Originally published in the Canberra Weekly on 21 August 2025.
A copy of this column also appeared on the Canberra Daily website.
Make sure to check out my extended reviews of The Bolthole and Five Found Dead.
Tag: Canberra
Killer Traitor Spy by Tim Ayliffe
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia (ebook – 5 July 2023)
Series: John Bailey – Book Four
Length: 310 pages
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
One of Australia’s fastest rising thriller authors, Tim Ayliffe, returns with the fourth book in his outstanding John Bailey series, Killer Traitor Spy, which sees Cold War espionage re-emerge right in the heart of modern day Australia.
Over the last few years I have been having an amazing time reading a particularly cool Australian thriller series, the Jon Bailey books by journalist Tim Ayliffe. Following a damaged investigative reporter who relentlessly follows his stories no matter how dangerous they are, the John Bailey books are an outstanding series that combined intriguing storylines with compelling and highly insightful depictions of modern-day Australia. This series has so far featured three fantastic books, The Greater Good, which looked at Chinese interference in Australian politics; State of Fear, which examined Islamic radicalisation; and The Enemy Within, which presented a compelling look at Australian white supremacism. I have deeply enjoyed all three of Ayliffe’s previous novels and I was very glad that I managed to get a copy of his fourth book, Killer Traitor Spy, a few weeks ago.
After a sex worker is accidently poisoned by a deadly neurotoxin, it quickly becomes clear that someone is trying to kill Russian millionaire Dmitry Lebedev. As Dmitry disappears into the wind, reporter John Bailey finds himself drawn to the mysterious events, especially as his old friend, Scarlett Merriman, was the unintended victim. As Bailey begins to dig into the circumstances around Scarlett’s poisoning, he soon discovers a hidden world of spies, espionage and secret deals, all tied to his long-time friend, CIA agent Ronnie Johnson.
It soon becomes apparent that Dmitry was an undercover spy secretly working with Ronnie and providing insights into Russian espionage efforts in Australia. His latest bit of intelligence could expose a deadly traitor working at the highest echelons of the government, and many people wanted him dead to keep that a secret. As Ronnie attempts to bring him in, he finds himself being targeted as well, as whoever tried to kill Dmitry has just framed Ronnie for murder.
Now on the run from the authorities and with no official backup to help him, Ronnie has no choice but to call on Bailey to help him investigate the attempted assassination and uncover the traitor. But the more Bailey works with Ronnie, the more he discovers the dark side of the espionage business and the fact that nobody is what they seem. Moving from the deadly urban sprawl of Sydney to the secretive suburbs of Canberra, can Bailey and Ronnie find the truth before it is too late, or will they be the latest victims of an insidious intelligence plot threatening to undermine the entire country?
This was another great book from Ayliffe, who continues to impress me with his intense and addictive reads. Killer Traitor Spy served as a brilliant fourth book in the series, and I had such a wonderful time getting through this captivating and clever story that I ended up reading this book in a single day.
Killer Traitor Spy has a great story behind it that I instantly got hooked on. Ayliffe sets up a fast and high-stakes narrative for his fourth book that brings in some compelling real-life spy elements to increase the realism and impact of the plot. Starting off with a failed assassination, some fantastic spy elements, and a great reintroduction to Ayliffe’s relentless protagonist, the author gets Killer Traitor Spy going strong, and it barely slows down after that. The author weaves together a complex net of mystery and espionage as the protagonists try to find the missing Dmitry, while also uncovering Russian agents working in Australia. The fantastic web of murders, betrayals and lies proves to be very compelling. There are several interesting reveals and clever turns as the plot progresses, and I loved how the story soon moved to Canberra with a ton of fun scenes. Ayliffe really raises the stakes in the second half of Killer Traitor Spy, and the final reveal of who the various traitors and culprits are proves to be very satisfying.
I honestly had a hard time putting down this awesome book, and I wasn’t kidding when I said I read it all in a single day. Ayliffe did a fantastic job of making his complex and compelling story as fast-paced and addictive as possible, and there wasn’t a single scene in this book that slowed me down. There were a ton of great features to how Ayliffe wrote Killer Traitor Spy, and I personally loved how the plot featured a fun combination of journalism, espionage and mystery throughout. While there is a bit of action throughout the book, the focus is always on uncovering the deeper secrets, and I loved seeing the different methodologies that the various protagonists used. The author’s reliance on multiple character perspectives in Killer Traitor Spy was a particularly effective feature, especially as you got even more scenes from the always entertaining Ronnie Johnson. This allowed Ayliffe to really separate out the various focuses of his novel, and the contrasts between Bailey’s scenes, where he investigates, and Ronnie’s scenes, where he uses more direct methods, are a lot of fun.
Unsurprisingly, the scenes focusing on journalism and investigative reporting are very impressive and insightful as Ayliffe makes full use of his background to dive into the intricacies and secrets of the trade. However, the more espionage focused sequences are also really clever and helped ensure this book felt a lot like his original novel, The Greater Good. The focus on the various espionage concerns in Australia were really quite compelling, and it was clear that the author did a lot of research around it. I recognised quite a few espionage elements featured in the novel from Australian news stories, and the author covers a lot of compelling ground as a result. I particularly liked the focus on Australia’s strategic importance, the intelligence relationship it has with other Western nations, the examination of potential espionage elements currently running around the country, and there was even a fun inclusion of the infamous “Havana Syndrome” and the potential weapons behind it. I really enjoyed this deep dive into potential Russian espionage in Australia, and it was certainly eye opening in places, especially considering current world events. This excellent novel really draws you in quickly and I had such an outstanding time getting through it.
One of the things that I have always deeply appreciated about the John Bailey books is the way in which Ayliffe masterfully depicts and utilises his Sydney settings throughout the stories. So many of Sydney’s suburbs, iconic areas, and even several restaurants and bars serve as either key locations or have cameos throughout the series. It is always very cool to see locations you are familiar with utilised in fiction, and Ayliffe always does such a wonderful job of showcasing these locales in his stories, which really help to draw Australian readers in. This continues to be the case in Killer Traitor Spy, as several different areas of Sydney are featured strongly throughout the plot. Ayliffe, who clearly has a lot of love for Sydney, has fun bringing these locations to life throughout this book and it was really fascinating to see how he fits his narrative around these real spaces. A good chunk of the second half of the book is set in my hometown of Canberra. As the national capital hosting government agencies and politicians, Canberra is an excellent setting for a spy thriller book such as Killer Traitor Spy, and it was great to see it utilised as such within this book. I had a ton of fun seeing the characters reference areas that I see all the time, and it was awesome envisioning some of the action occurring within them, especially as most of our scandals aren’t so thrilling. I also had a chuckle at all the inside jokes or references that Ayliffe layered into the story around these settings, such as his very accurate description of the drive between Sydney and Canberra (it really is that visually boring). This excellent use of real locations as a backdrop really helped to drag me even further into Killer Traitor Spy and I really appreciate it when authors draw from their own experiences to help tell an awesome story.
Finally, I must highlight the character work featured in Killer Traitor Spy. The intrepid and damaged protagonists have always been a big reason why the John Bailey books have been so successful as you grow very attached to these complex figures. I have a lot of love for the impressive character growth that has surrounded the main character of John Bailey in the lead-up to Killer Traitor Spy and it was really moving to see him finally have his life together, despite all the traumas he has experienced. This also allowed him to focus more on his journalistic work, and watching the dogged, veteran reporter chase down several stories in his usual gruff and unrelenting manner was a ton of fun. Of course, Ayliffe did add in a few more issues for him in Killer Traitor Spy, both psychically and ethically, and I will be interested to see how they impact him in the future. Ayliffe also features quite a lot of Ronnie Johnson in this latest novel as well, which was a major plus in my book. Ronnie has always been a fantastic character (he caused a damned Harold Holt moment in the first book), and it was great to see him a much more of a central figure in Killer Traitor Spy. His more espionage and violence focused chapters balance out Bailey’s chapters in some compelling ways, and I enjoyed the fantastic deeper dive into the relationship between these two protagonists that emerged as a result. Ayliffe’s use of these two main characters was a real highlight of Killer Traitor Spy and I really appreciated the powerful story the author wove around them.
Overall, Killer Traitor Spy is a fantastic novel from Tim Ayliffe that did a wonderful job continuing his excellent John Bailey series. A complex and entertaining Australian thriller, Killer Traitor Spy was a ton of fun to read and I really got hooked on it compelling and fast-paced story. With great characters, a complex plot, and some intriguing Australian inclusions, Killer Traitor Spy is well worth the read, especially if you loved the previous books in the series.
Kill Your Brother by Jack Heath
Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia (Trade Paperback – 30 November 2021)
Series: Standalone
Length: 339 pages
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
One of Australia’s most brilliant and potentially psychotic crime fiction authors, Jack Heath, returns with a powerful and captivating thriller, Kill Your Brother, which was one of the best pieces of Australian fiction I read all year.
Would you kill your brother to save your own life?
That is the question that Elise Glyk is forced to ask herself after being placed in an impossible situation. Elise, a disgraced athlete hated by the entire country, is a woman on a mission. Her brother, Callum, a popular local teacher, has been missing for a month, and the police have been unable and unwilling to find him. Determined to locate Callum, Elise’s investigation eventually leads her to a dilapidated local farm, where she is shocked to discover her brother being held prisoner in a modified septic tank. However, before she can rescue him, Elise is captured and thrown into the same hole as her brother.
Their captor is heartbroken former sheep farmer Stephanie Hartnell, who believes that Callum is responsible for her daughter’s death and has been attempting to force him to confess to his supposed crimes. However, Stephanie doesn’t have room for two prisoners, and while she doesn’t want to hurt the innocent Elise, she needs to make sure that she won’t immediately go to the police. To that end, she offers Elise a deal: kill your brother and you’re free to go.
Not even considering the deal, Elise attempts to find another way to gain their freedom. Trying to find a way to escape while also working to prove Callum’s innocence to Stephanie, Elise hopes that someone will eventually be able to find them before time runs out. However, the more Elise digs into her brother’s story, the more inconsistencies she discovers. What is her brother really hiding, and how will either sibling react when the truth comes out?
Kill Your Brother was an awesome and impressive novel that I powered through in a couple of days due to its incredible narrative and amazing twists. This was a great standalone book from Jack Heath, an author from my home city of Canberra, who has written some fantastic thrillers over the years. This includes his bestselling Timothy Blake series, the third book of which, Hideout, was one of my favourite pieces of Australian fiction in 2020. Kill Your Brother was originally released as an Audible original audiobook, with the paperback version I read subsequently rewritten and adapted into a novel format. I had an outstanding time reading this book, and it was an excellent and impressive Australian thriller.
This book has an incredible story that takes the reader on a powerful thrill ride that they cannot get off if they tried. Told using several character perspectives, Kill Your Brother quickly launches into the book’s deadly and compelling scenario, with Elise, a universally hated woman, attempting to find her brother. Her hunt, which has been going on for months, has been largely unsuccessful, and the evidence found at her brother house’s, combined with her own reputation, means that everyone in her life constantly brushes her off. However, Elise’s perseverance pays off when she finds Callum being held in a septic tank in Stephanie Hartnell’s backyard. Posing as a private investigator, Elise tries to reason with Stephanie while plotting an escape, but she is soon forced into the ultimate no-win situation when given the option to kill her brother. From there, the story devolves even further, with several escape attempts and mounting danger from their captor, and the two siblings turning against each other as their situation gets more desperate. As the story progresses, several viewpoints on the situation and the events leading up to it are presented. As the protagonist attempts to survive you get an interesting view of what Callum is accused of, and the eventual reveal of the full picture really influences the rest of the narrative. This all leads up to the gripping and deadly finale in which every secret comes out and no-one is left untouched by the revelations and accompanying violence.
I really cannot exaggerate how awesome this cool narrative is. Heath has gone out of his way to make Kill Your Brother’s story as clever and thrilling as possible, and I loved every single second that I spent reading it. This book is filled with some brilliant twists and reveals, and Heath does a wonderful job of setting each of them up and slowly revealing them as the book progresses. I honestly did not see half the twists coming and I loved how several small and seemingly inconsequential details eventually come back with amazing significance towards the end. Heath also perfectly utilises a series of flashbacks that examine Elise’s past, showing why she is so disliked, while also revealing several clues about her family and the circumstances that lead to her brother’s imprisonment. This was a really good standalone read, and potential readers are guaranteed a satisfying ending after getting stuck into the unique mystery and scenario. I deeply enjoyed how this novel flowed, and there were no obvious issues with this being an adaption of an audiobook novella. The impressive combination of character history, twisty writing and fast-paced storytelling ensured that I was deeply addicted within a few pages of starting.
One of the things that I must highlight is the fantastic central protagonist, Elise. Elise is a brilliantly complex and sympathetic figure due to her complicated and tragic past, which has led to her current ostracism from her community and the hatred of the entirety of Australia. I really enjoyed the impressive and complex backstory that surrounds this interesting and unique protagonist, especially as Heath did a great job of gradually introducing the full character history as the book progressed. The whole angle is perfectly portrayed, including her motivations and the distinctly unfortunate events surrounding her disgrace, as well as the predicted reaction of the ordinary Australian sports fans. This compelling and damaging backstory gives her quite an interesting insight and set of emotions regarding the events around her, as well as some intense determination to survive no matter the odds. This helps produce a really fascinating character driven narrative, and I deeply enjoyed seeing the captivating and emotionally rich development that surrounded this brilliant protagonist.
I also deeply appreciated the way that Heath captured the feel of small-town Australia in his writing. Most of the story is set in the fictional town of Warrigal, which draws a lot of inspiration from the small rural settlements throughout Australia, such as Braidwood, where Heath apparently wrote a good portion of this novel. I really think that Heath did an amazing job of portraying the attitudes and mindsets of people in these sorts of locations, and you get an impressive sense of the location. Watching the protagonist attempt to deal with the challenges of being the biggest pariah in her small town is pretty fascinating, and it was also compelling to see some of the limitations of a police investigation in this location, especially when it comes to locating a missing teacher. The impacts of growing up in such a location also become a major part of the protagonist’s backstory, especially as the pressures of succeeding and representing her family and town drive her to make some mistakes. I also must highlight the tiny pit that the protagonist and her brother find themselves held captive in. Heath ensures that the reader gets the full sense of claustrophobia and the feeling of being trapped as the book progresses, especially once the characters become weaker and start turning on each other. This intense and claustrophobic setting really helps to amp up the tension, and you will feel very uncomfortable during the scenes set down there. Finally, I had a lot of fun with the author’s occasional visits to Canberra throughout the book, mainly because it was interesting to see the author’s take on my home city. Overall, these settings are perfectly portrayed and the reader gets a real sense of them, especially the small-town lifestyles. These work in the narrative extremely well, and it was a lot of fun to see the various characters’ experiences and impressions of them.
Kill Your Brother was an exceptional read from Jack Heath, who is quickly becoming one of Australia’s most impressive thriller writers. This brilliant, dark and exceedingly clever thriller takes the reader on an incredible ride, and I loved seeing all the unique and captivating twists and turns that Heath came up with. Focused around an amazingly complex protagonist and making full use of the rural Australian landscape, Kill Your Brother’s story is just incredible, and I am still reeling about some of the twists it contains. This is a highly recommended read that gets a well-deserved five-star rating from me. I am extremely excited to see what Heath writes next.
Deceit by Richard Evans
Publisher: Impact Press
Publication date – 18 June 2018
From former politician Richard Evans comes one of the most incredible fictional examinations of the Australian political system with Deceit, an exciting and superb political thriller.
When corrupt Australian Prime Minster Andrew Gerrard makes a deal with his Indonesian counterpart, he embarks on a plan to build up a retirement nest egg by passing a controversial funding bill for overseas detention centres over a period of several years. However, when key members of his party die in a tragic plane accident, Gerrard decides to process all of the funding in one go and receive the full amount of his payoff.
Outnumbered in the House of Representatives, and with only one week to pass the bill through both houses of parliament, the task looks impossible. But the Prime Minister is a canny political operator with no conscience to speak of and with the Speaker deep in his pocket and with no conscience to speak off. Equipped with a master plan, Gerrard starts to manipulate the bill through parliament.
The only person who may be able to stop him is the outgoing Clerk of the House of Representatives, Gordon O’Brien, who suspects that the Prime Minister’s mysterious last-minute bill is more sinister than it appears. As one of the few people who believe in the sanctity of the parliament, O’Brien will risk everything to find out the truth and ensure no wrongdoing is done on his watch. Utilising all the tools at his disposal, including the opposition and investigative journalist Anita Devlin, O’Brien prepares to move against the Prime Minister. Let the political games begin!
Evans is a former Australian politician who served two terms as a federal member of parliament in the 1990s. Evans has decided to utilise his political experience and expertise by creating a series of Australian politics based thrillers and dramas, with several books planned for release in 2019 and 2020. Deceit is his debut novel and the first book of his planned Democracy trilogy, with the second book in this series, Duplicity, already set to be released in 2019. Readers interested in fictional depictions of Australian politics should also keep an eye out for his upcoming Referendum and Jack Hudson series, both of which will start to be published in the next two years.
Deceit is a fabulous political thriller with a fantastic story that twists and turns through multiple layers of manipulation, deceptions, lies and double-crosses. The book’s main antagonist, Australian Prime Minister Andrew Gerrard is a selfish, manipulative and sleazy character who serves as a perfect villain for this story and whose plots are a highlight of this book. Evans has done a clever job of spreading the story out among multiple point-of-view characters, as this allows the reader to view the impact of Gerrard’s manoeuvrings and lets them see how they are received by members of the opposition, the media and O’Brien. Evans is a very talented storywriter, and the entire plot of Deceit is extremely compelling and very well thought out. Readers will fall in love with this amazing story and will find its overall conclusion very satisfying.
As someone who lives and works in the book’s main setting, Australia’s capital city, Canberra, I have received a lot of exposure to Australian politics. As a result, I loved the author’s exceedingly realistic and accurate depictions of the Australian political system and how it was used within this story. There is some great coverage of Australia’s parliamentary procedure and the creation and passage of bills and laws through both houses of parliament that are presented in a precise and well-described way. There are also a number of characters who hold roles that are actually part of Australia’s political and civil service. These positions and roles are explored in detail, and the reader is given significant insights into what work and requirements are needed by the people holding them. Evan’s does a fantastic job of weaving these usually dry subjects into a very enthralling narrative, and readers will be intrigued to see how the fictional Prime Minister plans to get a dodgy bill past the entire country without anyone noticing what he is doing.
The standout scene of the book has to be an extended chapter that featured a session of question time in the House of Representatives. Question time is a daily occurrence during the parliamentary sitting period during which government and non-government members of parliament ask ministers questions about their various portfolios. As someone who has been exposed to many question times, I was struck by how genuine Evans’s description of this event was. Evans perfectly encapsulates the entire process from start to finish and was able to recreate the snarky and sometimes petulant nature of the discourse that are the usual fare of question time. The author expertly links the overarching storyline of political corruption into this scene, as one member of the opposition is suspicious and starts to ask the Prime Minister leading questions about the controversial bill he has put forward. The political back-and-forth around these questions was amazing, and it was fascinating watching them being tied into the rest of the story. Overall, this sequence was exceedingly compelling, and the entire time I was reading it I was physically incapable of putting the book down.
Deceit also contains some detailed and enjoyable depictions of Australia’s Parliament House and the capital city, Canberra. Parliament House is a beautiful building, and Evans does a wonderful job describing Parliament House in detail and examining various parts of the building, from the Prime Minister’s office and courtyard, to the various gardens, media offices and even cafes. Other little nuances of life within Parliament House are also captured within the text, no doubt because of Evans’s prior experiences working within the building.
I also really enjoyed seeing my home city of Canberra featured in this book. Despite being the capital city, Canberra does not feature much in fiction, due to it being a smaller and newer city than Sydney or Melbourne. Deceit, however, contains some great depictions of the areas of Canberra close to Parliament House. There are several references to some real restaurants and cafes that politicians are known to frequent and where several big political discussions are known to have taken place. There are also several scenes where the characters explore other parts of Canberra as part of the book’s plot. I for one found it incredibly amusing and disconcerting to read a scene about a secretive handoff of documents set in a cinema that I’ve watched The Hunger Games and Doctor Who specials in. Canberra locals will love seeing their city as a major fixture of this book, and other readers will get to explore Australia’s capital and see its potential as a setting in this exciting thriller.
Richard Evans’ first book, Deceit, is a five-star thriller that brings the Australian political process to life. Former politician Evans brings all of his insight and expertise to this new book, and readers will be astounded by the realistic descriptions of Australian politics and the way it has been utilised in this exciting and first-rate story. This is an outstanding debut from Evans, and this terrific read comes highly recommended.
My Rating:
The Unseen Library 