Book Review: Northern Heat by Helene Young

Book Review:  Northern Heat by Helene Young

Northern Heat has everything I should want in a book.  Australian author, set in a far north Queensland town not far from where I live, romance, mystery, natural disasters, yachts, and mature main characters.  I should have lapped this up with a spoon.  But…  Yes, there’s a but.

The novel opens with our hero, Conor, witnessing a shooting.  Our heroine, Kristy, is a doctor and on hand to help.  Conor and Kristy were already acquainted at this stage; he is her daughter Abby’s basketball coach at the local PCYC, and apparently they’ve flirted and have chemistry.  I know this because Young told me.  I’m afraid I never really read any evidence of this flirting or chemistry.   And I must admit I felt a little cheated that they had no ‘meet cute’, not even in flashback.

Anyway, the plot moves on, with Conor and Kristy being thrown together a few more times as they start to unravel the book’s ‘mystery’.  Their mutual friend Freya’s abusive husband, Jonno, instantly becomes their prime suspect.  (I’m not sure why.  Because he’s beating up their friend, I suppose.)  Conor also somehow makes the leap to believing Jonno was involved in a tragedy from his past.  A tragedy that happened in Melbourne.

Yes, the coincidence here is a little hard to swallow.  As is the idea of so many violent crimes occurring in a place like Cooktown.

Meanwhile, everyone’s blase attitude made me squint.  In fact, most of the characters continue to go about their business despite all the carnage around them.  Conor shows little emotion when finally coming face to face with his family’s murderer, and he and Kristy grab a cuppa before they go off to rescue Abby from a supposed rapist/murderer.

Another event that made me scoff was the fact the Cairns police arrive in Cooktown to investigate the murder and leave within a couple of days.  I’m sure they might have stuck around a little longer.  There is the obligatory annoying redneck local cop though…

The last quarter of the book has the mystery building at the same time as Cyclone Kate.  I think this might have been when Young lost me completely.  I didn’t think there was much tension at all.  Jonno wasn’t very scary.  I don’t think Conor and Kristy were particularly worried about him either, considering the amount of times they stopped mid-action to make another hot cuppa.

In fact, I was so disappointed with the last few chapters I ended up skimming, especially the part where Conor explains all to Kristy.

As I said, I live not far from Cooktown, and it’s a beautiful place.  And one thing Young does do well is describe the area authentically.  Crocodiles do lurk in the Endeavour River, and category five cyclones do cross there.

Overall, I feel terrible that I didn’t like this more.  I’m sure lots of readers will and, for me, this just wasn’t the right book at the right time.

3 / 5

Book Review: Minnie’s Year of Living

Book Review:  Minnie’s Year of Living by Rowena Candlish

This novella is the first offering from Candlish, who is a friend of mine in real life, so I might be a little biased when I say I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Minnie’s life is in a bit of a rut, so she decides this year will be her adventurous ‘year of living’.  As such, she indulges in some activities she wouldn’t usually, including nude sunbaking (in her own backyard; she’s being adventurous, not inappropriate) which catches the eye of her extremely good looking neighbour.  How will she cope when she runs into him again after this?

I’ve ranted about novellas before and how the characters in them are often underdeveloped due to the format, but Minnie springs to life from the page (screen?) immediately making me laugh and sniff in equal measure.

The book is being marketed as a ‘contemporary romance’, but I also think it has a real chicklit feel to it, and I hope Rowena produces something full length soon.  (I’ll be hitting her up for a free ARC too…)

Using my novella rating system, I give it 5/5.

Book Review: The Killing Lessons by Saul Black

Book Review:   The Killing Lessons by Saul Black

The thriller/horror genre used to be one of my favourites — until I had children.  I just get too easily scared; thinking about what could happen, so I have avoided this type of book, movie, even real life news stories now and then, ever since.  But for some reason, I requested this book from net galley and well…   I’m still scared.

They often describe books as heart-pounding, and it’s very apt in this case.  The first few chapters especially had me so far on the edge of my seat I fell off in a sweating heap when the action finally steadied to a more manageable (just) level.  Yes, Black certainly ticked the ‘grabbing your attention’ box with Killing Lessons’s opening.

The next part of the book becomes quite police procedural, as our lead heroine/detective, Valerie Hart, is introduced.  Hart is the typically depicted detective.  Her personal life is in tatters, she drinks too much, she believes she doesn’t deserve happiness, and her only vision for the future is solving crimes.  The fact that Valerie is stereotypical but still fantastic is an example of Black’s obviously superior writing skills.

Black includes lots of characters, and usually swaps the chapters to their point of views, but it isn’t confusing or annoying.  In fact, it was one of my favourite things about the book. The characterisation is strong (and unique) with all of them.  It is also disturbing, especially when you’re practically inside the mind of the killers and/or their victims.

I would assume this book will be compared to Silence of the Lambs; there are many similarities, but the main one for me is the gutsy intelligent victim who is going to make the killer work for his death count.  I really enjoyed her scenes (I won’t say her name — spoilers!).

The way Valerie ‘solves the crime’ is believable and clever.  Knowing whodunnit doesn’t help much in this case, however, and in its final third, the book changes its pace and style again, to Valerie and other various police/agents trying to hunt down the killer before he kills another innocent.

Black really ramps up the action in the climactic scenes, with only one moment involving a helicopter giving me a pause of disbelief.  I will try and remember it is a work of fiction, however, and one of the best I’ve read in quite a while.  (Or worst, if my nerves are involved.)

I can’t wait for the sequel.   Or the filmed version.

I highly recommend this book.  5/5

Book Review: The Soldier’s Wife by Pamela Hart

 

There’s a myriad of books, tv series, and movies set during WW1 out at the moment (for obvious reasons) and I, just like many others, have been swept up in the wave of enthusiasm of needing to know more about this significant era of Australian history.

Therefore, when I received this book via Hachette Australia and The Reading Room, I had high expectations simply because the book was set in 1915, and thankfully, I can say this book delivered admirably.

You often hear that ‘war changes everything and everyone’ and The Soldier’s Wife is a great example of exploring that theme while still delivering an enjoyable story.

The book follows the life of Ruby, a young newlywed who has just arrived in Sydney from Bourke to farewell her husband of only a few weeks as he leaves for the trenches of Turkey.

Simply being married is the first change for our heroine.  She comes to realise that she is treated differently due to her marital status and begins to feel like a mature adult for the first time.  Believing that returning to Bourke will mean taking a backward step in this regard, Ruby decides to stay in Sydney.

She finds a permanent place to stay, boarding with Maree, whose husband is also enlisted in the army and fighting overseas.  And she finds a job, at a timber yard as a bookkeeper.

I could simply say, ‘we follow Ruby as she faces the many hurdles life throws her way on her journey’, but it does sound quite inadequate.

One of the charms of the book, definitely, is that each hurdle is realistic.  Each challenge that Ruby needs to overcome is frustratingly normal.  (For example, a woman cashing a cheque in 1915 was a huge struggle.)  The supporting characters she interacts with are (often depressingly) typical.  The choices she has to make could be similarly forced upon us today.

I’d tag The Soldier’s Wife as ‘historical feminist literature’, seeing as sexism and prejudice against women is probably the main theme addressed in the novel.  Thankfully Australians and their attitude towards women have changed for the better.

The book also raises the issues of premarital sex, birth control, religious bigotry, prejudices against people with disabilities, ageism, racism, and classism.  PTSD, such an unknown element to those eager to enlist at the time, is painfully highlighted too.

Hart addressed each ‘ism’ subtly.  She’s the perfect example of ‘show, not tell’ writing. There was never any preaching (or the dull rattling off of facts) getting in the way of the story.

It’s also obvious that Hart has meticulously researched the era.  I loved all the tiny details she seamlessly wove into the story.  From descriptions of visiting the toilet, to those explaining how a soldier was paid, all the historical finer points are fascinating additions to the characterisation and plot.

If I had one quibble, it would be the ending.  I can see why Hart chose that ending, but I can’t say it was the one I wanted.  Again, however, it’s probably the most realistic and that suits this novel.

I highly recommend this read and will eagerly await Hart’s next offering.

My rating 5/5

Quick Pivot by Brenda Buchanan

Book Review:  Quick Pivot (A Joe Gale Mystery) by Brenda Bunchanan

Reporter Joe Gale goes to an old textile mill to cover an ordinary story of its redevelopment and ends up witnessing the discovery of a skeleton when the builders knock down one of the mill’s brick walls.

After a bit of digging himself, Joe learns that in 1968 a great deal of money was embezzled from the mill at the same time as one of the mill’s finance employees, George Desmond, went missing. Now, however, it’s clear that Desmond was not the embezzler and someone has got away with murder.

Joe also finds out his mentor, journalist Paulie Finnegan who has since passed away, worked on the case, making Joe determined to uncover the truth.

The book is written in Joe’s first person point of view for most of the time. There are some flashbacks scenes giving Paulie’s point of view. Even though they are time stamped so as not to create confusion, I did think the Paulie chapters were out of place and didn’t add to the story at all. I would have rathered Paulie’s story was simply told via the man’s journals Joe found in his attic.

Perhaps the flashbacks gave away just that too much because I found the whodunnit plot a little predictable. I guessed most of the it well before the halfway mark of the book, and wasn’t proven incorrect.

I did like the climactic scenes. Buchanan built the tension quite nicely and her ‘car chase’ had a nice twist to it.

The was a bit of an unnecessary information dump in the final chapter, but Buchanan certainly won’t be the first or last author guilty of that one. She did do a good job of making the first person point of view go along smoothly, and there’s lots of descriptive prose and not just navel gazing from Joe.

Maine wasn’t particularly important to the story and I think the book would have worked just as well if set somewhere else. In fact, I’ve read so many books of late with beautiful exotic locations, this one being so ‘normal’ was a shock.

Joe and Paulie were nice enough, but they were so alike.  Differing personalities would have made Paulie worked more for me.  I again think he was unnecessary.

There’s no romance in the book for Joe. I think we’re supposed to be cheering on Joe’s single mother friend, Christie, but I found her a bit bland and hopefully she will get more scenes/improve in future books (this will be the first in a series of Joe Gale mysteries). I was much more interested in Police Chief Wyatt and I’d relish more scenes featuring her.

I also enjoyed most of the older characters who were the various witnesses and suspects from 1968.  I never took to Joe’s newspaper colleagues though.  If they are to become ‘regulars’, I think Buchanan will need to work on them.

Despite these few minor gripes, I enjoyed Buchanan’s style and the book overall. And I will definitely be on the look out for the sequel when it’s published.

I’d recommend it to anyone who wants an enjoyable mystery without the sometimes obligatory gore.

3 ½ stars out of 5.