Panic - Jeff Abbott

Evan Casher's life is pretty close to perfect - his career as a documentary film maker's taking off and he's waking from a passionate night with the girl he told only last night that he loved. Carrie's gone when he wakes, but there's a note saying she'll be back. More urgent, though, is the call that woke him - it's his usually calm photographer mother (computer consultant dad's in Australia for work), insistent that he drive the two-and-a-half hour trip from Houston to Austin but unwilling to explain anything except that he has to leave. Now.
Evan takes a few moments to gather some things for the trip, leaves Carrie a note, and spends the next three hours hoping for a call from his girlfriend, returning his love, or his mother, explaining what the big mystery is. After a brief detour to buy some of his mother's favourite peach pastries, Evan arrives at his childhood home, only to discover the murdered body of his mother. Before he has time to process the shock, he's assaulted himself, and falls unconscious. Nothing in his life is what he thought it was.
Nothing's very interesting, either. Evan lurches reactively from one crisis to another, but fails to develop in any significant way. His girlfriend is really a plant, but is so two-dimensional I really didn't care. In fact, the hackneyed plot and lack of narrative evolution (one tense scene after another, with no real progress toward resolution) had me, for the second time in as many months, leave the book half way through a chapter. At least I made it halfway through the book this time. - Alex

Vicious Circle – Mike Carey

Felix Castor has a unique gift - he can not only see ghosts, he can cause them to leave this plane thorough music. He earns his living piping away the troubled dead, but is still haunted (so to speak) by his one horrendous failure, which trapped a good friend in a psychiatric hospital, irrevocably entangled with and possessed by a demon.
When he's asked by a pair of bereft parents to find the ghost of their daughter (rather than the more usual pleas from parents hoping their child isn't actually dead), it seems like a relatively straightforward, albeit strange, case. But Castor quickly finds himself at odds with the police, in conflict with a shady fellow exorcist, and embroiled in a plot to liberate one of the worst demons extant (a word that I, til this very minute, always thought was 'exactant').
An interesting spin on the now-well-trodden field that is paranormal genre, this is a sequel to The Devil You Know, which I quite enjoyed. However, I found Vicious Circle a little too baroque and convoluted. Perhaps I was having a dim couple of days, perhaps I've just overindulged in the genre of late, and the fact that it is now over a week since I read it doesn't help, but rather than having a clear picture of the plot and the characters I have a melange of wheels within wheels, a tin whistle, ghostly girls, possessed young men, and pissed off coppers.
There were a few nice touches ("How do you spell 'Peace'?" "Like the kind you've got to give a chance to."), but also a little too much of the scene-setting journey detail I'm growing to seriously hate ("I drove south down Wood Lane, vaguely intending to cut down Hammersmith and Fulham and cross the river at Battersea...").
I'll probably give Carey another go, but only if the library, rather than Reader's Feast, have it in stock. - Alex

Never the Bride - Paul Magrs

On the surface Brenda seems straightforward enough – an older woman who likes everything just so, she came to the sleepy seaside town of Whitby to run a B&B. She struck up a friendship with neighbour Effie, who runs an antique store called “Who’d Want This?” (a title Brenda thinks is most off-putting), and they enjoy the occasional fish dinner at Cod Almighty, and pie-and-peas night at the Christmas Hotel, where every day is Christmas Day.
But all is not as it seems in Whitby, and nor is Brenda. A freakish misfit who’s lived longer than any human possibly could have, her father tried to kill her within minutes of her life beginning and she lost her one chance at love almost two centuries ago. On the run from MIAOW (the Ministry of Incursions and other Wonders), Brenda has long become accustomed to her lot, but her experiences have given her eye for the bizarre, and there are many odd happenings in Whitby – from the beauty parlour that creates truly astonishing transformations, at an enormous cost, through unusually polite B&B guests hiding secrets of their own, to missing elves from the Christmas Hotel. And right in the thick of it are Brenda and Effie.
The layout of this novel is unusual – each event has its own chapter, with small references to the event in subsequent sections, almost as though the book is a collection of related short stories. The writing is adept and the characters are individualised, but I didn’t find myself engrossed in the plot or captured by the protagonists. There’s a sequel out, and possibly more in the works, but I don’t feel a great need to pursue the series further. It was a benign read that I don’t regret, but have no need to repeat. - Alex

Whaleroad - Kerry Greenwood

This is the first of the Three Days novels, and is told predominantly from the third person perspective of Alain Beastfriend, a fourteen year-old telepath who, asked to try to help an untamed telepath who’s broadcasting distress.
Tyrrell could not have come from a more different world – in secret communication with the Dolphin, a collective community, she was orphaned and is now the maturing child of a littoral group living on rafts strapped together and headed by the Man. Together Tyrrell and Alain becomes vital in preventing a takeover of Thorngard.
Once upon a time Thorngard was the Queenscliff home of a group of Creative Anachronism players, who maintained their speech and dress in the first few years after the Fire. By the time they realised that the changes in the world were going to last these habits had become second nature, and part of the culture of the children.
It is most distressing to me to have to write that I didn’t enjoy this novel at all. The world building wasn’t as coherent and consistent as I’ve come to expect, the characters didn’t grip me at all, and the plot was thin and uninvolving.
Granted, I was a little tired when I was finishing up Whaleroad, but I was unimpressed from the first page. Had it been written by anyone else I don’t think I would even have finished. However, as is obvious from our other Greenwood reviews, Lynn and I love this author with something akin to blind adoration. I suppose I should be glad to discover that I’m not actually blind, but it’s still disappointing. – Alex

The Maria Korp Case - Carly Crawford

In February 2005 a conservative Melbourne mother of two (an adult daughter from her first marriage, and a young son from her second) was reported missing by her husband. Four days later her body was found in the boot of her car, parked outside the Shrine of Remembrance - from the length of time missing, the fact that it was high summer, and the smell of decomposition, the police who opened the boot thought she was dead. Until she took a breath.
Rushed to hospital, Maria Korp was treated in ICU until doctors determined that she was irrevocably brain damaged to the point that she would never achieve any meaningful function. She was then discharged to a ward, breathing through a tube in her throat and fed through a tube in her abdomen, until the state's Public Advocate determined that feeding be discontinued, and Maria died on August 5th. As hospital staff tended her body, the police investigated what happened, and a tawdry tale emerged. Maria's husband, Joe, allegedly elicited his girlfriend, Tania Herman, to strangle Maria and dump her body. Though Joe Korp denied that he was involved, the evidence was fairly compelling. However he never stood trial, committing suicide by hanging (very possibly by accident) on the evening of his wife's funeral.
The story obviously has a number of titillating elements, I was more interested in the ethical dilemmas raised by the case. I also have a connection with the case, and was interested in how the story was handled by Crawford, a Herald Sun reporter.
She's clearly done a lot of research - there are quotes and descriptions of events in laborious detail, even when this adds little to the text, and she certainly gets the personality of Joe Korp - unquestionably the central character - across convincingly. I shouldn't have expected much from a tabloid journalist, but I did. From the very first paragraph the writing was overblown and dramatic:

... although the calendar read summer, autumn's precocious chill had driven most people indoors...

(Which, incidentally, it hadn't.)
The medical detail at times reads as though Crawford was present ("A ghastly array of tubes protruded from her mouth and throat"), which she was not; although the decision making of the Public Advocate is discussed, and contextualised in terms of recent relevant ethical issues (like the then-recent death of Terri Schiavo), this comprised only a small portion of the book. I appreciate that this is not necessarily of general interest, but there were huge swathes of journals reproduced, as well as minute discussion of barely-tangential material included, so it's not as though the whole thing was cut down to bare bones. What was missing in depth and resonance was made up for by insinuation, strained metaphor -

The Korp's... home was a fitting symbol of Joe and Maria's empty relationship. It looked good on the outside, but on the inside it was devoid of genuine warmth

- and hyperbole: "an indulgent spa bath", "Gust speaks quicker than a sinner at confession", "the storm of betrayal that was about to come thundering down" and more in similar vein.
In fact the tone was the hardest thing - I skimmed through it as quickly as I could, because the writing - jarring, prurient and florid - was almost painful:

For months death danced with Maria in an ugly, languid waltz. It courted her like a smitten schoolboy for a whole semester. It teased her in the playground. blocked her airway as she lay in hospital... But death gnawed through her tenacity. Beguiling, determined and with fate on its side, it prepared its reluctant partner for the last act.

Ugh. Ugh. ugh, ugh. If you're interested in the case you'll learn more from the transcript of the ABC's excellent episode of The Law Report. - Alex

After Hamelin

During the night before she turns eleven, a landmark birthday, Penelope inexplicably loses her hearing. Although a tragedy, this ends up being a blessing when Penelope and the blind Alloway, her harpist maker father's assistant, are the only children in Hamlin not bewitched away by the Pied Piper. It is tradition on their eleventh birthday that Hamelin's children have their fortunes told by the seer Cuthbert, and Penelope learns she is a Deep Dreamer, able to enter a shadowy world alongside our own. Her mission is to rescue her companions in childhood, including beloved older sister Sophy.
The novel is told in flashback format by Penelope at age 101, lamenting her treatment at the hands of the village young, and reflecting on the past. The technique is effective, and the idea interesting, but the final third of the book lagged for me, and the fantasy elements became a little disjointed. I did enjoy the pivotal role of skipping and skipping rhymes, and the useful section on not judging people (in this case dragons) before you've met them. It just didn't hum for me. - Alex

Running Blind – Desmond Bagley

Former espionage agent Alan Stewart left the service after an operation went bad and he learned the "double agent" he killed was a pawn. A Finnish national, Stewart routinely spends several months a year in Iceland, with his Icelandic girlfriend. When his former boss comes to him with a request to deliver a package during his usual trip it doesn't seem like a big deal. But things start out strange and just get stranger, until Stewart is forced to question whether he can trust anyone in his life.
This is the only Bagley novel to feature a spy - his heroes are usually ordinary men embroiled in extraordinary situations - and the only one to feature a sequel of sorts. It's also a great read - fast paced, with an involving hero, a spirited and strong love interest, a fascinating backdrop, and a complex plot. It doesn't matter than I've read this several times before, I was as gripped as the first time I read it, over twenty years ago. - Alex

Daniel Half Human – David Chotjewitz

In 1993, Berliner Daniel Krauchner was mostly content. An only child of a happy, financially secure family, he excelled at soccer, and thrived at his Christianeum (a private school with difficult entry requirements) – his essay on the treachery of Jews scored the highest mark in his class.
His middle-class parents didn’t like his best friend, Armin, but Daniel didn’t care – Armin was bold and exciting, and though his family was poor, and though his father drank what little money they had, at least his life was interesting. Without Armin Daniel would never have ventured out into the night to paint swastikas on the walls, which was a huge adventure even though they were arrested, or confronted his parents about joining the HJ. For some reason, his parents were virulently opposed to the Hitler Youth.
When his parents reveal that, though his mother’s parents were secular, they were Jewish, meaning his mother is a Jewess and he is a Michling (mongrel of mixed race), Daniel is horrified. The world he had felt so securely a part of began crumbling around him, as Germany inexorably tightens its’ grip on those of ‘lesser’ standing.
Daniel Half Human alternates short sections of first person narrative by Daniel in 1945, revisiting the city after the war, with third person accounts focusing predominantly on Daniel but occasionally on Armin, to give a coherent and comprehensive view of the time. The obstinate confidence of Daniel’s lawyer father Rheinhard, who cannot believe that harm could befall him despite growing evidence to the contrary, is particularly well executed, and Armin’s conflict between loyalty to friend and to country is unappreciated by Daniel but well drawn for the reader. It would have been easy to write Armin as a stereotype but he has depth and, like Daniel, grows through the novel.
I found the suspense of the novel minimised by the knowledge from the beginning that Daniel survived and immigrated to the US, and found those sections contributed little. I suspect they were inserted primarily for the conclusion. I also felt the last section, which concentrated on the fleeing of Germany and the loss of Daniel’s uncle and cousin, rushed and unsatisfactory.
However, the novel is otherwise compelling and articulate. Daniel’s naïve admiration of the adventurousness of Armin’s life, in reality a poverty-stricken and abusive childhood, is convincing, and the technique of educating the reader through glimpses of pseudoscience classroom sessions was subtle but powerful, as were the sections dropped throughout the text (“Sophie had to have a passport photo taken… exposing the left ear, because Nazi research had shown that the shape of the left ear was evidence of racial origin”). Though I have read quite widely about the era, I also learned more detail about the insidious propaganda of the times, something I think it is always valuable to keep in mind – anyone who thinks it couldn’t happen again is as wilfully blind as Rheinhard. - Alex

Ravens Rising – Kerry Greenwood

Returning to the University from the Lightening Tower, the triumphant group are stunned to find Grattan Street deserted, the University walls unguarded and the gates locked. Overwhelmed with a sense of danger and apprehension, they seek refuge in a five-storey building opposite. When it becomes obvious that they were manipulated into the building by a coercive imposition of fear and danger, the group realise that something unexpected is afoot.
The something unexpected is a lonely and sentient computer looking for a human host. It splits the group into pairs and a trio (not realising that Thel and Flae are two), but it's intent of weakening them backfires. The bond that had already grown between Bran and Scathe strengthens and encompasses the others, and new psychic bonds grow between the others.
I read this some time before my review, have done quite a bit of reading in the interim, and am writing this on very little sleep, so I really won't be doing this final part of the Raven trilogy any favours, but it maintains the best elements of Greenwood's previous writing while still bringing something fresh. Compelling, inspiring, involving, romantic, warm. Greenwoodian. - Alex

Lightning Nest – Kerry Greenwood

Flushed with success at returning Blackbird (formerly the Realm of the Rat) to its citizenry, Bran and his followers have returned to the University. Despite his formerly promiscuous ways, Bran knows his relationship with Scathe is permanent; despite his devotion, Scathe cannot stay in the city, with the ever-increasing pressure of the minds of so many people. Mill the Hill feels less useful in a place where intellect is valued more highly that brawn, the Twins are bored with no hunting in sight, and Dismas is feeling restive, while meticulous Swart knew returning to the University without his sister Brangwyn would anger his professor father. So when Tenar, a substantial woman from a medieval village far away, pleads for assistance, the group are eager to help.
A tower in the country, armed with technology and science, is loosing bolts of thunder on a peaceful village, striking people unconscious. When they wake, some are missing, some are dead, and then more lightening comes.
The quest not only brings together two townships, and topples an unrighteous reign of tyrants, it brings together Swart and the rest of his family – the mother who left him when he was a child, and the twin brother she took with him. Long unhappy, tormented by his father, abandoned by his sister (who, understandably, chose to stay in Blackbird rather than be ‘rescued’ and returned to the University), the reunion brings Swart no peace. But the quest does bring him, and Mill, love.
In this second piece of the Raven trilogy I was less absorbed by the story than by the evolution of the characters – all the relationships, from Twins Thel and Flae, through Scathe and Bran, to Swart and his family, are beautifully complex and intricately wrought. This is not to say that the plot itself is uninteresting or in any way lacking, but it is driven by the people within it. Greenwood’s writing is deeply satisfying and somehow comforting, and though I tried to resist I had to turn immediately to the concluding instalment. - Alex

Bernard Knight: The Sanctuary Seeker

The first coroner for the county of Devon, an ex-crusader appointed by Richard the Lionheart, takes on his first case when an unidentified body turns up in a lonely moorland village. The coroner must find a way to identify the body and bring its murderer to justice.
Hindering his efforts are demarcation disputes between him and his brother-in-law the sheriff. And as if that wasn’t making life difficult enough, things become even trickier once the dead man is identified and his accused murderer claims the protection of the church.
But the coroner braves disputes personal, professional and domestic to see that justice is done.
As the first book in a series I understand that a bit of time needs to be spent establishing the history, credentials and personalities of the main characters, unfortunately on occasion such detail actually got in the way of an otherwise good story. Having said that, the characters were realistically portrayed historical figures with all the ideals, morality and petty grievances of their time, not just modern people dumped into a historical setting. I particularly liked the prickly relationship between the coroner and his wife; a woman I hope to see developed in later books.
This book offered an interesting twist on the crime genre. Even though the motive was clearly recognisable to a modern day reader and the investigative techniques not wholly unfamiliar, the historical detail (such as trial by ordeal) imparted a fresh feel to the comfortably familiar story.
I will be reading more Coroner John mysteries-Lynn

The Rat and the Raven – Kerry Greenwood

Scathe is the Mouth of the Oracle – cursed, empathic, unable to touch another human without killing them, he survives on the offerings citizens of the Realm of the Rat bring in payment for a reading. Jocasta, the Oracle, blind and hidden, pricks leaves with Braille for Scathe to read.
Once the world was different, but the Three Days brought a rain of fire to the world. Before the Rat came, brigands threatened the town. He took control, and though his reign is far from benevolent, at least the people are safe from the terrors that lie outside the small city once known as Ballarat.
But there are rumours and prophesies of the Raven, an avenger who will come on rails of iron and overthrow the Rat. As the uneasy peace of the town fragments, Scathe learns about the abomination of his origin and why he is rightfully cursed. Doomed to be alone forever, he somehow becomes embroiled with the entourage of the Raven, and the life he thought he knew is rewoven into something miraculous.
This new trilogy about the Three Days (previously portrayed in The Broken Wheel, Feral and Cave Rats) is more tightly connected than the previous series. Bran the Raven, first met in Feral, has been sent from the now-toppled University [of Melbourne] to find the daughter of a Professor, stolen as a slave by the Rat. Her brother, the enigmatic Swart, accompanies Bran, along with massive Maori/Koori/Scot Mill the Hill, the thief Dismas, and warrior Twins Thel and Flae, so tightly interwoven that the tribe of Women whose camp they wandered into at the age of three gave them one name to share – Athelflaed.
As we have come to expect from Greenwood, The Rat and the Raven combined great story telling with elegant writing and the creation of some of the most interesting characters I’ve come across. Sexuality after the Three Days is more fluid, and different kinds of cultures have arisen in response to the needs of their communities. Throughout the Three Days universe, but particularly central to the Raven trilogy, is the FSF element of paranormal abilities emerging and strengthening in the aftermath of the disaster. Often written as a technique for evading otherwise impassable stumbling blocks, Greenwood’s characters are strengthened by, but not wholly reliant upon, their gifts. This is great writing. – Alex

Michele Jaffe: Bad Kitty

Bad Kitty is well aimed at its target audience of young teen girls. I, however, am not in that demographic and found this story of teenaged investigators in Los Vegas required just a little too much suspension of disbelief. I didn't find the skills and obseesions of the heroines and her friends convincing. The main plot twist was evident early on, though the story did have some very amusing sequences and asides in footnotes that made it a moderately enjoyable read.The ample use of the bedazzler was a particular high light, and it was nice to see some of the more obvious clichés avoided. An inoffensive read but, unlike my daughters, I am not eagerly awaiting the next instalment in this new series-Lynn
To read Alex's review of this book, click here

The Black Crusade – Richard Harland

After writer Martin Smythe survived the horrors of Morbing Vyle[1] he’s hot on the trail of the evil vicar involved. Delving through the musty records of the Church of England he discovered a manuscript written by Hungarian bank clerk Basil Smorta. It is an account of how, through a freak combination of circumstances, wound up in club Zut-Alors on an October night in 1894, where he saw famed Australian Songbird Volusia and fell irrevocably in lust. And love. A consequence of which was his embroilment in the Black Crusade – a group of New Believers hell bent[2] on ushering in a new age of death, torment and destruction.
After Lynn’s amused review I was quite looking forward to reading The Black Crusade, but – even though I initially followed her advice and read it interspersed among other reading – it didn’t grab me at all. The style is interesting - a first person narrative annotated by a third party – and though we’ve seen it before (eg The Athenian Murders) this was the first comedic version. I did quite enjoy the proliferation of footnotes, ostensibly inserted by the publishers, but they were insufficient to compensate for the novel’s manifold flaws. The hero[3] is turgid, the heroine both insane and uninteresting, the villains caricaturistic,[4] and the plot meandering and pointless. I finished the novel, and – reminded by having the book in front of me to write the review – I may even visit the website (www.vilewatch.com) but even though my library has a Harland trilogy that I was previously considering borrowing, I think it’ll be a long while before I revisit Mr Harland’s writing. – Alex
[1] We never learn what happened at Morbing Vyle, which is irrelevant to the story of The Black Crusade. Similarly we hear no more from or about Martin Smythe after the preface.
[2] Yes, the pun there is intentional – we here at The Bookish believe that the occasional pun adds a layer of depth to what might otherwise be an uninteresting and possibly pallid review.
[3] As the footnotes repeatedly point out – a far better hero would have been the Imperial Cavalry officer
[4] A word I have just now created, which means “resembling but not actually being caricatures”
To read Lynn's review of this book, click here

Wyatt's Hurricane - Desmond Bagley

White West Indian David Wyatt, on loan from the Meteorological Office is working with the US Navy on the Caribbean island of San Fernandez. An expert on hurricanes, Dave almost has a sixth sense about them, and even though it would be atypical, he feels sure that Mabel, approaching fast, will hit the island. The trouble is getting anyone to believe him – to a man, everyone he speaks to tells him that San Fernandez doesn’t get hurricanes, that the last one hit in 1905. Of greater concern in the rumour that exiled, thought dead, rebel leader Favel is coming down from the mountains with an army of locals set to overthrow despotic President Sururier.
When Wyatt manages to get the UK ambassador to get him in to see Surrurier it becomes obvious that he’s insane, wholly closed to reason. All Wyatt can do is encourage the residents of his local hotel, including his girlfriend, flight attendant Julie, to flee for the hills.
Once again Bagley manages to write with conviction and power – Wyatt’s desperation is palpable, his characters come alive, and the pace is frenetic but digestible. Other trademarks of his writing are also present – here’s a love story, with a heroine who has strength and resilience and doesn’t need to be rescued by anyone but herself; an exotic locale, convincingly portrayed; and a weak man who comes good. It’s usually Bagley’s hero who’s flawed, but in this case redemption comes to Big Jim Dawson, a Hemingway-esque writer who lacks the grit that larger than life man had. Bagley’s gift is that these elements are never predictable or reproduced, and the stories are fresh even on the fifth or even tenth reading. And Wyatt’s Hurricane isn’t even one of my favourites! – Alex

Blessings - Anna Quindlen

When Skip Cuddy, freshly released from ten months in jail as the unwitting wheelman in a botched convenience store robbery, finds a box in the driveway of his new employers' grand home in Mount Mason, his first thought is to remove it. Mrs Blessing's very fixed in her ways, and doesn't like anything out of place, as her Korean housekeeper has made very clear to him. But when he lifts the box he discovers it holds a baby, perhaps days old, and he decides to keep her. That decision not only changes his life, giving him something bigger than himself to think about and care for, but thaws out a woman whose life has been a self-centred stream of willful blindness and dissatisfaction, and opens the door for Skip to find love.
It's billed as being "in the best selling tradition of Anne Tyler" and there are certainly some parallels, not least of which is the somewhat aimless lyricism of the novel. The characters were mildly interesting, though I wasn't engrossed, and the plot is exciting but somehow this didn't translate into actually being interesting. I didnt hate it, I didn't love it, I just... eh. - Alex

Mistress of Justice - Jeffrey Deaver

Paralegal Taylor Lockwood really wants to play jazz piano, but works as a paralegal to appease her lawyer father and plays piano at night to please herself. When attorney Mitchell Reece seconds her to help him find a vital document, stolen from his office safe in the few hours he wasn't at work, it seems like an interesting diversion. But the deeper in she gets the more complicated everything becomes - the firm is in the midst of a leadership challenge, secrets and rivalries are rife, and then someone's killed.
I borrowed this thinking that, because I hadn't read it before, it must be new. Wrong - it's a re-release of one of Deaver's pre-Rhyme novels, originally published in 1992 and therefore a little dated (mostly the references to mobile phones and internet access) but still involving. I really wish I'd written this review when it was all a little fresher in my head, because I can't remember all the specifics now. Not bad, not brilliant, an entertaining diversion from the maelstrom of my professional life last week. - Alex

Trouble - Jesse Kellerman

Jonah Stem's a medical student - physically and mentally exhausted from long hours at the bedside, he stumbles out into the New York night to buy new shoes after a patient's bowels exploded over his current pair while assisting in theatre. When Jonah hears a woman scream from a nearby alley he goes to investigate, and finds a beautiful brunette, blood pouring from one shoulder, crawling away from a black man armed with a knife. Terrified but protective, Jonah tackles the man and, more fluke than intent, kills him.
Apart from some ribbing at work (the papers dubbed him "Superdoc"), Jonah's life gets back to normal. His roommate, the wealthy, eccentric and flighty Lance is now fixated on a career as a film maker and raves on about technique, the patients keep coming, and when he has a little time off Jonah visits his ex-girlfriend, the one time love of his life, now irreparably damaged beyond his ability to help.
Then he bumps into the brunette from the alley. Eve Gones (pronounced "Jones") is gorgeous, sexy and grateful for his help. He bumps into her a second time, and they hook up. She's fascinating, adventurous, wild, secretive, and then things start to get weird.
Kellerman has crafted a fascinating portrayal of manipulation and pathology, and he creates a claustrophobic nightmare that tightens inexorably around his hero. Jonah is complex, well meaning, intelligent and naive, and his efforts to protect those he cares about while fending off a growing threat are believable but ineffective. This was not what I expected, but was possibly all the more involving for that. Kellerman is an author to watch, with a style (as I believe I've said before) quite different from his more well known, for now, parents. - Alex

The Broken Wheel - Kerry Greenwood

When Sarah bursts out of dense shrubbery, petrified, she is taken in by three Travellers, who are making their way through the territories staked out by various tribes along the freeway. Much has changed in the years since the Three Days, when satellites in orbit raked Earth with lasers, and life is perilous for those who stray far from home.
Sarah knows that Gwyn, Alpin and Simon are promiscuous degenerates who use machines and do not follow the Wheel but she has to risk herself for the greater purpose. Yet, as she travels with them and sees them navigate through the territories of women-stealing cannibals, desperate children armed with an automatic tank, and warriors, her preconceptions are challenged.
This is the first of the Three Day trilogy, the third of which, Feral, was reviewed about a month ago. I managed to read them in reverse order, and it is a tribute to Greenwood's style and world building that I didn't realise until I read each one that it was the prequel to what I'd read. That's phrased awkwardly, I know - in essence: I am stupid and Greenwood is great!
Sarah's struggle to examine her beliefs in the light of new information is portrayed beautifully, and the characters generally are layered. I particularly liked the way different groups have responded to the disaster (now a decade or so old) is interesting and strongly reminiscent of (though different from) Tepper's brilliant post-apocalyptic The Gate to Women's Country. This novel stand well as both FSF and YA. - Alex

Stuffed - Gordon Graham

Buff young Garvey Quinn's an actor with a role on one of Australia's favourite medical dramas. He's happy with his career, and thinks those actors who talk about 'method' and 'inhabiting their character' are full of it. His style is to front up, read the lines, and go home. But his girlfriend, fellow actor Madeline, believes acting is an art. When renown director Stirling Seagrave approaches Garvey to star in a feature film about former Olympian Bryan Mars - a champion swimmer who, almost overnight, ballooned in size and lost the plot - Madeline strongly encourages him to accept, despite Garvey's concerns about the contractual obligation to pork up for the role. After all, all the greats have suffered for their art - does he think he's better than De Niro? And then, art imitating life, she gets the role as Bryan's girlfriend and fellow swimmer Vicki Michaels.
Garvey and Madeline train for hours, and as their bodies become tighter, leaner and more defined, their sex lives wane through sheer exhaustion. Then Garvey has to start gaining weight and, despite his initial concerns, he finds the act of eating to excess satisfying, the increasing softness of his edges comforting. He gains weight faster than the shooting script dictates, and revels in high fat foods and the newly-discovered joy of cooking.
Madeline's still toned, she spends more time than ever at the pool, and Garvey's body disgusts her. Although she appreciates the artistic aspect she thinks they should take a break until he gets back to normal. And Garvey doesn't really care.
This is billed as "a poignant comedy about... what it's like to be fat. Really fat." I think it had the potential to say something interesting about how our society sees size above all, how easily the lauded can be brought down, and the multitude of size discrimination issues including the depth of irrational revulsion fat can trigger in some people. These themes were briefly touched on but not explored in any depth. Instead Graham went into great detail about gluttony, in a way that made me both uncomfortable and a little angry, and not in a way that made me think that was the author's intent. It was interesting that the fat involved was men, as most size acceptance literature, diet information etc is targeted at women, but this was not enough to redeem the book for me. - Alex

Amanda Quick: Seduction

After the death of his wild and promiscuous first wife, all the Earl of Ravenwood wants from his second wife is an heir and no trouble, so he marries a country bred spinster who agrees to provide him with just that. But she has her own reason for agreeing to the marriage - she wants access to society so that she can hunt down the man who ruined her sister, and take her revenge.
Instead of a quiet life the pair are drawn into blackmail plots, pistols at dawn and arguments about women’s rights, falling in love along the way.
I’ve enjoyed Amanda Quick’s historical romances and this one did not disappoint. It contains subtle humour and mild intrigues (though the villain was obvious early on) as well as a believably developed relationship. I did find the sex scenes a trifle annoying. Our hero never seems to shut up and has a fondness for calling her "sweetheart" once they get naked. Fortunately they are not so frequent as to ruin an otherwise good read. The author obviously researched herbs for this one but is discrete with that knowledge, resisting the urge to share all she had learned, for which I thank her. An easy, entertaining read.-Lynn

Cave Rats - Kerry Greenwood

The children of the sewers that run beneath Melbourne are feral. Known as the Cave Rats, they turn on, and feed on, anyone and anything they catch in their domain. Tehan grew up as a Cave Rat - expelled at age 12, as is their custom, he would never have willingly returned to the rat and Cave Rat-ridden underground if he had remembered. But the plague above ground was a greater threat.
When Tehan became cornered, injured, and desperately short of water, he summoned help the only way he knew - with his mind. And he was rescued by Healer Gwyn, the Travellers and the Children of the Broken Wheel. Once an ascetic and cruel sect, the Prophet Sarah has brought a New Revelation that embraces love. As one of Melbourne's few empaths, Tehan is recruited to find the child of the Voice. And he has to find her quickly, because between the plague and the old guard of the Wheel, the New Revelation is running out of time.
This is the prequel to Feral, which was reviewed a month or so ago (I didn't realise they were a series until I began Cave Rats), and it fills out some of the details of Greenwood's post-apocalyptic universe. Something called the Three Days happened that destroyed contemporary society, and in its place a variety of microcosms have developed, building on pre-existing communities and ethos's. If that's a word. Anyway, the result is interesting and accomplished, and the changing culture of the Children of the Broken Wheel is portrayed in deft, subtle strokes, all show and no tell. The only disappointment is that I'm reading Greenwood's novels faster than she's writing them. - Alex

Landslide - Desmond Bagley

When freelance geologist Bob Boyd heads to Fort Farrell, a logging town in the heart of British Columbia, he's stunned to discover the main square is named Trinavant Park. Though chronologically in his early thirties, Bob was born less than a decade earlier - the sole survivor of a serious car accident, all his personal memory vanished. But he knows that he was travelling with a married couple and their college-aged son, the Trinavants.
In Fort Farrell for a surveying job, Boyd investigates the Trinavant aspect a little more closely and discovers that, though John Trinavant was much a loved and respected businessman, in death he was eclipsed by his partner, Bull Matterson. Intrigued, Boyd digs deeper, discovering treachery, greed and foul play. As this is a Bagley novel, he also discovers true love.
In fact, all the Bagley trademarks are present - an exotic locale (not mandatory), an unassuming man placed in a demanding situation displays strength of will and purpose, a quest or mission, clear foes with their own agenda, and specialist skills that are subtly and deftly woven into the narrative. Despite these common elements, each novel is distinct and original. I know I've said this before about Bagley, but this is one of my favourites. The Canadian setting is refreshing, the characters are dynamic, the plot compelling, and the writing's superlative. There are echoes here of another favourite, Snow Tiger, but Landslide is wholly its own entity. Just perfect. - Alex

Dancing with Dr Death - Virginia Kennedy with Dot Walker

In early 2005 the Australian media was filled with stories about an Indian-trained surgeon who had been linked with an increasing number of surgical infections, other complications, and deaths. Alongside the developing story of Dr Jayant Patel (who, it transpired, had already been restricted from performing some surgeries in Oregon and forced to surrender his medical license in New York) emerged the story of a whistle-blowing nurse whose job was threatened when she went to her local MP after numerous attempts at local resolution of the problem. The media dubbed Dr Patel "Dr Death", and the case sparked national debate about immigration (skilled and unskilled) and the state of rural health care, as well as a Commission of Inquiry.
Although I had some familiarity with the case, I hadn't followed it closely enough to be conversant with the names of all the players. Dancing with Dr Death was recommended by a nursing friend, and I suspected that without the recommendation I wouldn't have read it. In fact it was only when I saw it in the library while looking for another, related book that I was prompted to check it out. I assumed it was written by the whistle blower, and when I realised this was written by another nurse I assumed I had the wrong book, but Toni Hoffman hasn't written one. Kennedy, writing under a pseudonym to protect her career as a "qualified registered nurse", was assisted by Walker, "an author and educational consultant."
As expected, the book, which is subtitled "The Inside Story of Doctor Jayant Patel and the Bundaberg Base Hospital: A personal account by a nurse who worked at his side", discusses particular details of some of the incidents, including cases where Dr Patel has subsequently been found guilty of malpractice and murder. However the focus of the book is on the hospital itself - for the author Patel, with whom she had a friendly if guarded relationship, was a symptom of a far bigger problem, one which has not been appropriately addressed.
Originally from Tasmania - apparently a Mecca of Australian nursing - Kennedy was unhappy with the hospital layout, lack of equipment, poor staffing, actively unsupportive management and out-dated practices from the beginning. Kennedy's story is filled with example of "unprofessional attitude and lack of support or understanding from hospital administration." Some of her grievances are about genuinely unsafe practices, dangerously poor staffing levels, systemic complacency, and a management ethos that valued money about staff and patient well-being. Having heard from a nursing friend in Queensland about the apathy and general unhelpfulness of the organisation, I was interested to see that Kennedy also found the Queensland Nurses' Union to be of little or no assistance.
It is unfortunate that the impact of this is diminished by the sheer number of Kennedy's complaints - the first, which extends for the better part of two and a half pages, is an overly detailed account of her trip to get her uniforms; she is as outraged by the colour of them (burgundy and white, which she "was immediately repulsed by") as by anything else in the text.
There is an irritating lack of perspective ("What other career... would leave people so physically drained and mentally exhausted?"), the odd bizarre observation (following on from a discussion about complication rates of gallbladder surgery, she adds "even the more major surgery did not escape post-operative complications" - wouldn't you expect a higher rate of complication in more serious complications?), and had-I-but-known hyperbole: "I pictured in my mind the handshake and pats on the back between Peter Beattie and Dr PJ [sic] , and I wonder if the Premier wishes in hindsight he could have foreseen what the future held for the BBH" and "Yet unknown to me at this time, and probably more impacting, he obviously had other serious concerns. These without a doubt would have played heavily on his mind, governing his ability to know right from wrong. Little did I know what was about to unfold." This use of "impacting" occurs five or six times throughout the book.
Kennedy (a pseudonym) appears to have liked and respected Patel, and believes that his major problem was that he "over-rated his ability." Although the selling point of the book is the Patel connection, and from the lack of tight editing I strongly suspect it was commissioned and rushed out to catch the wave of public opinion, the author's main thrust is a diatribe against a system that she thoroughly hated. There's a lot in here that's worthwhile and important. It's just unfortunate that the message is obstructed by the overblown writing and diluted by irrelevancy. - Alex

James Herbert: The Secret of Crickley Hall

A grieving family seeking solace takes up residence in an aged manor house in picturesque county side. Almost immediately they are subjected to a series of unexplained noises and temperature variations, doors won’t stay locked, the family pet runs away, and the mother and one of the daughters start to see things that can not possibly be there. They soon discover that the house was the scene of a tragedy involving the drowning of eleven evacuated orphans and their guardian during the Second World War. But the flood was not responsible for these deaths and as the true story unfolds the family must play their part in setting the record straight and putting the ghosts to rest.
I’ve always enjoyed Herbert’s writing and this story delivers the creepy read with an interesting twist that I’ve come to expect from him. But somehow it didn’t give me the same chill I’ve got from previous works. The family was a little obtuse when it came to recognising the haunting and maybe that detracted from the scare factor. I really can’t pin point why the story atmosphere lacked but good as it was it didn’t leave me sleeping with the lights on.
If you like a good ghost story read James Herbert but if you’re new to his work don’t start with this one, it’s strictly for the fans.-Lynn

Postsecret - Frank Warren

In 2004 Frank Warren distributed 5,000 postcards, at subway stations, art galleries and in books. He asked people to write down and mail their secrets, some of which were then reproduced on his blog (www.postsecret.blogspot.com). He was unprepared for the overwhelming response - a flood of confidences, and a lot of art. This book, the first of six or seven so far, is a compilation of some of those cards. Though not organised thematically, there are some secrets that seem to mirror one another.
The concept and the execution are fascinating, and though each is unique to the creator, there's a certain comfort in seeing the same themes, and even the same secrets, emerging with each batch. I visit the website every week (the secrets are updated on Sundays), and am always surprised.
I would have been better to treat the book like a box of chocolates, to be dipped into and relished, rather than bolted down, but I found myself reading "just one more" until the end. The postcard that has made me think the most wasn't there - it was an artistically accomplished rendering of the second plane hitting the Twin Towers. At the bottom: "everyone who knew me thinks I died." - Alex

The Spellman Files - Lisa Lutz

Middle daughter Izzy Spellman's a second generation PI. After a lifetime of intrigue and surveillance, eluding tails and hiding her personal life is second nature, but keeping her new boyfriend a secret from both determined parents may not be that easy.
Izzy's ready to leave the family firm, but her parents persuade her to commit to one last case. When she agrees they give her a fifteen year old cold case that Izzy digs her teeth into - despite threats of litigation from the family.
The novel combines reflection with a current issue that Izzy's trying to avoid discussing - it involves her little sister and the police, but the details emerge slowly and reluctantly. The style's interesting, some of the writing's witty, and the general scenrios are original, but for some reason I didn't warm to the characters (except younger sister Rae). Still, I'd be interested to see what Lutz comes up with next. - Alex

Moira J. Moore: Resenting the Hero

In a world where bonded pairs must avert natural disasters a conscientious woman is bonded to a notoriously flighty man. The pair are the only survivors of an engineered disaster but before they can discover who planned it and stop them from doing it again the man is kidnapped. It is then up to the woman to find and save him so that they can, quite literally, save the world. Naturally she manages to do this and the pair learn to respect and accept each other and work together for the good of all.
This book fell a little flat for me. Not because of any deficit in the writing but because it was not at all what I had expected it to be. When I picked this book up I anticipated humour. Everything about it from the cover art (a resentful looking woman polishing the boot of a valiantly posed horseman) to the cover copy ("She wanted someone reliable. Instead she got him…") to the tone of the back blurb indicated that this was a comedy. But the story inside was pure fantasy without even a nod to funny. As a result I was disappointed before I got through the first chapter even though there was nothing ‘wrong’ with the story itself.
As a fantasy it worked reasonably well. I would like to have known more about why and how the pairs bonded. In fact, more world building all around would have been helpful. I did like the fluid sexuality of the characters and it was nice that the author didn’t go for the obvious and have the hero and heroine fall in love.
These characters have at least one more book (it is promoted at the end of this one) and possibly a series but I won’t be following it because whenever I think of this book I associate it with disappointment (through no fault of the author).
I know we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover but if we can’t get an accurate idea about it from its cover art, copy and blurb then where can we?-Lynn

The Unfortunate Experiment - Sandra Coney

In 1984 the medical journal Obstetrics and Gynecology published a paper that would initiate an investigation into one of the greatest medical scandals of the late twentieth century. Titled "The Invasive Potential of Carcinoma in Situ of the Cervix", it discussed the results of an experiment that had been run at the National Women’s Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand, since 1955. The experiment looked at the natural history of cervical carcinoma in situ (CIS) – in other words, what happens if no treatment is initiated in a condition suspected (when the experiment began) to lead to cervical cancer. The paper divided participants into two groups, one that had negative results after biopsy or treatment, and one smaller group that continued to test positive. This second group had a significant rate of cervical cancer; some of these women were followed for twenty-five years without treatment, and in only 5% did the disease spontaneously resolve. For the other 95%, outcomes ranged from positive but localised results to metastatic disease and death. The authors said these results were in contrast with other, earlier papers about the experiment.
After much research, Sandra Coney, one-time editor of a NZ feminist magazine, and Phyllida Bunkle, a women’s studies lecturer, wrote an article about the experiment, exposing the unauthorised research performed by one prominent gynaecologist in support of his belief that CIS was not associated with cervical cancer. Professor Herbert Green, a physician of considerable influence and power throughout New Zealand, persisted in his belief despite increasingly convincing proof of a progressive connection between the two conditions, never sought permission from his patients, or even told them what he was doing.
The article lead to an inquiry, and this is the story of that inquiry.
Dubbed “the unfortunate experiment”, this case is well known in ethics literature and is a cautionary tale about the dangers of unexamined ideology, the need for reflexivity and intellectual rigour in conducting research, and a cornerstone of the argument that participants in research must be informed and have choice.
The text vividly describes the institutional complacency that allowed Green to continue for almost thirty years, unquestionably causing hundreds of women deformity, pain, suffering, and shorter lives, all of which could have been prevented. It also points out the power one person can wield, especially in a small and interconnected population – those who tried to combat Green suffered professionally, and whistle-blowing wasn’t contemplated, let alone tolerated.
The book was written almost twenty years ago, and covers a time when patients in general were not expected or encouraged to be involved in their own healthy care, and women in particular were expected to be biddable and pleasant. The authors were depicted in much of New Zealand’s media as ball-busting feminists hell-bent on destroying a respected doctor for no good reason; many of Green’s patients liked him and had no idea what he’d done. Indeed, I found this aspect particularly interesting.
However, the writing is less straightforward than I would like, with a heavy smattering of extraneous detail that I found distracting rather than illuminating. I appreciate, especially in light of the excruciating rigours of the inquiry, why Covey was so meticulous, but this does distract from the general thrust of the story. Nonetheless, this is a troubling and important book, and there’s no guarantee that similar tragedies aren’t in the wings. We need only look at the Bristol baby scandal or Australia’s own Jayant Patel to see that medical institutions haven’t changed with any haste. – Alex

Grave Surprise - Charlaine Harris

When Harper Connelly was fifteen she was struck by lightning. Resuscitated by her step-brother Tolliver, ever since she's been able to find the bodies of the dead and know how they died. She now travels the country with Tolliver , hired by families to find their loved ones.
The assignment seemed straight-forward enough - session guest in a college course on paranormal practitioners, Harper was to identify the causes of death for randomly selected inhabitants of a long abandoned cemetery near the campus. A box of records had recently been unearthed, and there was no way she could have had access prior to the test.
Course lecturer Dr Nunley was initially skeptical, then convinced Harper had somehow cheated, as time after time she correctly identified the causes of death. Until the last grave - in addition to the known inhabitant, murdered by his brother, Tolliver felt the presence of a young and relatively recently dead girl, also murdered. The body of a girl Harper had been paid to find in another state, the year before. Now Harper and Tolliver not only need to find out who killed Tabitha Morgenstern but also clear their names. Because the police and the media really don't like coincidences.
This is the second Harper Connelly novel, successor to Grave Sight. I've become a little weary of her Sookie Stackhouse series, and read the first in this new series with some trepidation. The series are worlds apart - Harper is human, lives in a world populated only by humans, and denies any precognition or other paranormal ability. The writing is interesting, the puzzle intriguing, and the character of Harper attractive. There's a nicely subtle twist in the sibling dynamic that was gently foreshadowed here and in the first novel that demonstrates Harris's growth as a writer; that alone is reason enough to read the third Harper novel. - Alex