All the Reviews

Wyatt, Garry Disher

It's been quite a wait for the latest WYATT novel - The Fallout was published in 1997.  I for one was rather excited to hear the news that there was a book on the way last year and I've been somewhat impatiently waiting for it to appear since then.  As with all these greatly anticipated books, there's always that nasty little voice at the back of your head wondering if the anticipation might be building an unreasonable expectation.

But this is a Garry Disher novel, and it's a WYATT novel and it's almost impossible to contemplate the idea of disappointment.  Partly because ... 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

All The Dead Voices, Declan Hughes

Grant me a moment here, but Ed Loy is well and truly back and I'm more than a little bit happy about that!  ALL THE DEAD VOICES is a really tense, investigative novel with a just a touch of the thriller about it.  The action is swift, the tension carefully ramped up and the plot nicely complicated.  The details are carefully laid out, allowing the reader to keep up, sort it out, decide for themselves, pick up the clues along the way.  Provided you're concentrating.

In 1980 two IRA men are hiding beside a roadway, ready to detonate the bomb destined to kill a hated judge ... Read Review

Kickback, Garry Disher

There's a new Wyatt on the way, and that means it's as good a time as any to do a little tidying up of the back catalogue.

Wyatt is a very careful man, because he has to be.  Wyatt robs banks, lifts payrolls, gets girls, leaves girls, lives the life of a loner, trusts few, works out the details and thinks a job through.  He regards his criminal activities as his job, he's very professional.  He doesn't like surprises, he doesn't like hot heads and half wits, mind you, he can handle them when he needs to.

Kickback is the first Wyatt novel from renowned ... Read Review

A Decent Ransom, Ivana Hruba

A DECENT RANSOM is a story of a kidnapping gone right (according to the tag on the book).  More than that it's a story about a bit of a misfit that somehow ends up okay, despite all the odds being stacked against him.

The storyline is pretty simple to start off with - two young (as is revealed) half-brothers, each a misfit in his own right, coming from a totally dysfunctional background, live in the dire circumstances that their mother deserted them in.  The elder comes up with a classic get-rich quick scheme, the younger brother Phoebus is the one who deals with the ... Read Review

African Psycho, Alain Mabanckou

When AFRICAN PSYCHO by Alain Mabanckou arrived in my book stack, I really wasn't sure what to expect.  I've finished it now and I'm still not sure what I got.  But I do remember it!

Gregoire is a neglected child - an ugly child - an anonymous child - abandoned by his parents - he's raised in an increasingly haphazard manner really by himself mostly.  He vows he will be different.  He will be remembered.  He vows to escape his humdrum reality and commit a spectacular murder.  Just like his idol - the serial killer Angoualima.  Angoualima is Gregoire's guide, his mentor, ... Read Review

Blood Moon, Garry Disher

The Hal Challis series is really growing into something particularly interesting, as well as entertaining.  There's a distinct edge to this story, there are obviously some issues which the author wants to talk about, and he's cleverly worked a number of elements of social observation and commentary into what is, overall, a good solid police procedural.

Hal and Ellen's romantic interest at the end of the last book has developed into a live-in relationship.  Which has a number of complications - not just that they work together and that Hal is Ellen's boss.  Ellen's divorce ... Read Review

A Darker Domain, Val McDermid

Val McDermid has tackled some social history that is obviously very dear to her own heart in A DARKER DOMAIN, and it has to be said, she's done it with considerable style.  Not only does this book give you a fascinating glimpse into the social chaos and personal pain caused by the Miner's Strikes in early 1980's Britain, it carries the story of three unfathomable disappearances.

Cold Case squad detectives DI Karen Pirie and DS Phil Parhatka are initially looking into the disappearance of Mick Prentice - reported missing 22 years after he supposedly broke ranks and joined ... Read Review

The Final Bet, Abdelilah Hamdouchi

Remarked upon often as the first Arabic detective story translated, THE FINAL BET is a very slim volume that has a strong central message.  The book really isn't particularly about Casablanca the place, or even the people.  It's very much targeted straight at the way that the Moroccan legal system functioned at the time that it was written - and you can pick that thread up very clearly even without reading the afterword by the translator of the book - Jonathan Smolin.

Othman has often thought about killing his elderly wife.  The marriage is complicated by the difference ... Read Review