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Medea's Curse, Anne Buist22/04/2015 - 4:58pmWhen they say "write what you know" Anne Buist seems to have taken that advice very much to heart, especially when it comes to the clinical and working experience of her central character - Dr Natalie King. Hard to say about the Ducati, history of mental health problems and clothes sense. MEDEA'S CURSE starts out in extreme acceleration mode with the back story of a contretemps on the steps of the Court, followed by an encounter with Crown Prosecutor (and later sex interest) Liam O'Shea, and the disappearance of a child. The father of the missing child was also the father ... Read Review |
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Bad Seed, Alan Carter21/04/2015 - 11:27amFrom the first book featuring Cato Kwong this has been a series to follow closely. A police procedural that's moved him from Coventry (aka the Stock Squad in remote WA) back to Perth and right into the middle of a shocking murder scene. Made worse by his old friendship with the dead family. Not that it was a current friendship. Kwong and the Tan family had drifted apart many years ago, but the reason for that separation is part of the problem for this investigation:
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Graveyard of the Atlantic, Helen Goltz17/04/2015 - 2:39pmGRAVEYARD OF THE ATLANTIC is the second in the Mitchell Parker thriller series, so reading them backwards (as I am) is clearing up some unknowns, and creating a few more. Needless to say MASTERMIND, the first in the series is going to have to be read at some stage as now, if nothing else, this reader wants to know how this group got together in the first place. Given the proximity of reading the third (THE FOURTH REICH) and now GRAVEYARD OF THE ATLANTIC it's possible to really see the way the series has evolved. Whilst the crisp dialogue, and the team interactions are as ... Read Review |
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Tell No Tales, Eva Dolan14/04/2015 - 2:19pmTwo books in and the Zigic and Ferreira is a new much anticipated, favourite series. If you've read the first book, then as soon as you start TELL NO TALES, you're straight back with characters that you really know, in a place that you're comfortable in, even though there is nothing comfortable about events, or the social climate. If you haven't read the first, then it won't matter a bit - there is still plenty here for new readers. Tackling the question of immigration, immigrant workers, tensions with Nationalist groups, and the explosion in Hate Crimes that ... Read Review |
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Cold Deception, D.B. Tait14/04/2015 - 1:44pmThe author of COLD DECEPTION has had many years experience in the Criminal Justice system, and that knowledge shines through in this debut crime fiction offering. Julia Taylor's release from prison, her struggles to re-establish life and normality, and the way that she balances that struggle with parole responsibilities, the problems with finding a job and the problems in inserting herself back into her family and her community have a strong sense of reality about them. Julia's crime provides the author with a chance to explore a number of aspects - how will ... Read Review |
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Parasite, Dorothy Cormack14/04/2015 - 1:35pmTaking a look at the blurb will give you an indication of whether or not PARASITE is going to work for you. Unfortunately that style "eventuating events" and "charismatic charm" doesn't work for this reader. Combining that with the most offputting dialogue style used for Sasha's brother, meant this book was a struggle to read. The plot, as well, is very much on the icky side, which is most definitely not a bad thing, provided the characters within it make some sense, and there's a feeling of exploration or explanation, rather than just exploitation.Read Review |
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Swimming in the Dark, Paddy Richardson13/04/2015 - 12:01pmEvery now and again you come across an author who writes fabulous books, and yet, sadly seems to stay too far below the radar. New Zealander Paddy Richardson is one of the best thriller writers around these days, one that undoubtedly deserves a much bigger readership than she seems to have garnered. SWIMMING IN THE DARK is a classic from this author. Reminiscent of some of the best of the Scandinavian psychological thriller writers, this book is a perfect illustration of the power of this author's storytelling and the cleverness of the writing. Starting out ... Read Review |
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Fallout, Paul Thomas01/04/2015 - 2:42pmWhen a man like Ihaka hears there are questions about the death of his father of course it will be front of mind. Just as the unsolved murder of a young girl on election night 1987 preys on the mind of his boss Finbar McGrail. It goes without saying that Ihaka is going to start kicking over any rocks he can find in the search for the truth about his father's death, even though, as a favour to his boss, he's got to balance that with a re-investigation of the death of that young girl as well. Taking Ihaka back to the past is an interesting move for author Paul ... Read Review |
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The Pallampur Predicament, Brian Stoddart26/03/2015 - 6:45pmThe second book in the Superintendent Le Fanu series set in 1920's India, THE PALLAMPUR PREDICAMENT follows on closely from THE MADRAS MIASMA. So closely it would be worthwhile reading both books in order, although not absolutely necessary. In the reasons why column, in true police procedural style, Le Fanu is hampered by a difficult boss who hates him and his methodologies. At the end of the first book this boss is promoted even further up the chain, and the results of that are played out in this second story. Without the background many of the twists and turns in that ... Read Review |
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Amnesia, Peter Carey25/03/2015 - 3:09pmThe blurb on the back of AMNESIA reads exactly like that of a really good thriller. A threat that unleashes something frightening in the world, and the battle to find the perpetrator. Which seemed, by the end of the book, to be written for another AMNESIA, somewhere in a parallel universe. One where the book we were reading actually addressed the major plot elements, rather than immediately meandering off into something or other about an ex-journalist / ghost writer who had a bit of a hump up with the world who ... something. It's certainly possible to see ... Read Review |
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A History of Crime, Dinah Holman24/03/2015 - 3:19pmCombining history with mystery and a hefty dose of romance, A HISTORY OF CRIME was both a fascinating and slightly frustrating read. The background to Frédérique Bonnell and her connections to France and New Zealand were unknown territory for this reader - as was the idea that in 1887 New Zealand had financial problems. Needless to say the corrupt land grab and the political and influence corruption behind it was fascinating subject matter for a mystery / crime novel to explore as was the seamy side of Victorian society (as it says in the blurb). Bringing ... Read Review |
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Long Way Home, Eva Dolan23/03/2015 - 1:29pmLONG WAY HOME was released in 2014 and quickly garnered a lot of very positive comments. At which point it was placed on my reading list and then never quite nudged it's way to the top. Nothing to do with it at all, rather a propensity to be useless at prioritising books and the sudden explosion in splendid reading opportunities. But the second book in the series, TELL NO TALES was provided as a review opportunity and it seemed a pity not to sneak in the first as a lead in. Oh what a good decision that turned out to be. Aside from the pressure to read the second one ... Read Review |
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Look Closer, Rachel Amphlett19/03/2015 - 1:59pmA Thriller, LOOK CLOSER, is set in London against the backdrop of British Politics, but the scenario could be played out in any similar democracy. When Will Fletcher's journalist girlfriend Amy is badly wounded in an assassination attempt on the likely next PM, nobody even imagines that the candidate wasn't the target. Especially Fletcher who suddenly finds himself in the position of target himself, with no real understanding of why or how his life took this turn. Or what, exactly Amy was doing at the time that she was shot. In the tradition of all great ... Read Review |
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Tell the Truth, Katherine Howell12/03/2015 - 12:31pmThis is the end – for now – of the Ella Marconi series by Australian thriller writer Katherine Howell. In 2007 paramedic Katherine Howell caused quite a stir in crime-fiction fan circles with the release of her debut novel Frantic. Detective Ella Marconi made her first appearance in a desperate search to find a kidnapped baby boy. The viewpoint of the paramedic involved was up front, looking at a crime scene from a completely different angle from the usual police perspective. In this case the paramedic was a woman, Lauren, whose son had been ... Read Review |
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Every Move, Ellie Marney10/03/2015 - 2:34pmThe final book in the James Mycroft and Rachel Watts series starts and draws much to a close on the family farm Five Mile. Deep in the Mallee / Wimmera area of Victoria, first up, Rachel uses a short visit back to try to repair the mental damage that events in the middle book (EVERY WORD) inflicted. Then again the area is the setting for a very different purpose as the series concludes. It's also a chance for her brother Mike to bring his best mate Harris Derwent back to the city with them. Designated as Young Adult fiction, the "Every" series has always handled the ... Read Review |
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Avenger, Chris Allen06/03/2015 - 2:25pmAVENGER is the third book in the Alex Morgan, INTREPID series of thriller, action style novels. Whilst the earlier books (HUNTER and DEFENDER), were enormously enjoyable entrants in those categories, this third book has more to offer again. Alex Morgan is an ex-soldier, now black ops spy for Interpol's INTREPID (Intelligence, Recovery, Protection and Infiltration Division). He's been at this for quite a while now, and frankly, he's burning out in one hell of a hurry. Despite assurances that there's a break from active service after his current assignment, he's immediately ... Read Review |
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Gun Control, Peter Corris03/03/2015 - 1:11pmThe 40th book in the Cliff Hardy series, GUN CONTROL takes on a very current issue in the style that we've all come to expect from Peter Corris. It's worth taking a moment to consider that 40 book history. When Cliff Hardy first made an appearance on the Australian landscape (THE DYING TRADE, 1982), Crime Fiction had been working prolifically in the pulp fiction days (Carter Brown etc) for a very long time. Hardy, as a hard-boiled, quietly spoken, high action, take no crap from anybody type PI might have felt like a rather American "type". But Hardy was then, and has always been very ... Read Review |
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Dirty Secrets: Our Asio Files, edited by Meredith Burgmann02/03/2015 - 2:04pmLess of a review / more of a comment but I cannot tell you how "relieved" we should all be to know that regardless of the potential (or lack thereof) of threat to Australia, we have organisations like ASIO. Who in most examples of the files discussed in this book seems to have spent an inordinate amount of time obsessed with what women were wearing or how they styled their hair, and who was going out with whom. A variety of reactions from a variety of people who, for the first time mostly, were able to read their own ASIO files, it's astounding how sanguine many of them ... Read Review |
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Left Luggage, Andrew Christie25/02/2015 - 1:35pmLEFT LUGGAGE is the debut novel of Sydney based author Andrew Christie. Set mostly in and around Newtown and inner Sydney it combines an unlikely cast of central characters: John - an ex-Army house renovator; Betty - his Australian-born, French resident, famous war photographer mother; Billy – an abused and neglected young boy and Large – a gangster. Categorised as a thriller, Left Luggage is a slow burner. The initial setup involves John bringing Betty (the names do look unfortunate when you put them like that) back from her beloved Paris to live in Sydney, in a ... Read Review |
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Every Word, Ellie Marney22/02/2015 - 2:33pmA young adult crime fiction series, the "EVERY" books from Ellie Marney are a pitch perfect example of YA that works for young and old. Particularly the old that can still remember how complicated first love was, and the young that are experiencing the same. Following on closely in time and events from the first book EVERY BREATH, James Mycroft is still limping from close ... Read Review |