Reviewed by Ian Lipke Jamie Williams’ War Dog blends visceral realism with a focused exploration of human psychological endurance. Rather than relying on melodrama on a grand scale, the novel grounds its narrative in high-stakes combat, spatial tension, and character morality. War Dog reveals a work defined by a disciplined, economical prose style, an evocative
Reviewed by Gayle Williams It’s rare for me to reach for a fantasy novel, but I’ve always had a soft spot for stories centred on witches. That was the initial lure of Christy Anne Jones’s debut novel, Theodora’s Tea Shop. Despite its cozy-sounding title, Jones threads darker, more atmospheric elements through her story. The reader
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders Whispering death is the name given to Australia’s Beaufighter planes that were crucial to turning back the Japanese invasion of southeast Asia in World War 2. The planes themselves were formidable, but this is the story of the pilots, crew and mechanics who made up the squadrons. Half a century later,
Reviewed by Gayle Williams If you’re an Australian true‑crime buff, you’ve almost certainly heard of Katherine Knight — the infamous “Butcher of Aberdeen.” In her book of the same name, Rojé Augustin recounts, with grisly precision, Knight’s violent assaults on her partners and, ultimately, the brutal murder of her final victim, John Price. Knight’s case
Reviewed by Ian Lipke An exploration of Jane R. Miles’s debut novel, Stay Buried, reveals a masterful blending of atmospheric terror and psychological depth. Described as crossing the claustrophobia of Room with the eerie outback mystery of Picnic at Hanging Rock, the novel utilizes its historical backdrop and sharply drawn figures to explore themes of
Reviewed by Rod McLary Hero is the fifth in the crime series featuring DS Lucas Walker and, though there are links and references to the earlier books, each one can be read as a stand-alone. Previously, DS Walker was with the Australian Federal Police where he had successfully arrested the Vandals leader Stefan Markovich. But
Reviewed by Ian Lipke The major character in Sally Piper’s novel is by no means leading a glamorous life. The book explains the journey Tina Lamb has been forced to undertake, one in which she navigates a path from a brutal mid-life divorce to near homelessness. From the depths of despair, she achieves a renewed
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve This, the latest of Karin Slaughter’s crime novels which are now published in over 120 countries, is further evidence of her mastery of the genre. It is difficult to deny that she is a talented author and writes with an assurance that continues to produce books that are irrefutably among the
Reviewed by Ian Hamilton It takes confidence as a storyteller to create a novel with an unattractive main character. Matt Nable has chosen to do this in Mire. Furthermore, the other characters are, almost without exception, also unappealing, not to say morally repugnant. Perhaps that is not a surprise if the chosen genre is gangster
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Léonie Kelsall’s latest book is the tenth novel in the Settlers Bridge series. I have read many of the books in this series so was pleased to become reacquainted with some people I had come across before. Each book in the linked series is a standalone and can be read in
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This hard-covered children’s picture book is about a young girl becoming aware of another language that her grandfather could speak. Myra is staying with her grandfather and enjoying his company. One day she hears him on the phone speaking in a language she has never heard before. When she asks him
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve Lauren Williams is fresh to the genre of crime fiction and she brings a lively and diverting touch to it. Themes she uses ensure the novel is currently appealing to a wide audience. Domestic violence, community cohesion, family dynamics, corruption in both the police force and the judiciary and a woman
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve Please note that this review contains some spoilers. Success in the Capitalist world of high finance brings dilemmas for the two chief characters in Jessy Wu’s superb first novel. Jake Sullivan and Nadia Kuan meet at University in Sydney, when they work as investigative reporters for the student newspaper, Rostra. Both
Reviewed by Ian Lipke I admit that it took me some considerable time to warm to reading this book by Petronella McGovern. One has to assume that the reader can suspend disbelief on more than one occasion as the events unfold. Maybe I have been reading too much in the field of rationalist argument. The
Reviewed by Jim Posner Krank Fuss is a novella by the Australian born playwright Andrew Upton. Now resident in the UK, Upton has crafted a thought-provoking allegory in the mode of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, where the story is told through the voices of animals living on a farm. This particular farm is situated in Germany in