All the Reviews

The Edge Of Madness, Michael Dobbs

It doesn't seem to matter how adamant I am about the subject matter that I just don't like, there just always seems to be "that book" that comes along and shoots all my prejudices out of the water.  THE EDGE OF MADNESS is about cyber-war.  The threat of annihilation of the free world at the hand of a shadowy threat, hiding behind computer terminals, in darkened rooms, hidden deep in the new Big Bad Evil nation.  The nameless, faceless, threat - as the blurb of this book puts it "no guns, no missiles, no vapour trails stretching like accusing fingers across the skies".

THE ... Read Review

Women Who Kill, Lindy Cameron & Ruth Wykes

Whilst WOMEN WHO KILL is Lindy Cameron's 5th True Crime book, it is the first for WA based writer Ruth Wykes.  This is a book in which individual chapters look at a range of Australian and New Zealand murderers.  All of them female.  None of these murder fall into the category of defence killings.  It's an odd feeling to come to this book, knowing that somehow, somewhere in the back of your head is the idea that it's almost "understandable" for a woman to kill in defence - against violence, in defence of her children, in defence of her family.  Cameron and Wykes look at 12 separate ... Read Review

Straight, Bent & Barbara Vine, Garry Disher

A few years ago I made a promise to myself to catch up on some of the back catalogue lurking around in darkened corners in this place.

Some months I get that right - other months I make a real hash of it and that's to my own detriment.

Although in an odd way, taking SOOO long to get to this collection of Disher short stories actually worked for me, as many of them are obviously the starting point of some of my favourite of the later novels.  That made for a fascinating insight into the way an idea starts, and can be expanded.

But as a collection ... Read Review

Let the Dead Lie, Malla Nunn

The second Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper book LET THE DEAD LIE has now been released, following on the from highly praised A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DIE.

LET THE DEAD LIE takes Cooper into different physical circumstances, working in a very bleak city, doing menial labour and nightly surveillance work, there's a sense of loss and depression surrounding him.  This rapidly changes to desperation as he is implicated in further murders and has a limited time, and difficult circumstances in which to clear his own name.

Readers of the first of the Cooper books will ... Read Review

Australian Outlaw, Derek Pedley

Subtitled "The True Story of Postcard Bandit Brenden Abbott", AUSTRALIAN OUTLAW is the authorised biography of Abbott, once a notorious Australian criminal, although, as it turns out from this book, a bit of a mythological figure in some ways.

Abbott actually contributed to the writing of this book (without recompense) and a combination of his own words, and Pedley's observations really bring him, and that myth to life in a rather unique way. It's an odd experience to hear directly from the criminal in this way, especially as his story isn't a particularly flattering one ... Read Review

The Ignorance of Blood, Robert Wilson

Jefe Javier Falcón is undoubtedly one of those slightly rumpled, thoughtful, urbane, complicated and delightful detectives that fans of crime fiction will love to spend time with.  THE IGNORANCE OF BLOOD is the last book in this series, beginning with THE BLIND MAN OF SEVILLE, then THE SILENT AND THE DAMNED and THE HIDDEN ASSASSINS.

In THE IGNORANCE OF THE BLOOD Seville is a swelteringly hot, tense and shocked city, following a terrorist attack which Falcón has promised will not go unsolved.  Unfortunately, whilst the promise was heart-felt, the actual identification of ... Read Review

Naming the Bones, Louise Welsh

Perhaps I should warn readers of this review that Louise Welsh is one of my all time favourite authors.  NAMING THE BONES was therefore greeted with some excited anticipation in these parts.  One of the things that I really like about Welsh's books is the dark, introspective nature of her characters and the settings, as well as irresistible Gothic quirkiness.  

NAMING THE BONES is the story of Dr Murray Watson; academic, guilty lover, conflicted brother, writer of a poet's biography.  Murray's love affair with Archie Lunan's writing had started with a slim paperback ... Read Review

Girls Like Funny Boys, Dave Franklin

I will confess to being a fan of Dave Franklin's earlier novels - but when asked, I've only ever been able to describe or classify them as "rant novels", which, incidentally is a good thing.  I was very pleased to hear there was another book out, but GIRLS LIKE FUNNY BOYS surprised me.  Very much.  Sure there's a tiny bit of "rant" in there, but this book is considerably more.  

GIRLS LIKE FUNNY BOYS is the story of Johnny Goodwin.  Growing up in a quiet Brisbane suburb, with loving, if not slightly batty parents, a faithful dog and a big crush on his teenage sweetheart, ... Read Review

Australian Tragic, Jack Marx

The blurb of this book really really intrigued me - and it's true there are stories that I've heard of, some I knew a lot about, some simply rang a bit of a bell.  There were others that I knew absolutely nothing about.  As the blurb goes on to say, they range across our past and our present: the heartbreaking story of the fire at Luna Park; the unstoppable opportunist who snatched innocent men and women from Palm Island to be part of P.T. Barnum's 'Greatest Show on Earth'; a world-class boxer who lost his battle with alcohol and ended up in an unmarked American grave; Steve Irwin, ... Read Review