Lee’s Child I think was the name. Unusual.
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I’m reading Conclave at the moment after discovering Harris with Archangel.
Andrew Child who writes under Andrew Grant. The two books I read with him and Lee wrote were average at best.
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Actually, Lee Child’s real name is James Grant. He’s passed the writing of Jack Reacher to Andrew Grant, who’s his brother, not his son. And Andrew Grant writes them under the name of Andrew Child.
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Just finished reading “Doc: the Lives and Times of Aussie Rock Legend Doc Neeson”
As a big fan of The Angels (still the best live act I’ve ever seen), it was a fascinating read.
Starts from Doc’s early years growing up in Elizabeth and gives a lot of detail on those early years.
What I found most interesting was when the authors went into detail about the machinations of their early efforts to break into the US market and then the later internal rifts that caused so many problems for Doc in his later years.
Well worth the read for music fans in general…and Doc fans in particular.
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Sat behind Doc on a long international flight when he was going to sing for the troops in Afghanistan. It was a shame to see him in a lot of pain and discomfort - this was long after his car accident but clearly it had a massive impact.
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Just finished Mark Lanegans ‘Sing Backwards and Weep’.
A compelling autobiography of the now past gravelly throated singer and lyricist. A remarkable story which is unlike most music related autobiographies.
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Just finished Liars by James O’Loghlin in his 13th book, 2 of which are crime novels, Criminals being the other. Set on the Central Coast of NSW, Joe is just back in town after years of being away rehabbing from drugs, and while away has done a podcast about a girlfriend who was murdered (unsolved) but for which he was suspected. Ten minutes later he dies in an OD, and assumed suicide, and his brother , Viv, a local lawyer. All his friends from a band were all connected in that murder, and on of the band, Seb, is now the local copper, who doesn’t accept the brisk solution of the crime.
The book reminds me of a 50-over cricket match, where it starts off quickly then settles into 35 failing slow-moving over before the big-hitters come in for the last 10.
The story is good, but too slow in the middle, but the last 10 overs almost make up for it.
Which is why I think 50-over cricket is as dead as a dod0 and T20 has surpassed it by far. And no point disagreeing about 50-over games (men only) because you’d then be wrong and as big a troglodyte as Sam Newman.
Onto Ronni Salt’s Gunnawah next.
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Just finished Prophet Song by Paul Lynch.
Dystopian type novel, combo of Handmaids Tale and 1984. Won the 2023 Booker.
Very well written though it has copped criticism because of the way he writes with no paragraphs or quote marks when characters are speaking. I found once you got used to his writing style, it added to the claustrophobic nature of the book.
Based in Dublin and in fairly modern times, it is a depressing read made more realistic with the right wing going ons in the world. Definitely worth a read, has some similarities in writing style to Cormac McCarthy, not quite as descriptive though.
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Is it worth reading The narrow road to the deep north by Richard Flanagan before seeing the new movie? I’ve never read any of his books. Thanks in advance.
I’ve had a couple of attempts at reading it and gave up both times.
Booker Prize winner notwithstanding, I found it dreadfully dull and boring. YMMV
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Just finished Gunnawah by political twitterer Ronni Salt…
It’s set around the announcement of the Riverina irrigation schemes when the Windy Hill Brawl vs Richmond happened.
Adelaide Hoffman is a young woman employed as a journalist by Valdene in Gunnawah. Suspicion falls on a number ofCalabrian farmers,as Donald Mackay and Al Grassby are tangentially mentioned.
Well worth a read.
Onto Sarah Barrie’s latest Lexi Winter novel
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Great book, important book. I saw an interview with Lynch recently where he was discussing Prophet Song… that was interesting too.
I agree with you re Cormac.
Thanks for posting @CameronClayton.
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Roddy Doyle does something similar.
Is it an Irish thing?
Maybe… i know an Australian writer who has used a similar method in one of his books, The Cook (except he did have paragraphs). His name is Wayne Mccauley… so maybe he also was channelling his Irish heritage - Its a good book and the lack of commas and quotation marks didnt bother me.
Speaking of Roddy Doyle, he is one of my fav Irish authors.
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I remember really struggling with the absence of punctuation in Hugh Selby’s ‘Last Exit to Brooklyn’. Made me wonder why and guessed it was some form of statement from the author. Sh/at me off.
I’ve also been similarly frustrated by the almost wilfully difficult to read/enjoy prose of James Ellroy (LA Confidential et al). I always find him a challenge. There was one of his which consisted entirely of six word sentences. Clever but weird.
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Just found a copy of The Slap in Salvos. I’d been wanting to see the film version but never found it on my streaming services, so am happy to take the book instead. Any thoughts on how they compare, and/or the story overall (without spoilers)?
Terrific book that will both entertain and make you think.
The Australian TV mini-series did it justice I thought but, as in almost every single case, the book is the better of the two options. (I haven’t seen the American version.)
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Two books of note…
The Dream by Iain Ryan…his previous book was The Strip. This one’s set in 1982 in the Gold Coast, well and truly in the time of Russ Hinze and Sergio Be-Often-Peed-Upon. It seems there was some flagrant police and political corruption in those days. Not sure if anyone’s heard this before.
The other is Michael Trant’s Blood and Gold, a follow up to Wild Dogs and No Trace. Gabe Ahern is a dog-trapper in the WA outback. First book, Gabe gets tangled up with people traffickers, second he has a family member of the bad guys coming after him, and in the this one he’s told that the father of a friend has gone missing after finding gold and showing it around in a pub. Not bad at all.