Reviewed by Cels Jansink

On the surface Megan appears to be a typical suburban soccer mum living the American dream. Complete with a perfect husband, two gorgeous kids and the white picket fence, Megan’s future should be rosy. Only problem is Megan used to walk on the wild side and her long buried past is about to collide with her present.

Ray used to be a talented and sort after photo-journalist but now at the age of forty he finds himself barely making a living in a dead end job as a “pap” for hire. Ray’s life ended the day he lost the love of his life and now he’s just going through the motions.

Detective Broome is still enslaved to a case 17 years old that he has never been able to lay to rest. When the son of a local business man disappears in similar circumstances, will Broome finally catch the break he’s been so desperately waiting for?

As the terrible consequences of long ago events merge into the present, three people living the lives they never wanted find their deep dark secrets seeing the light of day. As each confronts the dark side of the American dream, they soon realise that the line between one kind of a life and another can be as whisper thin as a heartbeat.

There are a handful of authors that can be counted on time and time again to deliver a compelling thriller; Harlan Coben is certainly one of the best.  “Stay Close” is his latest standalone offering and it hits the ball out of the park. Full of secrets, lies and grisly deeds, this is one case you will be desperate to solve.

The characterisation is excellent and I certainly couldn’t pick a favourite. Coben has a knack at delivering a cast that not only gel as an ensemble but stand firmly apart from the crowd as individuals. His characters also come across as totally and utterly human – warts, addictions, vices and all.  There are no perfect angels in this world.

Set in the seedier underbelly of Atlantic City, the after-dark playground becomes almost a character in its self. The glitz and gaudiness catches in your minds eye from the very beginning. The scenes are so vivid you can taste the stale smoke of the seedier clubs, feel your retina burn from the blinding flash of the camera blub and be haunted by the downtrodden expression of some of the “girls”. 

The only down-point was that I had in fact identified our perp well before the big reveal. But the secrets that were still left to fall, and reasons behind some of the actions were still so interesting that I didn’t mind. And as a refreshing change, the fact that our bad guy was just so downright loveable despite their actions, certainly gave the drama and intrigue that extra kick.

So the next time you’re looking for something new to play armchair detective with, give Stay Close ago. It’s certainly one heck of a thrill ride.

Stay Close- Harlan Coben

Orion

387 Pages

ISBN: 978-4091-1256-3

Released March 20^th 2012

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In the meantime, have a look through and let me know if there are any kinks, or things you’d like to see added! Not long now until the next book is out! September and counting!

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Review: A Deadly Cambodian Crime Spree (Inspector Singh Investigates #4)

This is the fourth book in Shamini Flint’s “Inspector Singh” series but the first I’ve read and having met Shamini at Melbourne’s crime convention, SheKilda, I can say it’s not at all what I expected – happily so!

Flint has a wicked sense of humour and so I assumed that this series, starring the turban-wearing, portly detective, would be light and funny. Not so. Don’t get me wrong, the book is not devoid of humour, some wonderfully dark one-liners are prevalent, but the focus of the book is on the crime and, more importantly, Cambodia’s awful history under the rule of the Khmer Rouge. Flint tackles all unflinchingly but with a sensitivity that is borne only of someone who truly knows and understands her subject.

Inspector Singh is sent to Phnom Penh to observe the International War Crimes Tribunal but, naturally, becomes embroiled in a current murder investigation. Someone is murdering key witnesses to the trial. Local authorities try to write the murders off as random acts of violence but Singh soon discovers it goes far deeper than that and the secrets lie in the depths of the Cambodian killing fields. It’s not long before he too is a target.

Emotions are running high as memories, long buried, resurface, making Singh’s job that much harder – particularly by those who’d rather see the past stay there. Add to that the complication that nearly everyone in the country has a feasible motive for murder, and Singh’s task looks all but impossible.

Despite the political controversies and the high-charged and action-packed stakes, this case is solved by good old-fashioned detective work and some shrewd calculations by Singh. This is a credit to Flint who doubtless could have become embroiled and bogged down with the weight of the case at hand.

Flint doesn’t shy away from the hard stuff, which is where I found the greatest strength of the book to lie. The opening scenes are confronting and horrifying but never gratuitous, as are the later visits to the Killing Fields of Cambodia.

It felt as though I’d been transported to Cambodia, both historical and present-day, and never once felt myself ripped back to the comfort of my own home. Very few books have such a rich sense of place.

With a fantastic and believable central protagonist in Singh, a great supporting cast of characters, a vividly painted backdrop in Cambodia and, above all, a feasible and gripping crime, this is one to definitely add to your “to-read” list. I know I’ll be going back for more instalments from Flint.

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Reviewed by Krista McKeeth

HOW FAR WILL A MADMAN GO TO ATTAIN THE ULTIMATE PRIZE?

In the midst of a brutal Scandinavian winter, a member of the Nobel Prize committee is gunned down in the city of Stockholm.

Reporter Annika Bengtzon, who made eye contact with the killer just seconds before the shots were fired, is the key witness. Because of the sensitivity of the crime, police issue a gag order on her immediately—and she is forced to figure out on her own why an American assassin known only as “the Kitten” ordered the hit. With her marriage falling to pieces and her job on the line, Annika quickly finds herself in the middle of a violent story of terror and death, the roots of which date back centuries. The research all leads her to the same man: a rich and famous industrialist responsible for one of the world’s most coveted gifts, who died a tragic and mysterious death. If Annika wants to learn the truth, she risks uncovering secrets that some will do anything to protect.

Publisher Penguin/Atria/Emily Bestler Books, April 2012 Hardcover, 416 pages

ISBN-10: 1451606923 ISBN-13: 9781451606928

In the sixth book following newspaper reporter Annika Bengtzon, Last Will is a focus on the famous Alfred Nobel and his contributions to the development of the Nobel Prize awards. In the opening chapter Annika is witness to the shooting of one of the Nobel prize committee members Caroline Von Behring. The elusive killer-for-hire named The Kitten has made her way into the party after the Noble Prize awards have been given and shoots 2 people on the dance floor, only to make some of her worst mistakes ever. 1. She looks right into Annika’s eyes after stepping on her foot, and 2. She misplaces her shoe upon fleeing the scene. This puts Annika right in the middle of the police investigation as she is the key eyewitness to the shooting. She is immediately placed with a gag-order to not reveal any of the details of what she saw or the case, which puts her in a bind with the newspaper agency she works for.

Annika is already reeling with the pressure of finding her husband has cheated on her, and they will be moving houses soon, but now her job is in jeopardy because she cannot report on the events that she witnessed.

There are several aspects to this story that come together. We get a very flawed main character with her hands full of money, marriage and work problems. She is so close to losing her sanity that at times I really thought she was going to break. The author puts her through so much you can only help but wonder if she is going to make it out ok. The detail and information that is given to the reader about Alfred Noble was very well researched and interesting, the parts about him and his life were some of my favorite chapters. Annika does a lot of investigating of her own, digging into the Nobel committee’s lives and their jobs as scientists. Which is were I want to add a warning label here that this book does contain some animal research and at least one very disturbing cat surgery scene. And last but not least the reader gets some very interesting inside knowledge of the inside workings of a newspaper agency and procedures that a reporter may experience. As the author herself ran a newspaper and knows the ins and outs of that business, it shows through.

The shootings at the Nobel Peace Prize event is just the beginning of numerous others, and as the body count raises, the deeper involved Annika gets, but are the police going to be able to arrest the murderer before Annika gets too deeply involved?

Annika is smart, but she’s stubborn and having a bad time of life, and this time she’s having to go it alone.

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Reviewed by: Kylie Fox

ISBN: 978-0-7553-7395-6

Ramon Munoz has spent five years in prison, convicted of a murder he did not commit. Unable to get the courts to take their concerns seriously, his family turns to private investigator Paige Holden for help.

But when Ramon’s wife, having just handed Paige the evidence that will prove his innocence, is brutally executed in front of her eyes, she is thrown headlong into a case which will place her job, her friends and her life in jeopardy.

As Paige risks everything to prove Ramon was set up, she comes to realise that those controlling Ramon’s fate will do anything to ensure his conviction remains intact. Can Paige stay alive long enough to unmask a killer who will not rest until there’s no one left to tell?

No One Left To Tell opens six years in the past with a chilling murder scene and we’re set on the path of what promises to be a gripping read.

The pace doesn’t slow into the second chapter as the heroine of the story, Paige Holden, is promised new damning evidence into a case that has long been closed. In a gripping shoot-out, the witness, Elena Munoz, is killed and dies in Paige’s arms.

Paige is determined to see that Elena hasn’t died in vain and sets out to find her killer and ultimately free an innocent man from jail. In the process she manages to attract the attention of the real perpetrator and those who helped to cover up the crime – as well as the attention of prosecutor Grayson Smith.

What started off fast-paced and action-packed soon, frustratingly, slowed down as we are privy to an investigation which leads us far into the past with a complex cast of characters, each with their own agendas and crimes to cover. More frustratingly is the relationship between Paige and Grayson which is unrealistic to say the least.

Both Paige and Grayson have demons from their past and therefore, trust issues, yet within the space of the three days that this book takes place over, they are talking “forever” and lamenting the keeping of secrets from each other. Their relationship, in such a short space of time, sees more highs and lows than will most ten year marriages.

The love affair and the intricately, though often convoluted, woven plot often got in the way of the more basic and very sinister storyline.

Fans of Karen Rose will recognise Paige Holden from previous novel, Silent Scream -  a tool that Rose uses effectively to tie all thirteen of her novels together. There is no one central character to form a series but minor characters from each novel often find themselves the stars of their own story in later books.

Paige was a great character; strong, determined and kick-arse – when she’s not in the company of Grayson. The love affair seems to turn her into a simpering damsel in distress.

Overall, I enjoyed the ride this book took me on which led to a fairly satisfying end – I only wish it had been a couple of hundred pages shorter, with one or two less subplots and a lot less romance to slow the pace down.

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Reviewed by Krista Mckeeth

Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China
by Paul French

In the last days of old Peking, where anything goes, can a murderer escape justice?
Peking in 1937 is a heady mix of privilege and scandal, opulence and opium dens, rumors and superstition. The Japanese are encircling the city, and the discovery of Pamela Werner’s body sends a shiver through already nervous Peking. Is it the work of a madman? One of the ruthless Japanese soldiers now surrounding the city? Or perhaps the dreaded fox spirits? With the suspect list growing and clues sparse, two detectives—one British and one Chinese—race against the clock to solve the crime before the Japanese invade and Peking as they know it is gone forever. Can they find the killer in time, before the Japanese invade?
Historian and China expert Paul French at last uncovers the truth behind this notorious murder, and offers a rare glimpse of the last days of colonial Peking. Hardcover, 272 pages

Published April 24th 2012 by Penguin (Non-Classics) ISBN 0143121006 (ISBN13: 9780143121008)

Historian Paul French puts a bit of a unique twist on True Crime. He focuses on a unsolved murder that took place in China just at the onset of war with Japan. The mixing of different cultures and peoples at this time in Peking’s history is pivotal factor in why this crime was unable to be solved .

The balance between the cultural history and development of Peking and the procedures taken to solve this crime were equal factors. As the murder victim was originally from Britain both police forces had to work together. They were also given a time limit on how long they had to unravel the details and arrest a suspect. When the time limit is up, Pamela’s father takes on the case himself and with all of these documents 75 years later, the author believes he has solved the mystery and presents it to us in a very convincing format.

After telling her father that she was going roller skating, Pamela fails to come home. He goes looking for her and comes across a murder scene in which the dead is literally gutted and unrecognizable that he has to identify her body by a piece of jewelery and her hair color. All of her body organs are removed and her face is butchered. Leading the investigation into several different directions, most likely being that this was not an crime of passion, and whereas there is no blood at the site of the body the murder had to have been carried out elsewhere. And this is what leads them into a large amount of questioning of people, business owners and possible witnesses that were out that night in various parts of the city that Pamela was known to frequent.

The author gives us insight into the city of Peking. How the people that were coming and going from this city at this particular part of history were just as much a part of the way that the investigation was handled as the murder itself. People and businesses coming and going in the recent years with the impending war with Japan looming upon them. The combination of rules and regulations that both sides of the police forces had to abide by and a time limit that could only frustrate matters. Even her own father who was very familiar with Peking himself, unable to to find the answers before he died as well. A sad story that the author was able to bring to light many years later.

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Reviewed by Cels Jansink

“Russian spies are on the streets of London- and they are prepared to kill….”

MI5 intelligence officer Liz Carlyle finds herself in a race against the clock after learning of a plot to assassinate a  super-rich Russian ex-pat now residing in London. Nikita Brunovsky is one of the high profile critics of the Putin regime and although the details of how he is to be silenced is unclear, the Foreign Office is determined no incident shall happen on British soil and Liz is tasked with his protection. After going undercover, Liz learns that an “illegal” Russian agent has arrived. Could this be the assassin she seeks or is the plot thicker than first imagined?  Embroiled in the high-octane world of the oligarchs, Liz soon finds herself in deep danger……………

There is something refreshing about delving into the world of cloak and daggers with all the thrills and spills reminiscent of a James Bond adventure and being gifted with an incredible smart and sassy female lead. Liz is engaging right from the very beginning and it was on her strength of character alone that I made my way through the often confusing first few chapters to truly find my feet in the story.  That has to be my only gripe about the whole novel.  We enter a complex and finely tuned world that if it is your first foray into the author’s imagination as it was for me, you can be left a little lost until the main players and strategies are firmly implanted into your mind.  That being said though this did grip me from the very beginning and I was determined to find out just what was going on and who was behind it and I’m so glad I persevered through the initial confusion. This was my first time reading a spy adventure and I will definitely be back.

Stella Rimington certainly knows her stuff and it shows.  Not only is she highly gifted at her craft, her background as the former Director General of MI5 (and the first female DG) certainly cements her world with an authentic ring. The intrigue is thick and entwined in so many engrossing layers; it will keep you guessing right to the very end. The characterisation is superb on both sides and the quick stepping and double dealings will leave you wondering just what side you want to remain on. This certainly reminds us that a woman can run with the big boys and often leave them lagging a circle or too behind.

So if you’re ready to test your wits against the biggest players in the spy game, tag a ride-along with Liz.  This is one heck of a journey you won’t forget and will leave even the most die-hard spy fan wondering, Bond who?

Illegal Action- Stella Rimington

Arrow Books

ISBN:978-0-0995-0213-5

394 Pages

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Reviewed by Cels Jansink

Tony Cavanaugh has lent his talent for words to some of the biggest shows to grace our screens over the last thirty years. Now he has crossed mediums and transferred his gift to the world of novels with his debut “Promise”.

Darian Richards earned a name for himself as one of the best homicide detectives the Victorian Police force had produced, spending sixteen years at the department’s helm.  He’s chased down one too many monsters and made one too many empty promises to victims’ families and has reached his breaking point. Hanging up his badge and his gun, Darian retires to Noosa hoping that a paradise setting could see him leave his nightmares far behind. But paradise has its own monsters lurking in the brilliant sunshine. A serial killer has made the Sunshine Coast his playground and young girls are disappearing. Darian knows the girls are all dead, even if the local cops keep listing them as missing. This killer knows how to hunt and hide in plain sight.  Darian is also well-versed on the game of cat and mouse and determined to see the killer get his just desserts- that’s a promise.

“Promise” is a gritty and a strong offering to the Australian crime scene. The author’s voice is strong and undeniably unique and the crime crafted with careful planning to keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat most of the way. The plot flows like liquid and there are just enough “shades of grey” to stretch your convictions without the central case becoming derailed.

As much as I enjoyed the thrill ride of the chase, the glimpses into our mad man’s head and the detailed yet-not-overly-gruesome look at his misdeeds –  I had a fairly major disconnect with our lead. He is an ex-copper trying to lay low and shake the darkness that has clung to him, and kudos to the author for delivering a realistic “anti-hero”. I just couldn’t invest in him. Darian is aloof and cold and there is never a moment where you feel like the character lets you in.

Personally, to truly engage in a story I need a connection with the main character/s, especially in the early pages before the action and intrigue heat up.  In saying that though, the cast of secondaries did go some way to alleviating my frustration with Darian. In particular the character of Maria was a standout for me.

Overall, Cavanaugh has an obvious gift for the macabre and could become a strong voice in the genre; I’d certainly give Darian and team another go.

Promise- Tony Cavanaugh

327 Pages

Hachette

ISBN:978-0-7336-2847-4

26^th April 2012

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I have to admit, when I saw the quote on the cover from the Australian Women’s Weekly, talking about how Bronwyn Parry’s books are ‘thriller romance vividly set in the NSW outback’, I rolled my eyes. (Picnic at Hanging Rock anyone?) So my expectations were to have colonial tunes and square dance sequences frequenting the pages, because that is the limit of my knowledge of the NSW outback.

I’m also not afraid to admit when I’ve been stupidly selling someone short.

Jo, the new park ranger in an outback community, finds the gruesome remains of and unknown man whilst cleaning up a trashed a camp site. Nick is the new detective, and when the case turns into something bigger than the small town can handle, all hell breaks loose. Can Nick crack the case before anyone else turns up dead, and who is the mystery man on the motorcycle?

Bronwyn writes an intelligent mystery, with high levels of intrigue to keep you towing the line until there is no more line to follow and you’re left looking for the next chapter. Her research (in my layman mind) has been thorough, and she has done her sources proud in the way she uses their information to enhance and build suspense, rather than writing a dry tasteless research paper with a pretty cover.

Her characters are genuine gold. You can see Jo in the eyes of every woman who knows the land, and you’d want Nick to help save your life any day of the week. They feel real; practically sprinting out of the pages at you as you read.

The New South Wales outback is somewhere I have never been, so the description helped bring to life the beauty and the danger involved with such a harsh unforgiving environment. Knowing the land can save your life, and living in remote communities is really unlike living anywhere else.  Being self-reliant is key. Only the strongest and the smartest survive.

Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go look for Bronwyn’s other books,  As Darkness Falls and Dark Country, so I can devour them as thoroughly as I did Dead Heat.

Oh, and here’s links to the Queensland and New South Wales Rural Fire Service. They can always use some support.

http://www.ruralfire.qld.gov.au/

http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/

Paperback, 352 pages

Published March 27th 2012 by Hachette Australia

ISBN139780733625497

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