Reviewed by Rod McLary In his Acknowledgments [p308] the author thanks everyone ‘who helped create the blend of pain and fractured humanity that I could draw on to make this novel more than just a lengthy fight scene’. And it is exactly this which turns what is essentially an adrenaline rush for those readers who
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Readers will have no difficulty in getting caught up in this novel by Tanya Scott. That it is her first novel is remarkable. The author impresses not only because of her first-novel status but for a host of other reasons. She makes the very serious stakes of Jack’s dilemmas palpable. She
Reviewed by Rod McLary Nemesis is the fourth book in a series featuring DS Lucas Walker from the Australian Federal Police. Although all the books in the series are stand-alone, this one has links back to the first one Outback and the events which took place ten years previously. DS Walker was then on compassionate
Reviewed by Ian Hamilton I suspect that Broke Road will sell well. The primary reason for this view is that whodunits are enduringly popular with a wide range of readers and Broke Road is a very well-crafted example of the genre. Matthew Spencer employs his journalistic skills to devise a clear and engaging plot. The
Reviewed by Ian Hamilton This novel has the feel of a current day tale, the style and vocabulary are twenty-first century in tone, as is the role of a psychiatric therapist (which proves to be crucial to the plot). It is only revealed at the end of the novel that the second narrative sections are,
Reviewed by Ian Lipke When a book is released bearing the name Kayte Nunn I anticipated an interesting read. I had absorbed several of this writer’s works and was prepared to be thoroughly entertained. What a disaster unfolds within the first fifty to sixty pages of this book. If a book, written for entertainment purposes,
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Richard Wellington is a doctor well loved by a wide selection of television and radio listeners. If he happens to cause the female heart to beat a little faster and should he step across boundaries and spend a little too much time in a bedroom that is not his own, well
Reviewed by Rod McLary Lisa Jewell has published twenty-three novels and, according to her publisher, the most recent ones have been ‘dark psychological thrillers’; and, according to this reviewer, Don’t Let Him In falls readily into that category. Even the title suggests danger and tension and neither is in short supply as the narrative unfolds.
Reviewed by Ian Hamilton Best Left Buried is more complex than thrillers which have a single plot line and restrict themselves to the essentials of the thriller genre: a dangerous situation, some elements of intrigue and brave cunning to bring the danger and intrigue to a resolution. Neil A. White adds another dimension to his
Reviewed by Ian Lipke In this mystery, Stephen King tells the story of a social misfit who pledges, in a note to Buckeye City police, to kill “13 innocents and 1 guilty,” in order, we eventually learn, to avenge the death of a man who was framed and convicted for possession of child pornography and
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve The image of the chemist as a meticulous, hard-working valued member of a community is drastically altered by the chemist, Idris Khan, in this exceptional thriller. Initially, he is the respected and caring professional but he is forced to shed this stereotype and ultimately becomes a murderer. His pharmacy is located
Reviewed by Ian Lipke When an author begins a book with a very provocative statement as this writer does with Whisky Valley, s/he needs to be clear that her book is a companion piece, and that the second will continue with the same level of charge as the first. Sauers’s first novel, called Echo Lake,
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Detective Sergeant Stilwell has been bounced off the county homicide squad and rusticized to Catalina Island, a district as infested as the rest of the Los Angeles police precinct. Here, the exclusive Black Marlin Club won’t admit even the long-serving Avalon Mayor Doug Allen to full membership. Yet in the community,
Reviewed by Rod McLary There is something about rural noir which immediately engages the hearts and minds of Australian readers. Whether it is the immersion in the landscape, the laconic dialogue of the characters, or the familiarity of those characters, the novels in this genre – think Jane Harper, Chris Hammer, Jack Heath and others
Reviewed by Ian Lipke This is vintage Nora Roberts – with the odd strength and certainly weakness thrown in. It is a novel about an injured cop who fights to bring down a pair of twisted killers. Natural Resources police officer, Sloan Cooper, and her partner had just taken down three men preying on hikers