Logo
Prev
search
Print
addthis
Rotate
Help
Next
Contents
All Pages
Browse Issues
Home
'
Good Reading : April 2011
Contents
Worth Dying For Lee Child In the 15th and latest instalment of the wildly popular Jack Reacher series, Lee Child's taciturn wandering hero has resurfaced in the rural expanses of Nebraska, bruised and battered from the blizzard-bashed climax of the excellent 61 Hours. After dealing out some much-needed street justice to a wife-beater, Reacher finds himself in the crosshairs of the powerful family that has ruled the area with fear and intimidation for decades. The situation worsens when three teams of professional fixers arrive in town, looking to protect a lucrative criminal enterprise on behalf of their various bosses and perhaps wipe out the competition -- and Reacher is caught in the middle. Child delivers his usual punchy, page-turning style, hooking readers early before taking them on a fun ride. There's plenty of action and thrills, plus some suspense. But at times the storytelling seems a little thin -- enjoyable but not completely engaging or layered. We learn more about Reacher, who over the course of the series has become a character with more complexity than was at first apparent. But Worth Dying For feels a little like a fun pit stop between 61 Hours and whatever the future holds. ★★★ Bantam $14.95 Reviewed by Craig Sisterson Undercover Keith Bulfin This story about Mexican and Colombian cocaine cartels is full of the usual stuff -- torture, murder, limbs cut off with chainsaws, ritual executions and beheadings. What stops it becoming a total cliché is that the author, on whose life the book is based, is a for mer stockbroker from Melbourne who is convicted of conspiracy to defraud.While in a Victorian jail he is befriended by a notorious cartel leader. Keith Bulfin is approached with an offer he can't refuse: to become an informant for the Drug Enforcement Agency of the United States. He can't refuse because his eventual pardon in Australia depends on his agreement.Yet if he accepts, he risks the sort of end to his life that awaits all who try to double-cross the cartels. While this is a racy read as we travel with Bulfin across Mexico and the United States, some parts of the story seem too neat to be true. Of course it's a novel, so fiction is per mitted. But we are left wondering how much is based on reality and how much is a 'boy's own' adventure fantasy. Undercover is a passable story, slightly more interesting because of the Australian connection, but not different enough from others in the genre to be truly distinctive. ★★ Bantam $32.95 Reviewed by Thomas Liddle The Snowman The Leopard Jo Nesbø Translated from Norwegian, The Snowman is a chilling (no pu intended) serial killer thriller. Inspector Harry Hole of the Oslo Crime Squad, recovering alcoholic and brilliant detective, has his curiosity piqued by a recent disappearance. He starts delving through cold case files of similar disappearances of women who have mysteriously vanished from their homes over recent years and who have never been found. Another woman disappears and this time Harry discovers that the killer has left her head decorating the top of a snowman. A strange, menacing letter Harry received some months earlier also mentioned a snowman. Har ry's superiors agree that they have a serial killer on their hands and the hunt is on. But Har ry has no idea of the dark roads he will have to walk down to unmask this devious killer. The Leopard follows on from the events in the Snowman case and not only pits Har ry Hole against a serial killer who seemingly leaves no clues but also embroils him in the political tensions between the Crime Squad and their rivals in Kripos, another police division that sees this case as the way to gain ascendancy over the Crime Squad. Still deeply troubled by he Snowman case and its fter math (where his partner, Rakel, and her son were nearly murdered by the Snowman), Har ry manages to buckle down and he eventually comes up with a clue that indicates that the killer is working through a list of names -- and there are still several murders yet to happen! Nesbø's plotting is exceptional; he misdirects you so many times that your head spins and just when you think you've figured out who the killer is, he sets you charging off in hot pursuit of someone else. Don't let the advertising blurb -- 'The next Stieg Larsson' -- throw you. Nesbø nd Hole stand by themselves s an excellent writer and an intriguing character. Don't miss these fabulous reads. The Snowman ★★★★ Vintage $24.95 The Leopard ★★★★ Harvill/Secker $32.95 Reviewed by Brooke Walker adventure / thriller word of mouth SHARE THE GIFT OF GOOD READING! Why not give a gift subscription to Good Reading to your book-loving friends and family. To subscribe call 02 8090 1051 or email subscriptions@goodreadingmagazine.com.au or visit www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au ADRIANA TRIGIANI on New York, Italyandher bestselling books Guy Gavriel Kay talks abouth islove of historical f I rvine We lsh tells us about h i s ch i ldhood and re ad ing Patr ick Ness on h i s aw ard - winn i ng books WR I T I NGGU I DES Booksto insp ireyourinnerauthor CLINT EASTWOOD A photographic exposé Books for Book Clubs BEINGSALTWISE Thefacts TO UR ROUEN Homeof G ustave Flauberta n d M ada m eBova ry
Links
Archive
March 2011
May 2011
Navigation
Previous Page
Next Page
