Kill Your Boss by Jack Heath

On January 31, 2026 By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery1 Comment

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia (Trade Paperback – 4 November 2025)

Series: Kill Your Brother – Book Three

Length: 368 pages

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

The most relatable new Australian crime book for all office drones is the awesome and addictive Kill Your Boss by the always impressive Jack Heath, an exceptional read that proves very hard to put down.

There are a lot of talented and entertaining Australian authors writing outstanding novels these days, but one of my favourites due to his consistently clever and entertaining reads is the wonderful Jack Heath. Hailing from my home city of Canberra, Heath has been entertaining Australian readers for years with his interesting combination of complex works. I am a massive fan of his amazing crime fiction novels, which includes his spectacularly over-the-top Hangman series (including Hideout and Headcase).

In recent years, some of Heath’s best work has been some amazing and twisted murder mysteries set in small-town Australia. The series started with Kill Your Brother (one of my favourite Australian novels of 2021), a clever read that saw a damaged protagonist imprisoned and forced to choose between killing her guilty brother or dying alongside him. I had an outstanding time with Kill Your Brother, and I eagerly dove into the loosely connected sequel, Kill Your Husbands. Featuring two of the protagonists from Kill Your Brother as they get drawn into a devastating case involving a series of murders after some ill-advised partner-swapping. I deeply enjoyed this fantastic sequel, and it ended up being one of my favourite Australian books of 2023. Naturally I was very keen when I saw that Heath had a third book in this series coming out in late 2025 with the awesome title of Kill Your Boss. I dove into Kill Your Boss as soon as I could, and it proved to be another great read with a very fun plot behind it.

Plot Synopsis:

What would it take to turn you into a killer?

Detective Sergeant Kiara Lui has just broken up a loud brawl between two blokes in front of the Warrigal Public Library. But just as she’s about to leave the scene, a man inexplicably plummets from the sky and slams into the bike rack right in front of her, dead.

Neville Adams was the head of library services, hated by staff, borrowers, or in fact anybody who had ever met him. Kiara quickly seals the building, trapping everyone who might have pushed him off the roof. She expects to have someone in custody within minutes.

Instead, the investigation becomes the most challenging and dangerous of her career as it spirals outward, ensnaring half the town. It seems that Neville was connected to the disappearance of Emmylou Chisholm – a case that Kiara could never solve, and that has haunted her ever since.

If the killer isn’t found fast, the first two victims won’t be the last . . .

Compelling, propulsive and darkly funny, this is a perfect follow-up to Jack Heath’s bestselling Kill Your Husbands.

Kill Your Boss was a particularly amazing novel from Jack Heath and one of the better pieces of Australian fiction I had the pleasure of reading in 2025. Featuring an extremely compelling crime fiction narrative with some fantastic dark humour behind it, Kill Your Boss was extremely fun to get through, and I had a brilliant time with this latest twisted offering from Heath.

Heath cleverly builds around the fantastic and entertaining concept of a villainous and wildly disliked boss getting murdered. Once again set in the small Australian town of Warrigal, Kill Your Boss has an instantly great opening with the victim, Neville Adams, plummeting to the ground from the library roof, right in front of main police protagonist Detective Sergeant Kiara Lui. Kiara, who previously served as a supporting character in Kill Your Brother and the main investigator of Kill Your Husbands, quickly takes charge of the case, locking down the library and hoping to identify the killer amongst the people trapped inside. However, Kiara soon hits a wall with her investigation when it becomes apparent that everyone in the library, especially Adams’s employees, hated him. With multiple motives and no witnesses, Kiara starts diving into the crime, assisted by rookie cop Ben Higgens.

This first part of Kill Your Boss sets the story up nicely, and you are soon quite hooked on the case, especially as the novel breaks apart to follow either the police or one of the suspects. Thanks to this split, you get a good insight into the compelling investigation, while also examining the combined motives of the potential suspects, each of whom are covering something up, including involvement in an alternate case that the protagonist is familiar with. Heath keeps the story moving quickly and effectively, and there is some additional grim humour as it becomes apparent that multiple characters tried to kill Adams, but only one succeeded. This perfectly leads up to the final third of Kill Your Boss, as all the various motives come to light, and the various suspects are whittled down thanks to some additional gruesome killings before the big conclusion. I think that Heath set up this entire mystery extremely well, and the various red herrings ensured you were guessing right up to the end.

Heath once again manages to pull together a brilliant book that is somehow fun and twisted at the same time. Featuring a series of murders that starts with a very relatable sentiment around bad bosses, Kill Your Boss effectively builds up a complex mystery that has a lot of fantastic layers to it. This mystery is then well supported by the author’s great use of multiple different perspectives, especially as you get invested in all the complex suspects and their lives. This tight and entertaining story hits hard while also presenting the reader with dark humour, especially when it comes to motives for murder, and the result is a particularly addictive book that you can’t turn away from. Heath also successfully endeavours to make Kill Your Boss a particularly open book to all sorts of readers, from those looking for an amusing Australian mystery with a great small-town setting, to those readers already familiar with the author’s wicked humour and aptitude for murder.

While part of a larger series that started with Kill Your Brother, Kill Your Boss is primarily a standalone read, which I honestly think enhances the story, as the various new characters, as well as the existing protagonist, get a lot more prominence without tying the narrative down to previous events. Detective Sergeant Kiara Lui once again works extremely well as the book’s primary investigator, and it was interesting to see her take more of a leading role in this novel. While Kiara was an excellent primary protagonist, as well as a mentor to a new police character, it is the other larger-than-life supporting characters who make Kill Your Boss very impressive. This includes a truly despicable murder victim whom you honestly don’t feel too sympathetic to, especially after the flashbacks. This excellent use of a villainous victim adds some great complexity to the plot, especially when it’s revealed that multiple people tried to kill him simultaneously. This victim is well matched by the various suspects, who serve as supporting perspective characters in the plot. Without giving too much away, each of the suspects in this novel is very entertaining, and the range of complex interactions and grudges they held made for a very entertaining read. I particularly enjoyed the final revelation about why the main killer committed the first murder, which fits the overall entertaining mood of Kill Your Boss perfectly, and was a perfect endcap on these outstanding characters.

Jack Heath continues to showcase why he is one of Australia’s most entertaining crime fiction authors. Featuring a brilliant plot loaded with outrageous revelations and supporting characters, Kill Your Boss was a wonderfully addictive novel from start to finish. Compelling, twisted and just so much fun, Kill Your Boss is a very impressive read, and it was easily one of the top Australian novels of 2025.

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The Bluff by Joanna Jenkins

On March 10, 2025 By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery5 Comments

Publisher: Allen & Unwin (Trade Paperback – 4 March 2025)

Series: How to Kill a Client – Book Two

Length: 432 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Impressive new Australian author Joanna Jenkins presents another captivating piece of crime fiction with the gripping and emotionally charged read, The Bluff.

Back in 2023 I had the very great pleasure of reading the fantastic legal thriller, How to Kill a Client. The debut novel of Australian author Joanna Jenkins, How to Kill a Client followed various members of a prestigious Australian law firm who are forced to deal with the fallout of the murder of one of their biggest clients, a man who everyone in the firm had a motive to kill. Jenkins produced an outstanding story in her first novel, and How to Kill a Client ended up being one of my favourite debuts and pieces of Australian fiction of 2023. Due to how good her first book was, I have been keeping an eye out for anything else from Jenkins and I was very happy to see she had a new book coming out in 2025 with The Bluff. A surprising sequel to How to Kill a Client, The Bluff has been on my to-read list for a while, and I was very glad that I finally got the chance to check it out.

Plot Synopsis:

People like Dash didn’t die. He was only what? Mid-thirties? Well off. Adored. By some anyway. World at his feet. Well, Myddle at his feet, which was his world.

Ruth Dawson has taken a break from big city law to fill in for a few months at a mate’s small-town legal practice in Myddle. It’s not what she’s used to . . .

So when she hears the front door of her office open she’s expecting a weird demand, or a question she doesn’t know the answer to. But it’s Bea Baulderstone’s mum, worried that she hasn’t seen her seventeen-year-old daughter for five days, and Constable Gazza Parker is refusing to report the girl missing.

Ruth tries to find Bea, but Myddle is a wall of indifference. Then Dash Rogers is found at his farm gate, dead from a gunshot wound, and suddenly the town is very interested in Bea’s whereabouts.

An unputdownable thriller of deception and greed, The Bluff reveals an enmeshed web of family and community loyalties, set in the lush rural hinterland of east coast Australia.

The Bluff was an extremely captivating and complex Australian thriller from Joanna Jenkins that stands on its own feet while also serving as a great sequel to How to Kill a Client. Featuring a fantastic character-driven story loaded with mystery, impressive storytelling and an excellent rural setting, The Bluff had me hooked very quickly, and I ended up powering through it in a day.

I really enjoyed the amazing story that Jenkins came up with for The Bluff, as she provides both an intriguing mystery, and some great character development. A mostly standalone plot set after the events of How to Kill a Client, the reader is reintroduced to high profile layer Ruth Dawson, who is taking a break from the high-flying life to manage a small law firm in the small New South Wales town of Myddle. This change in setting and story focus towards a rural thriller, rather than the big-city legal thriller of Jenkins’ previous book, proved to be quite effective, as was the very clever way the author set out The Bluff’s story.

Jenkins ensured that readers get dragged into The Bluff’s tale almost immediately, with two very quick sequences at the start: one that showed a key moment of the plot without any context, and then a subsequent scene where the protagonist is reintroduced and then finds out about the narrative’s two main mysteries, a missing girl and a murder. With these important bits of information in your brain, the reader is then transported back six months and is shown all the events that occurred over this period that led up to the disappearance of Bea Baulderstone and the murder of Dash Rogers. Through this six-month period, you become acquainted with all the key players around Myddle and observe their interactions with the victims and the protagonist, and you begin the appreciate the complex web of relationships, problems and personalities that surround the case, as well as the many potential motivations for the book’s main crimes.

This dive back in time was an outstanding writing choice by Jenkins that allowed the reader to really appreciate the full breadth of the relationships and troubles that accompany the crime, all while perfectly utilising The Bluff’s excellent rural setting. With every brick of plot laid down to hint at the events to come, you find yourself becoming more and more involved with the plot as you try to picture how and why the murder will occur and which of the many interesting and emotional characters may commit it. The inclusion of a countdown at the start of each new chapter gives a great ticking clock vibe to The Bluff, and you become more and more anxious and excited as you get closer the plot’s principal event. The reader also begins to appreciate just how despicable the main murder victim is, and that allows for an even more compelling read, as you can see just how many potential people have a motive to kill him, as well as cause the disappearance of the missing girl.

The final third of The Bluff is probably the best, and I flew through it to find out how the story ends. The final series of events leading up to the pivotal killings are particularly dark (and potentially triggering for some readers), and it was fascinating to see everyone’s emotional state in advance of this crime, especially as there are so many potential suspects. However, rather than show the killings there, Jenkins instead jumps back to the timeline from the front of the book and spends the last 100 or so pages dealing with the subsequent investigation, with the protagonist pulling events together. I liked this delay, as it provided an excellent trickle effect for the twists and also allowed the protagonist to shine as she uses her knowledge of events and her own skills at deduction to identify the culprit and protect her friends in the town. The eventual solutions for the mysteries were very clever, and Jenkins did such a great job subtly dropping the clues throughout the backstory of the plot and setting up the various motivations. I really appreciated the many complex and compelling twists which fit into the plot perfectly, especially the last one that really made you think.

This entire brilliant story is wrapped up in some great character arcs, as Jenkins features a range of protagonists and potential suspects, each of whom were quite compelling and brought different shades of drama to the plot. I loved seeing their complex relationships and interactions throughout the plot of The Bluff, especially those that could lead to them committing the book’s main crimes. There are some really great characters here, and it was especially interesting to see more of series protagonist Ruth Dawson, who is not only continuing to move on from the personal trauma and loneliness that was a key part of How to Kill Your Client, but is also trying to figure out where her life is going after the collapse of her previous law firm. These character arcs come together in a very satisfying manner at the end of The Bluff, and a lot of this book’s complexity and strength came from how relatable and compelling Jenkins’ made these various characters, especially when it comes to their anger, fear and potential ability to commit murder.

Overall, The Bluff was an exceptional and deeply impressive sequel from Joanna Jenkins that I think was even stronger than the excellent first book. Featuring a very clever and well-written narrative that brings together powerful character storylines and a great rural setting with complex mystery, The Bluff proved to be extremely captivating, and you will become engrossed in uncovering the full extent of the plot. One of the best Australian crime fiction books of 2025 so far, The Bluff comes highly recommended and is really worth checking out.

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The Unbelieved by Vikki Petraitis

On September 6, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Five-Star Books, Murder Mystery10 Comments

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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Kill Your Brother by Jack Heath

On December 28, 2021March 21, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Five-Star Books, Thriller19 Comments

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia (Trade Paperback – 30 November 2021)

Series: Standalone

Length: 339 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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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.

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Greenlight by Benjamin Stevenson

On September 24, 2018May 17, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery, Thriller17 Comments

Greenlight by Benjamin Stevenson Cover.jpg

Publisher: Michael Joseph

Publication Date – 3 September 2018

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From debuting Australian author Benjamin Stevenson comes this chilling and intelligent murder mystery that builds a thrilling case with some sensational twists around an intriguing true crime documentary plot device.

Four years ago, in the small Australian country town of Birravale, Curtis Wade was arrested and tried for the murder of young woman Eliza Dacey. Hated by the entire town and viewed as an outsider, Curtis was quickly found guilty of the crime with very little evidence presented at the trial. Everyone was convinced of Curtis’ guilt until podcaster and documentarian Jack Quick decided to get involved.

Noting some inconsistencies in the case and sensing an opportunity for fame, Jack decided to make a true crime documentary series, presenting the local police as incompetent and biased. His series becomes an overnight hit across Australia, and his edited footage convinces many in the country of Curtis’s innocence. But the night before the finale is due to air, Jack notices a piece of crucial evidence near the murder scene that could prove that Curtis is guilty after all. Determined not to ruin his series, and convinced that no matter what happens Curtis will never see the light of day again, he disposes of the evidence. However, thanks to his series, Curtis is released on retrial, and then a second murder is committed, with several grisly details of the first case replicated. Has Jack just let a murderer go free?

Returning to Birravale, Jack must once again dive into the secrets of a town that hates him for the way his show portrayed them. As Jack attempts to solve this crime, he must overcome his own past while also dealing with the guilt of the situation. But did Curtis commit this new crime, or is he being framed by the real killer? Whoever the murderer is, Jack is wrapped up in their game and for once he needs to reveal the whole truth.

Greenlight is the first novel from Australian comedian and author Benjamin Stevenson and represents a brilliant and exhilarating debut. This book has an amazing central storyline with a massively intriguing mystery that focuses on the innocence or guilt of the man who has already been both convicted and found innocent of the same murder. The protagonist must look at whether the person he released from jail committed the murder he was originally convicted of, as well as a second, similar murder that occurred after the suspect has been released. The reader is constantly left guessing about whether the prime suspect, Curtis, has committed either or both of the crimes, or whether he is actually innocent. At the same time, the reader is presented with a series of plausible alternative suspects who have motive for either of the murders or, in some cases, the same motive for both of the killings, and this creates some exciting doubt about the original suspect’s guilt. The final reveals and twists of this case are rather shocking and will definitely provide the readers with some excellent surprises. Stevenson does a good job providing a lot of hints and foreshadowing in his text, and readers will enjoy seeing how these cleverly scattered clues are brought together in the end. Overall, this is a hell of a mystery and the author does a fantastic job tying the investigation into the book’s other elements.

One of the most noticeable and outstanding parts of Greenlight is its true crime elements and how this affects both the story and the way that the book is written. Ever since the dramatic popularity of the 2015 Netflix true crime show, Making a Murderer, various books and shows have attempted to emulate the documentary setting in their works. What I liked about Stevenson’s book was that, rather than dealing with the creation of the documentary, it is mostly set some months after the television series was released and instead takes a look at the consequences that the show has had. Not only is a potential murderer released, but various lives and careers have been ruined as a result of the protagonist’s actions. It is absolutely fascinating to see the various ways that the reaction and follow-up of the true crime television series comes into play through the story. The protagonist has to deal with a series of characters who are annoyed or angry about their portrayal in the series, which informs the help, assistance or compassion that these characters give. The success of the series also affects the police response, leaving the protagonist much more open to investigate the crime. It is also intriguing to see a television show being used as a motive for murder throughout the book, as the second murder could potentially be tied into righting the wrongs that the show caused. Stevenson covers all these elements incredibly well, and the examination of the consequences and damages of a successful true crime documentary series turns out to be the perfect backdrop for this captivating murder story.

On top of the powerful mystery and the terrific plot focus, Stevenson has also created an interesting central protagonist who serves as the point of view character for most of the book. The main character, Jack, is the documentarian who makes the show that gets the mystery’s main suspect freed from jail. Watching the guilt and shame that this character experiences as a result of his various actions, such as the creation of the show, tampering with evidence and editing the videos to tell a specific story, is a great part of this story, and it serves as a perfect motivation for this character’s continued and at times frantic investigation. Watching the character understand the full extent of his questionable actions, especially after the second murder, is an outstanding part of this book that highlights Stevenson’s strong writing ability. It is also interesting to see how his experiences creating a documentary have affected his judgement and the way he perceives the world. The protagonist now sees the slanted way many of the characters talk when it comes to case, and he is constantly trying to determine what role the people who are involved in the case would have in a television show, such as a main character or a supporting cast member. The author also creates some interesting character background for Jack that works well with this story, as guilt and trauma from his childhood combines with the current extreme blame and he is currently feeling. Stevenson also produces an accurate and powerful description of an eating disorder that Jack is suffering from, and not only is this description respectful done and informative, but it adds another level to this excellent main character.

A large amount of Greenlight’s plot is set in the fictional small, winegrowing country town of Birravale in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales. This serves as a great background setting for the murder investigation as the small town secrets and attitudes play a huge role in the overall mystery. Stevenson does an amazing job portraying a winegrowing community, and provides some interesting details that come into play in a number of ways and often result in a number of potential murder motives. The small-town setting also works well with the post true crime series plot element, as the protagonist encounters an entire town that has been portrayed in a negative light throughout this series and is viewed in a different way by the rest of the country. Seeing these resultant attitudes and the impacts his series has had on the town works wonders for the main character and is a great part of this book.

In his debuting novel, Australian author Benjamin Stevenson has created an incredibly captivating mystery storyline. Greenlight contains a number of outstanding elements, from shocking plot twists and reveals, an excellent central character and an utterly fascinating central plot device, all of which come together into one amazing novel. This is an exceptional first book from Stevenson which highlights both his fantastic ability and his huge potential as a crime writer.

My Rating:

Four and a half stars

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After the Lights Go Out by Lili Wilkinson

On September 14, 2018March 7, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Five-Star Books, Young Adult7 Comments

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Publication Date – 1 August 2018

Amazon Book Depository

From bestselling Australian author Lili Wilkinson comes After the Lights Go Out, an incredible and powerful young adult adventure set in the heart of the bush that asks the impossible question: should a person choose family or community in an emergency?

Seventeen-year-old Prudence Palmer is a young woman living outside the small Australian outback town of Jubilee with her father, Rick, and her younger twin sisters, Grace and Blyth. To the other inhabitants of the town, they are just another mining family, living close to Rick’s workplace. However, they are actually hiding a much deeper secret: they are doomsday preppers. Convinced that the world will soon suffer some form of imminent catastrophe, Rick has moved his daughters off the grid to Jubilee and has constructed a hidden bunker out the back of his property. Filled with a substantial amount of food, medicine, equipment, weapons and entertainment, the bunker has everything they need to survive the end of the world. The girls have also been trained to survive and are ready to react against a variety of scenarios.

While Rick is sure a world-changing disaster is just around the corner, Pru is less certain, and is happy to keep her family’s activities a secret. So it is a great shock to her when something actually happens and every electrical device, modern car and generator in Jubilee suddenly fails. With Rick gone, Pru and her sisters must suddenly implement their survival plan without their father’s guidance and make the hard decision to hide their bunker and supplies from their friends in the town. With food, water and medicine becoming scarce, and with no transportation, communications or other vital necessities, the town starts to fall apart. As the situation gets even worse, Pru and her sisters must decide between helping their friends or doing as they have been trained and survive alone.

Lili Wilkinson is an exciting Australian author who has produced 10 intense and dramatic young adult novels since her 2006 debut, Joan of Arc: The Story of Jehanne Darc. Her eleventh novel, After the Lights Go Out is an outstanding standalone book that could potentially replace Tomorrow, When the War Began as the go-to disaster story for Australian young adult audiences. This book contains a dramatic and moving main story that plunges the world into chaos and places the potential survival of a small town in the hands of one young woman.

At the heart of this book lies a tough moral dilemma for the narrator Pru when she must decide between helping her local community and guaranteeing her family’s survival. Pru’s father, Rick, a hardcore survivalist, has stocked the family bunker with enough supplies to keep Pru and her sisters alive for several years. He has also taught his daughters to never help anyone but themselves, and to keep all their supplies for the family. When a disaster strikes and Rick goes missing, it is up to Pru and her sisters to make the decision, and at first they choose to keep the bunker and supplies hidden from their friends in Jubilee. As the situation in the town gets worse, Pru’s guilt conflicts with her father’s training and instructions. This internal debate is intensified when she falls in love with newcomer Mateo and watches him and his mother doing everything they can to save the townsfolk, despite the fact they are not locals and have no significant connection to people living there. Watching Pru’s internal struggle and the external debate with her sisters is intense, and the reader is left wondering what they would do in a similar situation. How Pru’s eventual decision affects her family and her relationships with the people of Jubilee is very memorable, and hits all the right emotional notes in this excellent story.

After the Lights Go Out contains an intriguing examination of the doomsday prepper phenomenon that is currently occurring around the world. The main character’s father believes every single conspiracy theory that exists and is determined to prepare his daughters for anything. It is clear that Wilkinson has done some significant research into survivalists and their various techniques, and as a result her characters are prepared for every doomsday scenario and have a ton of supplies and a high-tech bunker at their disposal. There is a lot of discussion and exposition about the various survivalist conspiracies, plans to live in an altered world, the necessary techniques and the ideal supplies that every prepper should have. Despite most doomsday preppers being American, many of the techniques in this book have an Australian flavour to them, as the girls know the local fauna, flora and means of survival out in the harsh bush conditions. While every preparation the Palmer family has undertaken is fascinating to read about, I found the examination of the improvised medical techniques the characters use to be particularly outstanding. This includes including one memorable and somewhat graphic sequence where the narrator needs to perform some rudimentary dentistry. Overall, the use of the doomsday preppers’ planning and theories is an incredibly intriguing part of this story that provides the reader with some cool facts and the results of the author’s in-depth research.

Wilkinson has also populated the book with some excellent characters who really bring the story together. While the Palmer sisters are good central characters and Pru is a great narrator who has to make a huge range of tough decisions, the best character has to be the Palmer father, Rick. Rick is a crazed survivalist who is convinced that the world is about to end and whose paranoia has driven him to outback Australia. When one of his disaster scenarios actually comes true, he becomes even more erratic, and watching his fears overcome his love for his daughters is very tragic to behold. There is also Mateo, the young American tourist and liberal city-slicker who is essentially the opposite of Pru when it comes to life experiences. The relationship between him and Pru is nice. It evolves at a natural pace and offers the reader some different insights into the situation and the motivations of the Palmer sisters. Another effective character is Keller Reid, the older boy with an unhealthy obsession with Pru’s younger sisters. Keller is a particularly despicable character who serves as a very annoying minor antagonist who moves the plot around. Watching him through the narrator’s eyes, you cannot help but hate him and hope he gets some eventual comeuppance. The other townsfolk of Jubilee are a good mixture of characters, and it’s nice seeing them come together as a community rather than break down and kill each other as Rick believed they would.

Another part of this book that stood out to me was Wilkinson’s use of the powerful Australian landscape and the examination of small country towns. The author provides some vivid images of the distinctive Australian bush, and looks at the various features that make it an intriguing backdrop for a story about survivalists. The author also produces some exceptional portrayals of the close communities that exists in small town Australia and how they their isolation might be both a benefit and a detriment to their survival in a doomsday scenario. It is definitely a unique setting for a catastrophe novel such as After the Lights Go Out, and one which I felt really added to the beauty and intensity of the story.

I really enjoyed this book and thought it was an incredible piece of literature from Wilkinson. Because of its excellent story and the phenomenal look it takes at survivalists and their viewpoint of the world, I think this book is perfect for its intended young adult audience, which could prove to be very empowering and enjoyable read for them. Parents should aware that there are some adult moments and a couple of graphic scenes, but this excellent and informative story is worth the risk. After the Lights Go Out is a deep and powerful five-star book that provides its readers with an excellent examination of doomsday preppers. This is definitely one of the best young adult books I have read this year and I cannot recommend this outstanding Australian book enough.