All the Reviews

Reading NATURAL HISTORY I was struck by a number of things.  Firstly, this is not your normal family.  It's mostly Jane's idea to take over Monkeyland and build it into a good animal sanctuary - saving it from undoubted bankruptcy.  Patrick just sort of goes along with this.  It's Jane's idea to do the television series about Monkeyland.  Patrick sort of goes along with this.  Jane's the one that heads off to Africa and more TV stardom.  Patrick goes along with this.  Patrick's the one that ends up running Monkeyland - half-heartedly you'd have to say.  Patrick's the one that tries to ... Read review

You have to wonder what I'm doing out here, on the edge of the comfort zone again, up to my elbows in reading about things that normally don't work for me.... and enjoying it immensely.

The only thing I can clearly articulate is that THE DARKNESS WITHIN is unbelievably accessible.  Part of it's the writing style I guess - there's something laid back, almost laconic about the style of the book.  There are sly cracks, humour, a healthy dose of irony, even sarcasm in the interactions of the characters that frankly, you just don't expect in supernatural Gothic horror!  But ... Read review

James Bond would have nothing on our Alby these days (and can we all just spare a moments thought for a character name like Alby Murdoch and wonder idly whatever happened to..... remember those Alby Mangel specials?), but I digress.  Mind you, Alby's not opposed to the odd digression as well.  Sure assorted bad guys have shot his colleague dead.  So he's suddenly face to face with Grace - that gorgeous creature from the tram who returned his dropped gun and now she's armed, dangerous and driving the getaway car.  But a good lunch is hard to find and there's absolutely nothing wrong ... Read review

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT appeals - not so much because it's a tight and involving mystery, or that there is a sense of an investigation and a resolution - but because of the characters, and in particular Igi, and in an odd way a dead young woman and a dead father.  In the aftermath of her father's accidental death, Igi searches - possibly for a connection to him, but ultimately for why there is a connection between the seeming suicide of this young woman - and the death of her father.

To be honest, I'm not even sure why it is that Igi as a character appeals so much.  Maybe it ... Read review

ROMANITAS, as the first book of a trilogy, is toying with a number of central themes.  

There are actually 3 great empires covering the world - the Roman which now spreads into North America, parts of Africa and China.  Sinoa - parts of China, parts of South-Asia, up into Mongolia and Russia and Nionia - spreading it seems almost from Japan, covering Australasia and elsewhere.  

The empires all exist in a timeframe that feels a bit like current day; it was a car accident that killed Marcus' parents after all; but the technology is played with a bit in ... Read review

KING OF SWORDS is the second book from Nick Stone - MR CLARINET debuted in 2006 creating a big stir - tense and scary, set in Haiti, immersed in that country's culture and in voodoo in particular, MR CLARINET was a notable debut.

KING OF SWORDS, whilst it is the second book, is actually a prequel to the events in MR CLARINET - set in 1980's Miami where the central character from both books, Max Mingus, is still in the police force.  Miami is portrayed very much as a city clinging to the edge of civilisation - drugs are overwhelming the community, people smuggling is rife ... Read review

For the uninitiated, Matthew Reilly does not write crime.  He does not write thrillers.  Matthew Reilly writes ACTION.  Think Indiana Jones with a healthy dose of Die Hard and you'll start to get the idea.  Character development just slows down the plot too much.  As always, Reilly is inventive in the locales and situations in which he thrusts his heroes.  Having read most if not all of Reilly's books, I am always impressed by his ability to pack into the written word things I would previously have thought would only work in the visual medium of the movies.  The Sacred Stones is no ... Read review

Matthew Reilly was born in 1974.  He is of a generation who grew up on a diet of action blockbuster movies.  Reading THE SIX SACRED STONES is like reading a screenplay for one of these movies. The characters careen from one life threatening situation to another at a breakneck speed.  There is an incredibly high body count as West’s friends and foes alike succumb to the danger of this latest quest. They die in all manner of grisly fashions. Fortunately the reader is spared too many details.  

Character development isn’t really Reilly’s thing.  Why waste the words when you ... Read review

The Falconio case held the attention of the entire country in 2001 right up to and beyond the successful prosecution of Bradley John Murdoch. Lees tells of her story in a somewhat detached manner, beginning from the early days in which she first met Peter back in England through to present day as she re-builds her life without her boyfriend and hopefully, with less media attention. Peter's body was never found, and is never likely to be considering the sheer size of outback Australia, a fact Lees acknowledges in her book. A prosecution was not the end and failing the occurrence of a ... Read review