All the Reviews

Maitland has taken a break from his popular Brock and Kolla series with the release of BRIGHT AIR.  It opens with Josh, having recently returned to Sydney after working in London, still mourning the death of his girlfriend Luce, they had both been members of the University climbing club.  Luce had fallen to her death off the rugged coast of Lord Howe Island, her body never found, other members of the climbing team on the same trip had said she was climbing on her own and had simply disappeared.  Josh is not only mourning her loss, but feeling profoundly guilty because of what happened ... Read review

VOODOO DOLL is the second book featuring Jill Jackson - the first, VODKA DOESN'T FREEZE is a worthy nominee on the Best First Crime Fiction novel list for 2008.  VODKA DOESN'T FREEZE explored - very graphically - the impact of child abuse, VOODOO DOLL takes us into the violent world of the psychopath.

Joss is a Veteran of the Australian Armed Forces - he was a bit of a handful as a boy - got into a fair bit of trouble.  He's since done some harrowing tours of duty - including one that haunts him still in Rwanda, he saw a lot of things that have left him shattered and ... Read review

Espionage thrillers these days frequently put "the terrorists" in the old black hat role - the starring role the spies from the Soviet Union and the like used to occupy.  The Terrorists in these incarnations can come from anywhere - they could be Russian (mafia or not), they can frequently be Middle Eastern, or as in Golden Serpent, they are Asian.  One thing that doesn't really change that much is the nature of the threat - it tends to be huge, the weapons devastating, the results of their possible success vast and catastrophic.  And in GOLDEN SERPENT, as you'd want in a good ... Read review

The Joe Sixsmith series is much more light-hearted than Mr Hill's other, well known Dalziel and Pascoe series.  Partly because Joe is a gifted amateur Private Investigator and partly because of Joe's own personality.  He takes his responsibilities seriously, but he doesn't take himself all that seriously.  Of course his Aunt Mirabelle and his girlfriend Beryl are always standing by, ready to shoot down any signs of Joe getting ahead of himself.

He is somewhat surprised though to find himself confronted by a YFG (Young Fair God).  On a day when the heat is causing him to ... Read review

THE GOOD THIEF'S GUIDE TO AMSTERDAM is exactly the tonic required for a crime fiction fan in dreary, cold winter.  Sure it's set in slightly more exotic cold Amsterdam, but the tone of the book is just on the cheeky side, a little bit light-hearted, a touch of the romp.  It is a good tale told by the central character - career thief, crime fiction author, the indefatigable Charlie Howard.

After the mysterious American dangles the job of stealing two (of the three of "wise" fame) uninspiring little monkey figurines, Charlie is initially pretty underwhelmed.  But once a ... Read review

MAELSTROM is a no-apologies thriller.  I have to be honest and say thrillers aren’t usually my choice of reading. They work better for me on the big screen than between the pages of a book, but I found myself enjoying MAELSTROM much more than I expected.  The there is plenty of action without it being dragged out too much and there’s enough plot to keep non-action people like me reading. 

Dedicated thriller-readers will enjoy every action-packed page of MAELSTROM.  It is a promising debut novel from Michael MacConnell. 

MAELSTROM is a 2008 Ned Kelly nominee ... Read review

Set in Botswana, A CARRION DEATH introduces the reader to, amongst a lot of other characters, Assistant Superintendent David Bengu.  David is a big man.  A very big man.  As a young man, his friend Angus coined the nickname Kubu - which means Hippopotamus in Setswana.  That friend belongs to one of the families in Botswana - his father, until he died, and his uncle have run the Botswana Cattle and Mining Company for many years. His friend - Angus and his twin sister Dianna are about to reach the age at which they inherit and they can take over from their uncle Cecil.

In ... Read review

Psychologist Joseph O’Loughlin is called to the Clifton Suspension Bridge where a woman, naked except for her red high heels, is poised to jump. As she weeps into a mobile phone, he tries to talk her down. She turns to him, whispers ‘you don’t understand’ and jumps.

A few days later, the woman’s teenage daughter, Darcy, turns up on Joe’s doorstep. She refuses to believe her mother could have committed suicide, and certainly not by jumping off a bridge. Joe starts to believe that the woman was coerced into jumping by the person on the other end of the mobile phone. The ... Read review

I wanted to read this book for a few reasons - for a start it's set in my home town, in and around the suburb of Richmond.  Okay I have a passing knowledge only of Richmond having spent an inglorious 6 months or so around that area many many many many years ago and nothing much since then - should go back / there's some good Vietnamese restaurants in that area.  But I digress.  The other reason I wanted to read this book is that it's obtained online via Lulu - and I've been quite a fan and follower of the Lulu business model for years - they provide an outlet for so many open source ... Read review