Tag: Allen & Unwin

Echo Lake by Joan Sauers

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery2 Comments

Echo Laker Cover

Publisher: Allen & Unwin (Trade Paperback – 2 May 2023)

Series: Standalone/Book One

Length: 375 pages

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

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Acclaimed Australian screenwriter Joan Sauers makes her crime fiction debut in a big way with the clever and enticing mystery novel, Echo Lake, a riveting read that makes great use of its iconic Australian setting.

Following an ugly divorce, historian Rose McHugh decides to completely uproot her life and move out of the hustle and bustle of Sydney.  Following her dreams of a rural lifestyle, Rose moves to the Southern Highlands of Australia, buying a rustic cabin outside the town of Berrima.  However, despite her hopes of an idealised and quiet life in the countryside, Rose is about to discover that the Southern Highlands have some big secrets.

After an encounter with a local thug, Rose makes an intriguing discovery of an undeveloped roll of film buried in her back garden.  Burning with curiosity, Rose develops the photos, only to discover that they contain the last known pictures of a beautiful young woman who went missing six years earlier and who the police suspect was murdered.  Fascinated by the mysterious turn of events, Rose decides to do her own digging into the case.

However, rather than the fun adventure she was expecting, Rose soon finds herself in grave danger when one of the people she talks to winds up dead.  Going against the advice of the police, Rose continues her investigation, working with a cohort of new friends from around the local towns.  But the closer she gets to the truth, the more she discovers that there is something sinister going on in her new home.  Can Rose uncover the truth before it is too late, or will she also end up a cautionary tale of the Southern Highlands?

This was an excellent first novel from Sauers, who takes the reader on a magical and entertaining journey into a great Australian setting with this gripping murder mystery.  Echo Lake is a fantastic read that really does a good job of drawing you in with its scenic and beautiful locales before hooking you with the captivating mystery.  Sauers starts the story off strongly, showcasing the location while also introducing you to protagonist Rose McHugh, whose complex history, relationships, and canine companion makes her quite an appealing character.  The initial chapters focus on her getting her bearing in the various towns of the Southern Highlands, including meeting members of the supporting cast, before she is dragged into the mystery of the missing woman thanks to a discovery of film in her backyard.  From there the mystery develops at a quick pace, as a witness is murdered, and Joan finds herself both a target and a suspect.  Doing her own investigation, she uncovers several new clues that slowly begin to unravel the mystery, which becomes her new obsession.  At the same time, Sauers provides an intense and compelling examination into Rose’s life in the Southern Highlands, as well as her complex history and desires for the future.  There are some moving moments as Rose attempts to get her life on track and this ties nicely into the final revelations about who the killer is and how they have been targeting people.  This results in an intense and captivating conclusion that I was pretty hooked to, and this ended up being a really good and entertaining read.

I quite liked how Echo Lake turned out, and Sauers did a fantastic job of creating a novel that was both exciting and heartfelt.  Echo Lake falls within the cosy mystery subgenre as the book is often focused on Rose’s life and amateur sleuthing rather than scenes of death and carnage.  I felt that the author got the right balance of character development, scene setting and personal drama within Echo Lake that served as a great counterbalance to the crime fiction side of things.  You really get to know and appreciated Rose and the cast of supporting characters, and it will be fun to see them again if Sauers ends up doing a sequel.  I will admit that I wasn’t always the biggest fan of the protagonist, mainly because Sauers gave her psychic vibes (a major cliché for me) and she makes a lot of silly decisions.  Despite this, I still really enjoyed her emotional journey, and she served as a great focus for the plot.  Sauers also produced a great mystery in Echo Lake, and I liked how twisty and complex it got in the places.  The raft of intriguing and memorable supporting characters worked to create multiple possible suspects, each of whom may have had a connection to the case, and you are left wondering for a good portion of the novel who might have done it.  I think the eventual reveal of the killer was done well and Sauers set it up with some clever clues.  As such, this ends up being a very impressive read and I had a great time getting through this classy and compelling read.

While I loved the story and characters, for me the best and most iconic part of Echo Lake was the author’s brilliant use of setting as she explores the Southern Highlands of Australia.  The Southern Highlands is a historical area of Australia that lies between Canberra and Sydney, and which is now filled with picturesque small towns that cater to the tourist trade.  Sauers’ is clearly a fan of this area and makes great use of this setting throughout Echo Lake, featuring several notable local towns and bush locations, often in entertaining and clever ways.  Due to a lifetime of travelling between Canberra and Sydney, I am well familiar with these towns, and I can say that Sauers did a pretty awesome job of capturing their feel and layout.  You can really sense each town’s distinctive vibes through Sauers’ writing, and I loved how she captured the beauty and sense of community that they have.  The author goes out of her way to feature as many iconic places from these locations as possible, including several of the better cafes, stores, pubs, and even the local dog park.  I was personally happy that Sauers featured the iconic and fun antique shop, Dirty Janes, in her novel (a favourite of my wife/editor), and Echo Lake often came across a bit like a tourist brochure at times.

However, the really impressive setting descriptions in Echo Lake come when Sauers looks at the bushland that surrounds the central town locations.  Many of the most dramatic moments of Echo Lake occur out in the ancient bush and walking trails the area is known for, and the author does a beautiful job showing how isolated, quiet and hauntingly beautiful these bush locations can be.  These descriptions run the gauntlet from awe-inspiring to extremely sinister, depending on the tone of the story, but they always work to enhance the book no matter the scene.  As such, I was deeply impressed by the authors use of setting, and I loved how well she featured this familiar Australian location into this amazing novel.

Overall, Echo Lake was a great first novel from Joan Sauers who produced a comfortable and intriguing Australian murder mystery.  I loved the interesting story and striking settings of Echo Lake, which work wonderfully together to produce a captivating and entertaining read.  A fantastic novel that is really worth checking out.

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The Isles of the Gods by Amie Kaufman

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Fantasy, Young Adult2 Comments

The Isles of the Gods Cover

Publisher: Allen & Unwin (Trade Paperback – 2 May 2023)

Series: The Isles of the Gods – Book One

Length: 456 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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One of Australia’s best young adult fantasy authors, Amie Kaufman, returns with another impressive and captivating read that combines amazing fantasy elements with a great cast of teenage characters in The Isles of the Gods.

Amie Kaufman is an outstanding Australian author who has produced several amazing series over the years.  While she has written individual series, such as her Elementals trilogy, Kaufman’s career has been particularly defined by her collaborations with other impressive authors, including Meagan Spooner, with whom she cowrote the Starbound trilogy and Unearthed series, and Jay Kristoff, with whom she cowrote The Illuminae Files series.  I best know Kaufman from another series she wrote with Kristoff, the Aurora Cycle trilogy.  This outstanding trilogy, which featured the amazing books Aurora Rising, Aurora Burning and Aurora’s End, told a brilliant story about a squad of teenage space peacekeepers as they attempt to save the universe from all manner of dangerous threats.  I had a lot of fun with this series, and I have been meaning to read more from both Kaufman and Kristoff for a while.  As such, I was very excited when I received a copy of Kaufman’s new young adult fantasy, The Isles of the Gods, and I made sure to read it as soon as I could.

Following a devastating war between the gods that destroyed nations, peace has reigned in the world for five hundred and one years.  This peace was hard won, as the aggressive Macean, God of risks, was only brought to heel by the actions of the warrior God Barrica and her followers from the Kingdom of Alinor.  The sacrifice of Alinor’s king allowed Barrica to imprison her brother in a deep sleep, one that Macean has been unable to awaken from in half a millennium.  With the other gods stepping back from reality, only Macean and Barrica remain in the world, with Barrica serving as eternal sentinel over her brother’s sleep.  However, as tensions once again being to rise in the world and Barrica’s power seems to fade, the people of Mellacea, loyal followers of Macean, begin to plot war with Alinor and seek to bring back Macean once again.

Selly is a young and ambitious sailor whose many desires, be they the command of her own ship or of magic, seem always just out of her reach.  Trapped by circumstance in the Alinor capital of Kirkpool, Selly plots to sneak away from her controlling ship’s captain and try to reach her father.  However, her plans are ruined when she unexpectedly runs into the cocky and flamboyant Prince Leander of Alinor.  A powerful magician generally considered a fop by his people, Leander commandeers Selly and her ship for a secret mission to the legendary Isles of the Gods, where Leander needs to perform a ritual which could end the war before it even begins.

As the journey begins, Selly finds herself clashing with the prince, who she sees as spoiled and incapable of taking his responsibilities seriously.  But as they continue, they soon find themselves caught in the middle of a disaster.  Forces from Mellacea are plotting to start the war, and their first strike destroys the diversionary fleet Leander was supposed to be travelling on.  Fleeing from enemies on all fronts, Selly and Leander will need to work with a young scholar to survive and try to achieve their goal.  But to win, they’ll need to defeat a dangerous group of killers which includes an ambitious criminal desperate to prove herself to her sister and her god, and one of Leander’s former best friends, who is determined to get revenge.  Can Selly and Leander succeed and stop the war, or will the gods once again rise to devastate the world?

Kaufman produces another elaborate and captivating read with The Isles of the Gods, which I had an outstanding time reading.  Featuring an excellent new fantasy setting, a powerful young adult narrative, and some absolutely amazing characters, The Isles of the Gods is an epic read that I managed to power through in a few fantastic days.

The Isles of the Gods has an excellent and fast-paced young adult fantasy narrative that is guaranteed to drag you in and keep you hooked the entire way through.  Starting off with a bit of useful exposition, especially in a compelling prelude, the main narrative quickly introduces the reader to the five main characters of the story through their specific perspective chapters.  While each character has their own specific story, the main plot is practically split into two as three of the characters, Selly, Leander and Keegan, attempt to head to The Isles of the Gods, while the other two characters, Jude and Laskia, are involved in the plot to kill Leander.  Kaufman builds up an intriguing and powerful story around these alternate narratives, and the reader is soon caught in the captivating journey across the sea that each of them undertakes.  Split into four parts, the story has a good flow to it as all the characters find obstacles to overcome.  This includes a nautically focused first part, an intense second part with the protagonists trapped in enemy territory, a short third part which again is strongly nautically based, while the climatic fourth part brings everything together as the reader is engulfed in tragedy and the intriguing conclusion to several character arcs and storylines.  Each part of the story is pretty exciting and emotionally powerful the entire way through as the characters engage in their respective quests while trying to deal with their many personal dramas and relationships.  There are some very dark moments loaded into the narrative and I deeply appreciated the way that Kaufman slowly teased out revelations about each character ensuring that there was always more for the reader to learn.  The Isles of the Gods ends on a very interesting note as every character completes their respective arcs and a new potential chapter of their life is revealed.  It is very clear that there is a lot more of this story to go and it will be quite intriguing to see what happens in the author’s next novel.

Kaufman utilised an excellent and easy to enjoy writing style in The Isles of the Gods that complimented the complex narrative and ensured that the reader would get really caught up in all the relevant events.  The split of the story around five separate point-of-view characters worked exceedingly well, and I really appreciated seeing multiple sides to the same events, especially as you get the perspective of protagonists, antagonists, and reluctant followers, each of which brings something very different to the story.  The short, sharp chapters from multiple perspectives really moves the story along at great pace while also leaving plenty of room to develop the characters and dive into the compelling relationships and issues between each of the protagonists.  Kaufman hits a fantastic balance between action, intrigue, humour, world building, romance and character growth throughout The Isles of the Gods, and there was barely a second that wasn’t compelling in its own way.  I particularly enjoyed the many scenes set on the water as Kaufman had a lot of fun in a primarily nautical novel.  Nautically themed fantasy books aren’t always the easiest of things for an author to pull off, but I felt Kaufman did an outstanding job with it as she crafts multiple outstanding sequences out on the waves which is often enhanced by the character’s use of magic.

As I mentioned above, The Isles of the Gods is a young adult novel, which, thanks to its excellent teenage cast, is focused towards a younger audience.  This is one of those young adult novels that will appeal to quite a large audience of readers, especially as Kaufman has featured a lot of mature themes throughout the book, including war, death, sacrifice and finding oneself.  Teenage readers will really appreciate the way that Kaufman doesn’t pull any punches with her story and leaves a lot of complex elements for them to get to grips with.  At the same time, this more mature content, intriguing new fantasy setting, and complicated characters will ensure that older readers can still have a lot of fun with this novel, and any major fantasy fan will deeply enjoy and appreciate the fantastic story that Kaufman pulled together.  As such, I would strongly recommend The Isles of the Gods to a huge range of different readers, and there is really something for everybody here.

Something that always impresses me about Amie Kaufman as an author is the way that she can create new and sophisticated new fantasy realms for each of her excellent series.  The Isles of the Gods is a particularly good example of this as Kaufman sets her narrative around a great new fantasy realm with some intriguing backstory and elements to it.  I loved the cool history, which involves fallen gods and warring nations, that the author works into the overarching plot perfectly, ensuring that all these intriguing details become quite essential to the main story.  The resulting world gets some gets some substantial exploration throughout The Isles of the Gods, and Kaufman takes the time to visit some of the more fascinating and distinctive locales in this world, while leaving the door open for more to be explored in the future.  The world itself has a good mixture of steampunk technology and magic to it, and I liked how the authors dives into the mechanics behind both religion and the spirt based elemental magic that was so key to the plot.  The recurring focus on sacrifice, which proves to be essential for both magic and the gods, was particularly noteworthy, especially as it results in some powerful moments, and it really made these fantasy elements pop.  All this creativity from Kaufman helped to turn The Isles of the Gods into an outstanding read, and I look forward to exploring more of this realm in the future.

One of the big highlights of The Isles of the Gods for me was the exceptional collection of focal characters.  The plot of this impressive fantasy novel focuses around five teenagers, each of whom have multiple chapters shown from their perspective.  Kaufman develops some amazing and moving character arcs across the book and you really get drawn into the personal stories and the intriguing relationships that form between them.

A large amount of the plot revolves around the characters of Selly and Leander, who form the emotional heart of the book.  Selly is a sailor and failed magician who is desperate to escape her current life and finally become the captain she things she deserves.  She runs straight into the beacon of overconfidence and charisma that is Leander at the start of the book and their storylines end up intertwined the entire way through.  Leander is easily the most entertaining character in the entire book and his fun manner, exceptional magical abilities and ability to charm most people will swiftly have you falling in love with him.  This works in great contrast to Selly, who is one of the few people unimpressed with Leander, and the two enter a somewhat antagonistic relationship as they clash on everything.  Of course, this eventually leads to a romance (this is young adult fiction after all), but the build up to it works really well.  The two characters play off each other perfectly, especially as they call out each other’s flaws and mistakes, and you really grow to enjoy the banter between them.  Along the way, the characters both address some of their deeper issues, such as Selly’s failure when it comes to contacting spirits and Leander’s inner fears and guilt which drives him to act so over-the-top.  Kaufman works these compelling character issues into the narrative extremely well and it helps the reader to build a stronger attachment to Leander and Selly throughout.  Their joint arc ends up being a major highlight of The Isles of the Gods, and it will be interesting to see how Kaufman continues it in the future.

The Isles of the Gods features three other point-of-view characters, each of whom has their own distinctive and compelling story arc.  The first of these is Keegan, an Alinorish noble who has run away from his family and responsibilities to try and become a scholar.  A former classmate of Leander’s, Keegan is dragged into the adventure inadvertently when Leander charters Selly’s ship on which he is a passenger.  Portrayed as asexual and a little antisocial, Keegan is a solid member of the cast who is initially reluctant to help but eventually becomes a firm companion to Selly and Leander.  His scholarly knowhow and history with Leander lead to some big moments in the novel, and he is partially responsible for Leander’s growth within the book.  Another character with a complex history with Leander is Jude, a noble bastard from Alinor who was also at school with Leander and Keegan.  However, he has since moved to Mellacea after an apparent betrayal by Leander and now works for a crime lord.  Forced into the plot to kill his former friend, Jude goes through quite a lot of conflict throughout the novel as he finds himself getting dragged deeper and deeper into the chaos against his will while also trying to understand his complex past with Leander.  Jude serves as a quite a good alternate perspective within the antagonists’ ranks, showcasing a more conflicted and human view of their actions, and his story added a lot to the plot.  The final character is Laskia, who serves as the main antagonist of the story.  The younger sister of a notorious Mellacean crime lord, Laskia is an ambitious religious fanatic, desperate to prove herself to her sister and to her god Macean.  She leads the conspiracy to kill Leander, and despite her ruthless actions is shown to be troubled and unsure of herself.  However, her ambitious and righteous fury continue to drive her on, and she has a powerful and dark arc throughout the novel that really drew me in.  Honestly, all five point-of-view characters were pretty exceptional, and it will be very interesting to see how Kaufman continues their storylines in the future.

Amie Kaufman continues to dominate the young adult fantasy scene in a big way with her latest epic book, The Isles of the Gods.  This very talented Australian author has produced another amazing and awesome read that blends complex characters, a cool new setting, and an addictive and impressive young adult fantasy narrative, that had me hooked the entire way through.  I had such a brilliant time reading The Isles of the Gods and I’m extremely keen to see how Kaufman will continue it in the future.  This is an exceptional young adult fantasy novel that you need to check out!

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Headcase by Jack Heath

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Five-Star Books, Thriller1 Comment

Headcase Cover

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia (Trade Paperback – 29 November 2022)

Series: Timothy Blake – Book Four

Length: 416 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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One of Australia’s leading and most diabolical thriller writers, the exceedingly talented Jack Heath, returns with another twisted and immensely clever mystery, Headcase, which sees the return of his cannibalistic protagonist, Timothy Blake.

While Australia has quite a few outstanding crime fiction authors, Jack Heath is a particular favourite of mine.  Coming from my hometown of Canberra, Heath has been writing for years, producing a range of different series and standalone novels.  I have really enjoyed some of his recent books, including the 2021 standalone novel, Kill Your Brother, an ultra-intense and amazing five-star read that saw a young woman with a complex past forced to make a terrible decision: kill her imprisoned brother or die herself.  This was one of my favourite Australian novels of 2021, and it is a must-read for anyone keen for a powerful and thrilling story.  However, Heath is probably best known for his Timothy Blake books (also known as the Hangman series), which are particularly fun and gruesome.  Following the titular Timothy Blake, a brilliant investigator with cannibalistic tendencies, this epic series are set around a unique but highly entertaining series of mysteries that really draw the reader in.  I have had an amazing time with this series, including the third entry in the series, Hideout (one of my favourite Australian books of 2020), and I have been very excited to see how this series continues for a while.  Heath did not disappoint as the fourth and latest entry in the series, Headcase, proved to be an exceptional and gripping read.

Following his previous harrowing adventure, which cost him his arm and burned all the trust he had with his former FBI partner, freelance investigator and full-time cannibal Timothy ‘Hangman’ Blake’s future seemed in doubt, until he was given an offer he couldn’t refuse.  Recruited by a CIA agent nearly as insane as he is, Blake now works freelance for the agency, investigating odd occurrences throughout the country in exchange for occasionally being able to indulge in his cannibalistic habit.

His latest case sees him and his CIA partner, Zara, journey to Houston, where something unexplainable has occurred at the NASA training complex.  A fully suited Chinese astronaut has been discovered on the grounds of the facility and no one can explain how he got there.  Did he fall out of the sky, or was he murdered elsewhere and somehow dragged into the middle of a secure United States facility?  As a diplomatic catastrophe seems imminent, Blake is drafted by the CIA to unofficially investigate one of the facility’s employees, a former kidnapper who Blake helped put away seven years ago, who may hold the secret of the dead astronaut.

As Blake starts digging, he uncovers a series of surprising and unusual clues that seemed design to confuse any investigation.  The evidence seems to point to the victim falling out of a Chinese spacecraft surveilling the United States, however, all Blake’s investigative senses and knowledge of human flesh seem to tell him differently.  But with Chinese hit squads following them, the CIA attempting to forestall their investigation, several suspicious individuals working in the facility attempting to misdirect him, and Blake’s own ravenous hunger driving him crazy, this case seems near impossible to solve.  Can the Hangman crack the impossible one more time, or will he finally end up in the cage that he deserves?

Wow, I just cannot get over how good Jack Heath is an author as he produces another outstanding and captivating read with a diabolical story behind it.  This amazing thriller has everything you need to enjoy yourself, including a clever mystery and some truly insane characters, and I absolutely powered through it trying to see how everything came together.  This is an easy five-star read from me and I have already featured Headcase on my Top Australian Books of 2022 list a few weeks ago.

Headcase has a brilliant story to it that takes the reader on a very wild ride into some very gruesome murders.  Told from the perspective of main character Timothy Blake, you are soon shown the compelling murder through the eyes of a crazed cannibal who is attempting to simultaneously solve a murder and please the CIA while not revealing that they are looking into the death and sate his own hunger for dead human flesh.  Heath provides a great set-up to this entire story with the mysterious Chinese astronaut discovered in the centre of the NASA facility, which is a very good hook to drag the reader in.  As Blake tries to investigate this case, the reader is treated to several flashback chapters to when Blake was working for the FBI and helped to put away one of the NASA technicians for kidnapping, a crime Blake never believed he committed.  Heath also mixes things up by also including several chapters set a short while into the future in which Blake is incarcerated in a mental institution and is recounting the current story to his psychologist.  This three-way split storyline works extremely well for the first half the book as all three timelines support the others extremely well, and the blend of different periods and focuses helps to create a very interesting read.  The storyline focusing on the dead astronaut remains at the centre of the narrative, with the other two plotlines tying into it, and this is where the magic truly happens.  Heath sets up a particularly interesting mystery around the dead astronaut, with the protagonist forced to dive through a ton of clues, overly dodgy suspects, and government secrets to try and get to the truth.  At the same time, Blake and his partner find themselves under attack from several sources, such as Chinese hit squads, the police, a mysterious serial killer, and their own very dark inner demons.

The story advances at a quick clip the entire way through as the characters power through a range of deadly and dark scenarios.  Heath loads up the clues and the complicated supporting characters and it proves very interesting to see Blake attempt to work out who may be responsible and their very complex motivations.  Much of the story has a bit more of a spy thriller taste to it, thanks to Blake’s association with the CIA and this really helps to make Headcase standout a little from the previous Timothy Blake books.  The NASA and Chinese space surveillance proves to be a very fascinating inclusion that Heath cleverly works into the plot, and I loved that the author was able to write a whole story about mysterious Chinese surveillance craft before the current balloon crisis.  While these spy elements, which include brutal encounters with hit teams from various agencies, are a great new inclusion, some of the best parts of the book still revolve around the deeper character moments of the story, especially when it comes to the protagonist.  I deeply enjoyed how Heath utilises his protagonist’s disturbing cannibalistic insights as an investigative tool, while other insights into his mind, especially when he is in a mental institution, increase the tension and make you wonder just how reliable a narrator Heath truly is.

Everything comes together perfectly in the second half, especially when Blake is desperately trying to solve everything, not only to get to the truth but to save lives.  All the previous story elements are brought together in a big way, and it was outstanding how the clues that Heath had cleverly laid throughout the story came together.  The time split perspectives are resolved in a great way, and it is a lot of fun to see how Blake ended up in the mental hospital.  Everything leads up to several big reveals at the end of the book, not just surrounding the main murder, but other curious events that have been explored as Headcase continues, and reader will not be disappointed in what comes to light, nor how the protagonist deals with it.  The full details about the compelling and unique motivations for the main murder makes for a very interesting read, and the diabolical method of murder is something that I won’t be forgetting in a hurry.  While I did find that the use of a certain McGuffin was somewhat unrealistic, even for this crazy series, I was generally extremely happy with how the entire novel came together.  The complex mystery is resolved in a very captivating way, and the character arcs that sit at the centre of the story go in some very interesting direction which should result in some fantastic books in the future.  I personally came away from Headcase extremely elated and deeply impressed with just how clever an author Heath is.

On top of the outstanding and fantastically compelling story, I have a lot of love for Heath’s writing style, which deeply enhances each of his books.  The quick pace, the fantastic dives to both the past and future, and the intense blend of mystery and insane personal issues surrounding the main characters, makes for some outstanding reading, and there honestly isn’t a single part of Headcase that wasn’t extremely fascinating or fun.  Understandably, due to the story content, this is a pretty gruesome series, and Heath doesn’t hold back on the detailed depictions of dead bodies, nor the terrible things that his protagonist does to them.  However, he never goes way too over-the-top, and the gore and cannibalism always serves a vital purpose, either to provide clues to the mystery or to highlight the protagonist’s complex nature.  It also helps to make the series particularly distinctive, even amongst other impactful thrillers, and you must love just how obsessed and focused the main character/narrator is about dead bodies. Like most of the books in this series, Headcase can be very easily read as a standalone novel, and Heath is very careful to concisely fill in any relevant details that the reader might need.  However, as with most ongoing series, those people who have read the earlier books in the series will probably get a lot more out of Headcase emotionally, especially when it comes to seeing the progression of the protagonist.  I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Headcase to a new reader, as they are guaranteed to have a fun and unique time with this outstanding read.

I must highlight Heath’s captivating and complex central protagonist, Timothy Blake, who is once again one of the best things about this entire book.  I really love the character of Blake in this series as he is such an intriguing and damaged character due to his deranged cannibalistic tendencies, which often drive him to do terrible things in the name of obtaining human flesh.  There are so many great scenes where Blake feels his desire and hunger for human meat start controlling his actions and the character is constantly fighting for some measure of self-control.  Despite this, he is a relatively good person and a skilled investigator whose keen observation skills, canny insights, intense survival instincts, and intimate knowledge of human bodies give him some intriguing edges during a case.  While he often likes to pretend that he is only helping the case to get fresh meat, he is also obsessed with finding the truth and getting justice, which, when combined with his romantic desires for his former FBI partner Reese Thistle make him occasionally seem like a good, if highly damaged, person.  These seemingly incompatible parts of his personality are so damn effective, and it is always quite fascinating to see what part of his personality actually wins: the feral hungry beast or the surprisingly heroic detective.

The version of Blake in Headcase is particularly interesting as Heath comes up with some new range of issues and problems for him to overcome on top of his all-consuming hunger.  After managing to survive his particularly desperate situation in Hideout, he has a somewhat different lease on life which goes with his new job.  However, he is still in love with Thistle, even after their confrontations in the last two books, and this is encouraging him to be a better person.  This desire to be a better person somewhat goes against the desires of his new masters in the CIA, especially his partner Zara, who try to use his fractured mind to their advantage and his desire to change for Thistle puts both her and Blake at risk.  He also undergoes therapy for the first time in his life, albeit somewhat against his will.  These scenes with the psychologist are particularly fascinating as they discuss his cannibalistic desires and his general sanity.  While the psychologist doesn’t believe he is a cannibal, her insights give Blake a lot to think about, especially when he comes to the revelation that he might be able to overcome these life-long issues if he sought treatment.  This really alters Blake’s perspective of his entire life, and it, as well as some insights he gets from viewing other patients at the mental hospital he is locked in, proved to be a very interesting tipping point for the character growth we have witnessed throughout the series.  It will be very interesting to see how Heath continues to explore and highlight Blake in the future and I have a feeling we are only on the start of a particularly dark and emotionally rich journey.

In addition to Blake, Heath has loaded Headcase with an intriguing array of unstable and entertaining supporting characters who add some awesome value to the entire novel.  The most prominent of these is Blake’s CIA partner in this case, Zara.  Zara was introduced in the previous novel, Hideout, when she managed to infiltrate a group of psychotic killers extremely successfully, before recruiting Blake with the promise of bodies to eat.  While Zara serves as an effective agent and partner to Blake, she is ultra-violent and has some major mental issues and might even be crazier than Blake (which is saying something).  Zara ends up forming a toxic relationship with Blake in this book, especially as she utilises his addiction and leads him into to some deadly and dark situations.  She proves to be a fantastic addition to the plot and I love how intense and threatening Heath made her at times.  There are some great reveals around her, as well as a certain incident that matches her with Blake, and I loved all the awesome stuff Heath set up around her.  Heath also makes sure to bring back Blake’s former FBI partner and love interest, Reese Thistle, who has another interesting run in Headcase.  Blake and Thistle have had a very compelling relationship throughout the series, which got even more complicated when Reese found Blake’s fridge full of corpses.  Still keeping his secret after he saved her life, Reese is very awkward with Blake, which adds to Headcase’s dramatic tension.  Despite this, the two do work together to try and solve the murder and it was nice to see them teaming up again.  Of course, this leads to more danger and despair for both of them, but Heath is taking their relationship in some interesting directions, and I look forward to seeing how that turns out.  Throw in a compelling group of potential suspects, foreign agents and mental patients that the protagonist has to work his way through to solve this complex case and you have an outstanding group of characters that I had a lot of fun with.

With his latest Timothy Blake novel, Headcase, Jack Heath continues to impress with his epic and captivating take on murder and complex characters.  This incredible novel takes the reader on an awesome journey through insanity, obsession, and desperation, all centred around an impossible and very clever mystery.  I had a brilliant time powering through Headcase, and I have so much appreciation for Heath’s scary wit and ability to dive into the head of a killer.  Headcase is an exceptional book that comes highly recommended, I cannot wait to see what outstanding mysteries and thrillers he produces in the future.

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How to Kill a Client by Joanna Jenkins

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery, Thriller2 Comments

How to Kill a Client Cover

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia (Trade Paperback – 31 January 2023)

Series: Standalone

Length: 384 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Australian lawyer and debuting author Joanna Jenkins introduces herself in a big way with her fantastic first novel, the legal thriller How to Kill a Client, which takes the reader on a fascinating journey to the dark side of Australia’s legal profession.

As the in-house lawyer at a powerful international mining company, Gavin Jones oversees millions of dollars’ worth of legal contracts each year, including to the Brisbane office of the Australian legal firm Howard Green.  Using them to negotiate lucrative contracts throughout Australia, Jones has become one of Howard Green’s biggest clients and the money he controls ensures that everyone at the law firm treats him like a god.

But while everyone fawns over Jones and his power, no-one actually likes him.  A cruel, petty and vindicative man, Jones has messed with the careers and lives of everyone in his orbit, especially women, who he reserves a particular disdain for.  His actions ensured the suffering of everyone he has power over, including his wife, his employees, and the female partners at Howard Green, as he seeks to wreck lives, destroy careers and give himself the lifestyle he feels he deserves.

So when Jones dies suddenly and suspiciously, everyone he knew is a potential suspect; thanks to his dodgy dealings and underhanded tactics, they all had a motive to kill him.  As the police begin their investigation and the lawyers at Howard Green close ranks, it falls to partner Ruth Dawson, one of the few people without a motive, to protect her firm and its secrets.  However, when her investigation reveals proof of who killed Jones and other dark secrets her firm is hiding, will Ruth reveal the truth or will she bury it to protect her firm?

How to Kill a Client is a clever and tricky novel that really showcases Jenkins’s skill as a new writer.  Blending a fantastic and compelling crime fiction narrative with intense looks at the lifestyle of members of a successful law firm, How to Kill a Client was a gripping and interesting read that is really worth checking out.

I loved the cool story contained within this book which came across as part legal thriller, part personal drama surrounding high-level professionals, and part intriguing murder mystery.  The story dives into the chaotic world surrounding the legal firm of Howard Green and its clients and effectively introduces all the key players in this drama, who have their own views on the troubles to come.  Each primary characters is connected to the eventual victim, Gavin Jones.  Jenkins spends the first half of the book showcasing Jones’s terrible nature and the various ways they are messing with everyone.  Cleverly utilising multiple character perspectives, you are soon drawn into the various main characters’ lives and soon see all the various reasons why each of them may have wanted to kill Jones, as well as some of the suspicious steps some of them took.  Jenkins perfectly sets up everything in the first part of How to Kill a Client, and by the time you reach the halfway point, you are firmly enthralled by the narrative and want to see how the rest of the book unfolds.

When the eventual death happens (a real high point) the reader is left wondering whether it was an accident, a mistake, or a deliberate action, with the evidence pointing towards a murder.  However, due to the sheer range of suspects and motives, the story produces a twisty and fun range of plotlines that you need to navigate to get to the final conclusion.  Jenkins really produces an emotional and captivating second half as you try to find out who killed Jones and why.  There are some brilliant revelations unfurled here, and I loved how some cunningly hidden clues in the first half of the book were utilised in the final mystery.  I was very impressed with the final reveals around how the killing was committed and why it happened, and you will come away from this story very satisfied, especially as Jenkins builds in some excellent character moments and ensures that all the remaining characters get a fitting end to their arcs.  I found myself getting really caught up in Jenkins’ powerful and amazing story and I honestly powered through the last half of the book very quickly to see how everything ended.

Part of the reason why How to Kill a Client is such an effective read is that Jenkins introduces an excellent cast of intriguing and complex characters who are thrust into a variety of compelling situations throughout the course of the narrative.  Each of the main cast, who Jenkins effectively builds up and utilises in the plot, are quite damaged, desperate or concerned in their own unique way, while many of the supporting characters are notably selfish or manipulative for their own ends.  Characters like Ruth Dawson and Viv Harrison give some compelling and honest insights into how women are treated in this influential professional setting, while Anne Jones shows the harsh reality of a women trapped in an abusive relationship.  At the same time, there is a great collection of supporting lawyer characters who Jenkins uses to show off the range of people and personalities one is likely to experience in Australia’s legal services.

However, out of all the characters in this book, the one I must highlight the most is probably the murder victim, Gavin Jones, mainly because he is such a despicable figure.  Jenkins really goes out of her way to make Jones into one of the most unlikable and petty characters you are ever likely to find in fiction and boy does she succeed, perfectly capturing an insecure and manipulative narcissist who enjoys controlling people.  Not only does he go out of the way to try and ruin the careers of several characters just because they are women, but he also demands attention from the male characters to feed is ego, while also abusing and controlling his wife to make him feel good.  In a very short amount of time Jenkins builds Jones up into such an unlikable character that the reader finds themselves trying to reach into the book and kill him before the murderer does.  This naturally adds quite a lot to the mystery of the book, as his malicious professional actions, deceits, violence and puppy killing (seriously, that one really angered me), ensures that everyone he came in contact with had a reason to murder him.  The huge suspect pool around this unlikable character allows Jenkins to craft an impressive murder mystery and you’ll really get drawn into finding who finally snapped and killed this infuriating character.  This villainous figure, and other great characters, all added so much to the plot of How to Kill a Client and really got invested in their stories very quickly.

One of the other features of How to Kill a Client that I particularly enjoyed was the author’s detailed and intriguing examination of an Australian law firm.  Clearly utilising all her past experiences as a lawyer, Jenkins perfectly showcases how a firm would work and act in a variety of scenarios, and you really get the senses of the day-to-day chaos the individuals working there would experience, which adds a lot of authenticity to the story.  Jenkins also dives into the backroom drama and politics that surround such entities, as the various lawyers cut deals and fight for control over various projects or clients.  There is a particularly cynical edge to the book’s portrayal of legal firms in this novel, and Jenkins shows it to be a dark and unfulfilling practice at times, especially in some of the more elite firms.  The author really showcases just how bad these companies are when it comes to the treatment of women as two of the book’s central characters are female partners in Howard Green who have to constantly deal with their male colleagues’ condescension and manipulations, and there are several pointed scenes where the arrogant male managers fail to listen to the women even when they are right.  There is also a focus on the way law firms sycophantically woo potential clients, bending over backwards to get hired, and this adds some intriguing angles to the drama.  Finally, there is also quite a dark look at the demand for profits over people, as there is a constant fear of firings and layoffs, even for the best employees.  This critical presentation of a professional law firm is pretty striking and it results in some powerful scenes throughout the course of the book, especially as the people stuck in these firms often refuse to escape it, no matter how bad it gets.  I felt this examination of the profession in Australia added so much to the outstanding story and it helps to make How to Kill a Client really stand out.

Overall, How to Kill a Client was an outstanding and captivating debut from new Australian author Joanna Jenkins and one I had a wonderful time reading.  Blending compelling legal elements with a fascinating, character-driven mystery, How to Kill a Client has a brilliant story that takes the reader on a powerful and twisty journey.  Slick, emotionally rich, and filled with exceptional characters, How to Kill a Client is one of my favourite debuts of 2023 so far, and I cannot wait to see what epic reads Jenkins will release in the future.

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Quick Review – Only a Monster by Vanessa Len

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Fantasy, Quick Review, Young Adult2 Comments

Only a Monster Cover

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia (Trade Paperback – 1 February 2022)

Series: Monsters – Book One

Length: 410 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Only a Monster by Australian author Vanessa Len is a particularly wonderful debut highlight of last year that I have been meaning to talk about for some time.  A brilliant and awesome young adult fantasy read, Only a Monster is an impressive novel that sees a shocked girl realise that everything she thought she knew about her family was a lie and that deep down she really is a monster.  Intense, incredibly clever, and beautifully inventive, Only a Monster was pretty damn epic and proved to be one of the best debuts of 2022.

Plot Synopsis:

With the sweeping romance of Passenger and the dark fantasy edge of This Savage Song, this standout YA contemporary fantasy debut from Vanessa Len, is the first in a planned trilogy.

It should have been the perfect summer. Sent to stay with her late mother’s eccentric family in London, sixteen-year-old Joan is determined to enjoy herself. She loves her nerdy job at the historic Holland House, and when her super cute co-worker Nick asks her on a date, it feels like everything is falling into place.

But she soon learns the truth. Her family aren’t just eccentric: they’re monsters, with terrifying, hidden powers. And Nick isn’t just a cute boy: he’s a legendary monster slayer, who will do anything to bring them down.

As she battles Nick, Joan is forced to work with the beautiful and ruthless Aaron Oliver, heir to a monster family that hates her own. She’ll have to embrace her own monstrousness if she is to save herself, and her family. Because in this story . . .

. . . she is not the hero.


Only a Monster has an awesome story that takes a teenage girl on a dark journey of self-discovery and magical adventure as she tries to figure out who she is and what lies within her.  Len starts this book quickly, with a good introduction to central protagonist and point-of-view character Joan Chang-Hunt, who is part of the unusual Hunt family.  A shuddering moment of unreality reveals that she is really half monster, someone who has the ability to steal time from humans to power their time-travelling abilities.  Though Joan initially tries to avoid this revelation and enjoy time with her crush, Nick, an encounter with the malevolent Oliver family of monsters forces her further into their hidden world, especially when it is revealed that Nick is secretly a monster slayer destined to kill every monster in existence, including Joan.  After a brutal series of events that sees most of her family and the other monsters of London killed in a single, coordinated massacre, Joan flees into the past with her surviving cousin Ruth and the youngest member of the Oliver family, Aaron, hoping to find a way to save their families.  Their quest leads them to try and recover a legendary artifact that will allow them to rewrite time.  But to do so, they will need to go up against the mysterious King of the Monsters and his dangerous plot to control reality.  Caught between monsters and monster slayers, the characters are forced into a series of deadly encounters which will force Joan to choose whether to retain her humanity or embrace her inner monster.

Len really came up with something special in Only a Monster, and I personally loved how this outstanding debut unfolded.  The author keeps a pretty fast pace throughout the entire book, and you are constantly thrown from intense moment to intense moment as the protagonist and her companions attempt to stay ahead of their enemies and find a way to bring back their families.  I felt that Len did a great job introducing her compelling world, fantastic characters and unique magical elements, and you quickly learn to appreciate the author’s inventive ideas.  This is actually a pretty dark read, especially as it starts with a massacre and focuses on a group of magical beings who can suck the life force out of normal humans to power their abilities.  I personally deeply enjoyed this darker tone, as Len balances it well with her unique creative ideas and the emotional character development to create an intense and addictive read.  The magical time travel elements of this book are very well done, and the darker ideas behind the absorption of people’s time span helped to make it a malevolent gift that the protagonist is forced to use by necessity.  Despite this, it does produce some fun time travel jokes, and I had a laugh at some of the pop culture references that were utilised in the identification of the period.  Len also lays down a series of interesting twists throughout the story which are revealed at perfect moments and which help to produce a pretty amazing story.  However, the absolute highlight of this book had to be the epic ending that Len decided to traumatise her readers with.  While I’m not going to give away anything here, let’s just say it is pretty insane, and I was deeply impressed with how Len set it up and executed it.

The final thing I really need to gush about when it comes to Only a Monster is the deeply complex and damaged characters featured within.  Only a Monster features a fun crew of central protagonists, each of whom are going through their own epic journeys.  The primary focus is on central character Joan Chang-Hunt, a sweet and nerdy character who, in the course of a day, finds out she is a half-monster with life-sucking time travel abilities, and then witnesses her entire extended family getting massacred.  This naturally causes her to experience a lot of emotions and trauma as she constantly tries to come to terms with how her life has unravelled and changed forever.  The main focus of her character arc is the examination of her inner monster as Joan tries to get to grips on whether she wants her abilities, especially as they force her to drain away people’s time.  She is also dealing with intense guilt over her role in the massacre that destroyed her family, partially thanks to her relationship with Nick, and this clashes hard with her own concerns about being a monster.  All this, and more, ensures that Joan is forced to grow up a lot throughout the course of Only a Monster, and she must keep making harder and harder decision as she gets closer to crossing lines she doesn’t want to.  Her final actions in this book bring all these deep feelings close to the surface as she is forced to make a terrible decision in a heartbreaking and powerful scene.  Len did an outstanding job when it came to Joan in this book, and I look forward to seeing how she continues to develop in future entries in this series.

Two other major characters I need to highlight are Joan’s accidental companion, Aaron Oliver, and her crush/personal nightmare, Nick.  Both characters have pretty dark introductions to the story, especially as they end up trying to kill Joan in the starting chapters, but Len develops them separately as the book continues.  Aaron ends up working with Joan as they try to stay alive and find a way to save their families, and they become an intriguing and combative duo throughout the book.  While Aaron is initially arrogant and antagonistic, you soon see that this is a façade, as Aaron is also incredibly damaged due to the actions of his cruel family.  Len does a wonderful job of slowly uncovering this deeper side of Aaron throughout the course of Only a Monster, and the eventual bond he forms with Joan is a touching and moving part of the book, even if it isn’t destined to last.  Nick, on the other hand, is an outstanding villain for this story, especially when it is revealed that he is an unflinching and implacable monster hunter.  Despite the connection he had formed with Joan before the events of this book, mainly because he sees her as more human than monster, Nick soon starts fanatically hunting her throughout time and becomes determined to stop her at all costs.  Clever and dark reveals about Nick come to light as the book continues, painting him in a somewhat sympathetic light, but this doesn’t stop him from hunting Joan, which leads to an exceptional and shocking confrontation towards the end of Only a Monster that perfectly changes everything.  The powerful character work contained in these central characters, as well as the intense bonds they form with Joan, are such a key part of Only a Monster, and you will come away heartbroken and moved with how their storylines unfold.

Overall, I had an incredible time with Vanessa Len’s Only a Monster, and not only was it one of the best debuts of 2022 but one of the best young adult books of the year as well.  This brilliant and powerful fantasy read had an amazing story and you will be impressed and excited by the complex characters and deeply inventive fantasy elements that are worked into this compelling narrative.  Intense, dark, and full of hope, Only a Monster is an incredible read that comes highly recommended to anyone interested in seeing the start of an extremely promising career in fantasy fiction.  I am very excited to check out the sequel, Never a Hero, later this year, and if Len keeps up the amazing writing from Only a Monster, it is going to be particularly epic and exceptional.

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Quick Review – Black River by Matthew Spencer

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery, Quick Review, Thriller1 Comment

Black River Cover

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia (Trade Paperback – 31 May 2022)

Series: Standalone/Book One

Length: 349 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Fantastic new author Matthew Spencer presents one of the best Australian crime debuts of 2022 with the powerful and intense Black River.

Plot Synopsis:

A long, burning summer in Sydney. A young woman found murdered in the deserted grounds of an elite boarding school. A serial killer preying on victims along the banks of the Parramatta River. A city on edge.

Adam Bowman, a battling journalist who grew up as the son of a teacher at Prince Albert College, might be the only person who can uncover the links between the school murder and the ‘Blue Moon Killer’. But he will have to go into the darkest places of his childhood to piece together the clues. Detective Sergeant Rose Riley, meanwhile, is part of the taskforce desperately trying to find the killer before he strikes again. Adam Bowman’s excavation of his past might turn out to be Rose’s biggest trump card or it may bring the whole investigation crashing down, and put her own life in danger.


Black River was a highly compelling Australian murder mystery thriller that I was lucky enough to receive a copy of a few months ago.  The debut novel of veteran Australian journalist Matthew Spencer, Black River was an impressive read that dove into the dark heart of Sydney with a brilliant mystery.

Spencer comes up with a pretty exceptional and clever mystery for his first book, as Black River sees a damaged journalist and a dedicated cop investigate a deadly killer haunting Sydney.  The investigation in question is a combination serial killer hunt and standard murder investigation, with the main question being whether a murder at an elite boarding school is connected to the larger case or whether it was the work of a copycat.  At the same time, there is also a captivating dive into the mysterious history of the fantastically dreary and haunting boarding school setting, which seems to have a deeper connection to the case, especially as central protagonist, Adam Bowman, has some major history there.  Spencer takes the investigation on several great tangents throughout the book and presents a powerful story with some clever twists and turns.  I loved the balance of clever investigation, deep character examination, and psychological twists as you try to determine who the killer is and whether the two cases are linked.  Spencer introduces some great side plots and red herrings to distract the reader from the solution, including some concerning revelations about the main protagonist.  The eventual solution to the mystery was extremely good, and I loved just how shocking the main reveal was, especially as there is a very cool twist surrounding the identity of the killer.  Everything came together extremely well, and I was spellbound throughout the entire book as Spencer delivered a great, dark Australian mystery. 

In addition to the excellent story, I loved Spencer’s amazing use of Sydney as a background setting to the intense mystery, especially the parts of the city that border the Parramatta River.  Watching the police characters slowly traverse the elegant river, trying to work out how the killer uses it to choose their victims, is a brilliant touch that is sure to bring a shiver to any readers familiar with the area.  I also need to highlight the cool private school setting where the book’s primary murder takes place.  The old elite school with its coating of history and tradition makes for a memorable background where murder and tragedy feel like they belong.  Spencer really built up this school throughout the book, no doubt using his own personal experiences of such educational institutions, and it played into the plot extremely well, especially when aspects of class, privilege and money start to influence the investigation.

Spencer caps this all off with a great cast of excellent and captivating characters that add to the power and impact of the story.  Most of the book focuses on the character of Adam Bowman, the damaged journalist who is dragged into the case thanks to his personal connection to the private school.  Bowman is forced to revisit some of the worst moments from his past in this book, which helps to turn him into quite an intriguing protagonist, especially as you begin to wonder just how connected he is to everything.  Bowman is well balanced out by police character Rose Riley, who serves as one of the primary investigators in the book.  Rose is a great foil to Bowman and acts as the professional member of the cast who keeps the police storyline on track.  I liked the connection and partnership that develops between Bowman and Rose in this novel, especially as it was lacking any romance.  They make a great team, even though Rose considers him a possible suspect, and it will be interesting to see if Spencer revisits these characters again the future.

Overall, Black River is a pretty impressive crime fiction debut that really made an impression on me in 2022.  New author Matthew Spencer came up with a dark and memorable mystery story that makes great use of its Australian setting and cool characters.  A brilliant first outing from an amazing new talent and a must-read for all fans of Australian murder mysteries.

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Desert Star by Michael Connelly

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Five-Star Books, Murder Mystery3 Comments

Desert Star Cover

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia (Trade Paperback – 8 November 2022)

Series: Ballard and Bosch – Book Four

Length: 393 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Legendary crime fiction author, Michael Connelly, returns with another impressive and deeply enjoyable read that once again brings together two of his best protagonists for a compelling investigation, with Desert Star.

Connelly is an author who needs very little introduction, having spent the last 30 years dominating the crime fiction world.  His various outstanding works often cover several diverse subgenres of crime fiction, and his unique and captivating protagonists all exist in one shared universe, primarily set around Los Angeles.  Ever since I started properly reading crime fiction a few years ago, Connelly has been an author I have particularly enjoyed each year, and I have had a wonderful time reading several of his most recent books.  This includes the fantastic Mickey Haller legal thriller, The Law of Innocence, and the intense Jack McEvoy journalistic investigative read, Fair Warning (one of my favourite novels of 2020).  However, some of my favourite Connelly books have been the more classic police investigation novels, all of which have been part of the Ballard and Bosch subseries.

The Ballard and Bosch books are an intriguing set of recent novels that bring together Connelly’s two main police protagonists into one investigative team.  These two protagonists are female detective Renée Ballard and Connelly’s original protagonist, Harry Bosch, who has long retired from the LAPD but is still in the detective game.  These two form a fantastic team, and it is always fun to see their interesting mentor/mentee relationship as they investigate a series of cases.  There have so far been three Ballard and Bosch books, and I have had a wonderful time with each of them, including Dark Sacred Night, The Night Fire (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2019) and The Dark Hours (one of my favourite books of 2021).  Due to how awesome these last three books have been, I was quite excited to see that Connelly had a new one coming out in 2022, and that book, Desert Star, was one of my most anticipated reads for the second half of 2022.

Desert Star is set a year after the events of The Dark Hours, which saw Renée Ballard quit the LAPD after encountering sexism, corruption, and obstacles to solving her cases.  Lured back after being offered a dream job, Ballard now finds herself leading an elite cold cases unit which hopes to find justice for the many unsolved murders throughout Los Angeles.  While Ballard has already pulled together an effective team, there is still one person she needs to complete it: Harry Bosch.

While angry at Ballard following their last encounter, Bosch is lured back as a volunteer investigator after Ballard offers him help on the one cold case that has haunted him for years, the slaying of the Gallagher family.  Years ago, the entire family of four was found brutally killed, their bodies buried in the desert, and Bosch has never forgotten them or the fact that he was unable to find the man he knows killed them.  In return for access to the resources of Ballard’s unit, Bosch agrees to help Ballard solve her own cold case.

To keep their unit alive and well funded, Ballard needs to solve the rape and murder of a councilman’s sister years ago.  There are few avenues for a further investigation, and Ballard hopes that Bosch’s unique views may be the key to solving it.  However, after a chance clue connects their case to another brutal murder, Ballard and Bosch find themselves taking their investigation in some very dangerous directions.  At the same time, Bosch’s obsession with finding the Gallagher family’s killer grows even more, as he finds himself determined to catch him before it’s too late.  Can Ballard and Bosch solve their crimes, or will tragedy strike right at the heart of their partnership?

This was another outstanding crime fiction read from Connelly that combines a cool series of murder mystery cases with some intense character work to create and excellent story.  Desert Star gets off to a quick start, bringing back the two main protagonists and showing what changes have gone through their lives in the last year, as well as introducing the new cold case unit.  The reader is swiftly then brought across the two central murder cases that the protagonists are investigating.  The initial focus is on the murder of councilman’s sister, which has political connotations for the cold case unit, but Bosch also spends a large amount of time examining his personal case.  After some interesting breaks in the main case, Ballard and Bosch find themselves stuck looking far closer to home than they imagined, when clues point to a serial killer with connections to the very politician who created their unit.  There are some great twists and turns towards the centre of the book as they come close to their revelations, and the identity of this killer is pretty clever, with several interesting clues in the lead-up to the big confrontation.  At the same time, Bosch starts closing in on the main suspect in his case after revisiting witnesses from his initial investigation.  This leads him down a long, dark road as he contemplates what he’s willing to risk to get justice.  Everything leads up to a heart-pounding finale, which will leave readers on the edge of their seat as you honestly have no idea how far Connelly is going to take everything.  Desert Star ends on a particularly satisfying note, and it will be interesting to see where Connelly’s narratives go next, as he has left several intriguing storylines open.

This was a pretty addictive and fast-paced read, and it really doesn’t take long to get drawn into the two intriguing cases.  I loved the focus on cold case investigation in this book, which is a classic Connelly story element, and the author presents some excellent mystery elements.  I had a lot of fun with both cases, one because it was a seemingly unsolvable case with huge political issues behind it, the other because of one protagonist’s intense obsession with cracking it.  Connelly does a good job splitting focus between the two cases, which is made easier with the use of two perspective characters, Ballard and Bosch.  Both have very different views of the investigations, and the split in perspectives helps to ratchet up the tension in several scenes extremely well.  Connelly goes for a pretty fast pace in Desert Star, and you really find yourself powering through the narrative, especially once you get caught up in the excellent investigation arcs.  I loved how both cases turned out, and Connelly puts in some great build-up for both of their powerful conclusions.  Like most of the books in this shared crime universe, Desert Star can be easily read as a standalone novel, and no prior knowledge of either character is really required to enjoy it.  However, this latest Ballard and Bosch book is coming off a lot of emotional build-up and character development from the previous entries, so you’ll appreciate Desert Star more if you’ve checked them out first.  Connelly also throws in a ton of references to some previous novels, mainly some of Bosch’s older adventures, which established fans will really appreciate.  I loved Desert Star’s amazing story and how it was presented, as will all die-hard Connelly readers.

As always with a Connelly read, there is a noticeable and impressive focus on the central characters, with the author diving deep into his two point-of-view protagonists, Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch.  Both characters have a ton of history behind them at this point in Connelly’s joint universe, both as a team and as established, independent protagonists of their own novels.  As such, Connelly takes a little less time introducing them in Desert Star than he would previously, and instead starts highlighting their current issues and concerns, as well as re-establishing the teamwork between them.  While there is a little friction at the start of the book, mainly due to the fallout of The Dark Hours, Ballard and Bosch mostly get their investigative teamwork groove back and become an effective unit.  While Bosch does take on the mentor role in this book, it isn’t as prevalent as it has been previously, mainly because Ballard is now in control of her own unit and is the boss.  This forces her to supervise and try to control Bosch, with limited success, and this impacts their previous established dynamic.  At the same time, Ballard also relies on Bosch’s unpredictability and dislike of the rules to solve their more difficult, politically associated case, so that creates some odd friction and reliance that I rather enjoyed.

Most of the best character work in Desert Star revolved around old favourite protagonist Harry Bosch.  Bosch, who Connelly has aged up naturally over the last 30 years, is retired from the police, but he comes back to help Ballard with her case, and I loved seeing his maverick attitude reassert itself here.  However, he is primarily concerned with his own cold case, and swiftly reignites his obsession with finding the man responsible for the murder of a family.  This obsession soon starts to overwhelm him, and while he helps Ballard, he risks a lot to find his target while there is still time.  Connelly paints a powerful picture of Bosch in this book, and there are some big reveals about him that have been a long time coming.  While I won’t go into too much detail here, this is one of the more powerful and compelling Bosch narratives in a while, and Connelly does an outstanding job building up some tension around his storylines here.  Ballard also gets some interesting development in this book, and it was great to see her as a leader in this book, especially after spending so many years as the LAPD’s unwanted pariah for her attempts to report a superior for sexual harassment.  However, Ballard also encounters the darker side of leadership as she is forced to play politics and encounters various attempts to cover up the whole truth for expediency and self-gain.  This forces her to make some tough choices, and she becomes a bit more like her mentor, Bosch, with every case.  All this excellent character work really adds some impressive impact to Desert Star’s narrative, and this was one of the more significant novels for both of this amazing and iconic Connelly protagonists.

Michael Connelly continues to dominate the crime fiction scene with another epic and captivating read, Desert Star.  Bringing back two outstanding protagonists for a joint investigation, Desert Star contains a compelling and clever investigation into two fascinating murders.  Featuring a great story, some exciting pacing, and the amazing use of two complex protagonists, Desert Star was another exceptional read from Connelly that I had an awesome time reading. I can’t wait to see what Connelly writes next, and no doubt it will tie into the powerful moments raised in this incredible book.

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Quick Review – Conviction by Frank Chalmers

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery, Quick Review, Thriller1 Comment

Conviction Cover

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia (Trade Paperback – 5 July 2022)

Series: Standalone/Book One

Length: 354 pages

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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The Australian crime fiction debut hits keep on coming with the excellent and highly exciting first novel from Frank Chalmers, Conviction, with takes the reader on an amazing journey back into 1970s rural Australia.

Plot Synopsis:

A town ruled by fear. A cop who won’t be broken. A pulse-pounding debut thriller that pulls no punches.

A STUNNING NEW VOICE IN CRIME FICTION

Queensland in 1976 churns with corruption. When Detective Ray Windsor defies it, he is exiled deep into the state’s west. It’s easy out there to feel alien in your own country.

Royalton is a town on its knees, stricken by drought, riven by prejudice, and plagued by crimes left largely uninvestigated by the local police chief, Kennedy, and his elusive boss.

Mutual dislike between Kennedy and Ray gradually turns ugly as Ray and his new partner, Arshag, uncover a pattern of crimes that no one seems concerned about solving. But when two girls from local immigrant families are found dead and another disappears, Ray and Arshag are forced to take the law into their own hands. Not knowing who to trust, nor how deep the corruption runs, how long will it be before their lives are also threatened?

A spare and uncompromising crime thriller that pulls no punches.


Conviction is a compelling and fun crime fiction thriller that sets a bold protagonist against a brace of criminals and dirty cops in a remote and hopeless town.  Essentially reading like a contemporary Australian western, with protagonist Detective Ray Windsor acting as the new sheriff in town, Chalmers crafts together a compelling read that is very easy to get through.

Conviction has a very interesting and complex story to it that sees the new cop arrive in the remote town of Royalton and get caught up in a series of crimes.  Not only is he forced to deal with the corruption of his peers and a local crime ring that has been stealing stock and damaging the local farms, but he is also investigating two recent violent deaths of young immigrant women.  This results in quite a fantastic series of investigation elements, as Detective Windsor attempts to solve these crimes while being constantly hampered by his colleagues.  The novel also deals with Ray’s attempt to integrate into the Royalton community, and he soon finds some unexpected connections and friends which draw him in.  Taking place over the course of several months, Conviction’s plot goes in some exciting and intense directions, and the reader is provided with intriguing plotlines that are loaded with action and excitement.  The eventual reveals lead to some big moments, and while the identity of the book’s villains is well-foreshadowed and not especially surprising, watching the protagonist attempt to overcome them is fun.  This ended up being a great and enjoyable piece of Australian fiction, and I had a good time getting through this awesome debut.

Like many impressive Australian crime fiction novels, one of the best things about Conviction is its excellent setting in a rural Australian town.  Royalton is a compelling location, which even in the 1970s, is starting to fall apart and feel the strain as more and more people left the country to live in the big cities.  Royalton has many of the best features that make up a small-town setting, from the sunburned countryside, the various surrounding farms, the neglected buildings within the town itself, as well as a colourful cast of people living in it.  I felt that Royalton in Conviction was a pretty good example of this compelling Australian setting, and the intriguing historical context makes it stand out from other recent Australian crime fiction books.  I particularly liked how Chalmers depicted the town as having a large migrant population, which is an accurate representation of most of Australia, and the stratification of classes that resulted based on nationality and culture gave the story another fascinating dimension that I felt added a lot to the story.  The farms surrounding the town are also under siege by an organised group of criminals who are working to bankrupt them for their own nefarious reasons, and this adds to the tension in Royalton.  All this proves to be rich ground for the intense and compelling crime fiction narrative that Chalmers crafted together, and I felt that this was an amazing setting for Conviction.

However, the best thing about Conviction was the eclectic and troubled group of characters who can be found within.  The author comes up with some great and flawed figures throughout Conviction, and the reader soon gets some intriguing views of the sort of people who would live in such a remote and troubled town.  Naturally most of the focus is on Detective Ray Windsor, who immediately finds himself in all manner of trouble once he arrives in Royalton.  Now, I must admit that I had a hard time liking Windsor in this book, as he is a bit of an over-the-top hero who is prone to violence at a drop of hat.  While this attribute does help him out in some of the situations, I was never too attached to him as a character, especially when he flew off the handle.  Still, I liked the compelling background that Chalmers attributed to Windsor, especially his dark childhood, and the portrayal of an honest cop sent out to the country as a punishment was well explored.  There are some great moments with Windsor in the book, and I did enjoy seeing his take on the case and the corruption going on around town.  The author also did a good job setting up Windsor’s growing attachment to Royalton, especially once he gets to know the people within.  This, as well as his commitment to getting the job done, eventually win the reader over, and you are rooting for him to succeed as the story continues.  The rest of the cast are also really good, and I deeply enjoyed some of the other characters featured within Conviction.  I felt that Chalmers did a particularly good job with the villains of this book, and it was satisfying to see Windsor standing up to them and finally bringing them to justice.  An awesome group of characters that Chalmers did a good job bringing to life.

Overall, I felt that Conviction was a pretty awesome novel that the debuting Frank Chalmers should be proud of.  This fantastic novel has a great crime fiction narrative that not only crosses into historical fiction territory but which works as an exceptional example of a rural Australian story.  All these elements work extremely well together, and I had a blast getting through Conviction, which is really worth checking out.

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The Unbelieved by Vikki Petraitis

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Five-Star Books, Murder Mystery4 Comments

The Unbelieved Cover

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia (Trade Paperback – 2 August 2022)

Series: Standalone/Book One

Length: 373 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Debuting author Vikki Petraitis delivers an impressive and deeply moving Australian thriller skilfully set around the powerful subject of sexual violence with The Unbelieved.  This is Petraitis’s first novel, which has been receiving a large amount of buzz, including some awards.  As such, I was very interested in checking it out, especially as it had a very interesting plot, and this ended up being one of the most compelling and memorable Australian debuts of 2022.

Senior Detective Antigone Pollard has spent many years investigating terrible and destructive crimes in Melbourne.  After one case goes horribly wrong, Antigone decides to seek the quieter life and moves to her grandmother’s house in the Victorian coastal town of Deception Bay, where she was raised.  However, her attempts at finding peaceful policing quickly go up in smoke when a series of drug assisted sexual attacks occur throughout Deception Bay and the neighbouring towns.

After a sting operation at the local pub reveals a suspect who attempts to drug her, Antigone believes that they have perpetrator dead to rights.  However, they are soon forced to let him go when the male witnesses to the event refuse to cooperate and her superior attempts to brush the case under the rug.  Reaching out to the community, she finds a wall of silence and shame surrounding sexual crimes in Deception Bay, which has failed to lead to any convictions in the town.

Determined to stop the attacks no matter what, Antigone continues her investigation against her superior’s wishes, and uncovers a series of attacks across town.  Attempting to break through the fears of the women of Deception Bay, Antigone and her partner begin closing on the information they need.  However, Antigone also finds herself under threat from all corners and must work swiftly before she is shut down for good.  But can she succeed before another girl is attacked, and what happens when the darkness from her past rears its ugly head again?

Wow, I was not prepared for just how good and moving The Unbelieved was going to be.  Vikki Petraitis has really shown off her skill and talented as a writer with her first book, presenting a powerful read on an extremely relevant subject that strikes the reader hard.  Featuring an exciting and very clever mystery storyline that also intensely examines violence against women in Australia, The Unbelieved is an outstanding novel that gets a full five-star rating from me.

At its centre The Unbelieved has an exceptional multifaceted narrative that follows detective Antigone Pollard as she finds herself investigating terrible events occurring around Deception Bay.  Detective Pollard initially attempts to stop a series of sexual attacks, but she soon becomes involved in several other cases while trying to fit in to the community, despite opposition from some of its male residents.  As her case develops and more victims come forward, Pollard also finds herself investigating a suspicious death, a historical murder-suicide, a series of domestic violence cases, and more.  These investigations are often hampered by her superior and problematic members of the community, and Pollard also finds herself being threatened or attacked as she attempts to do her duties.  At the same time, elements from her past in Melbourne are revealed through a series of well-crafted flashbacks that expand on her motivations and begin to bleed into her current cases, especially once a prior suspect is brought back into the light.

Petraitis takes the story in some interesting directions throughout the course of The Unbelieved, and I loved the fantastic combination of the compelling yet heartbreaking cases that are explored throughout.  This investigation angle is well balanced with the character development of the protagonist, as well as the emotional exploration of several interesting supporting characters, and you really get involved in the narrative and the character’s fates as The Unbelieved continues.  The story becomes more complex as the book unfolds, and the protagonist finds herself caught up in a devious local conspiracy that seeks to take her down at the same time.  There are some brilliant twists and reveals throughout the plot, and I loved how several of the storylines developed.  The entire book was very well paced out, and I found myself getting really absorbed in so many key elements of the plot, especially as the author blends compelling investigations with dark, emotional examinations of the victims.  This all leads to up to a moving, thought-provoking and extremely satisfying conclusion that will leave every reader caught up in the plot happy.  I particularly enjoyed the final twist that Petraitis left the story on, and the way it was hinted at through the rest of the novel was extremely clever.  I honestly had such a remarkable time reading this great narrative, and there are so many excellent story elements to enjoy within it.

Easily the most distinctive part of The Unbelieved is the author’s detailed and powerful examination of the current situation of sexual and domestic violence in Australia.  Most of the book’s plot revolves around the investigation and attempted conviction of multiple sexual predators, and the author does not hold back in showcasing just how dark and damaging these sorts of cases can be.  Multiple viewpoints of the impacts of these crimes are examined throughout The Unbelieved, and readers are in for some emotionally devastating moments as you see so many of the different aspects of them.  There is a particularly good and dramatic look at how police investigating sexual crimes are impacted, especially when they are unable to get justice for the victims.  More importantly, Petraitis spends a lot of time exploring how Australian society perceives sexual crimes, and the book is loaded up with characters who don’t see them as a big deal or attempt to blame the victim.  There are multiple interludes within The Unbelieved that show short transcripts of interviews with people involved with these crimes, either as a witness or the accused, and the unguarded and unsupportive comments they make are both enlightening and a little infuriating.  Throw in some comments and interviews by the author’s accurate depiction of a typical Australian radio shock jock, which really boil the blood, and you have an excellent depiction of some of the main issues and attitudes towards sexual crimes, such as victim blaming.  These issues become a key part of the book’s plot, especially when the system fails so many victims, and it leads to some extremely emotional and painful moments.  I felt that Petraitis did a spectacular job working this confronting subject into the plot of her novel, and it certainly gave The Unbelieved a powerful edge that is hard to ignore.

I also really appreciated Petraitis’s examination of regional towns in Australia, which proves to be a great setting for this compelling book.  Rural and remote settings are always an excellent feature of Australian fiction, and I think that Petraitis used it extremely well in The Unbelieved.  The transfer of a big-city cop to the small town she grew up in results in a great change of pace for the protagonist, and the change in priorities and issues helps to add to the narrative complexity of The Unbelieved.  The use of this small-town setting comes into play throughout The Unbelieved in multiple intriguing ways, from the constant spread of rumours, the lack of secrets, and the fact everyone knows each other, and I liked how this affected several aspects of the police investigation plot line.  However, the most important part of this setting is the wall of silence that springs up during the book.  Many people know about the sexual and domestic violence going in in Deception Bay, but are unwilling to talk for various reasons, often keeping secrets from the police.  This becomes a key complication in the investigation, and it was fascinating and moving to see the protagonist attempt to overcome it.  As such, I felt that this small-town setting worked extremely well for The Unbelieved’s plot, especially with its specific criminal focus, and it definitely enhanced the story for me.

The final thing that I need to highlight is the excellent protagonist that Petraitis works the story around in Detective Antigone Pollard.  Pollard is an emotionally charged badass who has returned to her hometown after a devastating case in Melbourne, and now finds herself amid all manner of dark criminal activity.  While she is raw from the impacts of her last case and there are some dramatic moments surrounding here, the author portrays her as a practical and very capable cop, who takes charge and starts to clean up Deception Bay.  I really do think that Petraitis hit the right balance of vulnerable and determined in Pollard, and you grow quite attached to her as the book continues, especially once you learn the full extent of her last case.  Combine Pollard with several other fantastic characters in The Unbelieved, such as her partner, Detective Senior Constable Warren “Wozza” Harvey, and her loyal dog, Waffles, as well as some slimy villains, and you have a great cast for The Unbelieved that really add to the overall quality of this remarkable book.

With her impressive debut novel, The Unbelieved, Vikki Petraitis has set herself up as an exceptional talent in the Australian crime fiction game and she is a major new author to watch out for.  The Unbelieved has an outstanding crime fiction narrative to it that does an amazing job balancing a compelling mystery storyline with powerful dive into a sensitive and highly relevant subject.  Thanks to its well-written plot, clever mystery, distinctive setting and great characters, The Unbelieved comes together perfectly, and it proves to be extremely hard to put down.  While this book might be best avoided by those readers triggered by depictions of sexual violence, I cannot recommend this powerful novel enough, and it stands as one of the better Australian crime fiction books and debuts of 2022 so far.

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