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Cold Truth, Ashley Kalagian BluntSet amid the ferocious cold of a Canadian winter, Ashley Kalagian Blunt’s new novel continues her exploration of the threats of life online. Full review at Newtown Review of BooksRead Review |
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The Reunion, Bronwyn RiversTen years ago six teenagers hiked into the wilderness and five of them came back alive. They were school friends. Ed (whose family farm was their starting off point), Hugh, Charlotte, Laura, Jack and Alex, close, but with the sorts of slightly complicated romantic attachments and fractures that you find in groups of kids of that age. Nobody for a moment thought that this would be a dangerous hike, they were experienced walkers, fit, and Ed knew this area from a childhood growing up here. Only Ed died, and for the ten years since his mother Mary has had plenty of time to think about her beloved only child's death.Read Review |
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The Grapevine, Kate KempA slow burner novel, THE GRAPEVINE is the tale of a murder from the perspective of its fallout in a small suburban community in Canberra, in 1979. It's also a breathtakingly clever takedown of much of what remains flat out stupid - xenophobia, racism, homophobia, misogyny, and the restrictions placed on women. Done so cleverly in fact, that it may take a while for reader's to get to grips with what's going on in THE GRAPEVINE, which leads the reader oh so gently, persuasively into a false sense of the mundane, the suburban, the predictable. Helped in that ... Read Review |
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Sand Talk, Tyson YunkaportaThere's a few books in this house that sit on the "reread bits" stack permanently, and this is one of them. There are so many coloured tags sticking out of my copy it looks like it's growing something, and in a way it is. Very pointed and frequently subversive Yunkaporta's voice in this one is incredibly strong, powerful and just ever so slightly sarcastic at points. It's funny, it's generous, and it's educational. So lives up to the subtitle "How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World". I mean I have no idea why we would for ... Read Review |
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Panic, Catherine JinksIn her new novel, Panic, Catherine Jinks provides a timely take on online mobs, conspiracy theorists, and sovereign citizens. Full Review at Newtown Review of books.
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Able, Dylan AlcottI listened to Alcott read this memoir himself so that was a bit of a joy in and of itself, there's something about the infectious tone of his voice that's very engaging, and pretty funny in places. He's got a dry sense of humour that's for sure, but in ABLE he doesn't shy away from the complications of a life spent with some physical restrictions as the result of a tumour on the spine that he was born with. In 1990. Sheesh, the things this man has achieved in his lifetime make me wonder what the hell I've been doing for all my years. I'd definitely recommend reading / ... Read Review |
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Three Boys Gone, Mark SmithWhen three 16 year old boys on a school hiking trip run into perilous surf, the only witness is Grace Disher, the teacher in charge of the trip, who reluctantly defers to the first rule of rescue: don't create another casualty and stands helplessly by as the boys disappear. Switch then to the remaining boys in the party, and the two other teachers who were with them on the hike as Disher was setting up for the group's arrival at their next destination. It was when she was hiking back in to meet them that she came across these three, who inexplicably it seems, simply ran ... Read Review |
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The Accident on the A35, Graeme Macrae BurnetHaving read the third in the series A CASE OF MATRICIDE very recently I was intrigued enough by the prospect of the two earlier books that I managed to get the 2nd via the local library. Hence it jumped quite a long way up the queue in order to be able to return it. Luckily this doesn't seem to be a series that is suffering from my backwards approach. Georges Gorski is a fascinating sort of character, bought to life, as I said in the review linked to above, by a writing style that combines wry humour and ... Read Review |
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The Campers, Maryrose CuskellyThe first line of the blurb for THE CAMPERS describes it as "An engrossing and provocative exploration of privilege, hypocrisy and justice... " which is about as perfect a description as you'd ever want. This is discomforting, confusing, and confronting reading, a story that is classified as crime fiction for unusual reasons. The first crime, and the obvious one, in this novel is the juxtaposition of the have and the have-nots. A safe, seemingly community-orientated enclave in the inner-city, "The Drove" is an idyllic location for those privileged enough to be ... Read Review |
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Return to Blood, Michael BennettFollowing on from the excellent first novel in this series, BETTER THE BLOOD, RETURN TO BLOOD is centred, once again, around Hana Westerman. Only now she has turned in her police badge, abandoning a career as a detective in the Auckland CIB, she's returned to her hometown of Tātā Bay to do some running repairs.Read Review |
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Home Truths, Charity NormanHOME TRUTHS is the second novel I've been lucky enough to read by author Charity Norman that uses characters and connections to drive home an important, and devastating message. In REMEMBER ME she explored the complications of family, dementia and secrets. HOME TRUTHS is again an exploration of family and secrets, but it's also about grief, guilt and the viciousness of manipulation. Starting out with the attempted murder trial of Yorkshire based Probation officer Livia Denby, the story commences as the jury announces it has ... Read Review |
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Everywhere We Look, Martine KropkowskiMartine Kropkowski’s debut crime fiction delves into the devastating consequences of the epidemic of violence against women. Full review at Newtown Review of BooksRead Review |
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An Ethical Guide to Murder, Jenny MorrisSomewhere between fantasy, science fiction and crime fiction, with a nod to family tragedy, chicklit style girls out of control, the ups and downs of long term friendships, romance and relationship tensions, there will need to be a sub-category that AN ETHICAL GUIDE TO MURDER will slot into. In other words, which shelf this one goes onto is going to be a creative choice, because it's nothing if not very different. The story revolves around Thea, and her secret power of life and death. Just by touching someone she can tell how long they have to live. She can also transfer ... Read Review |
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A Case of Matricide, Graeme Macrae BurnetIn a sign of just how ridiculously behind and disorganised I've been of late, A CASE OF MATRICIDE has been lurking around here for months now, and it's the third novel in a series that I'd failed to even start. Now I'm reading it back to front because this was such a fascinating read. Fascinating partly because Burnet has a writing style that elegantly combines wry humour with detailed observational elements that never become overblown, blurring boundaries between characters and the reader, all whilst having a good rummage around in the darkest recesses of people's minds ... Read Review |
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The Hitchhiker, Gabriel BergmoserFans of the Bee Gees might find themselves with psychological issues post reading or listening to THE HITCHHIKER. I'm not sure I'll hear the particular track that's on high rotation in the car at the centre of much of the action here without a slight twitch ever again to be honest. A master of psychological suspense Bergmoser's gone all out with THE HITCHHIKER, creating a central character who starts off reasonably benign, rapidly being revealed as the sort of sick, depraved, just flat out creepy, awful bloke that you kind of know is probably out there, but could really ... Read Review |
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A Killer Harvest, Paul CleaveThis review is ridiculously and embarrassingly overdue. The notes for it have been sitting in my queue for way too long, especially as I have always been sorely tempted to gobble read anything by this author as soon as I can get my hands on it. He's one of those authors that knows how to take an unlikely, unrealistic scenario and make it so matter of fact, whilst scaring the living daylights out of the reader, that the only doubt you may have is just before you start reading. My advice as always? Park the doubt. Read all his books. In A KILLER HARVEST, young Joshua is ... Read Review |
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Macca, Mackenzie Arnold & Emma KempI'm not at all ashamed to admit that I'm a recent convert to football via the Matilda's. Fair to say men's football left me vaguely disinterested even though I did try to watch a World Cup once. But the Matilda's - well they were a revelation.Read Review |
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Murder in Punch Lane, Jane SullivanIn Melbourne, in 1868, theatre star Marie St Denis dies in the arms of her best friend, up and coming actress, Lola Sanchez. The accepted cause of death is suicide by laudanum overdose, something that Sanchez refuses to believe. Why would her brilliant, much admired, accomplished dear friend do such a thing? But then why would anyone kill St Denis?Read Review |
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The Little Sparrow Murders, Seishi YokomizoI've read all but one of this series, all out of order, and in different formats - this time THE LITTLE SPARROW MURDERS was available as an audio book via the local library which worked out brilliantly. The narrator (Akira Matsumoto) was extremely easy to listen to, used a non-grating number of voices for the characters, and gave me a lesson on pronunciation that I really appreciated. The story here is based around Yokomizo's main character, Kosuke Kindaichi, a private detective frequently referred to as "scruffy" being invited to a remote mountain village to look, with ... Read Review |
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Brainstorm, Richard ScolyerRight now, given what Richard Scolyer is dealing with health and personal wise, the fact that any book has been written is amazing (he worked with a writer to get this out). That he felt he was able to tell anything of his story, a successful and revolutionary medical career at the Melanoma Institute of Australia, and his life with a much loved family, and how that was affected by a devastating diagnosis of glioblastoma, an incurable brain cancer, is selfless and important. I so deeply admire the effort and brilliance of his work, and his willingness to be open about the ... Read Review |