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Flight Risk, Michael McGuire07/01/2019 - 1:42pmPost 9-11 it's hard to think that there hasn't been speculation about the next shock and awe campaign. I bet nobody thought there'd be an Australian, rough and tumble ex-commercial pilot, come spy at the centre of it all. The theory that Michael McGuire proposes in his thriller FLIGHT RISK is, however, just believable enough to make you feel decidedly twitchy about the possible reality. Right from page one FLIGHT RISK is out of the starter's gate at a hefty clip, moving quickly through the back story of Ted Anderson: disgraced former pilot, widower and estranged father, former a lot ... Read Review |
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Invisible Women, Kylie Fox & Ruth Wykes07/01/2019 - 1:19pmStacked up in every corner of this house are piles of books that I should have read by now, with INVISIBLE WOMEN being one of them. As the sub-heading puts it: "Powerful and Disturbing Stories of Murdered Sex Workers". The tardiness was regretted even more once I finished the book. A lot of the power behind these stories is down to the sheer numbers. The index lists 65 women's names - murdered or gone missing since 1970 (the book was published in 2016). To put that into perspective, 46 years, 65 women listed. God knows how many more died during that period, how many more ... Read Review |
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An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good, Helene Tursten31/12/2018 - 5:28pm“Barely a week later, the doorbell rang, loud and long. In Maud’s world it felt as if her visitor had only just left.” When Swedish crime writer Helene Turston was asked to write a short story for a Christmas anthology she created the character of Maud, an 88 year lady who has no qualms about committing a murder. Since writing An Elderly Lady Seeks Peace At Christmas Helene Turston has written another four short stories featuring Maud. All five Maud stories, which have been translated by Marlaine Delargy, are now available in a single volume entitled An Elderly Lady Is Up ... Read Review |
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Country of the Blind, Christopher Brookmyre24/12/2018 - 2:48pm“But Parlabane, tears welling in his eyes as knelt trembling on the carpet, knew exactly what they meant. They meant black was white, white was black, something was very, very wrong- and only he could prove it.” When I started my summer favourites series of reviews I knew it wouldn’t be too long before I picked up a Chris Brookmyre novel, the question always going to be, which one? After the release of his debut novel, Quite Ugly One Morning, Brookmyre wrote three equally excellent novels, Country of the Blind, One Fine Day in ... Read Review |
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The Girl Without Skin, Mads Peder Nordbo22/12/2018 - 8:10pmOpening with a breathtaking first-person account of the car accident that killed Matthew Cave's wife and unborn daughter, THE GIRL WITHOUT SKIN isn't as straight-forward an undertaking for fans of Nordic Noir as it might seem. Early on in the novel you're going to find yourself ticking off the required elements list. Awful personal tragedy; man lost in grief and lacking direction; isolation in a cold and inhospitable location; tension between different groups of people; local indigenous stories and customs; bone-chilling cold and weather creating a closed room setting; an ... Read Review |
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Wetland, Colin King22/12/2018 - 1:26pmBased around an event that followers of the Underbelly wars in Melbourne will likely recognise, this tale is the second outing for Detective Sergeant Rory James, based in part in the Bendigo region. The first book in the series A VINTAGE DEATH was set firmly in winemaking region of Heathcote, with the action interwoven into the history of the place. WETLAND takes a slightly different tack in that James is still involved in the Bendigo region, and there are aspects of the action that take place in the area, but the feel is more Melbourne-centric this time. ... Read Review |
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Know Me Now, C.J. Carver14/12/2018 - 2:49pmThird in the Dan Forrester series, we're into classic thriller mode now with this series. Heaps of action, a fast moving, multi threaded plot, this one creates a partnership quickly between Forrester and ongoing series character Lucy Davies that works well. Again we have a couple of main threads, a supposed suicide and a seemingly natural death that turn out to be murder, with a very personal connection to Forrester. In a nutshell KNOW ME NOW is a better outing than the second, but not quite to the heights of the first novel in the series. To be fair, a lot of the ... Read Review |
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The Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett10/12/2018 - 5:09pm2nd in the Discworld series - listened to during the year, this time narrated by Nigel Planer - another perfect 6 hours and 54 minutes of listening pleasure :)Read Review |
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The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett10/12/2018 - 4:37pmAnybody paying attention might have noticed I've been revisiting a lot of favourite series in audible format recently. Lots of time in the car = lots of listening time and local radio is now so dire it's been the perfect kick in the pants to go back and re-listen to many favourite series. A lot of the enjoyment depends on the narrator and Nigel Planer and Stephen Briggs doing the full-form novels, and Tony Robinson doing some of the abridged versions are firm favourites. If you've never listened to the Discworld series (or even read them) then in audible format they are perfect ... Read Review |
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Equal Rites, Terry Pratchett10/12/2018 - 1:34pmThe third book in the Discworld series, this time it was an abridged version (2 hours, 54 minutes) narrated by Tony Robinson - which made the listening great, but it would have been nice if it had have been the entire book as Robinson does such a great job.Read Review |
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The Lost Man, Jane Harper07/12/2018 - 5:43pmI'm going to start this review in an odd way, by declaring that I didn't like Jane Harper's second book FORCE OF NATURE as much as I had been expecting to. Initially I thought this was because it read like an idea that Aaron Falk had been hammered into it later on, weakening the plot, motivations and sense of place to the point where they seemed to sort of float along to an inevitable ending. Having now finished Harper's third (non-Falk book) THE LOST MAN, the reasons are clearer. Harper is at her best when she's writing about people at the absolute and utter edge and THE ... Read Review |
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Kill Shot, Garry Disher06/12/2018 - 5:34pm
Good bit of general life advice this, although at the time Wyatt is standing, motionless, waiting for any signs his entry into the house he's about to rob has been noticed. Perhaps not a recommended scenario for the rest of us. Mind you, Wyatt doesn't get noticed that often, and even when people think they know who he is, pinning him down will always prove more difficult than they could possibly imagine. Even going home is an exercise in watching for Wyatt: ... Read Review |
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Kolymsky Heights, Lionel Davidson29/11/2018 - 2:54pmWelcome to the second in my series of favourite books which I’ll be reviewing over the summer. Lionel Davidson’s Kolymsky Heightsis one those books which I, although I hestitate to say it, would put in the ‘best you’ve never heard of’ category. I know that’s a cliché but it’s how it was described to me when I was first given it to read in 2008, the person who gave it me probably had the same conversation with the person who gave it to them and so forth. After reading Kolymsky Heights the first time I didn’t disagree The novel begins with a Prologue which appears ... Read Review |
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Live and Let Fry, Sue Williams26/11/2018 - 1:52pmThere are times in life when you just need something frivolous, fun and slightly tongue in cheek. Australian readers are lucky to have the Cass Tuplin series from Sue Williams to fulfil that need. The tongue in cheek bit is the important thing to remember when it comes to Cass Tuplin books - from the titles: MURDER WITH THE LOT / DEAD MEN DON'T ORDER FLAKE and now LIVE AND LET FRY you can kind of gather there's a good old-style fish and chip shop somewhere in the mix here. In this case in the fictional Victorian Mallee town of Rusty Bore, just down the road from Hustle, ... Read Review |
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Denny Day, the Life and Times of Australia's Greatest Lawman, Terry Smyth23/11/2018 - 12:34pmIt's been way too long for such this book to garner a mention hereabouts. Circumstances have intervened which means I've got notes, review documents, and bits and pieces of things that should have been done stacked up to the ceiling and am now going to really make an effort to get my act together. DENNY DAY is an account of the lawman who, amongst other things in his life, tracked down the perpetrators of the Myall Creek Massacre which occurred on the 10th June 1838. Details of Denny Day himself might be a tad on the sketchy side, but that is more than made ... Read Review |
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Quite Ugly One Morning, Christopher Brookmyre23/11/2018 - 11:42amMy return to series in the car is currently alternating between Terry Pratchett's Discworld books and all of Christopher Brookmyre's early work. Both of them are an utter joy to listen to, and a potential threat to life and limb. Car journeys here are, by necessity, long. Everywhere is around an hour away - at 100ks, on country roads, dodging potholes big enough to lose the car in, huge grain or hay hauling trucks, assorted wildlife from the kill you type (kangaroos) to the don't you dare kill them ones (echidna's and blue tongue lizards at this time of the year). It ... Read Review |
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Heaven Sent, Alan Carter19/11/2018 - 11:54amSometimes you start reading a series book about a favourite character, and really start to wonder if the author is annoyed with them, subconsciously punishing them for being too popular, or just enjoying applying the thumb screws for a change. Whatever is going on, Alan Carter isn't making it easy for the popular, easy-going, and seemingly content Philip 'Cato' Kwong in HEAVEN SENT. Settled in his personal life with a new wife, new daughter and a tricky but improving relationship with his teenage son, Kwong's professional life is relatively stable as well - at least he's ... Read Review |
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Call for the Dead, John Le Carre18/11/2018 - 12:58pmOver the summer, along with reviewing new novels, I’m also planning to review some of my favourites starting with John Le Carre’s Call For The Dead. Although Le Carre is arguably the greatest spy novelist of all time his first two novels, Call For The Dead and A Murder Of Quality, fit more closely within the crime/mystery genre. It was only after the release of Le Carre’s third novel, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, that he became known as a writer of espionage novels. Call For The Dead was released in the same year as ... Read Review |
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A Body of Work, Janice Simpson16/11/2018 - 2:54pmNOTE: This review was originally published in 2013 - the book has now been re-released. A debut police procedural from Melbourne based, ex-Ballarat dweller, JM (Janice) Simpson, A BODY OF WORK makes good use of both of those locations. Brendan O'Leary is now a Melbourne based detective, with family contacts still in Ballarat. His DC Ange Micelli has a very Melbourne background, descended from Italian migrants, an inner city dweller who is very focused on career, feeling a bit of pressure over family versus career. When they are called upon to investigate the murder of ... Read Review |
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In a House of Lies, Ian Rankin10/11/2018 - 11:42amSo we are rolling along with all the old gang (though the lovely wee dog is relatively new); Rebus, heir apparent Siobhan Clarke, Malcolm Fox, Big “Ger” Cafferty etc. There’s a huge comfort in the familiarity of seeing the same people in each outing, though you do wonder how much longer Rebus’s involvement in current police investigations can be justified or explained away. Cafferty, who seemed to be beginning to slide into the background in series priors, appears to have found his mojo again IN THIS HOUSE OF LIES. Very curious to see what will happen with Cafferty’s empire, and as ... Read Review |