Australian Women Writers | Lost in a Good Book

Force of Nature (#2) by Jane Harper

13 Mar 2019 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Australian Women Writers, Mystery, Thriller Tags: #aww2018, aaron falk, Audiobook, australian women writers challenge, aww 2018, jane harper, mystery, three stars, thriller

Published: 26 September 2017 (print)/26 September 2017 (audio)
Publisher: Macmillan Australia/Wavesound Audio
Pages: 377/8 hrs and 57 mins
Narrator: Steven Shanahan
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars

Five women reluctantly pick up their backpacks and start walking along a muddy track. Only four come out on the other side.

The hike through the rugged Giralang Ranges is meant to take the office colleagues out of their air-conditioned comfort zone and encourage teamwork and resilience. At least, that’s what the corporate retreat website advertises.

Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk has a keen interest in the whereabouts of the missing hiker, Alice Russell. Because Alice knew secrets, about the company she worked for and the people she worked with.

The four returning women tell Falk a tale of fear, violence and fractured trust during their days in the remote Australian bushland. And as Falk delves into the disappearance of Alice, he begins to suspect some dangers ran far deeper than anyone knew.

This is the second book from Harper and the second in the Aaron Falk series. I enjoyed The Dry and I was looking forward to continuing the story but found this one slightly lacking. I felt it was a really slow start, I started and then took a break because I couldn’t get into it, after three goes I stuck with it and while it took a few chapters to really cement itself it was an enjoyable read in the end.

The problem coming to the second book from an author after you’ve really liked the first one is that when the beginning fails to grab you, you notice it immediately. In part you see it as a slow start but you also have that voice in the back of your mind that keeps telling you that it’s not as good as that other book they wrote. The difference here is that this was a sequel, the further adventures of Aaron Falk and that helped a little. Being a detective means that every case is different and while The Dry might have been a bit more exciting, this case has moments of intrigue and mystery as well.

You don’t have to have read The Dry to understand what happens in this one, there is only a brief mention of the events in the past book but nothing that needs greater expansion and no connection to the events in this one. Falk remains is a good detective who is wary of stories and alibis and trying to do the proper thing for those involved.

The structure was a combination of flashbacks and present time, and the different characters each get their own perspective on what happens. This was a good approach and style because as each new piece of information was revealed by Falk’s inquiry Harper takes us back to see the events play out. The characters have some depth and personality but I remained a bit uninvested in them as people even though I was curious about the mystery itself.

It’s psychological and each character has their own secrets and hidden agendas. The corporate retreat brings out grudges and personal vendettas and the reader is provided with snippets of information, clues, and can create their own theories on what might have happened. The actual answer I was actually surprised by because it was not entirely straight forward but still stayed within the realm of expectation.

The main issue I found with this book is I wasn’t as drawn in to the mystery. I couldn’t connect with the characters and therefore didn’t care about them; those missing or otherwise. As I say, it took me three goes to push through the first part but there was reward by the end with a satisfactory conclusion.

Comparing them later I was surprised I only gave The Dry 3 stars as well because as I was reading this book I remember liking the other one much more. Obviously there are varying levels of my three star enjoyment.

You can purchase Force of Nature via the following

QBD | Booktopia | Book Depository

Dymocks | Wordery | Angus and Robinson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

The Dry (#1) by Jane Harper

11 Mar 2019 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Audiobook, Australian Women Writers Tags: #aww2017, aaron falk, Audiobook, australian women writers challenge, aww 2017, jane harper, mystery, three stars, thriller

In the grip of the worst drought in a century, the farming community of Kiewarra is facing life and death choices daily when three members of a local family are found brutally slain.

Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk reluctantly returns to his hometown for the funeral of his childhood friend, loath to face the townsfolk who turned their backs on him twenty years earlier.

But as questions mount, Falk is forced to probe deeper into the deaths of the Hadler family. Because Falk and Luke Hadler shared a secret. A secret Falk thought was long buried. A secret Luke’s death now threatens to bring to the surface in this small Australian town, as old wounds bleed into new ones.

With the backdrop of a rural Australian town in Victoria, Harper’s narrative shows the complexities of small town relationships and the pressures that the landscape and the weather can have on the people who suffer it. It also explores the dangers of secrets and the consequences when these secrets become known.

I listened to this as an audio and Shanahan does a great job as narrator. His pace is ideal, his tone suits the character well and creates an image of Falk in your mind that Harper has tried to express through her words. I was drawn into this story and with all of Harper’s surprises it never feels like a constant chop and change, but instead like a natural progression of the investigation, the drought, the built up tension of a small rural town.

One thing I have found in many small town stories is how easily and comfortably they vilify anyone who they feel have wronged them, justified or otherwise. The town of Kiewarra having no shame in hiding their displeasure at Falk’s return. Harper conveys the animosities the town feel towards Falk remarkably well. You feel that small town suffocation, the hatred of outsiders, and having the past dredge up feelings and complications.

Harper uses flashbacks and conflicting opinions to show all sides of the characters which in turn affects your own opinion on the events. I really enjoyed the mystery in this story and I loved how you genuinely are never entirely sure what has happened as all the possibilities sound each as likely as the others. For a debut this is a captivating read and Harper shows some impressive skills in teasing information, providing red herrings and casting doubt in the reader’s mind despite all the evidence to the contrary.

I was intrigued by the narrative and while the pace is slow, the story itself keeps you engaged. This isn’t a fast paced thriller to keep you on the edge of your seat but it plays with your expectations and provides twists and surprises tactfully throughout.

Falk was a solid character and one that you could easily see was genuine. He had his own issues with the town but he was there doing a job and no matter what the town said or did to him he was going to stick it out. He could see their own small mindedness and while he had his own opinions about what they did to his family, he wasn’t going to let that stop him from finding justice and doing the right thing.

Friendship and a deep down sense of guilt makes him try to help and I liked that Harper made his occupation close enough that it his enquiries weren’t entirely out of the blue, but it was far enough that he was very much there unofficially.

For that, this different style of police procedural novel was interesting and by the end I felt Harper respected the story and the reader in the conclusion she gave us. Falk is also a character I am interested in reading more of because while he isn’t perfect, he isn’t the stereotype that is known to be thrown around which in itself makes this a refreshing read.

You can purchase The Dry via the following

QBD | Booktopia | Book Depository

Dymocks | Wordery | Angus and Robinson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

11 Feb 2019 2 Comments

by Amy in 1 Star, Audiobook, Australian Women Writers, Fiction Tags: #aww2019, Audiobook, aussie books, australia, australian women writers challenge, aww 2019, caroline lee, liane moriarty, one star

Published: 18th September 2018 (print)/18th September 2018 (audio)
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia/Bolinda Publishing
Pages: 464/19 hrs and 9 mins
Narrator: Caroline Lee
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fiction
★ – 1 Stars

Could ten days at a health resort really change you forever? Nine perfect strangers are about to find out…

Nine people gather at a remote health resort. Some are here to lose weight, some are here to get a reboot on life, some are here for reasons they can’t even admit to themselves. Amidst all of the luxury and pampering, the mindfulness and meditation, they know these ten days might involve some real work. But none of them could imagine just how challenging the next ten days are going to be.

Frances Welty, the formerly best-selling romantic novelist, arrives at Tranquillum House nursing a bad back, a broken heart, and an exquisitely painful paper cut. She’s immediately intrigued by her fellow guests. Most of them don’t look to be in need of a health resort at all. But the person that intrigues her most is the strange and charismatic owner/director of Tranquillum House. Could this person really have the answers Frances didn’t even know she was seeking? Should Frances put aside her doubts and immerse herself in everything Tranquillum House has to offer – or should she run while she still can?

It’s not long before every guest at Tranquillum House is asking exactly the same question.

The LONGEST, most TEDIOUS 19 hours of MY LIFE. I swear somewhere around chapter thirty it never progressed no matter how many hours I listened to it. It felt like I was trapped in the thirties forever and with a book of eighty chapters this was a nightmare scenario. I am quite convinced time stopped because I listened to it almost every day and I never seemed to get anywhere. Just when I thought I think I’d listened to it for another 3 or 4 hours I was only one of two chapters ahead. In the end, I had to bring it in from the car and put it on the computer so I could get it to play at double speed. Even then it dragged on. It’s an amazing feat that a book this long could have nothing happen in it.

I am not convinced it was only the fault of the audio either. I have generally enjoyed Lee’s narration, she has done every single other Moriarty book I have listened to. But from the initial chapters I knew this one felt different. It was slower, much slower than her other ones, and I couldn’t understand her decision with some of the voices she chose for the characters. Francis is one of the main characters who gets most of the perspective and I could not stand her from the very beginning. I did not like her portrayal but retrospectively I appreciate her character. She was bubbly and naïve, she was idealistic and at least she felt like a real person. It’s just that from the start I was on the wrong foot with the narration and these characters and unfortunately it never managed to recover. For having a dozen key characters I felt that maybe only a few were really fleshed out. Even if some got fewer chapters for us to get to know them, I was still able to grasp who they were as people. Some of the others who had multiple chapters gave me so little I have no real idea who they are.

But I also didn’t care enough to care.

I did not care about their personal journeys and while Moriarty deserves credit for the variety of characters she has included, the execution was lacking.

I am trying not to just dump on this book, but after hour upon hour of waiting for something to happen I feel let down as a reader and I am disappointed because this isn’t the writing I have come to expect from Moriarty. With no plot except listening to these people and their boring lives I was desperate to grasp onto any real story at all. Where was the Moriarty’s Reveal™ that she is renowned for? Where was the intrigue and the suspense? How can such a diverse range of characters hold so little intrigue?

There is a moment that Moriarty breaks the fourth wall later in the book through Francis and not only does it read like she is venting her own frustrations at her career and the writing process, it jars the flow of the narrative and it took me out of the story because it doesn’t sit right. And to be honest, by that point I was using all my effort to keep myself in the narrative.

The ending was stranger and even more ridiculous than the rest of the book. I had heard the ending was amazing and while it might be the only time it got actually close to something happening, it still failed to hit the low bar I had placed on it after listening to the other 18 hours.

I understand from talking to other people that this is a book that divides people. They either love it or they thought it was boring and terrible. I know people in both categories and with my history of Moriarty books I went in with an open mind. It seems though that this book is yet another of Moriarty’s that didn’t quite hit the mark with me. There aren’t enjoyable moments, there are simply moments that aren’t terrible.

You can purchase Nine Perfect Strangers via the following

QBD | Booktopia | Book Depository

Dymocks | Wordery | Angus and Robinson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

The Guy, The Girl, The Artist and His Ex by Gabrielle Williams

24 Jan 2019 1 Comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Australian Women Writers, Young Adult Tags: #aww17, aussie, australian women writers challenge, aww 2017, four stars, gabrielle williams, young adult

Published: 1st April 2015
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Pages: 247
Format: Book
Genre: Young Adult
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars

A rock chick.

An artist with attitude.

A girl with a past.

A party animal.

Four lives collide when one of the world’s most famous paintings is stolen. It’s a mystery that has the nation talking, but while Picasso’s Weeping Woman might be absent from the walls of the National Gallery, in other parts of Melbourne the controversial painting’s presence is being felt by Guy, Rafi, Luke and Penny for four very different reasons.

Life, love, art and one giant party intersect in this offbeat comedy about good intentions, unexpected consequences and the irresistible force of true love.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this story. It was a great story already and Williams tells it in a way that engages you and intrigues you, especially with so many characters and their agendas to work around. It was a different story than the kind I had been reading and it definitely stood out.

Set in the 80s and based on true events, there is a great history woven into this narrative. It brings the story and characters to life as Williams puts us inside her character’s minds. I’m not sure whether it was because I knew this was based off true events, or whether Williams created such unique and fleshed out characters, but each of them felt real. We’re inside their heads, we see so many different points of view we get to know them all individually, not through the eyes of one character. I could picture them so easily, I was there with them, I understood their motives and I loved it. Different voices also contribute to the different points of view, Williams making them each stand out and distinctive.

I could not put this down once I had started, I was engaged and invested in these characters and even though it was history it felt like it could have been fictional. One thing I found clever was how Williams has overlapped events, the same moment through the eyes of different characters. It adds another layer of style and creativity, plus form a storytelling aspect gives you another point of view to the same moment.

The fact that you don’t know what is happening is good, and the fact you are trying to piece it all together is great, especially as you are unaware if there even is anything to understand.

The theft takes place in the 80s, but Williams has thankfully not shoved the 80s into our faces. Enough to set a place and a time but not overloaded so nostalgia and a need to remind people of the era takes away from the story.

I was impressed by the ending and I think Williams has wrapped up this story allowing the real events to play out, but also round out each of the characters we have come to know.

You can purchase The Guy, The Girl, The Artist and the Ex via the following

QBD | Booktopia | Book Depository

Angus and Robinson | Dymocks | Wordery

Fishpond | Amazon Aust | Amazon

Vera: A Tale of Pelythia by J. A. Knight

16 Jan 2019 1 Comment

by Amy in Australian Women Writers, Short Stories Tags: #aww2018, aussie books, australian women writers challenge, aww 2018, aww18, j. a. knight, short story

Published: 24th June 2018
Publisher: Independently published
Pages: 54
Format: Book
Genre: Fantasy
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars

The time has come for Vera to complete her Ceremony, a coming-of-age tradition of the mountain people of Torsti. To claim her place as an adult of her village, she must use her wits to survive a week of isolation in the wilderness of the mountain.

I was loaned a copy of this book and I was pleasantly surprised. This easily stands alone as a short story, there is impressive world building and character development and with a few lines and few words Knight can convey meaning and intent. I understood who Vera was, what she wanted to achieve and why, and I understood the villagers and their opinion.

This is also a wonderful introduction to a bigger, longer series if that’s where Knight is headed. There is space to grow and the events after Vera’s journey to unfold. The ending leaves you with questions and curiosity and while it’s impactful on its own, there’s a temptation to find the answers and further the story.

Vera’s a character who is young but isn’t looking for pity. Her own coming-of-age journey is one she ventures into with pride and determination. Her youth and naivety is evident but so is her strength and intellect. Knight brings her to life with her vulnerabilities, jealousy, and her insecurities that are relatable even for this fantasy world.

While I wasn’t expecting to hate it, I was impressed at how much I enjoyed reading this short story. I look forward to reading more about Vera and Pelythia if that is on the cards. Knight has the beginnings of a well thought out and creative world, not to mention strong and relatable characters like Vera.

You can purchase Vera: A Tale of Pelythia via the following

Amazon | Amazon Aust