All the Reviews

Unseen Academicals, Terry Pratchett

Less of a fully fledged review, more of a musing on the latest Discworld Novel from Terry Pratchett UNSEEN ACADEMICALS.

The quote on the back sort of says it all "The thing about football - the IMPORTANT thing about football - is that it is not just about football".  Now I will admit I'm not a football (in any incarnation) fan.  Can't stand the hype.  Can't stand the carry-on.  Can't stand the games themselves.  So I was a little intrigued by this book - how would a Terry Pratchett treatment of the dreaded awfulness work?  I was certainly intrigued enough to put aside my ... Read Review

Skin and Bones, Tom Bale

Tom Bale, it seems, is a pseudonym for David Harrison who wrote SINS OF THE FATHER in 2006, which goes some way to explaining the deftness of touch in this crime fiction thriller.  It may also go some way to explaining how the author has managed to install an almost cinematic feel to the action.

In an opening series of scenes that, frankly, were so chilling that they disturbed this reader, everything starts out very quietly one very cold January morning in the sleepy English village of Chilton.  Julia Trent's in town to continue clearing out the house of her recently ... Read Review

The Devil's Tears, Steve Horne

THE DEVIL'S TEARS is the debut thriller from ex Army Officer Steven Horne, as well as the first fictional book I've read set in Timor-Leste.  There's an excellent Author's Note at the end of the book that gives a potted history of the struggle in East Timor for those not so familiar with the story.

Knowing that the events described in this book are fictional, but undoubtedly based in the truth of what happened in that small country, so close to our own, ignored by the world for so long, is profoundly distressing.  In a quite remarkable balancing act, Steven Horne has ... Read Review

Cold Justice, Katherine Howell

It's nearly impossible for a reader to understand what it must be like to write a series of books, based around the same characters.  All we can do is be extremely grateful that writers like Katherine Howell can do it, book after book, maintaining the same high standard, giving us new stories, and new situations for the characters to appear in, keeping the series fresh and interesting all the time.

Following on from FRANTIC and THE DARKEST HOUR, the third book COLD JUSTICE again simply does not miss a beat.  Part of the reason that these books are so good is the shifting ... Read Review

The Dark Side, Roger Rogerson (review by sunniefromoz)

Reading the autobiography of someone who has become notorious for whatever reason is always a little difficult; especially if there has been past misdeeds or alleged crimes. Just how much of the truth are you really getting? After all you're only getting their side of the story and there's nothing in the way of critical analysis of that story.

I doubt that Rogerson was telling "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." There is little or no mention about the events that made him so notorious although his accounts of cases he worked on are interesting enough. ... Read Review

Cold Justice, Katherine Howell (review by sunniefromoz)

“Write what you know” aspiring writers are often told. Katherine Howell has done that to good effect. She worked as a paramedic for many years and her detailed knowledge of both the job and the physical and emotional toll it takes are vividly portrayed. COLD JUSTICE is Katherine’s third book (the previous two are Frantic and The Darkest Hour) and her writing seems to get better and better . COLD JUSTICE not only has the fast pace of a thriller, it also has multiple threads which are gradually pulled together. Katherine is also a dab hand at knowing exactly when to change threads in ... Read Review

Stone's Fall, Iain Pears

STONE'S FALL by Iain Pears is one of those books that just looks intimidating.  Even in paperback it's a great big doorstopper of a thing - 597 pages long.  One of those books that you wonder if you can risk reading in bed, what with a tendency to doze off and the potential for blackened eyes and badly squished noses.  Three books in one in styling, STONE'S FALL tells the story of why John Stone, First (and last) Baron Ravenscliff died, falling from a window at his London home.  

Starting out with a funeral in Paris in 1953, the story quickly sets itself in 1909 London, ... Read Review

A Question of Power, Michelle Schwarz

In 2001, when a series of newspaper reports revealed that four women had accused Geoff Clark of rape I distinctly remember trying to follow the complicated legal and reporting machinations that were going on.  I also distinctly remember feeling like I'd failed in that endeavour badly, but was never exactly sure why.

Reading A QUESTION OF POWER gives you a distinct understanding of why this case was so complicated, so intense, so emotional.

This book really is a fantastic example of investigative journalism, and ultimately, of the very best sort of true crime ... Read Review

The Fortunes of Mary Fortune, edited by Lucy Sussex

First published by Penguin in 1989 THE FORTUNES OF MARY FORTUNE wasn't the easiest book to track down.  In fact it took a lot of driving across the Goldfields region of Victoria to get my hands on a copy, which is somewhat appropriate given that the Central Goldfields is one of the locations that Mary Fortune wrote so much about.

THE FORTUNES OF MARY FORTUNE is edited by Lucy Sussex who is undoubtedly the expert on a woman who deserves a wider audience and considerably more acknowledgement for both the quality of her writing as well as for her historic place in Australian ... Read Review