Reviewed by Rod McLary In 2018, Michael Mohammed Ahmad won the NSW Premier’s Multicultural Literary Award for his novel The Lebs [also reviewed in these pages]; and, later that year, the novel was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award. The Lebs told the story of Bani Adam as he negotiated issues such as cultural
Reviewed by Richard Tutin I am very partial to books written by Älexander McCall Smith. I am also partial to vintage and veteran cars. So when McCall Smith’s latest book features a venerable Saab car then, in the line from a current car TV ad, “I’m In”. The Man with the Silver Saab is the
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve This is a book bursting with energy, nicely combining story, issues, wise advice and hilarious situations. Scarlett, ten years old, enthusiastically lives her life but this is punctuated by explosions of anger and frustration with sometimes unfortunate and unintended results. On one occasion, at the family wedding, the guests are splattered
Reviewed by Ian Lipke On occasion, established writers of non-fiction can make a successful transition to fiction writing. Not so, in this case. In my view – which is not shared by some of the more prominent members of the writing community – this book has problems. Matthew Benns’s sense of humour is an irritant
Reviewed by Ian Lipke In years gone by, before the osmotic model of learning became fashionable, when senior academic staff actually taught their students, and tutors were engaged merely to assist the teaching staff, such a book as that which Simon Clews has written (but geared to revealing the secrets of efficient academic research), would
Reviewed by E B Heath Oh, what a brilliant thought experiment! Speculative fiction at its best! Readers will be thinking about this premise long after reading the last page. So, so, clever Sweeney-Baird! The above accolades were inspired by Christina Sweeney-Baird’s novel, The End of Men. The novel takes place in 2025; it features a
Reviewed by Clare Brook We are all familiar with inequality that plagues our society; the grind of everyday life faced by those trapped within a low socio-economic environment. We are aware of the unequal treatment, and often abuse, that many women suffer. But there is a big difference between knowing and actually feeling the reality,
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve Lionel Shriver’s many admirers will eagerly acquire her latest work, Should We Stay or Should We Go. She has the reputation for courageously and powerfully examining important issues; for instance, the Columbine massacre was the impetus to write We Need to Talk About Kevin and population control in Game Control. Now
Michael Robotham shortlisted for CWA Steel Dagger Australian author Michael Robotham has been shortlisted for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger in the 2021 Crime Writers Association (CWA) Daggers crime writing awards. Robotham is shortlisted for the Steel Dagger in 2021 for his thriller When She Was Good. For the full shortlists in each category, visit
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Anyone reading and thinking about the image of Darwin presented through the characters in Matt Nable’s book is sure to claim that the author has exaggerated. Here we read of a town awash in drink, where men soak up alcohol as rapidly as they can because the hot sun is guaranteed
Reviewed by Rod McLary In November 1921, Edward Prince of Wales [later to briefly reign as King Edward VIII] visited parts of India including Bombay where this story is set. Before the visit, in July 1921, the Indian National Congress [INC] decided to boycott the visit as part of the Non-Cooperation Movement. The INC was
Reviewed by Gerard Healy Violent, barbaric but sometimes boring…Sydney’s Long Bay Gaol is no place for the faint-hearted. But it is where we find the main protagonist of James Phelps’ story, 19-year-old ex-soldier Riley Jax. He has been convicted of a murder he has no memory of and is struggling to survive in the concrete
Reviewed by Rod McLary The author of this new novel – Campbell Mattinson – has said that it is ‘the only story I ever really wanted to write’ and sets out in the Acknowledgements [341] the real-life story which inspired him. While not autobiographical in intent, the content of We Were Not Men does suggest
Reviewed by Rod McLary The opening line to this debut novel by T.J. Newman is almost guaranteed to grab the attention of the reader: ‘When the shoe dropped into her lap the foot was still in it’ [1]. Fortunately, as it turns out, the hero of Falling is having a nightmare. The word ‘hero’ –
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve As an avid devotee of crime and thriller novels from Edgar Allan Poe, Conan Doyle to the P.D. James and Ruth Rendells of today, I am astonished to discover a new author writing in the genre who has written more than a dozen novels prior to The Heights. These are acclaimed,