November Reviews
November Reviews
Reviewed on this page: Skin and Bone (Kathryn Fox), Stone Cold (David Baldacci), The Man in the Picture (Susan Hill), The Big Score (Peter Corris),SKIN AND BONE
by Kathryn Fox
ISBN 9781405038225
273 pages
Macmillan
November 2007
$32.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
November 7 2007What a great pleasure it is to read another offering from that multitalented medico, Kathryn Fox. Her two previous novels, MALICIOUS INTENT and WITHOUT CONSENT set a very high standard and it is pleasing indeed to see Fox has been able to maintain the standard in this, her third outing.
Detective Kate Farrar has, with some trepidation, returned to work after the traumas she suffered when she was abducted and held prisoner. Now she is back at work she is confronted by arson and a charred body. The body is that of a teenager, one who has recently given birth. There is no sign of a baby at the site of the conflagration. There is, however, a baby bag with milk staining one of the nappies it contains.
Kate is now partnered with Detective Oliver Parke. He tells Kate that he is the father of four children with another on the way. Because Oliver is so knowledgeable about babies, he is able to give insights into the case that might otherwise have taken longer at which to arrive -- if they became obvious at all.
There is another thread to the tale -- that of police corruption. Kate and her colleagues find themselves distrusting each other, wondering who is on the take. Who, too, will be investigating their case?
Meanwhile, a girl is missing and her sister flies home from London. Then there is another case of arson, in which a potential witness is incinerated.
As is customary with this author, the tale is extremely well plotted. All the threads are followed through to logical -- if, at times surprising --conclusions.
The characters are as carefully constructed as the plot, from the traumatised Kate through to the loathsome boyfriend of one of the victims, Mark Dobbie. The bodybuilder would seem to be more in love with himself than he is with his purported girlfriend.
Although the reader only really gets an external view of Oliver Parke, he comes across as an attractive person. I wonder if he will feature in future mysteries or simply vanish, leaving not a ripple in his wake.
Kate herself (interesting to note her initials and compare them with the author's -- and, for that matter, to remember that "Kate" is often a contraction for "Kathryn") is beautifully drawn. Her suffering and the effect it has had on her life and her job is certainly credible. One assumes Dr. Fox has read a bit about psychology, as well as her interest in forensics.
The author is a practising doctor. Given how doctors in this country are credited with being overworked, one can only wonder at her managing to produce such well written novels. I, for one, hope her professional life doesn't become so crowded she is unable to produce more fiction.
STONE COLD
by David Baldacci
ISBN 9780230017795
388 pages
Macmillan
November 3 2007
$32.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
November 7 2007I have to confess that the motley and ill-assorted collection of characters comprising David Baldacci's Camel Club are particular favourites of mine. The combination of brain, cowardice, bravery and brawn makes an endearing mix.
Annabelle Conroy returns in this adventure. In the previous outing, The Collectors, Annabelle had conned Jerry Bagger, the casino owner who had murdered her mother, out of forty million dollars. She has always carried a grudge against her father, Paddy, for not protecting her mother but Paddy makes an appearance in this tale and an uneasy truce is established.
Oliver Stone's alter ego, John Carr, assassin for the government elite's Triple Six outfit, is also disinterred and plays a major part in the adventure. This time, he becomes the target of another killer, Harry Finn, son of Rayfield and Lesya Solomon. Rayfield had been assassinated by John Carr, thinking he was under orders from the government. Lesya remains alive but determined to avenge the murder of her husband.
Annabelle knows she must be on her guard against Bagger but the Camel Club are still doing their best to protect her. She is not terribly interested in the forty million odd dollars out of which she conned Bagger but is reasonably convinced he will eventually catch and kill her. Bagger never lets any money out of his grasp when he is unwilling to do so
Oliver Stone is far from being a cute and cuddly character. He possesses abilities to kill that, at times, seem almost supernormal. He is motivated to assassinate by way of revenge against the people who killed his wife. His daughter is lost to him but not through death -- she has been brought up by one of his most loathed enemies.
Annabelle, for all she is a female character created by a male author, is a credible person (given her profession, she needs to be). Her ability as a con artist is admired even by her reprobate father, Paddy.
Reuben, the Vietnam Vet, complete with killing skills that could rival John Carr's own, is surprisingly vulnerable. Caleb Shaw, the rare books expert and coward extraordinaire, is very endearing in his cowardice but Milton Farb, the genius, is difficult to differentiate from his fellow Camel Club member, Caleb. Alex Ford, an honorary member of the Club and also of the Secret Service has, fortunately, been stripped of the love interest he acquired in the previous adventure and so is available as a potential interest for Annabelle.
The reader must, naturally enough, suspend a certain amount of disbelief for the story to work -- but then, given the machinations we so frequently read about in the popular press, perhaps that is not too hard. The plot is excellently constructed and not always predictable.
As previously mentioned, the Camel Club trilogy comprise my favourites of Baldacci's work so I trust, most sincerely, that he doesn't make this the final volume in the series.
THE MAN IN THE PICTURE
by Susan Hill
ISBN 9781846680755
145 pages
PROFILE BOOKS
November 30 2007
$24.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
November 20 2007Now here's a nice, light bit of nonsense that will be good entertainment for those in the northern hemisphere at Christmas time. Unfortunately, in Australia with its customary blistering heat at Christmas, perhaps it won't have quite the same impact as it would when nightfall is very early and snow might be eerily falling.
The story is told from several different points of view. Initially, Oliver, a former student of Dr. Theo Parmitter provides a background, then Dr Parmitter himself speaks. Finally, the Countess of Hawdon, Oliver's wife, rounds out the tale.
Oliver has pointed out to him a painting set in Venice. Dr Parmitter then proceeds to tell him a most unusual story concerning the work. The young Theo Parmitter, who dabbles in Art, has attended a sale at which he notices the Venetian painting. For some reason, it fascinates him and he is able to purchase it. Following the sale, someone attempts to buy it from him for far more than he has paid, but he refuses to oblige.
Soon, figures that were not originally in the painting, begin appearing. Somehow, the figures' appearance in the Venetian scene coincides with their disappearance in Real Life. Then the painting becomes involved in people's nightmares.
I wonder if Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray was the earliest occurrence of the sub-genre of pictures influencing Real Life, or vice versa. Whatever, I would say that the Wilde opus must have had quite an effect on Susan Hill's thinking. Mind, I doubt if he was the sole influence.
The tension is fairly well built but I can't say it gave me the frisson it might have done, had I not been sitting reading on a very hot Australian November day. Certainly, Hill is a mistress of plot construction but, in such a short novel, seemed to be limited in what she could do.
The characters were quite well drawn but it might have been nice to have some certainty about the conclusion. Just how, for example, did the business of the painting begin and why did it start swallowing people? After all, thanks to Flanders and Swann, we all know that Eating People is Wrong.
THE BIG SCORE
by Peter Corris
ISBN 9781741742236
ALLEN & UNWIN
214 pages
November 30 2007
$19.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
December 4 2007Itís always a pleasure to read a novel by Peter Corris, but when he doesnít have one coming out, an anthology of short stories is almost as satisfying. Corris is one of those authors who can be equally engaging in either the short or the long form -- although I have to confess my own preference for reading the long. Even though the author doesnít have the same scope for plot development in the short story, he manages to compress the same interest and excitement into the short story as he does into a novel.
There are eleven tales in this collection (I wonder why Corris didnít extend to a full dozen) of varying length but each is a very good example of the perfection that can be achieved by a talented tale-spinner.
As always, Cliff Hardy comes into contact with police who, for some incredible reason, donít seem to see the private detective as the lovable lad Corrisí readers know him to be. In fact, Cliff becomes a murder suspect. Elsewhere, he is an unlikely protector of trees. While not (or no longer) a partaker in the joys of matrimony, Cliff is not above dabbling in the worries of other partiesí divorces.
Hardy finds people from his past, met during his time in gaol, resurfacing to make his present life more interesting. Of course, neither Cliff nor those with whom he associates, is ever very far from grievous bodily harm incurred during a stoush of one kind or another and these outings are no exception.
As ever, itís great to see Sydney through the authorís eyes and renew childhood memories of the place, for all it has changed so much over the years. I was astonished to find Hardy socialising at the Woollahra Golf Club, the place at which news of my own birth was first announced when I made my appearance into the world one fine, Spring Sunday.
For all itís pleasant to have a whole heap of resolutions within the one volume, I must admit Iím looking forward to Corrisí next full length book.