Five from Australia that sit on the TBR pile......
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| Debut novel from 2010 |
'Two things you want to remember about the good old days, Ned. They weren't that good and they're not that old.' Detective Nhu 'Ned' Kelly is in way over her head. Not every member of the New South Wales police force has welcomed the young, half-Vietnamese woman into a job where the old school still makes the rules. When two bodies are discovered in the footings of an old Bankstown building, Ned catches the case. As she works to uncover the truth, she is drawn into Sydney's dirty past and the murky history of her own family. Bit by bit she gains ground on the murderer, just as he's gaining ground on her. Familiar faces begin to look suspicious. How close to home will she have to look? It's time for Ned to decide who is on her side and who wants her dead. Gritty and sharp, The Old School is a gripping new take on crime fiction by former NSW police detective P.M. Newton.
'P.M. Newton's bitter-sweet thriller is an arresting debut:astonishingly accomplished and as authentic as a .38 bullet wound. File between D for Disher and T for Temple and sweat on the sequel.' Andrew Rule
'The writing is razor-sharp and the dialogue sizzles with tough-as-nails authenticity. Newton is a writer to watch.' Matthew Reilly 'Relentless What a multi-layered, powerful piece of writing. This novel puts P.M. Newton in the company of Marele Day, Gabrielle Lord and Peter Temple.' Graeme Blundell
'All the elevated anxiety, pace and snippy dialogue of classic crime fiction, yet it somehow comes across as a true story... The Old School is a cracker. There's a new voice on the beat.' Weekend Australian
'A gripping crime novel that sweeps up the reader in its enthralling multi-layered plot, powerful characters and spot-on descriptions of Sydney... A tough and authentic novel. The Old School is already shaping up as the year's best debut crime novel.' Canberra Times
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| Another debut novel, from 2012 |
The Armed Robbery Squad has long been considered the state’s most formidable group of detectives. But there’s a change coming. Force command and a new police watchdog want the squad gone. And there’s a new threat on the streets a bandit with a passion for demeaning victims ... and shooting detectives. Crime journalist Ian Malone has assigned himself the task of finding out whether the men from Armed Robbery have been demonised or are deserving of their fearsome reputation. As Malone builds a unique bond with streetwise detective Shane Kelso and the rest of The Robbers, he enters a dark and seedy world where right can be wrong but wrong might also be right. A world where cops and bandits fight a ruthless war, everyone has their own agenda, and the most dangerous enemies could just be the bureaucrats.
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| Aussie classic from 1961 |
The controller stood back.
'Right,' he said. 'Spin 'em!'
The man flipped the piece of wood and the coins spun up into the air above his head and dropped down on to the carpet.
There was silence.
Wake in Fright tells the tale of John Grant's journey into an alcoholic, sexual and spiritual nightmare. It is the original and the greatest outback horror story. Bundanyabba and its citizens will forever haunt its readers.
'A classic novel which became a classic film. The Outback without the sentimental bull dust. Australia without the sugar coating.' Robert Drewe
'A true dark classic of Australian literature.' J.M. Coetzee
'Wake in Fright is a classic of the ugly side of Menzies' Australia, its brutality, its drunkenness, its anxiety to crush all sensibility. All of this is harrowingly reacorded - the destruction of a young soul fresh to Australia - in Kenneth Cook's remarkable novel.' Thomas Keneally
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| First three in the Hardy series! |
Meet Cliff Hardy. Smoker, drinker, ex-boxer. And private investigator. When the wealthy Bryn Gutteridge hires Hardy to help his sister, it looks as if blackmail is the problem.
Until the case becomes more brutal, twisted and shocking than even Hardy could have guessed.
'A quintessentially Australian literary icon.' Age
Introduction by Charles Waterstreet.
Peter Corris's first Cliff Hardy novel, The Dying Trade, was published in 1980. It not only introduced a sleuth who was to become an enduring legend, but was also a long love letter to the seamy side of Sydney itself. Over more than three decades Corris has now written thirty-eight Cliff Hardy books, and the city of Sydney is as significant a presence in the books as the figure of Hardy. The third in the series, The Empty Beach, was made into a film starring Bryan Brown. In 1999 Corris was presented with a Ned Kelly Lifetime Achievement Award.
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| Fifth book from Iain Ryan |
Do bad people look like good people, like friends and brothers and boyfriends and students, until they have their hands around your throat? All of these men standing around me, drinks in hand, backs to this screen… smiling, laughing, flirting, and they look harmless. But any one of them could be something else now: rapist, murderer, spree shooter, torturer, paedophile. I try to picture them sprayed with blood and gore and it’s easy. I can do it, mentally. All of these guys could be him because all of these guys were just like him, right up until he…
Gatton, Queensland. 1994. Nate is a student, dealing weed on the side. A girl called Maya Kibby is dead. No one knows who killed her. Nate needs to refresh his supply, but Jesse, his friend and dealer, is missing. Nate is high. He is alone. Being hunted for the suitcase he’s found and haunted by its contents. And as things turn from bad to worse, Nate uncovers far more than he bargained for.
The Student is high-paced, hardboiled regional noir: fresh, gritty, unnerving, with a stark and lonely beauty.
Apologies to David Whish-Wilson, Garry Disher, Zane Lovitt, Dave Warner, Peter Temple and others....
Enjoyable without being the best book ever.
