read Review

The Australian Book Of True Crime, Larry Writer

Larry Writer's short story collection, THE AUSTRALIAN BOOK OF CRIME covers 21 different cases, spread in a date range from 1892 through to 2001. Which is definitely a big enough span to give a reader a chance to realise that law and order, crime, murder, bad behaviour has been around for a very long time.

Although the collection is not necessarily put together in date order, there's something quietly telling about the way that patterns emerge, although luckily, mass killings are not quite as common here as the two entries in this collection perhaps indicate.

... Read Review

Bunker, Andrea Maria Schenkel

You could not, ever, accuse Andrea Maria Schenkel of wordiness. Her books are masterpieces of succinct, pointed fiction, leaving a lot to the readers imagination, conclusion or simply confusion. Which is part of what I love about these books - that feeling, when finished reading, that you might just not have the whole picture. That there are things that you may have to think about, that not everything is black and white, and that the grey is often very dark, very cloudy, very textured grey.

BUNKER is a particular example of that wonderful act of leaving the reader to ... Read Review

A Deniable Death, Gerald Seymour

You'd think, on the face of it, that this would be a book that would be right up my dark and twisty alley but for some reason A DENIABLE DEATH took an age to read, and I came away from it with a mild sense of disappointment.

And try as I might, I can't quite put my finger on why, as there was much about the book that I did like. It's very much a contemporary thriller, with a very strong idea as the central plot, delivered with pace and authority. I suspect what didn't quite work for me was the contrivance of the classic lone wolf - Badger - trudging through a very ... Read Review

Thirst, L.A. Larkin

One of the earliest thriller writers that got me hooked on the genre was Alistair MacLean. Granted that was a very long time ago now, but in my mind, his books always had a sort of triple threat scenario - place, weather and people. Reading THIRST by L.A. Larkin I was really struck by the similar environment, albeit with a touch more romance than MacLean would ever have countenanced. I was also struck by the characterisation of the central male protagonist. Luke Searle, maverick glaciologist, a cool, calm man much like MacLean's hero's, although slightly less cynical, and overtly more ... Read Review

All My Enemies, Barry Maitland

Allen & Unwin have re-released Barry Maitland's ALL MY ENEMIES, the third book in the Brock and Kolla series. Given that the book was originally published in around 1996 there were a few things intriguing me. Obviously, whether or not it would stand the test of time, but also, what would it be like going back to a book so early in a series that has since become a favourite.

Interestingly I could still remember this book from the first time I read it, mostly because of the way that it starts to build this ongoing team, partly because of the interesting setting in which ... Read Review

London Boulevard, Ken Bruen

To be honest, I'd read Ken Bruen's to do list, shopping list, just about anything he writes. (I live with this odd fantasy that his to do list would be terse, pointed, poignant, unapologetic, tense and yet hilarious... but I don't get out much and my mind tends to wander into odd places).

As is also normal with any Ken Bruen book LONDON BOULEVARD is not for the squeamish. Unapologetic, brutal, violent and very in your face, it is as always, equally touching and somehow hamfistedly gentle. Mitch, fresh out of prison, has a soft side, particularly when it comes to his ... Read Review

Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat, Andrez Bergen

Something very strange happened to me recently. I loved a book, thoroughly enjoyed reading it, couldn't put it down at points, and still have absolutely no idea what the hell was going on. None whatsoever.

Post-apocalyptic Melbourne again. Not my favourite place at all, although in TOBACCO-STAINED MOUNTAIN GOAT we don't seem to be too far in the future, and we don't seem to be that far from current day Melbourne, particularly in the way the city is divided into the have's and the have nots. The division is by way of the Dome - uptown paradise where rampant consumerism and ... Read Review