Goodreads and Bad Goodreaders

What is it with the anonymous people who give a one-star rating on Goodreads without having read the book? I call them Bad Goodreaders. They don’t even pretend to know the author, the contents of the book or the country of origin. How foolish they appear to real readers by giving a well rated new book a one-star rating for no reason whatsoever.

I know this anonymous deceit is done, and done frequently throughout the Goodreads website. I have a very old volume of ‘King Anne’ written by Ethel Turner, pseudonym of Mrs. H.R. Curlewis, a well-known Australian children’s author in early 1900s. It is a hardcover book with illustrations, owned by my great-aunt and her sister who was my grandmother. It was bequeathed to me when I was a teenager and I though nothing about it until many years later.

As one does, I wrote a comprehensive illustrated blog post review— https://thoughtsbecomewords.com/2022/02/19/ethel-turner-wrote-more-than-seven-little-australians/

I believe the ‘King Anne’ book has been out-of-print for many many years; perhaps it will never be republished but rare copies are available. There is a blank bookcover on Goodreads but I posted the real bookcover with my review.

This book has attracted a couple of genuine star ratings and, without a shadow of doubt, two random one-star ratings from two anonymous people. It would seem to me that they did not know the author or the age of the book. It is not a contemporary story. Come on, one hundred years ago, guys! Of course, it may not be thrilling reading for today’s young readers but it’s part of the Australian classics and there is no need to give it a worthless rating just because you feel spiteful. Move on if you don’t know anything about it.

Are these Bad Goodreaders hiding behind anonymity because they are unhappy, bitter ex-readers who cannot bear a book to be successful or popular or well liked? Perhaps because they themselves are not liked? Are they lashing out with their single click because it represents the only meanness or passive/aggressive behaviour available to them without repercussions from social media or cyber police? There is no government body assigned to prosecute a non-reader, or issue a fine for a rating from an anonymous person who gives a single star reflecting their malcontent with life and literature.

Could these non-readers be resentful of devoted readers and perhaps authors they have met who are successful when they themselves have received publishers rejection? That seems feasible because we all know our own work is best. However, all the more reason to give another author a helping hand because “what is given is given in return”.

So next time, One-Star Reviewer, unless the book is actually terrible or one you hated as a child, why not pass over that random book you are about to give a poor rating and get involved in computer gaming instead? Battle it out with something animated, something virtual that can at least challenge you.

All in all, the Goodreads website may be clunky but it’s about the best book reader website surviving on the world wide web today. Just don’t get me started on spoilers or huge tracts of a book sometimes reproduced without acknowledgement or consent from the original author.

In closing, Dear Reader, we can differ in our opinions. But just so we see both sides of the page, be aware of book reviewers who are known to give too many stars to boost their favourite author. This is also misleading for readers who are looking for a good book.

Be fair, be honest, you may gain more followers by giving a genuine rating and review from what you have actually read.

❤ Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2024
https://www.goodreads.com/gretchenbernetward

Merry Montage of Books 2023

A small selection of some of the books I read in 2023. Those shown are not block-busting bestsellers (yet) but very enjoyable reads. I liked them all and can recommend them.

The particular standout for me is Stone Yard Devotional because it was unexpected and different and engrossing—and believe it or not I did not write a blog post review. However, below I have re-posted my Goodreads review. I am sure this novel will win a literary prize in 2024.

View the 80+ books I have read and reviewed in 2023, click on link and browse my Goodreads webpage:
https://www.goodreads.com/gretchenbernetward

If you have time, here is my l-o-n-g Goodreads book review for my favourite Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood:

Charlotte Wood’s books opened up a new avenue of reading for me and I really, really, wanted to read this novel. The whole premise, ethos, structure of the story cried out to be read slowly and with feeling. It did deliver emotions, from the characters as well as from me. It was like bobbing along in a small row boat down a tranquil stream then coming to a bridge with pylons difficult to navigate; fast water swirling around rocks; clumps of bullrushes clogging the oars; finally being chased by hissing swans. These, of course, are my similes for the obstacles faced by the nuns who showed calm resilience in the face of adversity. Mainly a horrendous mouse plague which saw their Chapel and retreat overrun by thousands of hungry mice for quite some time. Then there is the arrival of the remains of nun Sister Jenny who died in Thailand and, perhaps the most unsettling, the enigmatic visitor Sister Helen Parry who doesn’t seem to want to leave. In fact it takes awhile to work out why she stays at all.

And still the mice invade everything and eat anything in their path. The religious sect is nameless and the protagonist is unnamed (at least I don’t think she is named) narrating Her role in the produce garden and general surroundings, written in beautiful prose, succinct, moving, observant, showing respect for others and the Monaro plain. On page 161, nun Simone takes Her to task over the way she prays “Praying was a way to interrupt your own habitual thinking” she told me. “It’s admitting yourself into otherness, cracking open your prejudices.” Enigmatic local farmer Richard Gittens helps out although his wife Annette doesn’t really approve. Many vignettes occurred to me to write in my review. Of course the overzealous rodents predominate but it would be difficult and unfair to isolate and convey the undercurrents in this book; the flashbacks, the past catching up with the future, the enlightenment. If asked, I would say this novel is semi-autobiographical. If not, it surely has those universally relatable feelings of loss, regret and the challenging moments which shape us throughout life.

A brilliant example of literary showing-not-telling with quite graphic moments, strange dreams, and egg-laying hens. Coupled with Her past memories it caused me to reflect on my own youth and how I retained snippets of a particular event but regrettably never found out the full story, or the true story behind a family’s grief. In fact, this story is layered with other people’s despair and made me delve into my own preconceived ideas of forgiveness. There is almost a comfort in not knowing the people whom Charlotte Wood weaves through the pages, I read, I understand, but I don’t have to take action. Just like the written characters, pursed lips, a head shake, a tut-tut and let’s move on; our society has been good at looking away for centuries. Through the unnamed narrator, sense has been made of all this and I came to grips with Her world without maudlin sentiment and saw the truth of what transpired in several dysfunctional lives. Perhaps a potential for trigger moments, this is a moving, insightful and significant adult read and holds up well to discussion.

❤ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Author: https://www.charlottewood.com.au/

Short bio: Charlotte Wood is the prizewinning author of six novels and three books of non-fiction. A recent book is The Luminous Solution about creativity and the inner life.

Interview: https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/the-shock-was-so-deep-novelist-charlotte-wood-on-the-experience-that-changed-everything-20230925-p5e7f3.html

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, HAPPY NEW YEAR 2024 🦋 GRETCHEN

Review ‘Evermore’ by Joanna Baker Book Three

“My memories get mixed up with dreams” says Chess Febey, and they are causing emotional turmoil which is affecting her everyday life. When Chess was five her mother, Lena Febey, died in unspoken circumstances and Chess is unsure whether or not she was there at the time. Was it a tragic accident? Could she have caused it? Was her father involved? There’s nothing on the internet and nobody will talk to her about what happened. Least of all her ineffective father, an uncommunicative alcoholic who hides family items and mementoes from Chess’ childhood, including a hand-drawn map of her mother’s titled “Evermore”. Where is this place?

There are a lot of veiled warnings and secrecy, and Chess doesn’t know where to start or what to believe in her search for an honest answer. Until she finally gets a lead. With her best friend and long-suffering companion Matt Tingle they head to the pretty alpine town of Bright in the high country of north-east Victoria; a place so close yet strangely Chess has never visited.

Morning view from verandah Bright Victoria

“The road to Mount Beauty started out like all the other roads around Bright, in story-book countryside, with reedy dams, cows, pretty trees and fields of lush grass. But soon we were climbing. The road became steep and winding. On the right there was a wall of rock with ferns and moss and roots, and on the left there was the kind of steep drop that had you imagining what would happen if you went over the edge and wondering if any of the trees would stop you.”
Page 162 ‘Evermore’ by Joanna Baker

Highly focussed, Chess and Matt pick up likely threads and hope to decipher how, and possibly why, Chess’ mother died. She soon finds out that nobody in town will tell them any details of what happened. If they will talk at all. Perhaps her mother Lena, a renowned flirt, was murdered and Chess was implicated as a child? From blank faces to townspeople warning her off, one woman forcibly showed Chess that she wanted to be left alone.

Cosy café near war memorial Bright Victoria

Obscure clues from Chess’ nightmarish dreams grow stronger and float to the surface night after night. She writes them down in the morning and reads them back to Matt. He’s a good foil for her; solid, sensible, the one who picks up on nuances and other people’s behaviour whereas Chess ploughs straight ahead, oblivious to the consequences which give rise to some bad situations.

Their investigations come across May Tran of Out and About Adventure Holidays. May becomes a willing participant in their quest, cycling through scenic countryside, often on cold rainy days. I would have liked more Aussie phrasing but when it comes to May, Matt’s humour and inner monologues are great value.

Chess and Matt become domestic hands at Grindel’s budget tourist hostel which they use as a base during their research, helped by cook Calvin and friend Paz who offers dream interpretations. Personally I am not too sure about the psychology behind the dream clues but they certainly are frequent and disturbing.

Chess and Matt encounter further stubbornness from the local residents, documents are hidden or erased, any contact is terse – especially in the library. And who is following them in the old red Mercedes? One big clue does emerge, although it throws Chess into further torment as to where her mother had actually died. The explosive final chapters reveal all and I was shocked at the moral judgement of everyone Chess encountered in her frantic search for the truth.

I loved the rural landscapes because I have family who lived in the area and I know the small hamlets of Yackandandah and Porepunkah; Wandiligong gets a mention for their tiny library dated 1878 and the new Bright library which is at least 150 years old.

Wandiligong Public Library 1878 Victoria

Suitable for YA and adult readers “Evermore” is the third book in the series (below) and I think each book could stand alone although I enjoyed the ongoing progression. Character development is strong and the pacing kept me hooked right to the end. Throughout the story are compelling themes of friendship, determination and the overpowering desire to find out the truth behind an emotional family secret.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

My thanks to author Joanna Baker for a copy of “Evermore”.

Website https://joannabakerauthor.com/

Bookstore https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/evermore-joanna-baker/1141941498

Tourism https://www.visitbright.com.au/
If you or anyone you know needs help: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/

‘The Ghost Train and The Scarlet Moon’ Review

Best birthday present ever! And a great read for Halloween! After reading the draft manuscript of Jack Roney’s novel The Ghost Train and The Scarlet Moon on behalf of Carolyn Martinez of Hawkeye Publishing, I rated it highly in my appraisal.

Unfortunately life got in the way and I was unable to follow the progress of the book. The good news is obvious, Hawkeye Publishing accepted it for publication, my family gifted a copy to me, and here it is!

First, I wanted to learn more about the factual event the book is based on and delved into it online. The story relates to a real train crash on the Brisbane to Closeburn line on Monday 5th May 1947, a public holiday for Labour Day, and dubbed the Camp Mountain Train Crash. It proved to be the worst disaster in Queensland’s rail history.

In the prologue, author Jack Roney depicts what happened on that fateful train trip from Brisbane to Closeburn; a special picnic day for families and friends, a journey which ended in tragedy with a catastrophic derailing. Many lives were lost or changed forever.

However, there is one big difference in this story

After the train crash decades later in May 1982, a Labour Day holiday, best mates Toby, Dan and Jimmy join their Grade 7 Samford State School class early in the morning to watch the super blue blood moon lunar eclipse. Afterwards they go exploring in the old Yugar Tunnel, scaring bats and being scared. Someone or something is watching them from the trees. The three boys go into the dark tunnel… bats… fire and smoke… and depart thoroughly spooked.

Steam Train leaving Roma Street Station Brisbane 1947

After the tunnel adventure, the boys cycle to the ghost train site along a road where the train tracks once ran… hear train whistle… steam train engine… Jimmy disappears… of course, young Toby does not know or understand where his friend has actually gone. Dan is very upset. Toby’s life turns into a living nightmare because nobody believes him, and the police are sceptical when he says “Jimmy just vanished”.

Decades later, enter adult Toby, a 2017 jetsetting travel writer returning from a far-flung country. Roney does an excellent job of describing Toby’s extensive research to find Jimmy (which gets more and more desperate) to discover how and why his friend disappeared. He wants to believe his missing pal is still alive. He must be out there! Cue research into time-slip, time travel, portal, wormhole, lunar eclipse, tear in the fabric of space, super blue blood moon (a lunar eclipse coupled with a second full moon in one month) but is a return possible after such a crash?

Camp Mountain Derailed Train Carriages 1947 Image No: 102648 Courtesy State Library of Queensland

Previously, without warning, the other friend Dan, now an adult, has gone missing under mysterious circumstances and his wife is distraught. From tax avoidance to suicide, Toby runs through the possible yet unlikely options.

Find out what Toby discovers. The clues are there. There are three time zones set in 1947, 1982 and 2017 for each lunar phenomena. Toby widens his research to make some sense of the disappearances with unexpected help from his landlady Mrs Doherty.

There is strong urban geography throughout, and I am sure teenage readers and speculative fiction fans would happily discuss conflicting emotions and plot nuances. Roney’s tweaks and turnarounds are clever and I went back once to see how the past fitted in with the present. The final twist is unexpected!

Written in four parts with chapter illustrations, The Ghost Train and The Scarlet Moon is a vividly realised adventure story which invokes a strong sense of friendship, keeping an open mind, and never giving up.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Author Bio—

Jack Roney is a former detective and author of the crime thriller series The Angels Wept, The Demons Woke and The Shadows Watch. He is a member of the Queensland Writers Centre and Australian Crime Writers Association. His writing is inspired by over 30 years in law enforcement where he gained experience in general policing, criminal investigation, strategic policy, media and communications and also as an operational skills/firearms and police academy instructor. He draws on his experience to bring authenticity and realism to his writing. https://www.jackroney.com.au/#/

Further Info—

Books https://hawkeyebooks.com.au/

Survivor’s story https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-26/qld-rail-disaster-camp-mountain-labour-day-1947/100719314

Photographs https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/camp-mountain-train-disaster

Statements http://qldstatearchives.shorthand.com/campmountain/

Reviews for *The Ghost Train and The Scarlet Moon* ♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2022

DEDICATION

“This book is dedicated to the victims of the Camp Mountain train crash, the heroes who came to their aid, and the survivors whose lives were changed forever by the tragic events of 5th May 1947. May you never be forgotten”

John Cleese Creativity and 100 Book Reviews

I wish to thank English actor, comedian, screenwriter and producer John Cleese for this mind-expanding, succinct and humorous book ‘Creativity’ which has helped me in two ways. First, to celebrate my blog Thoughts Become Words 100 Book Reviews milestone and, second, to give me an insight into the creative mind – a mind which we all have, yet use and abuse in many different ways.

Happily, I listened as Mr Cleese read his book to me. It only took an hour.

Also I am going on the assumption that you know John Cleese work because he does refer to it. Do I have to say Monty Python? The new edition is 2020 so he’s in his 80s now.

Originally published: 1972 (re-released 2020)

Author: John Cleese

Genres: Humour, Self-help book

The standout for me is how our brain keeps working on things whether we are conscious of it or not, thus “sleep on it” theory. But you are the one who has to put it into practice. It works for me!

Creativity
A Short and Cheerful Guide
By: John Cleese
Narrated by: John Cleese
Length: 58 mins
Unabridged audio book

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

My Goodreads Book Review

A truly delightful little book which lives up to its title!

By accident, I listened to the audio version and was so glad I did because one hour just flew by. The inimitable John Cleese, actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, talked to me about his past, his creativity and how our brain is always working even while we sleep. It is ready to come up with great ideas and answers to questions puzzled over during daylight hours. Hence ‘I’ve got it!’ inspirational moments on waking.

Call it pseudo-science or a clever comedy skit, nuggets of truth gleam through the wise words of Mr Cleese. For example, if you are getting nowhere with your work, put it aside and look at it later, next day, next week. Nothing new but the way he describes and elaborates on the process heightened my awareness in an enjoyable way.

If you listen to this guide on the bus, you may not laugh embarrassingly out loud but you may smile and nod at the sense of it. I can recommend for all ages and talents. GBW.

Heaps more of my book reviews on Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/gretchenbernetward

Sep 2022

Review ‘Cutters End’ by Margaret Hickey

This is the perfect crime novel for an imperfect crime. First-time fiction author Margaret Hickey shows she has a superlative grasp on our vast dry landscape and uncomfortable small town atmosphere.

The story of “Cutters End” excels in the finer details, the misleading conversations and chilling moments. While the hitchhiker plot is not new, the way this one is handled is both clever and gripping, and gives certain Australian police procedurals a run for their money.

A series of events conspire to pull Detective Sergeant Mark Ariti out of long service leave and send him inland to Cutters End as an Acting Inspector to investigate the unexplained death of local man Michael Denby, hopefully to solve this decades-old case. The big question is “Tragic car accident or murder?” And will the result give Ariti a career boost or convince him to leave the force?

Detective Sergeant Mark Ariti wonders “Those courses, a lot of butcher’s paper and PowerPoint. What did it take to become Commissioner, role play?”

To compound matters, DS Ariti is having troubles at home (hhmm) and coincidently was an old school friend of two women, Ingrid and Joanne, the original hitchhikers who are entwined in the cold case. Joanne is now a high-profile celebrity. Also Ariti has Superintendent Conti breathing down his neck asking for updates at every turn.

At the Cutters End police station, Ariti meets Senior Constable Jagdeep Kaur and she shines in her role as the understated country cop. The characters, from pub owners to laconic farmers and the town’s snap-happy crazy man distinguish themselves as Ariti begins collecting old data and uncovering new information.

It is intriguing how author Margaret Hickey has woven and looped the plot so that I found it tricky to discern fact from fiction and who was telling the truth. Clues? There is an interesting side story about Ingrid’s travels and her overseas partner Sander.

Generations have struggled against the inhospitable conditions of inland South Australia, either too hardy or too stubborn to leave. Hot dusty life goes on in Cutters End and, intentionally or not, the townspeople are good at telling only half the story behind Michael Denby and the single vehicle crash.

The rundown motel, the struggling petrol station, the lacklustre pubs against a backdrop of hundreds of kilometres of flat, wide open country. “It was forgotten. Like the aunt with failing health who sends cards to family but is never invited for Christmas, this area had a forsaken feel.“
Cutters End by Margaret Hickey

A stark tree, a lone shoe, several things didn’t add up yet held my interest and kept me concentrating. Then a vital link is discovered, suspects come sharply into focus and it’s game on.

I am really looking forward to reading “Stone Town” Margaret Hickey’s second book in this series.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

It never fails to annoy me when book reviewers find fault with indigenous language or slang in a book. I don’t mean a foreign language, for example an Irish character using a smattering of French, but the local terminology in the country in which the story is placed. For instance, Australian crime novels are often set in small towns or outback locations where descriptive words are used. They, like most informal terms used in common speech, are second nature to the Australian reader. But apparently this throws overseas readers into a tizzy. Well, guess what guys, we have been reading British and American books for many many years and we learned to cope! Embrace the difference! I am sure Mrs Google will help you learn a couple of new words 😀 GBW.

Book Review ‘Trust’ by Chris Hammer

IMG_20201229_121821 — “Millie the Money Box” from Westpac Bank in conjunction with Sydney Olympic Games 2000. Used for illustration purposes only. My tie-in with the crime novel “Trust” which involves a bank and lost millions. Millie is not only memorabilia, she once held pocket money in the form of 50cent pieces. I wonder if coins, pocket money and piggy banks will exist in the future? © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2020

—Review—

Martin Scarsden is the central character but in “Trust” he shared the limelight. His girlfriend Mandalay Blonde’s story was just as valid as Martin’s but I found events lacked drama when it came to poor-girl-makes-good-gets-stuck. She did get her act together when a group discussion propelled her into action. Unbeknown to Mandy she would soon face major problems from an old-boy network, creepy co-worker, money laundering and large scale corruption. Two major questions swirled around Mandy regarding her former fiancé and her place of employment, viz, “What was Tarquin Molloy playing at?” and “Where are Mollisons missing millions?”

Backstory is not the story and I started to lose interest in author Chris Hammer’s exposé on Mandalay and her stressful life. She arrived in Sydney and quote “She wants to flee, to get back to her son, to protect him. And yet the past is coming, it’s here, she can’t carry it back to Port Silver; she can’t risk it getting a trace of her boy…” The ship had sailed on that one. In previous books, she and Martin were in the media, the talk of the town, easily found by adversary Zelda Forshaw.

Halfway in, I wanted to shake up the action and indirectly Mandy obliged even though she was on an emotional rollercoaster. She met a dodgy cop in a dingy café in a tunnel under Central Railway station without a companion, without telling anyone where she was going. I said “Organised crime, Mandy, people were being murdered!” Thus the script-writing elements showed with Chris Hammer’s talking heads and scene-setting rather than people who moved through their surroundings. Ancillary characters were great, from the homeless to corporate high-flyers, a computer geek to a retro assassin and, of course, ruthless newspaper men.

Poetry Clipart 04

Anomalies were Australian judge Elizabeth Torbett with Tory politics; Martin, a seasoned journo who relied on technology and a laptop but made novice mistakes; Mandy did not regularly check on son Liam in Port Silver; Martin had coffee with Montifore in Chapter 33 but “Goffing returns with the drinks…” Oops.

“Trust” the perfect title, and Chapter 28 and Chapter 29 alone were worth the price of the book. Martin visited Justice Clarence O’Toole of the New South Wales Land and Environment Court and asked him a few questions. The old judge was very ill but talked at length about his membership with The Mess, a private club, and the sudden death of Martin’s mentor and friend. Afterwards Martin thought about his journalistic career and the slow agonising demise of print newspapers. I went straight out and bought an edition of The Courier Mail.

Chris Hammer future-proofed his crime novel with coronavirus, and mentioned the pandemic several times, but it flopped for me. Covid-19 was not over when I read the book. At this point in time, Sydney still has coronavirus outbreaks and restrictions. “Wash your hands, wear a mask, keep your distance”.

Martin and Mandy’s ordeal took place over seven days and I would not have enjoyed being in their shoes, but I enjoyed the Australian setting and frontispiece map of Sydney. There was a wonderful iffy, dicey feel to the plot which at times stretched tropes and credibility, like the ASIO meet-up, or the dance of death, however a clever twist enhanced the story and the ending was unexpected. On the whole, I liked this third instalment, quote “some huge story, some grand conspiracy” so cheers to more books and great reading in 2021 New Year.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

“Smartphones on and life-cancelling earbuds in”
From “Trust” Martin Scarsden crime series
by Chris Hammer 2020

‘The Finisher’ by Peter Lovesey

THIS IS A GRAND STORY of old-school police procedural proportions, a murder mystery which employs the same dedication and precision as the runners in training for the Bath Half Marathon. The build-up is firm and steady, the plot delivers survival tactics, and every likely and unlikely event is taken into consideration.

MOST OF THE GROUNDING for this solid piece of deduction has to do with Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond of Bath’s Criminal Investigations Department. I can’t say Diamond is all that loveable, and he gets himself into trouble on the odd occasion, but he’s a great character to drape a story around.

DIAMOND HAS A GIRLFRIEND Paloma and when they are together I get a midsomer murder ‘Shakespeare and Hathaway’ vibe. Diamond is aided and abetted by two sensible police officers, Keith Halliwell and Ingeborg Smith, and annoyed by Assistant Chief Constable Georgina Dallymore. Like any good whodunnit, there’s a crusty forensic pathologist Dr Sealy and a number of important characters woven into the story.

Bath Half Marathon August 2020 03 — Do you think you could run this marathon? https://bathhalf.co.uk/race-info/

I AM NOT BIG on writing synopses because I figure that a potential reader can get any amount of reviews online which offer insights into this ingenious plot. Suffice to say that the Bath Half Marathon is an absolutely huge running event held in UK and literally thousands of people from all walks of life compete each year for charity. On this occasion, a murder takes place and Diamond has to find the body before he can make an arrest. Actually there are two murders but this is where it gets tricky…

AUTHOR PETER LOVESEY has given the reader several suspects to choose from and they are all plausible. Some of the characters include Spiro and Murat part of the modern-day slave trade, Maeve Kelly primary school teacher, sleazy Tony Pinto, and wife of Russian oligarch Olga Ivanova, taking part in the Bath Half Marathon for wildly different reasons.

IMG_20201017_200429

I HAD A MASSIVE claustrophobia attack: the hills where the race is run has hundreds of old tunnels and underground quarries. I haven’t felt that bad since I read ‘The Chalk Pit’ a Ruth Galloway mystery by Elly Griffiths. Cruelly, Lovesey did not spare my nerves.

THE BOOK TITLE is apt in various ways, and apart from showcasing beautiful Bath, there are techie things like micro-chipped runners and aerial drones. However, Lovesey does say that the route he mapped out is not the one followed by real runners. He has never run the marathon but as an author and sports writer he cleverly captures the mood and excitement of the event.

Nothing like running a hot bath after running the Bath Half Marathon.

I MAY NOT SAY ‘Where are my running shoes?’ but with at least seventeen other novels in the Peter Diamond series, I am going to start my own reading marathon.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

AUTHOR PROFILE

Peter (Harmer) Lovesey (born 1936), also known by his pen name Peter Lear, is a British writer of historical and contemporary detective novels and short stories. His best-known series characters are Sergeant Daniel Cribb, a Victorian-era police detective based in London, and Peter Diamond, a modern-day police detective in Bath.

Peter Lovesey lives near Chichester UK and was a teacher/lecturer before he turned to full-time writing. In 2020 he celebrates 50 years as an author and ironically in 1970 his first prize-winning novel was ‘Wobble to Death’ where a bizarre six-day endurance race takes place in 1880s London. His son Phil Lovesey also writes crime novels.

Book Review ‘Shepherd’ by Catherine Jinks

IMG_20200725_100525

On my first reading attempt

I wasn’t ready for this book. I wanted to enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Catherine Jinks other books but it didn’t work for me right from the start. The setting was vivid but the raw, brutish behaviour and sheer masculinity of the story overwhelmed me. Does that make me a sexist, a bigot, a wimp when it comes to macho bravado? I don’t know. I turned the pages with trepidation, not interest. Maybe the colonial frontier loneliness affected me and I didn’t want to go on.

On my second reading

the story felt less crushing. I concentrated on young English convict Tom Clay, a former poacher transported in chains to Australia, and now a shepherd. I willed him to be okay, to learn and survive intact. His country assignment in New South Wales works well, he didn’t steal from landowner Mr Barrett so he was never flogged and he works hard. Through his eyes, I saw the strangeness of a harsh new land, the vast differences, and the cruel pitiless men he is forced to live and work with guarding sheep against theft and wild dogs.

Tom has a jaundiced eye

when it comes to things like Australian native wildlife and his comment on first seeing kangaroos is less than flattering. I was disappointed with the header on the bookcover which reads “The wolf is not the only hunter”. There are no wolves in Australia, there are dingoes (wild dogs) and that should have been apparent.

Sheep stealing, jumbuck, billabong, Waltzing Matilda, poet Banjo Paterson

The conditions are harsh

and Tom’s fight for life against his arch nemesis Dan Carver is harsher still. These chapters are tightly written. The knock down drag ‘em out battles are horrific, the ghastly metal trap, the shootings, the human and animal deaths… but Tom dearly loves his sheep dogs.

I am not a fan

of an undefined location nor overused nonlinear narrative. Tom’s past comes out in this way. Flashback to eight year old Tom at his mother’s funeral, his former life almost as bad as his current one. He learns “No matter what a convict’s situation might be, he’ll never persuade a trooper that he’s telling the truth.” Flashback to when Tom first met convict Rowdy Cavanagh, a con man who joked, laughed and teased his way to success until he was caught “A single misstep and it ruined me life.”

The age rating

for this tense, chilling, thrilling story eludes me, but it is a tale I did not fully enjoy. I do respect it wholeheartedly for the screenplay fear and fascination it instilled in me regarding the rough and thoroughly inhumane life early convicts were forced to endure.

A sequel?

Tom’s situation could lead to listening and learning from the Indigenous custodians of this ancient land, and perhaps encourage a new phase in his life.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Author info

Catherine Jinks ‘Shepherd’ interview on Paperchain Bookstore blog.

Catherine Jinks (Australia b.1963) is a four-time winner of the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year award, and has also won a Victorian Premier’s Literature Award, the Adelaide Festival Award for Literature, the Ena Noel Award for Children’s Literature and an Aurealis Award for Science Fiction. In 2001 she was presented with a Centenary Medal for her contribution to Australian Children’s Literature.

Catherine Jinks, author of over thirty books for children and adults, including the award-winning Pagan Chronicles series, was born in Brisbane and grew up in Sydney where she studied medieval history at the University of Sydney.

She became a writer because she loves reading, as well as history, films and television. Catherine gets ideas for her novels from everywhere, particularly good science fiction films. She lives in the Blue Mountains NSW with her Canadian husband and daughter Hannah.

Review ‘The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag’ by Alan Bradley

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This Alan Bradley story is deserving of 10 stars. The irony, the wit and the revealing portrayal of 1950s English village life, is both hilarious and horrible. Events are seen through the eyes of young Flavia de Luce, an implausibly precocious 11 year old girl who lives with her family in genteel decline.

Young Flavia’s encounters turn into forensic investigations and she has an inherent love of chemistry, brewing dangerous concoctions in her late grandfather’s lab.

The village of Bishop’s Lacey appears to be close-knit, yet even gossipy Mrs Mullet didn’t seem to know who or what killed young Robin Ingleby at Gibbet Hill. The story really kicks off when well-known BBC puppeteer and bully Rupert Porson gives his last performance. The scene-setting is brilliantly done and I felt immersed in the story from the beginning right through to the end.

Perhaps not a book for younger readers because they may get tired of the mid-20th century writing style. Mature readers who like a quirky character will enjoy this tale. I have never encountered the likes of Flavia de Luce, a strange mixture of Wednesday Addams and Bones.

But she certainly knows how to snoop or turn on the charm when necessary.

Generally the main players are conventional but it’s what I expected, having been raised on a diet of British books, magazines and television series. Their dialogue and the descriptions of village society in post-war Britain were familiar to me – at least fictionally – and it’s clever how the tension and Flavia’s ‘fluctuations’ from girl to grown-up and back again is established.

Question: Apart from the shock value, what is the significance of Jack’s puppet face? And I don’t mean who it represents.

‘The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag’ is book 2 in the current 10 book Flavia de Luce mystery series, and takes its title from Sir Walter Raleigh. With my thanks to Goodreads friend and writer Chris Hall for recommending this delightfully different book.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Author profile

Alan Bradley is a mystery writer known for his Flavia de Luce series featuring this pre-teen sleuth with a passion for chemistry. The series began with the acclaimed ‘The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie’. See more books in the series at Penguin Random House. Bradley is also a New York Times bestselling author of many short stories, children’s stories, newspaper columns, and the memoir ‘The Shoebox Bible’. More about Alan Bradley