(courtesy Affirm Press) When you pick up the superlative gem that is The Hitwoman’s Guide to Reducing Household Debt by Mark Mupotsa-Russell, you first think that here is a quirky, whimsical read of a ex-hitwoman, now happily and cosily domiciled in suburban life in the Dandenong Ranges near Melbourne, who Continue Reading
Books
Darker and more dangerous yet … Thoughts on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power S2, E1-3
(courtesy IMP Awards) The Bible has said it. Countless novels has ruminated on the idea. And it’s been observed more than once by everyone from social commentators to political experts that evil often wears a pleasing and amenable face. It makes sense, of course. After all, as a species we Continue Reading
Book review: Valley by Stacey McEwan (The Glacian Trilogy, book 3)
(courtesy Penguin Books Australia) Valley releases 10 September in Australia via Penguin Books. (ARC provided by NetGalley) When you’re reached the end of a gripping fantasy trilogy, where the stakes are high and the fate of multiple characters and narrative arcs hang precariously but meaningfully in the balance, sticking the Continue Reading
“All kinds of bad people getting in the water now.” Thoughts on Bad Monkey S1, E1-4
(courtesy IMP Awards) Even though he’s about two centuries late for the rise of TV streaming, there’s no doubt that Scottish playwright, novelist and poet would have found a lot with which he could relate with the sunny beachside film noir storyline of Bad Monkey. Based on the book of Continue Reading
Book review: The Betrayal of Thomas True by A. J. West
(courtesy Simon & Schuster UK) In his atmospherically-titled novel, The Betrayal Of Thomas True, A. J. West manages a rare and enthrallingly intense double feat. He delivers up a epically tense mystery, a race of one man to uncover the spy who has betrayed the “mollies” of 1715 London, often Continue Reading
Book review: Finding Mr. Write by Kelley Armstrong
(courtesy Hachette Australia) One of my reading happy places, and as an eclectic reader there are many, is when a writer combines books and love in one beautifully realised package. There’s something about the idea of a rom-com which is all about books and writing that sets the pulse racing Continue Reading
Book review: These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs
(courtesy Hachette Australia) There is something breathtakingly thrilling about opening a sci-fi novel by an author you’ve never read before and finding an opening paragraph that sets the scene so vividly that in less than a quarter of a page you’re immediately thrust into a world and a story that Continue Reading
Book review: The Little Clothes by Deborah Callaghan
(courtesy Penguin Books Australia) If you’ve read even one book in what could loosely but quite accurately be called the Cosy Redemption genre, in which a person whose life is way less wondrously good than it could be finds healing and a second chance, you will be well aware that Continue Reading
UPCOMING READS – Exodus: The Archimedes Engine by Peter F. Hamilton
(courtesy Penguin Books) SNAPSHOTExplore EXODUS, a new sci-fi action-adventure RPG coming soon from Archetype Entertainment featured in this epic novel from legendary author Peter F. Hamilton. Forty thousand years ago, humanity fled a dying Earth. Traveling in massive arkships, these brave pioneers spread out across the galaxy to find a Continue Reading
Book review: The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston
(courtesy Penguin Books Australia) Belonging to a community, to a group of people who give a damn about you, is one of the sublime, and you could well argue, necessary delights of being human. It grounds us, give us purpose and most importantly makes us feel as if we are Continue Reading