Mahoney has a marvelous eye for both landscape and people, giving the reader a sense of really seeing through her eyes. She also has a wicked sense of humor and narrates the many astonishing conversations she has with various (mostly male) acquaintances, who simply cannot fathom the ways of western women.
Category: Book Reviews
Book Reviews
A review of Cripple Creek by James Sallis
There are echoes of crime fiction of the past – one wonderful minor character, Doc Oldham, could have stepped off the pages of at least two William Riley Burnett novels – and a gamut of genre pleasures. The greatest pleasure, though, is in how the story unfolds. It is an exercise in enchantment.
A review of How To Make Your Book Stand Out in a Crowd by Dave and Lillian Brummet
Why would they even think of your book when they decide that a book is what they’re going to buy? The answer is all about how effectively you’ve marketed yourself and your book. So easy to read, reference books like Purple Snowflake Marketing’s How to Make Your Book Stand Out in a Crowd (and it really is a crowd, and becoming more crowded all the time) are very important for authors.
A review of The Dangerous Book for Boys, Australian Edition
As with the original Dangerous Book, the book contains a kind of muted, classy beauty with secret looking pen and ink drawings, coloured plates which are true in look to their original sources, and a broad range of diagrams and photos. The attractive marble end papers are now gold, and the whole book has a lovely richness about it.
A review of Re’enev by Mike Maranhas
Luke Ferless is a compelling narrator to begin with. He attempts a kind of honesty, addressing the reader as if we were his analyst, trying to uncover his reasons and motivations as he addresses his actions in the present in terms of his past. Luke’s rich vocabulary and detailed self-analysis, add to his charm, but despite it all, there seems to be an underlying self-doubt and unconscious misogyny that undermines his justification.
A review of All Those Bright Crosses by Ross Duncan
All Those Bright Crosses is a beautifully written debut — a tightly plotted, fast paced mystery that is driven forward by a deep and penetrating character study. The writing throughout is beautiful, spare and transcendent.
A review of The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein by John Donaldson and Nikolay Minev
Reviewed by Paul Kane John Donaldson and Nikolay Minev The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein, Volume 1: Uncrowned King by John Donaldson and Nikolay Minev Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged Russell Enterprises May 2007, ISBN-13: 978-1888690293, 402 pages The…
A review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J K Rowling
I think that the Harry Potter series is already outstanding, but Deathly Hallows will make a deep impression in the world of books, with its stunning prose and surprising ending.
A review of Secrets of Opening Surprises, Volume 6 by Jeroen Bosch (editor)
Secrets of Opening Surprises, Volume 6 is, without a doubt, an excellent resource for replenishing and renewing your opening repertoire. If you succumb to temptation, the opening ideas contained in this book will set intriguing and testing challenges for your opponent – and for yourself too! As well as offering a little illicit excitement along the way …
A review of The Best Australian Stories 2006
Good short fiction works a quite a different dimension to novels – it needs a fast denouement, and the language has to be sharper, cleaner, more exacting because of the limited space. All of this stories in this collection are complete – leaving the reader with some kind of denoument. Drewe has chosen well, and the book contains a good range of material, from the modern to the traditional, funny, serious, intense, lighthearted – funky or political.