Waiting on Wednesday – The Shark by Emma Styles

On November 8, 2025 By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Thriller, Waiting on Wednesday4 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them. In this week’s Waiting on Wednesday post, I check out an intriguing and intense upcoming Australian thriller with The Shark by Emma Styles.

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Back in 2022 I had the pleasure of reading the exciting and entertaining thriller, No Country For Girls, which was the debut novel of new Australian author Emma Styles. Set in the harsh Western Australian outback, No Country For Girls was an outstanding read, featuring two great protagonists on a gritty and deeply personal journey. Fun and compelling, No Country For Girls ended up being one of my top debut novels of 2022, and I was curious at the time to see what Styles would write next.

Well, it looks like I will finally be able to find out soon as Styles has her second novel coming out in early 2026, and it sounds pretty epic. This new novel, The Shark, is set for release in March 2026, and features a powerful plot about a deadly Australian serial killer and two teenage girls who attempt to stop him.

Plot Synopsis:

A killer is stalking the suburbs of Western Australia. Two teenage girls hell-bent on revenge take matters into their own hands, with deadly results. Another dark, uniquely voice-led crime thriller from Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize-winner Emma Styles.

Every monster has a weakness.

At the height of Australian summer, a serial killer dubbed The Shark stalks a beachside suburb, targeting young female swimmers whose bodies are later found on the shoreline.

Disempowered and angry at the failures of the police to protect them, two young women are hell-bent on revenge. Raych has lost someone and will go to any length to discover what happened to her, while Carmen suspects a disturbing connection to the killer.

Together they form an uneasy alliance and, in a moment that changes the trajectory of their lives, Carmen and Raych abduct and imprison the prime suspect. Do they think they can save the day, or are their intentions darker? Can they trust one another’s agenda? And when another young woman goes missing, what stops them from going to the police?

A dark and voice-led serial killer thriller that subverts the tropes of crime fiction at every turn, The Shark is an unforgettably propulsive novel about victimhood, power and autonomy.

Now this is a very interesting book by Styles. I love the awesome scenario above, which promises to turn The Shark into a particularly intense read. Pitting two teenage protagonists against a potential serial killer, while other deaths and disappearances are occurring outside their prison has so much potential, and this thriller has one of the more distinctive and exciting plot synopses of novels coming out in early 2026.

While I would probably have grabbed The Shark no matter what in 2026, especially after really enjoying No Country For Girls, I must admit that I’m already a little obsessed with the above plot. Emma Styles has come up with an extremely interesting idea for her second novel and I am extremely curious to see how it comes together. If Styles backs up this great plot with some amazing characters and dark moments of dread and uncertainty, then The Shark will likely be one of the top pieces of Australian fiction in 2026. I cannot wait to see how this book comes together, and I have a strong feeling that I am going to love it.

Quick Review – The Pit by Peter Papathanasiou

On November 2, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Drama, LGBT+, Murder Mystery, Quick Review3 Comments

The Pit Cover

Publisher: Maclehose Press (Trade Paperback – 25 July 2023)

Series: DS George Manolis – Book Three

Length: 297 pages

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Australian author Peter Papathanasiou returns with his third DS George Manolis novel, The Pit, a complex and intriguing piece of Australian crime fiction that takes three unlikely companions on a memorable road trip.

Plot Synopsis:

A third outback noir from Peter Papathanasiou, following Special Constable Sparrow as he investigates a cold case in a barren mining region of Western Australia.

With DS Manolis on leave in Greece, Senior Constable Sparrow receives a phone call from a man who wants to turn himself in.

Bob is sixty-five years old, confined to a Perth nursing home. But thirty years ago, he killed a man in the remote northern Kimberley mining region. He offers to show Sparrow where the body is, but there’s a catch: Sparrow must travel north with him under the guise of being his carer.

They are accompanied on the drive by another nursing home resident: Luke, thirty years old, paralysed in a motorbike accident. As they embark on their road trip through the guts of Western Australia, pursued by outback police and adrenaline-soaked miners, Sparrow begins to suspect that Bob’s desire to head north may have sinister motivations. Is Luke being held against his will? And what lies in store for them when they reach their goal?

The Pit proved to be quite an interesting and compelling novel which honestly was very different from what I was expecting. I thought this would be more of a standard crime fiction/murder mystery novel in the Australian wilderness, but instead I got a character driven story that dove into one protagonist’s complex life, and I honestly think it worked out better this way.

The plot of The Pit is very far removed from Papathanasiou’s previous DS George Manolis novels, with the protagonist of the first two books not even actually appearing. Instead we get an intriguing story about supporting character Special Constable Sparrow, who finds himself presented with an unusual opportunity by an old man, Bob, wanting to confess to a 30-year-old murder. While I do think that Sparrow agreed to Bob’s strange request without backup a little too readily, it sets up an interesting and heartfelt storyline where Sparrow accompanies Bob and Bob’s unsuspecting young protégé, Luke, across Western Australia into the heart of mining country. The narrative splits into two separate timelines at this point, with the main narrative focusing on the three companions as they travel across the Pilbara, getting into all manner of trouble and meeting a range of outrageous and unique outback locals. The other main storyline is a series of intense flashbacks that examine the full life of Bob and the many hardships he experienced as a homosexual man in Australia from the 1960s onwards. There is also a subplot that follows the friendship Bob formed with Luke in the nursing home and why Bob decided to take him on the road trip.

These different fantastic storylines are interesting and emotional in their own way, and the reader gets heavily invested in seeing both the past and the present. Bob’s tragic and violent life story really drags the reader in, and it was fascinating to see his take on the homosexual experience throughout various periods of recent Australian history. At the same time, you get quite entranced by the unique friendship that forms between the three road trippers, especially as each of them has their own secrets, personal issues and emotional turmoil. I felt that the darker past storylines blended well with the unusual hijinks of the modern storyline, and the hidden clues in Bob’s recounting of events ended up having some interesting impacts on the central story. These split storylines come together in an excellent way, and Papathanasiou really lays on the tragedy in the main narrative threads, especially when it comes to Bob and the tragedies he’s experienced. The ending of the book is quietly poignant and ultimately unavoidable, and you will come away quite moved by how everything turned out and how the main characters developed.

Papathanasiou backed up this emotionally rich story with some fantastic and highly detailed background settings. The Pilbara in particular is shown in all its red glory, and the author does a remarkable job describing its harsh beauty and the heavy burden of those who traverse it. The anecdotes about the unusual people who worked in the Pilbara, both in the modern day and in the 1970s and 80s, are pretty over-the-top and very entertaining to absorb. I do hope that Papathanasiou was exaggerating just how crazy everyone out in the Pilbara is, as there were a lot of unsettling and concerning characters involved who added some interesting spice to the story. The memorable social interactions and courtship rituals of the repressed male Pilbara mining community back in the 1970s also seemed a bit unlikely, and I doubt I will be able look at a ute full of blokes the same way again after reading this book. These outrageous scenes were quite entertaining, and I think they helped to enhance some of the more emotional parts of the book in greater detail. Throw in other interesting historical locations, such as Sydney during the AIDS epidemic, and you have a fantastic background to this intense story that Papathanasiou used to full effect to tell his unique story.

Overall, The Pit was quite a memorable and compelling read by Papathanasiou, who told quite a complex Australian tale. As a dramatic Australian tale with historical elements more than a pure crime fiction read, The Pit was a fantastic book that beautifully dove into some dark issues and showcased some amazing characters. Charming and heartbreaking, The Pit was an excellent piece of Australian fiction that is well worth checking out.

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The Last Convict by Anthony Hill

On February 15, 2021May 8, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Historical Fiction5 Comments

The Last Convict Cover

Publisher: Michael Joseph (Trade Paperback – 2 February 2021)

Series: Standalone

Length: 368 pages

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Acclaimed Australian author Anthony Hill once again dives into the unique history of Australia’s colonial past with a fascinating examination of a truly remarkable individual in The Last Convict.

Perth, 1938. Samuel Speed in an old man living his last days in a dreary public-run home for destitute old men, with no family or friends to take him in. At 98 years old, Samuel knows that he does not have long to live and is content with his lot in life, but an unexpected opportunity to tell his tale has been given to him. A local newspaper has requested an interview with him after they discover that he is the last person left alive who was transported as a convict to Australia.

As Samuel begins his interview, he is transported back to his past to a fateful day in Oxford in 1863 when, as a young, starving teenager, he helped set a barley stack alight in the hopes of being arrested to receive food and a warm bed in prison. However, he is unprepared for the full consequences of his actions when a judge harshly sentences him to seven years hard labour on the other side of the world. Boarding the transportation ship, Belgravia, everything from his past is taken from him, including his name, and he begins the long, arduous journey to Fremantle Prison in Western Australia.

Forced to endure years of backbreaking labour, isolation and enforced routine on his life, Samuel’s only relief is a newfound love of reading, as he enjoys escapism in several classic novels. Eventually obtaining his ticket of leave in 1867 and full freedom in 1871, Samuel seeks to forge a new life for himself. However, as he continues to work hard, he soon begins to understand that even though he is no longer in prison, he is still very much trapped by circumstances outside of his control. What kind of man will Samuel become, and how deep does a person’s life sentence truly run?

The Last Convict is a fantastic and powerful historical novel from Anthony Hill that provides an impressive examination of an intriguing figure from Australia’s history. Hill is an intriguing author from my home city of Canberra who has written several historical novels throughout his career, all of which examine unique individuals from Australia’s past, such as his novel Captain Cook’s Apprentice which followed a cabin boy aboard the Endeavour as it made its journey to Australia, or Soldier Boy, which followed Australia’s youngest-known soldier during WWI. This latest novel from Hill continues this trend as the author takes a look at Samuel Speed, the last known surviving convict transported to Australia from England.

I really enjoyed the excellent narrative that Hill pulled together for his latest novel, and The Last Convict proved to be an exciting and fascinating tale of survival and determination. Thanks to a trove of intriguing historical information and articles (all of which is either provided or referenced at the end of the novel), Hill provides the reader with a detailed and compelling bibliographic tale of Samuel’s life. The story is set around a real-life interview that Samuel Speed had with the Mirror in 1938, and The Last Convict showcases both the elderly Speed sitting down for the interview and his visions of the past as he gets wrapped up in his captivating memories. The resulting tale is a powerful and stirring narrative that combines historical fact, obtained from both the interview and other sources, as well as some dramatisation from the author. I really enjoyed the clever narrative that resulted and I think that Hill did his historical protagonist justice, painting him as a conflicted and entertaining figure with both regrets and contentment about how his life turned out. While many of the events that occurred in this novel have a strong historical basis, Hill did make several leaps (which he acknowledges in his notes) throughout the book. I think that a lot of these literary creations of the character’s life worked well, and I like to think that Samuel was the amiable bibliophile that Hill made him out to be. I found myself really getting drawn into this epic and captivating tale, especially as the author did a fantastic job portraying a number of fascinating scenes, locations and events from history, and it painted a vivid picture. I also quite enjoyed the way in which Hill told the story through an excellent combination of flashback sequences and scenes featuring the older Samuel telling his tale to the newspaper. All of this results in a fantastic and enjoyable narrative and I am really glad that I got the chance to experience this interesting take on the intriguing figure that was Samuel Steel.

One of the things that I loved the most about The Last Convict was the exceptional amount of historical detail that the author chucked into this book. Hill is a massive history buff who has done an impressive amount of research for this novel, and he goes out of his way to populate this novel with all manner of facts and fascinating depictions of day-to-day life that a person like Samuel Steel would have experienced. As a result, the reader gets a captivating, comprehensive and authentic-feeling examination of the convict experience in the latter half of the 19^th century. This includes fantastic depictions of how a person would be tried; their incarceration in England, including some of the horrendous bits of hard and painfully repetitive labour they would be required to undertake; all the way up to their transportation across to Western Australia. The author also dives into the experiences of a convict living in Western Australia in the second half of The Last Convict, and there are some fantastic and intriguing discussions about what a person would have experienced once they arrived in a vast new land. I found all the discussion about the various tasks, the intricate tickets of leave and day-to-day life of a convict locked up in Freemantle Prison (which is a cool building to visit) to be exquisitely done, and the reader gets an amazingly wide-ranging amount of knowledge on the subject.

Another fun historical aspect of the novel was the range of entertaining historical anecdotes that the character of Samuel Steel told to the reporter during the story regarding major historical figures that Samuel would have had knowledge of. Not only do these anecdotes help to flesh out the story and help to fit into a couple of minor references featured in the Mirror interview, but they also proved to be a rather intriguing inclusion. Hill goes into substantial detail recounting tales of several outrageous and famous Western Australian historical figures and their major moments, which included infamous prison escapes and other shenanigans. I found these parts of the book to be incredibly fascinating, especially as I was unfamiliar with several of the stories that were mentioned, including one mass escape of Irish convicts that nearly started an international incident between the colony of Western Australia and the United States. These stories added some great context to Samuel’s tale and helped the reader to envision the lives of other convicts or people in power that may have had some influence over the protagonist’s way of life or who he may have gossiped about. I also quite liked the author’s decision to make Samuel a fan of classic novels, which was added in due to a passing reference to a Mark Twain story that Samuel made during his interview, and because Samuel had an association with the Braille Society, who ended up burying him. Hill expands on this to paint Samuel as a lover of other novels, especially Dickens, and suggests that he would have started reading whilst a convict looking to pass the time. Not only is this a rather likeable and relatable character trait, but it allowed the author to explore what sort of literary works a person like Samuel might have been interested in and may have had access to. I enjoyed the author’s depictions of this classic novels and the protagonist’s potential reaction to them, and it proved to be an intriguing part of the book’s plot. Overall, I felt that all these cool historical elements really helped to elevate Hill’s story within The Last Convict and readers are in for a fantastic blast of information about colonial Western Australia that is extremely fascinating and interesting.

The Last Convict is another clever and meticulously researched Australian historical fiction novel from Anthony Hill that provides the reader with a powerful and compelling window into the life of an interesting figure from history. Loaded with Hill’s usual intense levels of fascinating historical detail, I had a lot of fun reading The Last Convict. I look forward to seeing which Australian historical figure Hill looks at in his next book and I will be grabbing a copy to read.

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