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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
If you can overlook the heavy handed approach to the plot and not worry about the detail then you might enjoy this first Harry Belltree story. The character has some interesting attributes, some predictable ones as well. His law breaking habits are fun. The greatest deficiency for me is the glossing over of quite violent and antisocial themes. In quality writing I look for insights that I didn't previously have, about the subject, character or myself. Yes even in crime novels. This writing reminds me more of the old hard boiled writing but as it's set today, the two elements do not altogether sit well. So my feedback to Mr Maitland should he ask is - less is more.
Barry Maitland is one of Australia’s most respected crime writers. He has a slew of titles to his name, but according to the press release that came with my copy of Crucifixion Creek, his latest novel represents a “triumphant change of direction” for him.
I haven’t read any of his earlier work, so I can’t say if that is true or not. But what I can say is that this is a rather dark, noirish crime thriller, one that blurs the lines between the good guys and the bad guys, and feels like something Peter Temple might have come up with if he set his novels in Sydney rather than Melbourne.
Crucifixion Creek was shortlisted for the 2015 Ned Kelly Award for Australian crime writing. The book is the first in a trilogy (the second, Ash Island, is already available) revolving around homicide detective Harry Belltree, a former soldier turned maverick cop, who doesn’t mind bending the rules it if suits his purposes.
He’s married to Jenny, a former researcher in a big city law firm, who was blinded in a car accident and now freelances at home, using a voice interface on her computer to carry out expert searches for clients. That same car accident resulted in the death of Harry’s parents — Danny Belltree, the first Aboriginal judge of the New South Wales Supreme Court, and his wife — when on a trip to northern NSW a couple of years earlier. Harry believes the trio were deliberately run off the road, but has never been able to prove it.
But while the accident and its aftermath haunts Harry — as does his experience in Afghanistan — that’s merely the back story to what turns out to be an adrenalin-charged novel, full of twists and turns and rather shocking revelations, which builds to a rather momentous finale typical of the genre.
To read the rest of my review, please visit my blog.
I haven’t read any of his earlier work, so I can’t say if that is true or not. But what I can say is that this is a rather dark, noirish crime thriller, one that blurs the lines between the good guys and the bad guys, and feels like something Peter Temple might have come up with if he set his novels in Sydney rather than Melbourne.
Crucifixion Creek was shortlisted for the 2015 Ned Kelly Award for Australian crime writing. The book is the first in a trilogy (the second, Ash Island, is already available) revolving around homicide detective Harry Belltree, a former soldier turned maverick cop, who doesn’t mind bending the rules it if suits his purposes.
He’s married to Jenny, a former researcher in a big city law firm, who was blinded in a car accident and now freelances at home, using a voice interface on her computer to carry out expert searches for clients. That same car accident resulted in the death of Harry’s parents — Danny Belltree, the first Aboriginal judge of the New South Wales Supreme Court, and his wife — when on a trip to northern NSW a couple of years earlier. Harry believes the trio were deliberately run off the road, but has never been able to prove it.
But while the accident and its aftermath haunts Harry — as does his experience in Afghanistan — that’s merely the back story to what turns out to be an adrenalin-charged novel, full of twists and turns and rather shocking revelations, which builds to a rather momentous finale typical of the genre.
To read the rest of my review, please visit my blog.
Harry Belltree is an Aboriginal detective in the NSW police. His father had been a Supreme Court Judge but he and Harry's mother were killed in a mysterious car crash three years ago. Harry's wife Jenny was blinded in the same crash and although there was evidence that a second car was involved, somehow it was found to be just an accident and Harry's suspicions an outcome of his tour in Afghanistan.
Now he is called to a bikie siege where both the woman hostage and bikie shooter are killed. Then Kelly Poole, the reporter, contacts him to connect the incident to an improbable double suicide at Balmoral. She believes that it is all connected, somehow, to Crucifixion Creek and a shonky property deal.
Then, immediately after the anniversary of his parents' death, he is called to a stabbing death only to find the body is that of his brother-in-law who has a workshop at Crucifixion Creek. Harry is warned off the investigation and starts taking action for himself. He finds himself up against a bikey gang, crooked politicians and ruthlessly corrupt business people, none of whom he can properly identify but all of whom are out to shut him up at all costs. He has to work with Kelly and the two of them have to win or be crushed.
And all the while he has the example of the car crash three years ago to remind him how vulnerable his family is. And now Jenny is blind as well and more terrifying vulnerable than ever.
This is the first of a trilogy but is a thoroughly satisfying stand alone book. I loved it and immediately bought the next book.
Now he is called to a bikie siege where both the woman hostage and bikie shooter are killed. Then Kelly Poole, the reporter, contacts him to connect the incident to an improbable double suicide at Balmoral. She believes that it is all connected, somehow, to Crucifixion Creek and a shonky property deal.
Then, immediately after the anniversary of his parents' death, he is called to a stabbing death only to find the body is that of his brother-in-law who has a workshop at Crucifixion Creek. Harry is warned off the investigation and starts taking action for himself. He finds himself up against a bikey gang, crooked politicians and ruthlessly corrupt business people, none of whom he can properly identify but all of whom are out to shut him up at all costs. He has to work with Kelly and the two of them have to win or be crushed.
And all the while he has the example of the car crash three years ago to remind him how vulnerable his family is. And now Jenny is blind as well and more terrifying vulnerable than ever.
This is the first of a trilogy but is a thoroughly satisfying stand alone book. I loved it and immediately bought the next book.
Barry Maitland's Brock & Kolla series is notable for, amongst many things, the way that he always takes a location in London and builds it into the story, almost as another character. In the first of the Harry Belltree trilogy, CRUCIFIXION CREEK, set in Sydney, there is a similar approach, this time with a location of notorious reputation. Crucifixion Creek is the scene of a massacre of Aboriginal people by early colony British marines. Extending that history into the current day, Harry Belltree is the son of Sydney's first Aboriginal Judge, and a veteran special forces soldier who served in Afghanistan. He's also morally ambiguous, unafraid to step over the line in the pursuit of the truth and extremely likeable. His behaviour is not so extreme as to make him a lone wolf, anti-hero type; he's simply one-eyed and single-minded in pursuit of answers.
One of which is finding out the truth about the car accident that killed his parents and blinded his wife. As is his off-the-record investigation into the murder of his brother-in-law. There are complicated connections peppered throughout CRUCIFIXION CREEK - both in Belltree's family and his partnerships in the force; in the way that journalist Kelly Pool is pulled into the story; in the connections between people living in the same street as the outlaw-bikie headquarters at the centre of much of the activity; and the bikies themselves. From the past, into the present and it's not hard to imagine, Belltree's future.
Comparisons between this first Belltree book and Maitland's other main series are inevitable. Both police procedurals, both with strong main characters, Belltree and Kolla are similar in personality type, although he takes to the lone hand part much earlier in the piece than Kolla ever did. There is also something more edgy and darker in this book than ever was in the earlier series. Overall Maitland's pulled off a favourite of this reader - developing a morally ambiguous character who is also very likeable, whilst tackling a lot of current day real-life Australian issues head on. There's also something sneakily Australian about the investigation style - whilst the Brock & Kolla series is ordered, procedural, detailed and cautious (fitting perfectly with Brock's personality in particular), in CRUCIFIXION CREEK, Belltree is anything but. From the poke a stick into an ant's nest school of investigation, Belltree's methods are effective, if you don't mind a bit of fallout, and as a result somehow endearingly Australian. Matter of fact, not afraid to stir things up a bit, less interested in the procedure than the outcome, Belltree's not a typical cop, but not an ineffectual or unexpected cop at the same time. He also has a life outside the force, and the interactions and his care and concern for his blinded wife is nicely balanced by friendships, and niggles within families.
CRUCIFIXION CREEK is a brilliant opening salvo in the trilogy, and it will be interesting to see how Maitland develops this character, and his ongoing use of place. Is it a bad thing, that at the end of book one, it was hard to suppress a certain sense of disappointment that there's only going to be 2 more?
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-crucifixion-creek-barry-maitland-0
One of which is finding out the truth about the car accident that killed his parents and blinded his wife. As is his off-the-record investigation into the murder of his brother-in-law. There are complicated connections peppered throughout CRUCIFIXION CREEK - both in Belltree's family and his partnerships in the force; in the way that journalist Kelly Pool is pulled into the story; in the connections between people living in the same street as the outlaw-bikie headquarters at the centre of much of the activity; and the bikies themselves. From the past, into the present and it's not hard to imagine, Belltree's future.
Comparisons between this first Belltree book and Maitland's other main series are inevitable. Both police procedurals, both with strong main characters, Belltree and Kolla are similar in personality type, although he takes to the lone hand part much earlier in the piece than Kolla ever did. There is also something more edgy and darker in this book than ever was in the earlier series. Overall Maitland's pulled off a favourite of this reader - developing a morally ambiguous character who is also very likeable, whilst tackling a lot of current day real-life Australian issues head on. There's also something sneakily Australian about the investigation style - whilst the Brock & Kolla series is ordered, procedural, detailed and cautious (fitting perfectly with Brock's personality in particular), in CRUCIFIXION CREEK, Belltree is anything but. From the poke a stick into an ant's nest school of investigation, Belltree's methods are effective, if you don't mind a bit of fallout, and as a result somehow endearingly Australian. Matter of fact, not afraid to stir things up a bit, less interested in the procedure than the outcome, Belltree's not a typical cop, but not an ineffectual or unexpected cop at the same time. He also has a life outside the force, and the interactions and his care and concern for his blinded wife is nicely balanced by friendships, and niggles within families.
CRUCIFIXION CREEK is a brilliant opening salvo in the trilogy, and it will be interesting to see how Maitland develops this character, and his ongoing use of place. Is it a bad thing, that at the end of book one, it was hard to suppress a certain sense of disappointment that there's only going to be 2 more?
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-crucifixion-creek-barry-maitland-0
3.5 stars, probably unfairly influenced by not liking the reader on the audiobook. Will read rather than listen next time
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I've read a few of this author's British-based mysteries, but this is the first Australian one I've tackled.
A distinct change of pace from the British novels, this is a bit of a shoot-em-up, fast-paced thriller with plenty of bodies - loads of them, in fact.
Not the sort of thing that I'm usually interested in, but perfect for lazy Boxing Day reading.
A distinct change of pace from the British novels, this is a bit of a shoot-em-up, fast-paced thriller with plenty of bodies - loads of them, in fact.
Not the sort of thing that I'm usually interested in, but perfect for lazy Boxing Day reading.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes