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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
So nice to read a book about an area I know so well :) with characters who are so true to life. I really enjoyed this.
I couldn't get over the blatant anti-Aboriginal sentiment by the police officers, it's so close to the truth. Every time the police officer let rip, I was ready to scream out my outrage :).
I couldn't get over the blatant anti-Aboriginal sentiment by the police officers, it's so close to the truth. Every time the police officer let rip, I was ready to scream out my outrage :).
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fantastic Australian crime fiction.
Before I started reading, I saw people talking about this being hard to understand because of all the Australian-isms, set as it is in rural Victoria. Given that, I was surprised by how little that seemed like an issue. It didn't strike me as excessively, incomprehensibly Australian, so it felt very funny that overseas readers can't handle a bit of local slang. Apparently, however, the physical book has an Australian slang glossary in the back so obviously the publisher was worried!
Onto the review proper: I'm obsessed with Temple's prose, absolutely blown away. I listened to the audiobook and am legitimately thinking about buying the physical book just so I can see how he writes on the page as a learning exercise.
The plotting and characters are really strong too, though I was a little let down by the handling of the villains in the last quarter of the book, they felt out of step with the book's naturalism. I almost considered going with 4½ stars because of it, but I enjoyed the rest so much I decided against it. Aside from a last minute trip into the lurid, this feels like a fantastically detailed rendering of country Australia. That means its not glamorous, and includes a few characters happy to heap out racial slurs, but it read as incredibly authentic.
Cashin was a great protagonist, and I'm legitimately disappointed to see Temple never wrote another story for him again. Still, I'm only just finding out that Temple also wrote the books that the Jack Irish TV series with Guy Pearce was based on, so I know what I'm reading next!
Before I started reading, I saw people talking about this being hard to understand because of all the Australian-isms, set as it is in rural Victoria. Given that, I was surprised by how little that seemed like an issue. It didn't strike me as excessively, incomprehensibly Australian, so it felt very funny that overseas readers can't handle a bit of local slang. Apparently, however, the physical book has an Australian slang glossary in the back so obviously the publisher was worried!
Onto the review proper: I'm obsessed with Temple's prose, absolutely blown away. I listened to the audiobook and am legitimately thinking about buying the physical book just so I can see how he writes on the page as a learning exercise.
The plotting and characters are really strong too, though I was a little let down by the handling of the villains in the last quarter of the book, they felt out of step with the book's naturalism. I almost considered going with 4½ stars because of it, but I enjoyed the rest so much I decided against it. Aside from a last minute trip into the lurid, this feels like a fantastically detailed rendering of country Australia. That means its not glamorous, and includes a few characters happy to heap out racial slurs, but it read as incredibly authentic.
Cashin was a great protagonist, and I'm legitimately disappointed to see Temple never wrote another story for him again. Still, I'm only just finding out that Temple also wrote the books that the Jack Irish TV series with Guy Pearce was based on, so I know what I'm reading next!
Not captivating enough. Kinda slow, lots of characters and back story.
My first Peter Temple book and it was a cracker. Brutal, well written and a bit of a page turner.
Well-written, with some genuinely witty bits, but pretty hard to get into as I'm completely unfamiliar with Australian slang, much less Australian crime fiction. I would read Peter Temple again, though.
Loved this book so much that I went out and got another by this author. This was detective fiction, but it really shouldn't be classified as such. It was so good.
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Peter Temple might just be my favourite Australian author. Acerbic wit, fast-paced story-telling, dialogue that feels so authentic it’s Ike I’m sitting in the pub. His characterisation is cut and dry perfection, there’s enough left to the imagination that you feel a part of the story.
Well done sir. Thank you from the bottom of my heart
Well done sir. Thank you from the bottom of my heart
This book covers race, class, the environment, religion, politics, history, urban/rural divide, law enforcement, corruption, masculinity, sexuality, mental health, sex, youth, male friendship and contemporary Australia all in equal measure; whilst managing to be believable and interesting! The prose is extremely visual and detailed, perhaps too clipped at some stages - it would've been nice to relax into a sentence or a chapter longer than a page but it helped the story speed along. Couldn't put it down for the last 100 pages.