Reviewed by Rod McLary An older woman suddenly goes missing – not at home, unreachable by phone, no warning to her daughter – what has happened? Not an unfamiliar trope for crime mysteries but The Missing Mother is no crime mystery. It is a psychological thriller which engages you from the very first line –
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This slightly textured, 30 x24cm, hard-covered children’s picture book is presented with dramatic colours. The author Claire Saxby has teamed up with illustrator Peter Cheong to produce her latest book, Through the Darkening Sea. His collage-style artwork is presented in predominantly dark colours – to follow the dramatic story being told.
Reviewed by E. B. Heath My enthusiasm for The Embarrassing Confessions of Gracie Sparks written by Fiona Harris grew with every page. It is not easy to write for middle grade children, while also making an older demographic shed the odd tear. An authentic voice resonated from every page as Gracie experienced her transition from
Reviewed by Ian Lipke The latest book by David Baldacci, Hope Rises, presents all that it promises. We are assured that the hero, FBI informant Walter Nash will tread into dangerous waters when he tangles with master criminal Victoria Steers. Under her direction the once gentle and sensitive Nash discovers he has a hidden, lethal
Reviewed by Antonella Townsend My mother said, many times, that she was lucky, furthermore, it was better to be lucky than rich. Thankfully, on the subject of luck, I can now refer to a higher authority than mother, who incidentally would not walk under a ladder if her life depended on it. Nobuko Nakano, a
Reviewed by Rod McLary The subtitle to this book is A Memoir of Love, Loss and Addiction and is Jonathan Tepper’s story of his childhood and his family. The story is an unusual one by any measure and the epigraph really says it all: How natural it all seemed then; how remote and improbable now!
Reviewed by Antonella Townsend Sam Beckbessinger presents an entertaining version of a supernatural horror in her debut adult novel, Femme Feral, a howling commentary on modern society from a female perspective. The main protagonist, Ellie, juggles work in the tech industry creating apps for guided meditations, and runs a household consisting of a vague, well-meaning
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke The Anders graphic novels are the work of Melbourne based Gregory Mackay who has been making comics since his school days. Anders and the Mountain is the fourth in this series. His books have received much acclaim especially overseas. Anders and his friends are all animals. They put on a benefit
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Chateau Marmont, which is the setting for Natasha Lester’s latest book, is a historic hotel located at 8221 Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. Completed in 1929, it was modelled loosely after the Château d’Amboise, a former royal castle in France. The hotel is known as both a long- and short-term
Reviewed by Clare Brook Michael Delahaye is a former BBC Television news reporter, correspondent and documentary producer. From 1998 he worked as a senior media consultant for the Thomson Foundation UK to protect and develop independent journalism in the post-Soviet world. He travelled throughout the Russian Federation – Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve The seductive charm of Provence, a beautifully crumbling old house, a group of strangers coming together for two weeks and there to discover hidden talents or realise a method in producing a best-selling book…… it is a scenario straight from many a struggling writer’s dream. Kat Hale has written a novel
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Susan Lever identifies Alec Hope as being born in 1907 but reached acclaim as a poet no earlier than the 1960s. An expanded version of his The Wandering Islands was published in 1955. Until this date he was recognised as a satirist and a witty reviewer. With time Hope was showered
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve The deep connection to the natural world is beautifully and movingly realised in Inga Simpson’s collection of different stories which are linked by the passion they contain. In the longer eponymously titled one, the uncompromising nature of a relationship is a reflection of a wider view of the world. The two
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Storm, by author, Claire Saxby, is a hard covered children’s picture book. The front cover depicts the title with dark thunderous clouds and driving rain. The back cover, in contrast, is presented in rainbow colours. This book would be suitable for Primary School students as it covers what happens when a
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Somewhere You Can Dream, is a twenty-six cm square hardcovered children’s book by award-winning children’s author and poet, Janeen Brian. She is a South Australian writer of children’s books who prior to 1990 was a primary school teacher. She published her 100th book in September 2016. She now has 110 books