Month: February 2022

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Review: Blind Date – Brenda Chapman

Blind Date

Hunter and Tate #1

Brenda Chapman

Kindle

ASIN: B09PNWW5GK

Description:

Nobody’s safe when a killer has you in their sights.

True crime podcaster Ella Tate is shaken to her core by the horrific assault and murder of Josie Wheatly, a teacher she has never met … because not only had Josie moved into Ella’s vacated apartment three months earlier, but her Facebook photos reveal a striking resemblance between the two women.

Within days, two people close to Ella are harmed, and she fears that she’s become the target of twisted revenge from her crime-reporting days. Reluctantly teaming up with her neighbour Tony, a hairdresser who loves the finer things in life, and Liam Hunter, the persistent detective assigned to the cases, Ella struggles to stay one step ahead before she becomes the target of the final kill.

My View:

It is no secret that I have been a long time fan of Brenda Chapman’s,  The Stonechild and Rouleau police procedurals. After I finished the last in that series, I did wonder what we might expect next from this accomplished author, I was so pleased to discover Blind Date.,

In Blind Date Chapman has created another very followable partnership of crime investigators- Ella – true crime pod caster/journalist and Hunter, cop. I like this this team. We learn a lot about Ella in this read, her past, her family, her trauma, her resilience. Hunter’s role in this book, whilst important, was not the focus and I am sure that in the next book in the series we will get to know Hunter a lot better.

Character lead crime fiction is one of my favourite genres and if its one you love you will not go wrong picking up a copy of this just released book. I cant wait to read more about Ella Tate and Liam Hunter

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Review: Muster Dogs – Aticia Grey

Muster Dogs

Aticia Grey

ABC Books

ISBN:9780733341588

Description:

An outback story of kelpies, red dirt and the future of a family farm.

Life on the land is often boom or bust, forever at the mercy of Mother Nature.

Aticia ‘Teesh’ Grey took on the manager’s role on her family’s West Pilbara cattle station a few years after picking up her first team of kelpies. Almost immediately she was faced with a severe and devastating drought that forced her to question everything she thought she knew about the fragile country of her home.

Through the heartbreaking rollercoaster journey that followed, Teesh’s loyal canine companions proved invaluable as she and her family worked towards securing the property’s future. The versatility of these amazing dogs took the station in directions no one anticipated.

In 2020, Teesh got the chance to showcase the potential of working dogs more widely. Joining the ABC TV series Muster Dogs, Teesh and four other farming families took on the challenge of training new kelpie pups and testing their worth on the properties they run. Through this experience they showed the bonds that are formed between human and dog and vividly demonstrated a positive environmental future for farming in rural Australia.

This is a story of love, laughter, loss and hope, as Teesh finds her feet in an ever-changing world with the help of the dogs who have stood by her side through it all.

PRAISE

‘Kick your boots off and settle in for a wild journey of love and heartbreak, from the most inspiring cattlewoman I know …’ Margareta Osborn, author and grazier

‘Evocative, authentic and freshly engaging account of pastoral life … reads like a Wild West adventure story … At the end of this journey Grey recounts her transformative shift to a regenerative agriculture approach that puts the landscape first so as to begin healing ‘Country’. What is optimistically promised is a fuller, less stressful lifestyle and healthier, more productive livestock’ Charles Massy, author and voice for regenerative agriculture.

My View:

Escape to the country where the land is hard, dry, red and barren. Escape to the country to find your best friends. This read is engaging, heartwarming and will open your eyes to a landscape you only thought you knew before your opened this book or watched the TV series ( I haven’t watched the TV series, but you don’t need to to appreciate the honest, visual writing here in.) This is a love story between a woman, her working dogs and they land they inhabit.

A great read.

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Review: Wild Dogs – Michael Trant

Wild Dogs

Michael Trant

Bantam Australia

ISBN:9781761046773

RRP $32.99

Description:

Wild Dogs is a page-turning action thriller set in the WA outback, introducing Australia’s answer to Jack Reacher

‘Tough, fast and hard – my kind of book.’ -Lee Child

In the drought-ridden rangelands of Western Australia, Gabe Ahern makes his living trapping wild dogs for local station owners.

Still coming to terms with his wife’s death – and the part he played in it – the old bushman leads a solitary life. Until one morning, when he rescues a young Afghan man, Amin, from certain execution.

Now, with a gang of people smugglers on his tail and the lives of Amin’s family on the line, Gabe is drawn into a ruthless game of cat and mouse. His main opponent is Chase Fowler, a kangaroo hunter with bush skills as wily and sharp as his own.

As the old dogger and roo-shooter go head to head, Gabe will need all his cunning to come out of this alive…


‘Wild Dogs is a just-one-more-chapter thriller that kept me up long after lights out.’ -Jack Heath 

My View:

Firstly I would like to disagree with the statement” ….introducing Australia’s answer to Jack Reacher“. This book is so much more interesting, complex, taut, gutsy, and raw; so much better than any Jack Reacher (apologies Lee Child, nothing personal).

WOW!!! That about sums up my reaction to this book. Read it, I think you will agree with me. 🙂