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Showing posts from September, 2015

Unravelling the past

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Criminal - Karin Slaughter Paperback, 448 pages,  Published July 1st 2012 by Century Have not read any of Karin Slaughter's Will Trent series before so coming in at book six does require a little bit of catch up but the book easily read be as a stand alone. Will Trent's past has caught up with him and he really does not know how to react to the events that are unfolding around him. Slaughter knows the dark side of human nature and creates characters that lift off the page. She creates macabre crimes and knows how to keep you guessing. You jump back and forwards through time as you unravel the crime and understand the characters more. At the start this seem to make the novel a bit disjointed and difficult as a reader to get into. Once you get over those early chapters it is a really engaging read. For more information on Karin Slaughter check out her website

A Classic Australian Novel

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Monkey Grip – Helen Garner Hardcover, 363 pages Published November 20th 2013 by Penguin Books  (first published January 1st 1977) I have read two of Garner’s works previously being Joe Cinque's Consolation, A True Story of Death, Grief and the Law and This House of Grief. Both books are examinations of true crime and compelling read but Monkey Grip is the first fictional novel of Garner’s that I have read. Set in 1970s Melbourne, Victoria, Helen Garner captures a time where there is no internet, no mobile phones, no automatic teller machines and leaving notes as an explanation was the norm.  Unemployment is real, struggling to live is real, access to cars is limited but people find a way to enjoy life. They go dancing, they go to the local baths, they ride bikes, visit the markets and visiting families and friends. While it could come across as idyllic there is two main conflicts the drugs and relationships especially with Javo.  It is a world that is now alien to many and o