This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron Bloomsbury Growing plants in recycled milk cartons and empty glass jars ever since she could remember, Briseis finds she has a strange power over plants. Leaves turn to face her as if she were the sun and flowers bloom in her footsteps, but it is a power that her […]
Nancy Business by R.W.R. McDonald Allen & Unwin Rob McDonald is a queer Kiwi dad, living in Melbourne with his two daughters and one HarryCat. He introduced the character of twelve year old Tippy Chan and her gay uncles to the world in his first novel The Nancys, which won him a many awards. Born […]
More Than Halfway To Somewhere: Collected Gems of a World Traveller John Burbidge Wordswallah (Self-published) Following on from his critically acclaimed works like Dare Me! The Life and Work of Gerald Glaskin and his autobiography The Boatman, Burbidge delves into a travelogue of his world adventures in celebrating his 50th year since boarding a US-bound […]
You Had It Coming by B.M. Carroll Viper Warning: This review contains mentions of sexual assault. Paramedic Megan Lowe has half an hour before the end of her shift and is looking forward to having a day off when a call comes in that a male in his fifties has gunshot wounds to his chest […]
Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires: The Life of Patricia Highsmith by Richard Bradford Bloomsbury Publishing Born in Texas in 1921 at a time when sexuality was, in varying degrees, hidden and fluid, Patricia Highsmith became famous for writing dark psychological thrillers. Notably, many have been made into unforgettable films – including The Talented Mr Ripley, […]
The Beauty of Living Twice By Sharon Stone Allen & Unwin Sharon Stone made a name for herself in Hollywood, not just for her beauty and talent, but for her candour and her refusal to “play nice”. Then in September 2001, a stroke and bleeding on her brain that led to major surgery made her […]
The Girls Are All So Nice Here by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn HarperCollins Living in New York with husband Adrian, thirty-one year old Ambrosia Wellington (Amb) receives an email invitation to attend a weekend of celebrations for the class of 2007 to commemorate 10 years since graduating from Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Even though she did […]
Something to Hide by Fleur McDonald Allen & Unwin This is the fourth novel in the crime series featuring Detective Dave Burrows and the sequel to Red Dirt Country (2019). McDonald describes her character as being tough, loyal, full of integrity, who doesn’t mind bending the rules to get the ‘right-justice’ outcome. McDonald says that […]
The Breaking by Irma Gold Midnight Sun Publishing Hannah Bird was sitting in the hostel lobby, “a shabby affair, ripe with the smell of mould”, fumbling with some touristy brochures and trying to act like she wasn’t panicking about what she was doing in Chaing Mai by herself. Sitting next to her, another Australian ex-pat […]
Kate Kelly: The True Story of Ned Kelly’s Little Sister by Rebecca Wilson Allen & Unwin Ned Kelly and his gang are probably Australia’s best known bush rangers and the legend of Ned Kelly lives on 140 years after his execution. But what do you know about Ned’s younger sister Kate? Rebecca Wilson grew up […]
